We spent the first week of our trip in Cook Islands. We planned a 10-day tour of Australia and used the stopover in the Cook Islands as a way to get use to the time change and split up the travel time. We had a wonderful time. Because we planned the stop in Rarotonga, we ended up on Air New Zealand from LAX, through Tahiti, to Rarotonga. It made a long trip from BWI in Baltimore. We later went on to Auckland NZ on our way to Sydney. Tahiti at daybreak was beautiful, but we only had 90 minutes at the airport, so we did not see much.

We stayed at the Castaway Beach Villas on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands for 6 nights at a beachfront villa. It was a small efficiency apartment right on the beach with lots of windows to get the fresh ocean breezes. The hotel only has 12 units but because it was low season only 3 to 5 units were in use during our 6-day stay. The only problem that caused was to limit the time the hotel bar and restaurant were open to just a few of the nights we were there. The staff was very helpful in booking two excursions for us and making restaurant recommendations and reservations.

The food was excellent every where we went on the island. If you love fresh sea food, this is the place. We had two excursions that provided pan seared fish either cooked on the boat or on the island which was excellent as well. Our villa had a refrigerator, stove, and hot water boiler. I only used the water boiler for coffee in the mornings. A light breakfast was provided, but it did not start until 8:30, so I made my coffee early. The unit had a large solar heater for hot water. Even though we were there for the last part of rainy season, we had plenty of hot water for showers.

The island is surrounded by a reef about 200 yards off shore which made for calmer waters near the beach. However, we could snorkel off our beach only at high tide and even then we had to be careful because of all the rocks, sea urchins and Stone Fish. There was a very small area to swim in as well at high tide. At low tide, you could walk out on to the rocks to see the fish swimming around you. You have to wear shoes in case you step on a Stone Fish. They are hard to see and can sting you. I could see them in the very shallow water while wading at low tide if I looked very carefully. We took the bus into town for dinner at Trader Jacks.

We took a half day excursion in Muri Lagoon where pontoon boat took us to a place to snorkel and to one of the small islands, or motus, for swimming, snorkeling and lunch. The boat captain was a lot of fun and an excellent cook. He went around the boat asking where people were from – Aussies, Kiwis (New Zealanders), and the UK. Then he stopped. I had to point out that we were there from America. Not many Americans must make it to the Cook Islands. We only met one other American the 6 days we were there.

Saturday was the big day for the local market in town. Black pearls are the specialty on the Cook Islands. Every 10 days, a small cruise ship, the Tahitian Princess I think, makes a port call. The cruise ship takes up all the excursions operators, so we went into town. Even with the ship in port, the market closed up at noon. We made a few purchase and went into town for lunch. That night we walked to another resort for an island night show of local dancing.

Everything just stops on Sunday. We went to church with another couple staying at our hotel. The service was mostly in Cook Island Maori, but the music was just beautiful. The raining season is also the hot season, and with no air conditioning, it was very hot in church. Everyone was invited to tea after the service, but not many non-islanders went. We went and had some nice food and conversation with the locals. The rest of the day we spent at our beach.

Everyone said we should go to Aitutaki for the day, so we did that as well on Monday. Aitutaki is a lovely group of islands with a lagoon inside the islands and the reef. It had the best looking water I have ever seen. It was an hour flight, then a bus ride around the island, then a boat trip to a snorkel stop. We had lunch on the boat which was excellent. Then we stopped at One Foot Island for swimming, looking around and enjoying the lagoon. It was just a special place.

We liked Muri Lagoon so much that we took a bus there on Tuesday, rented kayaks for $5 each and paddled over to an uninhabited motu. A few other people came by but we mostly had it to ourselves until the excursion pontoon boat came by for lunch. We then paddled back to the mainland for lunch. The snorkeling was good but not great. But we essentially had the place to ourselves and really enjoyed it. It is about 500 yards to the mainland, but he lagoon is only about 4 feet deep at the most.

March is the last month of the raining season, and the rain did not bother us much. On the day we took the bus to Muri Lagoon it started to pour just as we got to the lagoon. We waited for the rain to stop at a restaurant for about 20 minutes and the rest of the morning was sunny and warm. That is pretty much how the entire trip was. In February 2005, the island got hit by 5 cyclones in 3 weeks. I am sure they caused a lot of damage, but we did not notice any just a year later.