RORATUNGA - Cook Islands

Until this trip was planned I had no idea where Roratunga was.  The Cook Islands cover a vast

area in the south pacific, with dozens of little islands dotted far and wide. Our trip was a nine hour night flight from LA which I didn't mind one bit and we did manage to sleep. We were met at the airport by Sunny, our host/owner of the apartments where we were booked in for three nights. First glimpse of the island revealed shimmering blue, green sea, white sand and big coconut trees. The island is small with one main road running the perimeter for around 25 miles.

Sunny drove us to our 'apartment' which was in fact a wooden chalet and put me in mind of the caravan sites on the east coast where I spent lots of very happy summer holidays. Inside there was a mini kitchen complete with calor gas for cooking. Bathroom and bedroom were more than adequate; but the balcony/deck really did sell the whole deal. Looking directly over a lagoon, with the crashing sea beyond. It was quite spectacular and a cock crowing at 6.00 am every morning didn't bother us, in fact it was the perfect cue to get me out of bed and wait for the stunning sunrise, which I did manage to capture. 

The island feels like a place frozen in time and I liked it.  From LA, where every other person is either speaking into a mobile device while on the move or sitting looking at one, it came as a refreshing change to witness people actually speaking to one another in cafes and sitting on benches outside local shops.  Nobody seemed to be in any great hurry. We stopped off one day for lunch at a roadside café,  Ray had a burger, I wasn't that hungry and ordered a portion of chips. They came laced with salt, which I found out later was chicken salt, no vinegar, and they were delicious. The chicken salt is an australasia thing and absolutely loaded with calories containing everything bad for you.
 

Being an old biker Ray's first port of call was the rental shop to hire a scooter; It worked out at about £15.00 per day which we thought very reasonable. September is classed as winter in Roratunga and the locals were all wrapped up in jackets and hats while riding their scooters going about their daily business. We found several places to eat and a trip to the supermarket showed that the majority of food gets imported from New Zealand and Australia. The road around the island varied from quite flat to bumpy to 'I shouldn't be on this bike.'  But, it was all good fun and took us back to our youth riding our bikes in Bermuda. You could ride along spot a deserted beach hop off and go for a swim... that's what I call free and easy. We got caught in a few rainy showers but mostly the weather was a balmy 75 to 80 degrees and only got a little cooler in the evening.

We arranged to go out to a local hotel where they hold an Island Extravagana twice a week. It was fantastic and set within the grounds of a posh resort. The evening included a fab dinner/buffet and island show with fire eaters and exceptionally good native dancers and musicians. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole evening and it was well worth the money. It worked out to around £50.00 each.

Roratunga is a beautiful place with a mix of upmarket houses and dilapidated pre-fab type bungalows lining the road. We did venture up into the interior where I was surprised to find quite a few houses, newly built on big plots.

We left Roratungs all too soon and had to sit in the airport for about three hours. We'd been able to stay in our accommodation until 6.00 pm but our flight wasn't until 11.30 pm so once we'd been out to eat we had a few hours to kill and the airport lounge area was open plan and unfortunately that night threatened a storm. I was frozen and ended up sitting in the disabled loo reading my book, where it was nice and warm.

We set off for Brisbane full of excitement. It had been nearly two years and we couldn't wait to see our girl.