Carolina Kiwis: Into The Heart Of Raro

Sunday

We were up early on our last day in Raro, in time to watch the local Maori guys grooming the beach at The Edgewater. Mark & Ro moseyed down to breakfast while Sherry stayed behind to finally wash all the accumulated sand out of her hair! We found Kelsea and her family already eating, and they invited us to join them; Ro and Kelsea sat in the same chair, of course. Sherry showed up as they were leaving, and we continued grazing on fresh fruit and hot buttered croissants and toast, washed down with Paw Paw juice.

Ro looks skeptical of his toast, but later stole more from Sherry's plate

Sherry finally tries the starfruit for the first time while Ro digs into the coconut

After breakfast, we swung by The Edgewater's souvenir shop to pick up some stamps and a couple of t-shirts, then got ready to head out for a tramp. There's lots of trails on Rarotonga, most of which were too long or steep for Ro to handle, but the Avana Walk down near Muri Beach looked to be about our speed. We stopped by a couple of stores on the way to pick up stuff for a picnic lunch, one of which had a huge outrigger canoe suspended from the ceiling.

Mark & Ro by The Edgewater's goldfish pond

Sherry just had to get this shirt!

Ro ready to roll

Sherry led the way anti-clockwise to the opposite side of Raro, and turned onto Avana Drive more out of sheer luck than because we could read the miniscule road signs. The unsealed road wound up past some increasingly modest homes, and we got a bit of a scare when a falling coconut thunked on the ground right next to us. A couple of guys on scooters ahead of us parked their bikes alongside the road and continued on foot. We soon discovered why, as we rode past pigs, chickens, and even a cow on a road that gradually turned into a rocky dirt path. For fear of completely trashing our scooters, we finally gave up on the idea of riding all the way to the top. Good thing, too, as the trail soon became pretty steep and bumpy, with coconut-sized rocks strewn along it.

Starting up Avana Drive

We decided to finally park our bikes after maneuvering around this cow

As the trail led into the tropical forest covering the volcanic peaks of Raro's interior, we discovered that we were going to get wet on this hike! The path winds back and forth across a stream...no bridges. The first couple of crossings, we were able to scramble from rock to rock, but then our pseudo-bridges ran out. We were afraid that Ro would slip and get soaked if we let him ford the increasingly deeper streams, so we elected to carry him across a few of them. But, Ro is getting big, and Mark's neck wasn't going to last all the way up and down the trail, so we finally gave in and let Ro splash through the streams to his heart's content. He had been lollygagging and whining a little before we had him fording the streams, but once he got wet he caught his second wind and acted like he was Bear Grylls from Man vs Wild, his favorite show. Fortunately, he didn't fall in and we made it safe, sound, and relatively dry to the top of the valley.

Rock-hopping across a stream

Ro enjoying the Avana Walk from up high

Ro gazes longingly at the clear, inviting stream

Ro stops sucking his lolly long enough to pose

Upon reaching the end of the trail in a little over an hour, we had a nice view of the valley behind us. We couldn't go any higher because we were at the intake for one of the island's water mains, and human activity was banned above it. We stopped and ate the lunch we had brought - fruit, raw veggies, and salami & cheese sandwiches. Ro tripped running down the trail, skinning his side and eliciting a few crocodile tears, but no serious harm done. Good thing, too; between the treacherous potholes, falling asleep on the back of the scooter, vicious pit bulls, near-drowning, and falling coconuts, we were counting Ro's Rarotongan brushes with death on two hands at this point.

Sherry near the end of the Avana Walk

Ro flashing his battle scars

At the top of our tramp

Sherry & Ro enjoying the warm sun as we eat lunch

Ro & Sherry taking a breather on the way down

Ro going for a big two-footed splash!

Ro fording one of about 15 streams

Back in the saddle

Avana Drive joins the Ara Tapu (main road) at the north end of Muri Beach, near the historical embarkation point for the original Cook Island Maori canoes that populated New Zealand, so it was just a short jaunt down the road to a nice beach access point between Sails Restaurant and the posh Te Vakaroa Villas (>NZ$600 per night). The lagoon surrounding Raro is at its widest and deepest at Muri Beach, and there are 4 coral islets in the lagoon. You can take a glass bottom boat cruise around the lagoon, but at low tide you can just walk across. The beach itself is nice and flat, with lots of soft, pristine white sand. It's widely considered the best swimming beach on the island (there are others better for snorkelling). Ro was easily coaxed into the crystal clear lagoon much farther out from the shore than he's ever gone in any body of water before. He made it his personal goal to make it out to one of the marker buoys, and sure enough he did.

The Hills on Muri Beach. Straightening this pic would have cut Mark's foot off :(

Ro letting Mark lead him out to the buoy. Koromiri islet in background

Perched in his new favorite climbing tree, Ro struck up a conversation with a gray-haired lady sitting nearby. His first question to her was, "How old are you?" Her deft reply, humoring him, "How old is your grandmother?" Sherry's mom is actually quite young, so this question confused Ronan a bit and he eventually left her alone. Mark tried wading out as far as he could and discovered that the water was only chest high on him halfway across the lagoon. He came back to see if Sherry and Ro wanted to go across to one of the islets with Ro on Mark's shoulders, but they were having enough fun on Muri Beach. So, with his camera tucked underneath his Carolina baseball cap, Mark began his trek across the lagoon. There was lots of coral on the seabed in the channel, so he swam most of the way even though he could have stood up. Getting out onto the beach of Koromiri islet was an adventure in pain, as Mark wound up on the northern shore which was strewn with coral. Next time we'll remember reef shoes! Tiptoeing his way to the luxuriously smooth, sandy part of the beach facing Raro, he began exploring the island. There is a small black pearl farm there, and a few picnic tables, but otherwise it's mostly deserted except for the handful of sunbathers seeking solitude.

Coral beach on north side of Koromiri islet

Rarotonga from Koromiri islet

Rarotonga from Koromiri islet

Mark on Koromiri. Taakoka islet (L) and Muri Beach in background

Meanwhile, Sherry bought Ro an ice cream at Sails Restaurant. We were going to eat dinner there, as it was supposedly pretty good, but Sherry wanted to get a little closer to our resort since we'd be drinking. Ro then started dancing to the music playing at Capt Tama's AquaSportz Centre, a small shack where you could rent windsurf boards, snorkelling gear, sea kayaks, etc... The laid-back surfer-dude employees were sitting around drinking beer, laughing as Ro gyrated to the music on their porch, dancing with a kayak paddle like it was Ginger Rogers. They even played a slow song just to see what he would do, then a fast one, and he adjusted his tempo seamlessly.

Ro eating ice cream beachside at Sails

Dancing with a kayak paddle at Capt Tama's

Ro on Muri Beach. Taakoka islet in background

As Mark walked back across the lagoon from the south end of Koromiri, where the lagoon was wider but with a sandier bottom, still taking care not to step on all the sea cucumbers, he came across a large coral maybe 10ft in diameter. He froze in place and was soon swarmed by a myriad of brightly colored tropical fish. Truly magical! When he finally reached the shore of Muri Beach, Ro came running down the beach to meet him, anxious to show Mark the cool rock he had found. Ro then occupied himself with adding to the huge sand drawings another boy had done, loudly and comically directing pedestrian traffic around them.

Ro rushing to greet Mark after crossing the lagoon

Ro drawing on Muri Beach. Taakoka islet in background

Ro loved climbing inside the twisted root system of this tree

Although we loved Muri Beach, it began getting dark, and we didn't relish the idea of scanning for potholes at night. So, we packed up our things and headed for home. Stopping to fill the scooters up with petrol before we turned them in, Mark got his change in Cook Island dollar coins, featuring the, ahem..."distinctive" silhouette of Tangaroa. He figured they'd make useful souvenirs for the folks back home. We tried stopping at Vaima Restaurant, but it was closed (lots of places are closed on Sunday here). We reached Aro'a beach on the southwest coast just as the sun was setting, so we veered onto the shoulder and ran onto the beach to snap some pics in the maybe 30-second window we had. This was the first cloud-free sunset we'd seen here. Simply breathtaking, very reminiscent of Darwin. We then continued on, but Ro wanted to ride with Mark for the first time (probably because Mark passed them on the road a few minutes prior), rationalizing that Daddy was now "faster." Up until that point, Ro delighted every time Sherry would pass a bicyclist or another scooter, exclaiming "We're winning the race!" or "I love you, Mommy! You're the fastest!" Mark soon discovered the frustration Sherry had been dealing with having Ro on the back of her scooter, as he constantly shifted around without warning, pinched our sides trying to grab hold, rubbed his runny nose on our backs, etc...

Rolling out after a day of fun in the sun

Sunset Sunday evening

Ro & Sherry on Aro'a Beach at sunset

Just south of The Edgewater on our way home was Tumunu Tropical Garden Bar & Restaurant, which we'd heard was good, so we stopped in for a bite. Sort of like a tropical sports bar, but with MUCH better food. The walls were decorated with flags, jerseys, and various pics and postcards from around the world. Mark had the Surf N' Shore (ribeye, calamari sticks, and shrimp) which was excellent, Sherry the Vegetarian Platter, and Ro the chicken nuggets. Most surprising, though, was that Ro tried one of Mark's shrimp - the first time he'd ever eaten it...and liked it! Well, it's not that surprising considering they were delicious, but he's finally realizing that there are things his mother doesn't like that he just might. As we sat around finishing our wine, Ro drew on the chalkboards that they use for darts every Tuesday night.

Sherry spots a SF Giants sign at Tumunu. Sorry, no A's stuff

Ro finds the pepper mill and menu at Tumunu fascinating

"How is an artiste expected to draw with this miniscule piece of chalk?"

It was a short trip back to The Edgewater; Ro ran straight up to Kelsea's room, but...GASP!...nobody was there. Ro was crestfallen! It didn't take long for us to guess where they were, and sure enough, we found Kim & Mark and Tracy & Josh at The Brasserie having after-dinner drinks. We ordered a few ourselves and sat around talking the night away while the kids played. There was also another gentleman sitting with us, Wally, a retired Brit who entertained us all with his bawdy tales from his days in the merchant marine, and serving as a purser on the Queen Mary. Mark and Mark stayed up for one more beer when the wives and kids adjourned back to the rooms, then it was off to bed for us all as we had an early start in the morning.