3 weeks on the Cook Islands - Our experience

Hi!

We just came back from a Round The World. We went, amongst others, to the Cook Islands.
Here you can find our travel report. I think I posted it once but it was for quite a while, so I do it again, since questions seem to be the same ...
If you need more details, check our website: http://www.oneyearoff.net/cook%20islands,world-tour-2007,19.html
The best pictures: http://www.oneyearoff.net/cook%20islands,slide-show,19,101.html

I hope it helps
Cheers, Gilles

We spent three weeks on the Cook Islands: altogether 9 days on Rarotonga, 7 on Aitutaki and 5 on Atiu. The Cook Islands were definitely a highlight in our trip and those Pacific Islands that matched our ideas of the South Seas.

The highlights of this trip were definitely:
(x) Riding our scooter around on Atiu on roads surrounded by thick lush primary rainforest and still hearing the waves breaking on the reef.
(x) The many attractions on Atiu: to the different caves as well as the eco-tour with “Birdman George”, the historical tour with Papa Paiere or the visit to the coffee plantation with Juergen followed by the visit of the Atelier of Andrea.
(x) The Lagoon Cruise in Aitutaki.
(x) Riding our scooter on the back road on Rarotonga through the greenest possible vegetation, passing small plantations full of exotic fruits.
(x) An evening at a Tumunu on Atiu, enjoying homebrewed beer in a Bush Pub with the locals.
(x) Shopping the freshest tropical fruits, all kinds of herbs at Tauono’s Garden on Aitutaki and cooking delicious meals following Sonja’s recipes.
(x) Snorkelling in Aitutatki near the old runway.

When thinking back of the Cook Islands, the following will always stay in our mind:
(x) Impressive tropical scenery and Aitutatki’s breathtaking lagoon.
(x) Extremely friendly people, especially in Atiu.
(x) Travel really off the beaten tracks: we were only 5 tourists on Atiu.
(x) Extremely expensive supermarkets with no fresh food except potatoes and onions.
(x) Locals waiting for weeks for goods arriving on the monthly cargo boat.
x) English backpackers descending on Rarotonga and doing nothing but hang out at Vara’s. Many of them are on the so popular “One World” Round The World Ticket: London - Bangkok - Sydney - Auckland - Fiji - Rarotonga - Los Angeles - London, all of it English spoken!

Of course, few things we should have done differently:
(x) Spend less time on over-advertised Aitutaki, which really only has a lagoon to offer to tourists.
(x) Spend maybe one or two days more on Atiu, it is so pleasant and there is so much to do.
(x) Try to see other and more remote islands, but unfortunately Air Rarotonga forces tourist to go through Rarotonga for each island, which makes it tiresome and expensive.

Conclusion?
The Cook Islands are a great destination in the Pacific: they are very scenic, offer the so much longed for South Seas flair and are very different. Budget accommodation is widely available. Hopefully, the outer islands, especially Atiu, get the attention they deserve.

Nice report. Glad to see you got a bit off the beaten track and visited Atiu. It's a very different world than RAr and Aitutaki.

Ahh, you too noticed the young UK tourists! Many are very nice, but in reality about 90% of the problems with tourists in the Cooks---late night noise, broken bottles on the beach, drunken driving, etc----come from about 10% of the young first-time-away-from-home UK backpackers.