SOUTH PACIFIC ADVENTURE – PART IV

“The cruise ship is the destination!” I’d never heard the expression before but now I’m beginning to understand. Just as RVing is a lifestyle, so is cruising. On this South Pacific journey, we’re in the minority. Well over half the passengers have been to this part of the world before on cruises; some as many as seven times! Repeat visitors see the ship as destination. Many don’t even bother getting off at some of the ports we visit. “I’ve been here three times before. Nothing left to see,” one guy explained. Still, staying aboard seems a bit of a waste to those of us who see the ship as a means of comfortable conveyance from one adventure to another. Elva and I will have spent 263 days on Holland America ships by the end of this cruise but we’re rookies compared to many.

Niue (pronounced New-Eye) and the Cook Islands lie between Tonga and French Polynesia. We were supposed to call at the tiny island nation of Niue, population 1,500, but couldn’t dock because of the weather. It wasn’t looking much better for Rarotonga, largest of the Cook Islands and its main town, Avarua. The tenders that took us from the ship to the town’s dock bobbed up and down like rubber duckies in a bathtub but we managed to get there and back safely. And the rain held off just long enough for us to visit the island and the town.

It being a Sunday and Rarotongans being God-fearing people, almost every business was closed and every church filled to the brim. Fortunately, the local bus was running so we hopped on for the 32-kilometer round-the-island ride. The contrast with the other island countries we’d visited on this trip was evident: better bus, better road, nicer homes, nice resorts, etc. Back in Avarua, we strolled around the pretty town, encountering locals on their way to the Cook Islands Christian Church, both men and women clad entirely in white. They explained that they always dress in white on the first Sunday of the month. Everyone we met was very friendly.

Cook Islands is a self-governing nation, having obtained its independence in 1965, and has a population of 16,000. It maintains an association with New Zealand, relying on it for defense and international relations. Cook Islanders are also residents of New Zealand—many of them work there—but the reverse doesn’t apply. So, I guess we’ll have to add Cook Islands to our list of countries visited.

The connection between Rarotongo and Aorotoroa (New Zealand) goes back many years. Archaeological evidence shows that seven vakas, hundred-meter-long double-hulled outrigger vessels, left Rarotonga around the year 1250 AD and sailed some 2,750 kilometers over open ocean, landing on the North Island in present-day western New Zealand. (By comparison, Christopher Columbus’ 1492 voyage was about 3,500 kilometers.) The evidence—including, remarkably, remains of one of the vakas found recently in New Zealand—confirms oral history accounts of the voyage. So, the Maori of Rarotonga and New Zealand are cousins. Fascinating stuff!

I asked the owner of a jewelry store whose family has deep roots on Rarotonga what advantages self-governance had brought. “Imagine this,” he said. “We have free education, free health care, and free dental care; the level of unemployment is negative; we have zero homelessness; and we pay no land tax. No one works too hard here and we live a good life. What more could you ask for.” Indeed! I’d read that the Cook Islands economy depends heavily on tourism and, to a lesser extent, on financial services. “Yes,” he said. “If you want to hide your money, this is one of the best places in the world to do it.” Out of curiosity, I checked per capita GDP figures for Cook Islands and compared it to the other South Pacific countries we’ve visited; it’s three times that of the next highest, Fiji.

The lagoon of Bora Bora has a reputation, well deserved, for being one of the most beautiful in the world. The colours of the water, the necklace-like string of surrounding islets (motus), waving coconut palms on white sand beaches, all combine to create a tropical dream tableau. Our ship anchored in the sheltered harbour of the town of Viatape and we tendered into the small dock. Mount Otemanu, at 770 meters, towered above the town. It’s an extinct volcano that created the island 7 million years ago.

Elva and I had decided we wanted to see the island; we just weren’t sure how. Round-the-island taxi tours were a dime a dozen but we chose the first car rental agency we came to. I’d spied a few scooters out front and thought that would be fun. Our business concluded, we set off on the 20 km ring road, taking in the beauty of the main island, the lagoon, and the motus. The bungalows that stretch out over the water are part of resorts, the kind that will set you back $1,000 a night, give or take…

The scooter, a 50-cc three-wheeled contraption, was a fun ride but I soon dubbed her the “cockeyed gutless wonder”. Cockeyed because on a scooter with two rear wheels, you have to lean on the outside wheel going around a curve to get the damn thing to turn! Very confusing for an old motorcycle rider like me. Gutless because, with just a 50-cc motor, the poor little thing couldn’t manage a 10% grade; we had to walk her up. Thank goodness there was only one. We drove around the island twice, once each way, stopping many times for photos and a swim in the bathtub-warm water, and thoroughly enjoyed our short visit to Bora Bora.

Our second stop in the Society Islands was the town of Uturoa on the island of Raiatea. Like Bora Bora, Raiatea and its sister island, Taha’a, are volcanic in origin and surrounded by coral atolls. We wanted to tour the island and visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Taputapuatea Marea. Raiatea is known as the Sacred Island and the cradle of 1,000 years of Maori civilization in eastern Polynesia. The mareas (one of which is shown in the photo below) are actually open-air temples built of stone and coral and, before the Christian era, they were used for ceremonial purposes.

Again, we resorted to the two-wheel solution but, this time, we rented a 125-cc scooter. Two wheels were definitely easier to handle than three and the extra horsepower came in handy on the steep grades. The shore road measured 100 km and we were treated to magnificent vistas around almost every turn. In fact, we found Raiatea to be more beautiful than Bora Bora. Even the roadsides were interesting: water lilies growing in ditches and manicured shrubs planted along the shoulders. But two days in the saddle had brought on a serious case of “scooter-butt” and I was glad to turn in the little Peugeot when the time came. 

La Polynésie française is a French Overseas Territory consisting of 118 islands with a total land area about half of Prince Edward Island’s and a population of 275,000, half of whom live in the capital Pape’ete on the Island of Tahiti. We opted for a walking city tour of Pape’ete, reasoning that we’d had enough road time for awhile. Besides, it was pouring rain when we got off the ship in the morning. The city is clearly the commercial center 

of La Polynésie française. Although it does have that first-world feel to it, Pape’ete lacks the charm of other places we’ve visited on this cruise. The traffic is frantic, buildings are a bit run down, and we saw many homeless people on the streets.

We strolled the beautiful grounds of the Assemblée nationale (second photo) and learned a bit about the islands’ history. A French possession since the mid-eighteenth century, the territory has fought for and gained greater autonomy over the years. The fifty-seven members of l’Assemblée nationale have considerable authority over the islands’ governance. Just the same, the senior representative of the French government lives in a palatial structure next door, a constant reminder that Paris is keeping an eye on things.

There was a market near where the Amsterdam docked and Elva did some business with this very nice family. Tomorrow, we sail to the neighbouring island of Moorea.