Arrived on our final Cook island on Sunday, a short 45 minute plane journey. First impression of Rarotonga is that it’s much busier and bigger than Aitutaki, and a lot more holiday resorts, accommodation etc. Our airbnb is lovely, nice to get a good well equipped property for our last stay before heading home. Wow 5 months nearly over!
Day 1 we took a stroll down to the main road, got some groceries and organised a hire car which we pick up on Wednesday for 8 days. Then went and chilled on the local Muri beach and watched the world go by.
Day 2 we went back to Muri beach to swim and sunbathe, then had a couple of happy hour cocktails at a nice beach bar and finished the day with some food at the local night markets which serve an array of tasty food at very reasonable prices.
Day 3 picked up our car and went for a little drive to a different beach Aroa, which was much easier for swimming at, because Muri has lots of rocks and coral to navigate and is also quite shallow apart from high tide. Day 4 we went on a tour of the island. It’s basically got one main road that just circles the island. The capital Avarua is a reasonably big and bustling town, so we’ll probably go back and explore that one day when the weather isn’t so great, which looks the case over the easter weekend.
We then found Black Rock beach which is absolutely delightful, so spent the rest of the day there. A good beach for snorkelling and swimming. Found a great beach bar on the way home Shipwreck beach bar. The location is one to die for. Then managed to find a place to hire some snorkel gear so we’re set for the next few days now.
The last few days have basically been up and down to Black Rock beach, mainly because a weather system has come in on the Muri side, 35 mph winds straight off the sea plus plenty of showers. There is a big spine of hills and rain forest right through the middle of the island which blocks some of the weather getting across to the northern side, which means by and large we’ve been able to enjoy some blue skies and sunshine at Black Rock. We give the car back on Thursday and thankfully forecast looks better for the last few days.
Also went to Maire Nui gardens and Wigmore waterfall for some extra sightseeing and visited Avarua town and the saturday market which were nice days out, although the waterfall didn’t compare to the wonderful waterfalls we’ve seen across New Zealand.
More beach days over the last few days, mainly up to Black Rock or Aroa and the Shipwreck Beach bar, where we had fish and chips on the beach and watched a lovely sunset last night. Really feels like we’re just really chilling out now on our last few days of this magnificent trip. Sunbathing, swimming and snorkelling, what’s not to like about that.
Spent our last day on Rarotonga at Muri beach lagoon. Unfortunately it was quite windy which meant it wasn’t very good for snorkelling, but the sun was out for most of the day. In the evening we went to Te Vara Nui which is a cultural village. They put on a show and buffet most evenings, which is very good. The buffet food is excellent, much better than I was expecting, and the dance show is entertaining.
So tomorrow we start the long journey home, stopping in Kuala Lumpur for 2 nights to break up the journey, so it means this chronicle of our 5 month adventure is pretty much done and dusted. Hope you’ve enjoyed following and we’ll be back when we set off again in August for a tour of Breece and some of the islands.
