Ever been lying on a lounger on a beautiful tropical island beach, living your best life, your partner off for a swim or to get a drink, only to look up and find a stranger standing over your partner’s empty lounger…staring? They’re wearing sunglasses so you can’t tell where they’re looking, but they touch your partner’s towel. The whole thing is weird. You say, “Sorry?”. The stranger sort of jerks back, apologises profusely, claims they’re blind and didn’t see you scuttles off. Weird, awkward moment.
I’m the stranger. The awkward person making this poor guy’s life confusing is me. Whoops.
In my defence, he was in the palm tree’s shade and the sun was very bright, I had no hope of seeing him. I’d come out of the sea from my swim a little too far to the left and got a bit disorientated.
I’m sure he’s forgotten about me already and definitely didn’t relay that uncomfortable encounter to his partner or anyone else. I definitely won’t be thinking about this encounter at 3am a year from now. Yeah, I’m sure we’ll all forget about this moment.
ANYWAY, I’m on Rarotonga! A gorgeous slice of paradise in the Pacific Ocean. Staying at the Pacific Resort on the Muri lagoon and soaking up the rays.
It’s the third week of June, which means it’s time for my winter break. Because I’m an accountant, I plan all my holidays that are less than a month long around month ends. For those not in the know, month end is the what we in the biz think of as our ‘busy time’. Weeks 2 and 3 are when I can disappear for a week without missing deadlines!
This is my third year in a row on biggest island in the Cook Islands, in this resort. Normally I come alone but this year I invited my Ouma (grandmother) to join me.
When I come to Rarotonga, I come with every intention of doing nothing except reading, a bit of writing and a whole lot of lying on the beach. It’s a proper holiday.
I always come back to the same resort because the service is good, the beds are comfortable and I know my way around. Figuring out the lay of the land in a new place is a little anxiety inducing, so familiarity is something I value on my Raro breaks. This is not a holiday where I want to push my boundaries or be challenged.
Ouma and I went to the night market for dinner most evenings. The food there is top notch and fresh. Pork is a popular menu item – sticky pork ribs, pulled pork tacos, bbq pork chops – and delicious in every form. I don’t like seafood (limits my options on an island, I know!) but Ouma does, and she enjoyed her seafood dishes very much. Whichever stall we went to at the market, we got massive servings. I think I only finished one meal entirely. At NZD 20 – 25 per plate, Prices aren’t bad either, especially considering how much food you get.
The island music playing loud and long tables that are shared gives the market a fun, relaxed vibe. Everyone is friendly and there to enjoy themselves. If you’re visiting the island, swinging by the market for a feed is definitely worth it.
The night market runs from 5pm on Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday. We found that Sunday was by far the busiest night, the tables were absolutely packed. We also found, if you don’t get there early enough, some dishes – or even entire stalls – won’t be available any more because they’ve run out of food.
I take my policy of doing nothing while on my Raro break very seriously, but this was Ouma’s first time on the island so I thought it would be good to take her to the Te Vara Nui Village’s Spectacular Over Water Night Show & Buffet. It lived up to its name. The buffet is excellent, with a range of seafood, meat and vegetarian dishes so everyone can find something they like. I liked that the labels for the food were large text and the lighting was exactly right so I could actually read them!
The show was the legend of Tongaiti, told through narration and dance. My favourite part was the fire dancers. We were encouraged to sit at the edge of the deck for the best possible view, so with my toes hanging over the water I could see the entire stage with no obstruction. I wasn’t close enough to see anyone’s faces (t have to be uncomfortably close for that) but the lighting was comfortable for me and I could see enough of the dancer’s movements to appreciate the art. Both Ouma and I agree we got our money’s worth and consider it an evening well spent.
Other than the show and the night market, I spent most of my time lying on the beach listening to an audiobook because I can’t read in the sun, taking breaks only to go for a swim in the crystal clear sea. I didn’t see any fish – not because they’re not there, Ouma saw plenty – but I could most of the rocks to avoid them. It was really shallow this year, the water never got higher than my chest. There’s a chance I didn’t walk out far enough but it felt plenty far.
Normally, I would got for a walk or two along the beach, but this year I’m recovering from a broken ankle and its a recent enough injury that it just can’t handle the uneven beach surface.
In terms of accessibility, there aren’t any foot paths or street lights outside of the town. So the short walk from our resort to the night market (only a couple hundred metres) can be a bit adrenaline inducing. The white cane helps on that walk. It’s less helpful at the night market itself, where the ground is covered in gravel. I have yet to figure out how to use the white cane effectively on gravel, but that could be on me. At the resort and on the beach I don’t both using the cane (which doesn’t lead to any awkward moments AT ALL) because I’m familiar enough with the area that I don’t feel I need it. Also, I hate it when sand gets into the rolling mechanism at the end of my cane.
To be honest, because of the nature of this holiday for me, I don’t think too much about accessibility.
Taking a weeklong break in the middle of winter on a tropical island is a holiday that is really hard to screw up. Pretty much the worst that happens is that you have bad weather but like…it’s still warm. And if you don’t connect to the internet, there’s still nothing to do but read. Enforced relaxation! So if you have the means, 10/10 would recommend.
