fiji? cooks? or both, family of 4

we are traveling to australia in febuary. in the past we've broken up that long flight by stoping off on the way. but now alas air new zealand has droped its flight from raratonga to fiji. so to do both the cooksand fiji we have to fly to new zealand inbetween. the original plan was to spend 2 weeks in each. now i'm thinking of spending one month at one area. the last time i was in the cooks or fiji was 1983.circumstances are differnt now with travel behaviour due to having a family. i started a bit late at having the kids, i'm 55 and the kids have just turned 2 and 4. i'm not big on resorts, never have stayed in one, but i'm finding it a lot of work traviling with 2 kids. we're a fairly tuff family and enjoy a bit of strife. any ideas on a kid friendly place, ? prefer cheaper places. leaving from california. thanks

Both places are pretty kid-friendly. As you know, Rarotonga is much tinier than the main island of Fiji.
I think there are good spots in Fiji, and a lot more islands to choose from. I can safely say the Cooks would fit the bill of what you are looking for. For those young kids, the lagoon on RAR is perfect, as it is fairly shallow, protected, and accessible around 3/4 of the island. You could visit Aitutaki for a week, then come back to RAR via Atiu for a few days.

There are pretty cheap house rentals on RAR. It used to be---back in 1983 for example---that one needed to rent for a month or more. But now it is usually just for a week or more, sometimes even less. This would be the cheapest for a family of 4.

Go to www.ck and look for the house rentals.

Make sure the house has insect screens on all or most windows, as you'll want the windows open in Feb. A ceiling fan is a great help. Very few if any will have air-con, and if they do it would be a very expensive place, and not really needed if you can stand the humidity. I'd get a mid-range or better place, some of the real cheap ones are not so nice---mold, cracks in the walls where things can get in, no screens or fans, etc.

The ones right on the beach are of course more, but there are some along the main road, and in walking distance of the beach, that will be cheaper. But I'd go for a beachside one if you can afford it.

Anyway, that's just some ideas on things.

Oh, if you wanted to visit the Cooks and Fiji, you could hit one on the way down to Australia, and the other on the way back to California. check out Air NZ's website. This is the simplest and cheapest way to hit both, though not consecutively.