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Rarotonga

The capital island of cook island is RAROTONGA. Rarotonga is one of the youngest island in the Cook Islands southern group it is physically unlike its other volcanic neighbors where erosion and periodic submersions have reduced mountains to gentle hills. Rarotonga's central massif is the eroded remains of a once mighty volcanic pyramid whose crags now form sawtooth peaks and razorback ridges covered with tropical jungle. These are separated by streams running down steep valleys.

Rarotonga is the main island which makes up the 15 beautiful islands of the Cook Islands. An idyllic tropical island surrounded by reef that shelters the lagoon, with many varieties of tropical fish and turquoise water that laps against the white sandy beaches - this is paradise!

Rarotonga

Rarotonga is a lush, beautiful place, fringed with beaches and crowned with mountains at its centre. Two concentric roads ring the island, and most of its attractions are on or near one of them. Situated on the western coast, Άrorangi was the first mission-built village on the island.

Palm studded white sandy beaches fringe most of the island and there is a popular cross island walk that connects Avatiu valley with the south side of the island. This walk passes Te Rua Manga, the prominent Needle shaped rock visible from the air and some coastal areas.

The island stands 14,750 feet (4500m) above the ocean floor. It is 20 miles (32k) in circumference. At a depth of 13,000 feet (4000m) the volcano is some 31 miles (50k) in diameter. The highest peak is 2140 feet (658m) above sea level and the island is surrounded by a lagoon which extends several hundred yards to the reef which then slopes steeply to deep water.
    Around the central mountainous area of this beautiful island is a narrow band of agricultural terraces and flats which, in turn, is encircled by a ring of swamps used largely for growing taro.
    The climate is equable. Rarotonga is the second furthest south of the Cooks group and is almost exactly opposite Honolulu in relative latitude -- just inside the Tropic of Capricorn. It enjoys temperatures of between 64ºF (18ºC) and 82ºF (28ºC) in the southern winter which is May to October, and between 70ºF (21ºC) and 84ºF (29ºC) in the summer which spans November to April. The wet season is normally January to early May. Severe weather is seldom experienced. However, the El Nino weather pattern in early 2005 and an increase in sea temperatures near the Equator resulted in five cyclones in three weeks in February 2005.

The island's present-day name stems from 'raro' meaning 'down' and 'tonga' meaning 'south'. The most popular version of its origin is that the famous Tahitian navigator, Iro, visited it once and some years later while on Mauke he met Tangiia who asked where he was going. Iro replied: 'I am going down to the south.' The Samoan voyager, Karika, is also reputed to have called it Rarotonga when he first saw it from the north-east because it was to leeward -- 'raro' -- and towards the south -- 'tonga'.
    In 1997 Japanese archaeologists unearthed a previously unknown 'marae' -- sacred site -- on Motu Tapu, an islet in the lagoon at Ngatangiia. This is estimated to be 1500 years old which would put settlement much earlier than the legend of the arrival of Kainuku Ariki. Based on the evidence of fires, archaeologists have estimated that there was human life on Rarotonga about 5000 years ago.

Rarotonga is divided into 12 districts, the first six of which constitute the capital, Avarua, and the others villages:

Pue - Matavera
Tupapa - Maraerenga
Takuvaine - Parekura
Tutakimoa - Teotue
Avatiu - Ruatonga
Nikao - Panama
Ruaau - Arorangi
Akaoa - Arorangi
Murienua - Arorangi
Titikaveka - Takitumu
Ngatangiia - Muri
Matavera

Rarotonga

Rarotonga only has two bus routes: Clockwise & Anti-Clockwise . Although they have bus stops, the bus drivers drive around picking up anyone they see and dropping them off when the passengers want them to.
The Cooks Islands have a 3-Dollar bill in circulation .
The travel writer Robert Dean Frisbie died on the island, after having lived there only briefly.
The central peak of the Island is known as Te Rua Manga, 'the needle'.
The 1995 album Finn by The Finn Brothers ends with the song "Kiss the Road of Rarotonga", which was inspired by a motorcycle accident that Tim Finn had during a visit there.
One of the "tribes" in the U.S. Television series Survivor: Cook Islands was named for the Island
The Mexican rock band Café Tacuba has a song on their first album called Rarotonga, but the song title refers instead to a female jungle-dwelling character in a comic book by Antonio Gutierrez
The island is surrounded by a lagoon, which extends several hundred yards (meters) to the reef, which then slopes steeply to deep water. The reef fronts the shore to the north of the island, making the lagoon there unsuitable for swimming and watersports, but to the south east, particularly around Muri, the lagoon is at its widest and deepest. This part of the island is the most popular with tourists because of the suitability of the lagoon for swimming, snorkelling and boating. Agricultural terraces, flats, and swamps surround the central mountain area.
The interior of the island is dominated by eroded volcanic peaks cloaked in dense vegatation. Sealed and unsealed roads allow access to valleys but the interiour of the island remains largely unpopulated due to forbidding terrain and lack of infrastructure.
A large tract of land has been set aside in the south east as the Takitumu Conservation Area to protect the islands native birds and plants, namely the Rarotonga Flycatcher, Kakerori.

Getting There

Rarotonga is the entry point for the Cook Islands by air. From Rarotonga international airport Air Rarotonga flies to most of the other 15 islands in the group.

	Sydney Opera House
	Uluru
	Great Barrier Reef
	Jenolan Caves
	Blue Mountain

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