Self Catering on Raro & Aitutaki

Kia Ora

We head to Rarotonga soon and having booked some self catering accommodation were wondering how easy it is to buy food locally on the mainland and Aitutaki?

We went to Samoa last year and found that the only food choice outside of Apia was at resort restaurants which is fine but im sure there will be a few days on this trip to Raro that we want to cruise out to the shops or markets and pick up our own fresh kai. We are not looking for a giant Pack 'n' Save or Tesco's but just want to gauge what availability and prices are like for simple things like bread, milk, fruit, coffee, rice etc?

We will be bringing some food from New Zealand, things like sealed Kaweka meals, cereals, tinned fish and crackers so will there be any problems with Rarotonga biosecurity at the airport?

Cheers....Hikoi

One of the advantages of Rarotonga over Fiji or Samoa is that you are close to a good variety of restaurants and shops.

There are 2 supermarkets on Rarotonga (the main island), CITC near the airport and Foodland in Avarua (both under the same ownership). You'll find just about everything you need there, though more expensive than NZ as most things have to be flown or shipped in. You'll probably buy UHT milk as fresh imported costs a fortune. There are also lots of small convenience stores around the island. You mention coffee. If you drink instant, no problems. If you have a favourite 'real' ground coffee you may like to take a packet with you - your particular favourite may not be available.

Locally grown fruit and vegetables are available at stalls around the island or at the market on Saturday. Fresh fish is available at Ocean Fresh near the airport or at Blue Pacific seafoods on the back road. 2 large liquor stores have a great variety.

You can take food into Raro except for fresh fruit and vegetables. Meat is OK as long as it's frozen. Make sure you have a list of everything to show at immigration and you'll have no problems.

Many people take supplies from Raro to Aitutaki as there is less choice there.

BTW the local bread is very good.

Edited by: agingaquarian

Thanks agingaquarian for the reply, I was actually wondering this same question myself but I figured it would be just one useless topic from me so didn't post...

Can anyone elaborate in detail that WHAT VEGETABLES are available?

EDIT; Btw, any pasta available?

-J the vegetarian

Pasta is available everywhere (you mean dried pasta in packets, right?).
Veg - there's a lot of kumara (sweet potato), I saw carrots, onions, tomatos and avocados on sale too, but I sometimes I went a couple of days without seeing any stalls selling fruit and veg, and the supermarkets are expensive, so if you see a stall with veg you like, stock up!

All the local produce is seasonal and affected by the weather. When we were there last local tomatoes disappeared for 5 days and then there was a glut. Different types of beans - snake and air (a new one on us), capsicums, taro, courgettes, cucumbers.

The main supermarkets also offered imported produce which is more expensive and I prefer to shop local.

There are several permanent stalls including an excellent one in Titikaveka near the CICC church which has been there for years. And Wigmore's store carries a large selection at times (they are one of the major growers).

Plenty of pasta and I already mentioned the markets where you'll also get herbs on a Saturday.

jvainio, if you're a vegetarian who eats fish you'll be in heaven!

I forgot to recommend that you take plenty of tropical strength insect repellant as there's been a dengue outbreak in Raro. Also suggest those plug-in things that take the repellant mats. The plugs are the same as NZ and the mats were in short supply when we were there. Coils for burning outside are readily available and cheap. Worst time for mozzies is dawn and dusk and the dengue mozzie is the day time type. Sorry if you already know all this!

I went down with dengue fever, after not being fanatical enough about mozzie repellant. It wasn't plesant...