The Great Pacific Adventure - Rarotonga

It's an odd feeling, something approaching culture shock, as our wind-battered aircraft touches down on Rarotonga's airstrip, which sits on the northern coast of the little island, parallel to the crystal-blue seas.  We've left Los Angeles, with its metropolitan population topping 13 million, and arrived in Avarua, national capital of the Cook Islands, and home to 5,445 souls.  The weather is a far cry from the holiday brochures, warm rain tumbling from the skies, and gales viciously bending the surrounding palm trees into new and unusual shapes.  The arrival committee, however, is far more welcoming, and in a lovely local gesture of friendship, we have gardenia garlands placed around our necks as we exit the airport.  There's really only two words you must know here - Kia Orana, as the locals greet natives and visitors alike, meaning "may you live a long and fulfilling life."  I think we're going to like it here.

Our hotel is a self-contained flat sitting just off Muri beach in the island's southeast corner.  Off the beach, the sapphire-blue Muri lagoon is separated from the Pacific Ocean by the coral reefs that surround the entirely of the island.  Here also sit four tree-shrouded motu - little uninhabited islands - which add structure and perspective to the scene.  Save for the venomous stonefish, which is easily avoided by wearing proper footwear in the water, there's no animal here that can kill, maim, or otherwise eat you - it's surely as close as one can ever get to actual paradise.

Our time on Rarotonga is short, and we wish to see both forest and coast on our visit, and so we hop aboard a 4x4 tour, courtesy of Raro Safari Tours, which offers excursions into the island's mountainous interior.  We're not talking any great distance here - at its widest, the island is not seven miles across, and a visit into the middle is half that distance again.  Along the way, we are shown fascinating pineapple and mango plantations, and significant cultural sites such as the Toka Akamaaraanga, a place from which ancestors embarked in little canoes, bound for new islands.  Exploration is a deep-rooted part of the Polynesian heritage, and Rarotongans are proud of the role they played in discovering the islands of the Pacific (which eventually, of course, led to the discovery of New Zealand) long before Europeans arrived in these waters.  Up in the mountains, the tracks are treacherous after the rains, but our driver (who calls himself 'V') soldiers on in the jeep, and we ascend through the mists until we are atop the second-highest point on the island.  From here, the view is exhilarating - lush forest all around, a glimpse of the sea below, and the island's highest point, a granite outcrop called "the needle," just visible through the thickening fog.  Just knowing that we are on nothing more than a speck of land in the middle of the enormous Pacific Ocean is both humbling and invigorating.  I even fancy I can see Captain James Cook and the HMS Endeavor anchored off the shore.

The Muri Lagoon, which has the intriguing property of becoming more beautiful with every look, turns even more azure as the wind and rain dies away, and eventually we are given a full taste of the beautiful South Pacific.  In such a climate, there's only one one thing to do, and so armed with snorkel mask and reef shoes, we set fourth into Pacific waters.  We don't go out too far - perhaps up to waist-height - and although the mainstay of the reef lies further out, we are still treated to a few corals, some dainty fish, and the odd sea slug.  The reef has one other secret that I only learn once the wind has dropped - for our entire time on the island, there's been a constant distant roar, like an aeroplane flying high overhead.  I had put this down to the sound of gales, but realised when swimming in the lagoon that it was actually the waves crashing against the reef edge half-a-mile or so away, a constant thunder in the background.

On our final evening on Rarotonga, we venture up to the nearby Te Vara Nui, the Island Nights cultural tour.  We're taken around a purpose-built centre to learn about the island's history, religion, social government, medicine, fishing, costumes, and coconuts (the 'tree of life.')  After this fascinating tour, we are seated for a buffet dinner, before a full show of dancing, drumming and fire, playing out the story of Tongaiti, a voyaging warrior who sailed into Rarotonga, sending his daughter to marry the island's chief so that Tongaiti and his family would be welcomed. Really, a fascinating watch, and a wonderful display of history and humanity - the perfect memory to take away from our time here.

No sooner has our plane touched down in Avarua, then we are queuing up to board our onward flight.  We've had an unbelievable few days, and grown remarkably accustomed to the stunning lagoon right on our doorstep, the friendly and welcoming locals, and tropical feel.  In Rarotonga, we've found an island that ticks off every reason for travel - an amazing place, well worthy of many more days exploration, and somewhere that neither of us will ever - ever - forget.