Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

Please help desperate sports fan!

Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Cook Islands

Hi,

I am going to be staying on the cook Islands for about 5 weeks and will staying in the Raratonga Backpackers who have confirmed with me that they do not have cable TV and dont show any the English Premiership matches. Could anyone who has been to the Cook Islands and knows of a bar, another backpackers a hotel etc etc the shows the Premiership LIVE could you please let me know. Also does anyone have an idea of what time there are shown LIVE in the Cook Islands and if so would the BARS be open at stupid o clock. Any help and i would most grateful.

Kinf Regards.

Joe.

Joe, I hope you have better luck than I had with the Amercan Super Bowl. Chances are you will not be able to see the English Premiership in any location in Rarotonga. I wish I had better news.

Papa Mike
www.mikehollywood.com

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Joe,

we spent a month in the Cooks in 2005 and it's only local tv with some bought in aussie and nz programmes.... no live premiership... or champions league... find a decent website is your best bet... you'll get the goals at least on youtube...

Dec

2

Joe,

we spent a month in the Cooks in 2005 and it's only local tv with some bought in aussie and nz programmes.... no live premiership... or champions league... find a decent website is your best bet... you'll get the goals at least on youtube...

Dec

3

All the above information is at least two years old. Rarotonga now has satellite tv called Sky Pacific out of Fiji. It is pricey and cheaper places wouldn't offer it (although the Aquarius Hotel, a really nice backpapcers across from the airport does.) Sky has two dedicated sports channels that not only play live English premiership games, but also Spanish and Italian league games. The downside is these games are shown live at 3 or 4 am. Fortunately they are rebroadcast later in the day. The only sports bar with satellite tv is Chilli's on the main road near the medicial clinic at the edge of town. They always have a sign out saying what is showing that day and time. You didn't say when you'll be on the island but be warned from mid Aug. to mid sept. all that will be on TV will be the South Pacific Games from Samoa. This is a really big deal for the island states and will be rebroadcast long after it's over.

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Thanks for the better news JWA although these games going on do worry me. I am actually there everyday between those dates you said so it might be a case of a few backhanders to the local bar man lol. Thanks again even if they show re runs the next day at some time it will feed my habit and make me a little happier if not my girlfriend. One other question. The local TV in Raratonga do they have a Premiership special on say a Monday night which shows highlights from the weekends matches just an hour slot. I remember in Australia the local channel did this. This question is probably for someone living there but any help will do. Im sure i wont be the only male looking for a football match to enjoy on the island so maybe i can find a few when im there and get a squad together so its enough for the local bar manager to see the financial gain for just a couple of hours in the day to show a re run.

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One channel on the satellite is ESPN from Australia. You might catch a highlight show that will give you a few clips. I doubt it will be live, and if so it's ten hours off, so the middle of the night or v. early morning, when the bars are closed. As JWA suggested, check out Chillis and Aquarius, those will be two of the best bets.

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Thanks Raro and JWA for the goodish news. Its enough to keep me happy but really the most important part of it all is the sun, beaching, swimming and relaxing that i will be doing on Raro with a bit of football on the telly thrown in fingers crossed.

Regards

Joe and "football hating" Ais.

Ps its Ais here, and not only am I not football hating, but really I am currently on line researching how to make a sattelite dish out of tinfoil and a saucer so that Joe will give me some peace while we are there. x

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#7---hollow out a large half-coconut shell and put the tinfoil in that!

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All clubs and pubs in the Cooks close at 2am on weekends and earlier on weeknights but most don't have TV's anyway... so if your hotel doesn't have satellite TV it's gonna be very hard to find somewhere to watch it!

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Actually, all pubs (bars) and clubs close at midnight except on Friday night/Sat am, when they are open to 2am. All are closed on Sunday.

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