Day 52, Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

We arrived at Rarotonga Island around 6:30 this morning.  Until recently I didn’t realize that Cook Islands is the name for the 15 islands that collectively are the “Cook Islands”  We will be visiting Rarotonga which is  the largest and most populous of the 15  islands.   In the past I mistakenly referred to Rarotonga as Cook Island.   The city on Rarotonga we will be tendering to is Avarua which is the largest city in Cook Islands as well as its capital. 

This port is always a challenging tender port and it has a higher probability of being cancelled than many others.  We have been here twice before so the consequences of cancellation were not the same for us as they might have been for a new port like Easter Island. 

PRIOR VISITS

During our first visit in 2016 we arrived a little late and played mini- golf at Coco Putt and walked along one of the beaches.  During our 2018 visit we rented a car and drove around the island, visiting some beaches and other sights, along with a beer tasting at the Matutu Brewery . 

Here are the links to our previous visits. 

Today’s plan was to spend more time in the downtown  Avarua area, see a few museums and then stop by a grocery store near the tender

TENDERING ASHORE

Tender tickets would start to be passed out at 8 AM.  I went down to get in line at 7:30 AM.  I was around number 50.  Once the line started moving at 8 AM it went very quickly and I got “Orange 6”. 

The first 3 numbers were called at 8:11 AM.  Our number, “Orange 6” was called at 8:48 AM.  We headed down to Deck A where we joined the end of a long line.  As it turned out, we were the last people to board this tender and we were soon on our way.  The tender ride took 7 minutes. 

At the end of the pier is a Tourist Information table with maps and staff available to answer questions.  There is a bus stop nearby with 2 routes, clockwise and anti clockwise.  The bus comes every hour and there is a schedule in the map that is handed out at the tourist table. 

NOTE:  The bus fare is $5 NZD and for $8 NZD you can get a roundtrip ticket and for $16 NZD you can get an all day ticket for unlimited rides.  They accept USD, but only at an even exchange so you will pay a stiff premium for using USD.  The bus driver has a cash box and can make change.  There isn’t a call system to tell the driver when you want to get off.  Tell the driver your destination when you board and shout out your desires as you get closer to the destination.  Here is a link to the bus company website.

Taxis are also available here and the minimum fare is $15.  They don’t have meters, so be sure to negotiate in advance.  Later in the afternoon we were charged $40 to go to Muri Beach on the opposite side of the island. 

The weather was pleasant as we turned left after leaving the tender pier and headed into town.  Along the way we came across the Punanga Nui Market with a lot of booths for vendors.  .  The market is open Saturday mornings and Thursday evenings but there may be a few vendors around at other times. 

I got some New Zealand currency from an ATM.  They charged 12 NZD for the transaction plus my bank charges a $1 fee.  The bottom line is I ended up paying $131.71 for 200 NZD.  The pure bank rate charge would have been $123.95 or about 6% less.  Not too bad.  Travelex was charging $145.16 for the same amount.   The ship was charging $138USD.  

The “downtown” area is about ¾ of a mile from the tender landing.  Here you will find an Avis car rental, a grocery store, a department store and a variety of restaurants, souvenir shops and jewelry stores.  If you are simply looking to do some shopping, there isn’t any reason to venture any further than here.  We spent about an hour browsing the local tourist shops and grocery store before continuing on toward the Cook Island Museum. 

The Cook Islands Museum is about 1 ¼  miles from the ship and ½ mile from the downtown area.  As we walked along the main street the sign for the museum is hard to miss.  The museum is about 300 yards down this road. 

The museum is in the back of the small library and consists of one large room full of displays and artifacts.  The building is not airconditioned and it was pretty hot inside during our visit.  There are a few chairs near a TV by the entrance where they show a 30-minute video about the history of the South Pacific.  Admission is $6 NZD.  The museum was OK, but I would put it lower on your list of things to do. 

We missed the bus to continue around the island and didn’t want to wait another hour, so we asked the librarian if she would call a taxi for us and she obliged.  About 10 minutes later we were on our way toward the Te Ara Museum located on the other side of the island near Muri Beach.  The cab ride cost $40 NZD. 

TE ARA MUSEUM

We wanted to grab a bite to eat so we headed into the LBV café, right next to the Te Ara Museum.  But before I could find a menu, a departing guest warned us that it was not very good and we should go elsewhere.  Not wanting to take a chance we walked across the street to a restaurant called Deli-Licious, but it was closed for the month.  Our only option now was to go back to the Te Ara Museum and get something from their café, which had a very limited menu.  We ordered a Chicken Butter Pot pie that they heated up.  It was pretty good, but you wouldn’t want to come here just for the food. 

Admission to the museum was $15 NZD and we spent about 20 minutes going thru the exhibits which showed the history of the Island and the indigenous people.  There were only 2 large rooms to see, and while well done, it was pretty small for the price. 

The next bus back to town on the clockwise route was supposed to arrive at 2:17 PM, but it ended up arriving 25 minutes late at 2:42 PM.  While waiting for the bus, I went back inside the museum to ask if the buses always ran late.  They said that a few minutes late was normal, but what we experienced was out of the ordinary. 

CITC SUPERMARKET

Forty-five minutes later we arrived at the stop closest to the Tender pier, which happens to also be across the street from the CITC supermarket.  We walked thru the supermarket and picked up some Tim Tams and a jar of peanut butter.  We were looking for beef jerky, but didn’t find any. 

After a short walk from the grocery store, we were back at the tender pier and on our way back to the Amsterdam.

A THOUSAND STEPS

Tonight’s entertainment was the Holland America Singers and Dancers performing the show “A Thousand Steps” featuring some wonderful dancing and popular classics such as Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics.