Aitutaki - Polynesian island paradise - finding the bliss that characterises the Cook Islands.

Story by EVE NESMITH 

THE Cook Islands, a group of 15 tiny islands dotted across a two million square kilometre chunk of the Pacific Ocean, are world-renowned for their picture-perfect lagoons and super-friendly locals.

But if you draw up a population chart of the Cooks it will look something like this, in descending order: coconuts, chickens, tourists, scooters, Cook Islanders and, finally, lagoons.

Not that this population hierarchy in any way detracts from the charm of the Cook Islands. It doesn't. If anything, it adds to the juxtaposition of tourist hum and island bliss that characterises the Cooks.

There are only around 13,000 Cook Islanders living on the islands. Due to open-visa arrangements with Australia and New Zealand, around 100,000 have left their picturesque homeland and are forging a living overseas. Many return in their sunset years, however, due to their Polynesian penchant for being buried on family land, preferably in the front yard.

This tourist-to-Cook Islander ratio looks set to increase. The Cook Islands government has entered a three-year deal with Air New Zealand to operate weekly direct flights between Sydney and Rarotonga, the main island, which is only about 32 kilometres in circumference.

The Australia-Cook Islands trek used to involve a stop-over in New Zealand, often in the wee hours of the morning, but the entire trip is now just five hours. And that feels far too short, if you're lucky enough to fly business class, as my travelling companions and I were.

Arguably the jewel in the stunning Cook Islands crown is the island of Aitutaki, famed for being the honeymoon destination of Getaway presenter Catrina Rowntree, the location for the American TV series Survivor, and one of the top 10 South Pacific beaches, as voted on TripAdvisor.com.

Aitutaki is a 45-minute flight from Rarotonga but seems a world away from the capital. The airstrip is no longer coral but the simple, tidy building that is the island's airport is anything but touristy.

Although accommodation choices and prices range dramatically, Aitutaki is famed as a romantic destination and some of its lodgings are downright decadent. The Pacific Resort, Aitutaki, features 13 individual beachfront bungalows, each positioned for maximum privacy and sunset views. There are also three villas and six beachfront suites.

The resort offers guests 600 metres of beachfront, an infinity pool and direct access to the lagoon, which is just 1½ metres deep in most places. The resort has been mapping the coral in its reef for guests to do self-guided tours and has produced a map titled "Aquatic Eco Trail – A self-guided snorkelling tour of our resort lagoon".

The resort's Rapae Restaurant offers formal dining in a romantic, candle-lit setting overlooking the lagoon, while its Black Rock Cafe offers casual poolside dining.

I stayed just down the road from the Pacific, in a secluded beachfront villa at Aitutaki Escape.

 With its water and coral feature walls and kikau-style frond roofing, Aitutaki Escape exudes a Polynesian ambience while offering every creature comfort this scribe could imagine.

The floors are marble, the ceilings are high. There are downlights and impeccable stainless appliances in the well-appointed kitchen and a big flat-screen television with surround sound in the living area. A four-poster bed with cheesecloth curtains commands the bedroom while a connected bathroom houses a double glass-brick shower in a private courtyard, double sinks, a bidet and complimentary L'Occitane toiletries.

 Out back, concertina glass doors open onto a private deck that meanders down to the lagoon and coral-sand beach, while the front boasts a private courtyard, L-shaped plunge/lap pool with rock fountain wall and statue-studded tropical garden.

There is no restaurant at Aitutaki Escape but you can still dine in with style, thanks to the Koru Cafe. A meal for two, delivered, costs $165. For $430, chef and owner Steve Armstrong will come and prepare your meal in-house. And if you fancy something really special, Steve and his partner, Trina, will prepare a six-dish banquet on-site for $540.

The Cooks are world-renowned for their seafood and Aitutaki is no exception. There are myriad choices as close as your complimentary pushbike or seemingly compulsory hire scooter can get you. Tupuna's Restaurant, which is open Monday to Saturday, has a casual, tropical setting. The floor is sandy and the tables are lit by torches, but the dining is anything but lowbrow. Specialties include local mudcrab and fresh reef crayfish. The house favourite is a dish comprising curried prawns, scallops and fish with vegetables, served with rice and a side of spicy pumpkin soup for $35.50.

Venture outside your luxury villa or waddle away from the table and you'll find there is plenty else to see and do on Aitutaki. A cruise of its famed lagoon is an absolute must and offers the chance to snorkel in waters that are home to green sea turtles, giant clams and throngs of colourful tropical fish.

Bishop Cruises' Five Islands cruise takes in Akaimi (a former WWII refuelling stop for Catalina aircraft), Moturakau, whose waters are home to turtles, Honeymoon Island, Maina, and One Foot Island.

 During the lunch stopover on One Foot Island you dine on a buffet of salads and fresh barbecued marinated fish, while being serenaded by the ship's crew-cum-ukelele band. If you remember to bring your passport, you can have it stamped at the island's tiny post office.

If you haven't had enough of the lagoon by the time you make your way back to shore, give Samade on the Beach, at Ootu Beach, a whirl. A short walk from where the cruiseboats disembark, this beachfront bar and grill has the location of the universe. Its timber deck finishes about three coral-sand metres from the crystal waters of the lagoon. Sun, sand, sparkling water and $8.50 mojitos. What a way to spend an afternoon.

Aitutaki doesn't need to be all about sunbaking, stuffing yourself and seducing your loved one. There's a serious side, if you want to see it, and one way is through Aitutaki Discovery Safari Tours and its ultimate archaeological cultural tour.

This tour explores a southern Cook Islands sacred site, or marae; traces the inland trails of Kakeroa warriors; and takes in postcard-perfect views from Maungau Piraki, the highest point on the island.

For me, however, the high point of the trip isn't the lookout. It is business owner and tour guide Ngaakitai Taria's commentary and observations on Cook Islands culture.

Nga has taken it upon himself to conduct archaeological research into the island and its people. He also trains contestants for the reality TV show Survivor, and is a budding entrepreneur who grows hydroponic lettuce and tomatoes for resorts on the island.

He is passionate about the role the missionaries played in stripping Cook Islanders of their culture.

"We are discovering the things that were taken from us," he says.

Nga says that, since the arrival of missionaries in 1821, Aitutakians were forbidden to visit their marae.

"They were told they were cursed," Nga says. "Many still won't come."

Nga laments his people's laid-back lifestyle. He says the comfortable yet semi- subsistence existence of many, relying on the bounty of the earth and sea, places too much emphasis on living a good, Christian life. A hunger to do and achieve more provides the impetus for young people to abandon the islands of their birth. But when asked if he thinks Christianity is the root of all evil, he pulls up just short.

"Not exactly," he says. "But these people should be warriors."

Nga believes that much Cook Island culture has been lost or abandoned. For example, he doesn't believe Cook Islanders should kiss, or copulate face-to-face. In ancient times they believed their saliva was sacred and opted for the 'ongi', or nose greeting. This changed with the arrival of the missionaries - hence the term ''missionary position''.

 Cook Islanders now kiss but much culture has been preserved in the form of dance and ritual. An island night is an essential immersement in this sweaty, throbbing, exuberant experience. On Aitutaki, Tamanu Restaurant offers a fire dance, cultural show and traditional buffet meal.

Dishes include rukau (green baby taro leaves, called ''local spinach'', cooked in coconut milk), varoa karo (a surprisingly sweet dish using bread that's been baked in an umu, crumbled with coconut cream), poke (a banana and chocolate jelly), pawpaw, ika mata (raw fish marinated in lime juice with coconut cream), rimu (mini sea grapes, which taste a bit like pickles), taro (white root vegetable), kumara (sweet potato) and arrowroot. The dinner and show package costs $55.

If you're looking for the real deal at a price that won't break the budget, you can also pick up cheap and delicious home-made meals, like roti and curries, at the main Aitutaki market on Arutanga Wharf. The market runs Monday to Saturday between 7 am and 2 pm and largely sells traditional foodstuffs.

IF YOU GO

Air New Zealand flies direct between Sydney and Rarotonga weekly, departing Rarotonga on Mondays and Sydney on Tuesdays. This will move to Fridays and Saturdays in October: www.airnewzealand.com.au.

Air Rarotonga flies between Rarotonga and Aitutaki: www.airraro.com.

Aitutaki Escape: www.aitutakiescape.com. Pacifc Resort: www.pacificresort.com. More information: www.cookislands.travel/au.

* **The writer was a guest of Cook Islands Tourism and Air New Zealand.

Don't miss Destinations travel magazine, in Thursday's Newcastle Herald.

source: http://www.theherald.com.au