Cook Islands Part 2: Aitutaki ~ Derek's Travels

On the way back from French Polynesia, I stopped again in the Cook Islands, for a slightly longer visit, still of only a few days. I arrived early in the morning and had already arranged an afternoon flight to one of the outer islands: Aitutaki. With just a few hours in town, I walked from the airport to the capital, Avarua two looking around the town and decided to just take a local bus around the whole island,, and did a bit of shopping/browsing. I spent an hour or since it only takes about an hour and costs about $3. Everyone here tells you that the bus will stop anywhere, so I waited in a nice shady spot and tried to flag it down when it approached, but apparently I found the one small stretch of road on the island where the bus will not stop, judging by the driver's reaction. Luckily, the anti-clockwise bus comes 20 minutes later, so I just turned my hand the opposite direction and the island tour was on. Affording some nice views of the mountains and the coast, the bus dropped me back at the terminal with about 45 minutes to get to the airport and catch my next flight. I knew I was cutting it close, but it's a tiny airport, so I figured I'd be fine. I started walking the 2 or 3 miles back with my bags, but it was very hot and time was winding down quickly, so I changed my plans and started looking for a ride, all the while with my hamburger lunch in one hand, small backpack on and duffel bag in hand. I consolidated just enough to be able to stick out a thumb and luckily got a ride after about ten minutes.

As I suspected, the airport only took about two minutes to check in, and the boarding pass was actually smaller and less complex than some fast food receipts that I've received. The five of us, along with the stewardess, walked out onto the tarmac, boarded our tiny plane, and we were off.

As with Bora Bora, the descent into the lagoon of Aitutaki and its surrounding islands was incredible. Since we had so few people on the plane, we had to stay in the front to keep the weight evenly distributed, so we couldn't get any great pictures without the propeller in the way, but we were willing to compromise a safe landing for a few more pictures. I think it was a good choice. Aitutaki consists of about 15 islands forming a triangle around what is described by some (most likely the Cook Islands Tourism Board, among others) as the most beautiful lagoon in the world, and I think they may actually have a good claim for it. Again, the powder blue water is incredibly clear, consisting of many reefs and tropical fish and, for the most part, is only between 5 and 15 feet deep, stretching across an area of probably 3 miles by 4 miles. We flew in late in the afternoon, and I got a ride to my room at Paradise Cove, one of the few budget hotels on the island, after being greeted again by some musicians at the airport playing a little guitar and banging on an empty water jug as a drum. This music actually sounded really good, so I quite enjoyed listening to them before they ran off and jumped on the plane just as it was leaving. One more random fact about Aitutaki: there are no dogs, as they were blamed for a leprosy outbreak maybe 50 or so years ago, and every one of them was killed. This was touted as a highlight, since there would be no barking, though the roosters still come out in full force in the morning (or afternoon or whenever they feel like it).

I was looking forward to actually having a room to myself and perhaps even a nice one, but in spite of paying twice as much as the hostels (still only about $25-30), this was my first disappointing night of the trip. First, my reservation was lost, not that it really mattered, though, since there were only one or two other guests. Then, as the suspense built and a few words in the local language back and forth, she opened one of the doors, and I saw my room. It was tiny, very hot, featured a good bit of ants and a few geckos and two of the most uncomfortable single mattresses ever, pushed together under a large sheet to appear as a queen bed. Fortunately, the half-broken fan in the corner did provide a bit of relief, but I quickly decided that I wouldn't be spending too much time in the room. I was there for the island anyway, not the room, so it really wasn't a big deal.

I lathered on some sunscreen and prepared for a hike up to the peak of the highest hill on the islands, as it was supposed to provide a nice view of the lagoon and surrounding area. The hike started at someone's driveway, curved around behind their house, turning into a clearing for a tract of powerlines, then sort of disappeared into the tall grass, but it was still slightly visible, so I made my way up to the top in only about 15 or 20 minutes, so this wasn't quite the trek that I thought I was preparing for. The top did have some nice views of the outer islands and the water, along with the greenery and grasslands of the main island. I got back to the hotel and went to the only available restaurant in the area which was actually just a big deck in someone's back yard, and I had to interrupt the family's dinner to try to find a menu, which wasn't quite accurate. From a list of about 2 choices, I went with the fish and chips, which was actually very good, in between batting away the flies and mosquitoes.

The next day I woke up, got my $20 deposit back for the tiny lock they provided me for the door and jumped on the shuttle for the lagoon cruise, supposedly the highlight of the islands. About 25 of us boarded a pseudo-Polynesian boat that had set of tables and chairs underneath a covered deck, and then we started our tour...well, we actually went out a bit, got a call on the radio and realized that we had forgotten to pick up two more passengers on an outer island, so we had to turn back, but then we got going. The water in the middle of the lagoon was almost a glacial powder blue, clearing up in spots where you could see the reef and whenever you got near shore. We pulled up to our first island which one of the islands on which a recent Survivor series was filmed. This was another of those tiny islands surrounded on most sides by white sand with some palm trees hanging around the sides and thicker vegetation in the middle. After exploring a bit, the captain blew on the conch shell, indicating it was time for us to move on. Our next stop was the pearl of the lagoon: One Foot Island. This island is incredible, and it is the focus of almost every person's visit to Aitutaki. It has beautiful green water around, pristine white sand, tons and tons of palm trees, and a tiny post office where the worker can stamp your passport with a One Foot Island stamp, though I didn't get one. Excitedly, I was the first off the boat and was sent into a picture taking frenzy by the astounding scenery. I took pictures from the water, the beach, the water, the beach...everything looked so amazing. I've been to quite a few tropical beaches, but this definitely ranks near the top in terms of scenery.

The story of the island is that a local villager and his child were being chased by two men in canoes from a rival tribe. They chased them around the lagoon, and the man pulled up to One Foot Island. Now, the story diverges, but either: he had his son walk ahead of him on the beach into the woods and followed directly in his footsteps, leaving only one set of prints, or he put his son on his shoulders and walked into the woods, leaving only one set of prints. Either way, when the attackers came, they only saw one set of footprints, so they eventually found and killed the villager, but they didn't look for the son hiding in another tree, since they though only one person was on the island. The son survived and brought the story back to the village, and the local name means One Footprint - then translated to One Foot Island. Or...it kind of looks like the shape of a left foot from the air. Either way.

Whatever the story, the island is unbelievable. We spent about three hours walking around the island, taking pictures, relaxing in the tropical sun and eating lunch. One side of the small island is covered with shells and coral, and since I had given my sandals to that guy in the Tahiti airport, my bare feet forbade me to go much farther past the white sand part of the island. All in all, it would still probably only be about 20 or 30 minutes around the island. The glistening water was nice and warm, and a few fish could be seen every few minutes, just surveying the intruder into their paradise. I can't describe enough how beautiful this place is, so hopefully the pictures will do it justice. Also, our lunch was excellent - some marinated tuna (eventually a lot of it), salad, star fruit, fried bananas, sweet bread, papayas and more. I've also been doing well this trip in eating a lot of seafood, since I wasn't a big fan when I left, and this fish was great. This cruise also featured some local music by the workers and an instructional session on the different ways to tie a sarong, with the obligatory jokes as he tied the sarongs delicately around some sensitive areas of the amused tourists.

After we headed back across the lagoon, I headed straight for the airport and was able to get on the earlier flight back to Rarotonga. This was good in a sense, though I still had six hours to kill at the airport before flying back to Fiji. I walked around, found a hidden outlet to recharge my iPod and just sat around for a while. The airport has some nice benches with grass and open air in the middle, so I spent a lot of time staring at the moon and the stars as a pleasant breeze came through, making an almost perfect night, other than the large plane landing next to you (but that only happens about once a day). I also tried to work my magic on getting onto one of the computers available for the internet, but I couldn't quite crack the password. I tried Rarotonga, Cook Islands...everything. It must be something cryptic. Luckily I checked in a few hours early, as there were definitely some problems with my booking. This was the last leg of my island flights, and I had booked those separately from my main flights to New Zealand and Australia, so there was a problem since the system didn't recognize that I had an onward flight from Fiji. Many of these islands won't let you enter with just a one way ticket, and I didn't have the printout of my other flight receipts with me, so eventually I was just asked to climb over the conveyor belt, around the counter and into the back room of the Air New Zealand office. A group of guys were gathered around watching some rugby on tv, and I was put in front of one of the oldest looking computers ever and told that maybe I could find my reservations on email. Of course this computer wouldn't be able to use email, so I moved into the office and plush leather chair of one of the managers. Unfortunately, their computers are filtered, so I couldn't access my email or my itinerary. After many searches and assuring them that my flight to Auckland was on March 5, one of them finally found the booking in their antiquated system, which was under another listing, since I booked those flights separately, something I had mentioned to them a total of about 10 times. After 30 minutes in the back room, I was cleared to go, so I went back and waited for the ride back to Fiji. It was certainly a short stay, but the views of the Cook Islands and Aitutaki will definitely be unforgettable.