Rakahanga, Manihiki, Pukapuka or Penryn... Anyone been there?

Has anyone been to the northern Cooks? If you have, tell us about them and the experiences you had there.

Not me but I know 2 people who have.
One of them is a former regular here, the other one a countrymate of mine now living in your country.
The former wasn't all that impressed, but the latter was - as is to be expected as he is a fanatic Cooks fan.
He has told a lot about his experiences (and posted pix) on this forum - in our language, not yours though! ;-)
Photos here - in posts numbered 421 and above. Doesn't look all that exciting to me.

Raro, of course...

Nope. I have never met Raro in person, so wouldn't say I "know" him.

I met Raro... I just assumed since he wrote "The Cook Islands Companion", lived in the Cooks for many years and had a business here that he would have travelled to all of the islands there.

Ask him...

Um, Raro rarely posts here anymore so that avenue seems to be cut off...

Sorry I didn't notice this post sooner. I have been to Manihiki, Rakahanga and Penhryn. Manihiki and Penhryn have large lagoons used for the pearl growing that exists on the two islands. Two fairly large villages on Manihiki with very limited lodging available. Much the same on Penhryn. Rakahanga is smaller, with just one village of about 100 people living on the island. All three are extremely hard to reach by expensive Air Raro flights or the primative and slow moving island freighter. People are friendly, even more so than locals on Rarotonga or Aitutaki. If you intend to visit any of the three, contact the local Cook Island Christian Church pastor or island council. Bring food and supplies for your stay. If you plan on staying on the island, be warned that freighter service has no published schedule and a stay may encompass a month or two. There is contact information, E-Mail addresses and additional information in my guidebook, but not enough room to put in this post. Visits to any of the three could be a real Robinson Crusoe trip, bring lots of books.

I am hopeful to visit Pukapuka and Nassau on this winters trip, depending on transportation.availability.

Papa Mike

Maybe island boi has been hearing about the possible flights to Puka Puka, etc from Samoa ....starting up around xmas. It certainly opens up new ideas for travel in the remote Pacific. Aloha

PapaMike, How was your vacation? I know it's a late reply but I would appreciate any info on Pukapuka, the island just looks fantastic.