recommendations for a budget trip to the Cook Islands

Just beginning to think about adding a short trip to the Cooks to my upcoming RTW trip. I would be on quite a tight budget so I just want to get an idea of costs to work out whether it's feasible.
I don't mind fairly basic accommodation and would self cater breakfast and lunch. How much (very roughly) should I expect to pay for food and accommodation?
How much does the flight to Aitutaki cost? and would I need to book it in advance or can I book it once I get there?
Any advice or recommendations for hostels/guesthouses would be much appreciated,
Thankyou
R

I didn't go budget, so I can't speak to those accommodations, except that there's a number of backpacker places on both Aitutaki and Rarotonga. We did self-cater, though. Depending on what you want, you can eat relatively inexpensively - more so on Rarotonga than Aitutaki, given the size differences, etc. There's lots of variety in the stores on Rarotonga - including fresh/frozen meats. I'd suggest using a small, soft-sided cooler for bringing fresh eggs and meat, for transport from Rarotonga. Pick up pre-packaged or freeze dried soups, mac & cheese and whatnot.

My guess is that you'll find the food costs similar to England. For the flight, you can go to Air Rarotonga's website. We booked all of our flights, with them, prior to leaving Canada. It was easy and everything worked very well. Having said that, we decided to change our return flight, from Aitutaki, so that we could stay longer. No problem! Are resort contacted the Aitutaki office, the day before, and it was done.

Have fun!
Mark

A bed in a backpacker dorm is about NZ$22/night.
If you cook for yourself, it will be a little more expensive than home, usually. The highest-priced items are fresh milk and yogurt, so stay away from them.

Then again, depending on the boats' luck, you can get fresh marlin, wahoo, mahimahi etc for about a quarter of what it costs in most countries.

PS--figure about NZ$300-325 for RT to Aitutaki. Some flights at certain times of the year may be on that lower end. Go to www.airraro.com .

definetly go as soon as possible and stay as long as possible in aitutaki. It's were you got the friendly locals and pristine nature paradise.
raro itself is qlready expensive in terms of hostels and food, so you better be in the best place.

I did the Cook Islands "budget style".

On Rarotonga I stayed at Vara's Beachhouse, very nice accomodation on a beautifull beach.

On Aitutaki I stayed at Tom's Guesthouse, also nice for that price.

Groceries on the Cook Islands are not that cheap so its not really "budget style" when it comes to expenses for food etc. (the accomodations I had were cheap though).

If you really want a budget Pacific destination choose Samoa. Its the cheapest Pacific island I have visited so far.

We travel to Raro everyyear - 6 trip this March.
Stayed at Rarotonga Backpackers - see their website at www.rarotongabackpackers.com<BR>we stayed in hill bungalow last year at $70 NZ per night for two.
They also have dorm accom much cheaper.
Self catering can be as cheap as you want to make it - depends on what you eat. Milk products are dear but we find most other things not a hell of a lot dearer than home. Takeaways similar in price to NZ $9 - $14 each for night meal - served on a plastic plate with knife and fork, overlooking Avatiu Harbour. One small tip - eat what the locals eat and its much cheaper - pawpaw, ike (octopus), coconut pineapple pie (buy at local dairies dotted around the island) Yummy. Coconut buns from the Saturday morning market (yummy).
Some Veges are dear - but if you can survive without them you'll do fine. Enjoy!!

In Jan 07 we stayed at Aremango's on Rarotonga, $50NZ per night for bright, spacious, clean double, new beds, new kitchen, clean, friendly, not beachfront, but short walk to beautiful Muri Lagoon - no charm, no AC, but met our basic needs. Next to Vara's mentioned above. Friendly caretaker who let us use rooms all day until our evening flight out. You can rent a scooter nearby for $20NZ/day, or use the island bus to get to town buy groceries.

We also stayed on Aitutaki 5 nights and glad we did - it was everything we hoped for - white sand, blue water, palm trees, tiny island in the middle of the Pacific. The lagoon cruise to One Foot Island was a day in tropical paradise. We booked our flight in advance from home on the internet, but we changed to an earlier flight once we arrived, and there were empty seats - but glad I didn't count on this - knew I didn't want to miss this place. Go to Air Rarotonga online for info.