Cook Islands
Here for a day, we had a great tour of the island of Rarotongo, which is the principal island of the Cook archipelago and dominated by a 2140 ft. peak. These are 15 islands spread over 2-mil km between American Samoa and Tahiti. With its fertile slopes of red soil and aquamarine lagoons, we loved it here and saw great bungalows that would be fun to return to. We tasted the sweetest papayas and learned the 6 stages of a coconut. This island is very different as it was very full of small farms growing everything. On this modern island every native is part of a clan and the land ownership is hereditary and others can only lease land. In 1901 it was annexed to New Zealand. It was from here that the 7 canoes left for Aotearoa, who became the ancestors of the Maori people in New Zealand. There are only 14,000 living here with another 75,000 abroad in NZ and Australia. We bought some frangipani oils and ended a great day with a drink with Keith and Fiona.