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10/12/2006
Easy way to be a Survivor in the Cook Islands!
On a recent trip to the Cook Islands, we had our last meal at the Pacific Resort on the island of Aitutaki. This is a view from the dining room - it must be incredible at sunset!
What a beautiful resort! The Pacific Resort Aitutaki has only been open for four years. It is lushly landscaped and luxuriously appointed - and much less to stay at than resorts of similar quality on other islands in the South Pacific.
A must while on Aitutaki is a lagoon cruise - the lagoon is so incredible that visitors to Rarotonga take a day trip over to the island just to go on there! The fish are abundent, and when you snorkel they may school around you while you check out the giant clams, pearl oysters, octopi and other marine life.
Most lagoon cruises include lunch on the beach - ours was with a group who had worked with the Survivor cast and crew - do you think they copied the ingenious method of making dishes from the locals?
If I were to go back to the Cooks I think I'd spend an extra night on Aitutaki, go on two lagoon cruises, and stay at this resort.
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10/04/2006
Survivor Island - Aitutaki
For the first time since it's been on television, I'm hooked on Survivor - mainly because we were there the week after the Survivor crew left! I have to say I get a huge chuckle every time they mention how difficult it is to face the elements there -- we were there in their "winter" when the average daily temperature is in the high 70's. The breezes are soft and warm and the most extra clothing you would want might be a sweater at night.
Most of those (about 50%) who visit the Cook Islands are from New Zealand and Australia. The next largest group is from Europe, mostly Germans. Only 12% of those who visit are from the US, so you're not likely to run into a whole lot of Americans while you are there. We went to an Island night at the Edgewater Hotel on Rarotonga and out of a couple hundred people were the only folks from the US. When we finally ran into some other US citizens it was on Aitutaki - we found two ex-patriots, one of whom made a classic comment about surviving in the Cook Islands - he said you'd have to be really lazy to have any trouble doing so as there is an abundance of fish inside the reefs, bananas waiting to be picked and coconuts falling off the trees all over the islands. There are no poisonous snakes and no other animal hazards with the exception of stone fish, which one simply has to avoid stepping on. In other words, life is good.
So, you can see whyI have to laugh when I hear about surviving the elements on Survivor!
I'm also amused by the pictures of sharks they show swimming in the water as the depth inside the reefs is too shallow for them. Justs outside the reef is a different story, though!
We're from Portland, Oregon, and we did run into two American couples who were tourists, both on Aitutaki - each of them lived within a 45 minute drive of where we live! How bizarre is that??
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