Cook Islands - travel diary

Another three hours of flight and we've landed in the Cook Islands archipelago, discovered by the English explorer of the same name, James Cook. Our plans for this second destination in the heart of the ocean foresaw a period of wholesome and healthy staying put, something we had been missing for far too long.

As already mentioned, the distance separating the Fiji Islands from the Cooks is only three hours of flight. The interesting thing is that precisely in this small stretch of sea passes the conventional line that marks the change of date. It is from these islands that every day on the globe officially begins. To better help you understand this strange phenomenon, just think that we left the Fiji Islands on 26-03-2005 when we were twelve hours ahead of the Boot and we arrived in Rarotonga (the main island of the Cooks) after a short flight but with twelve hours less compared to our beautiful Italy. It's as if we had lived the same day twice, rejuvenated by a good twenty-four hours, as if we had brought forward our birthday by a day, quite a mess!

But enough rambling, having arrived at the airport in the middle of the night, the only thing on our minds was to stretch out on a soft bed. Fortunately we had had the good sense to book a hostel via the internet, making sure they would pick us up on arrival... in no time at all we were under the sheets!

The next morning we were noisily woken by Mata, a lady who worked at the hostel, urging us to come down as soon as possible to go grocery shopping since the following days would be Easter and Easter Monday and we wouldn't find anything open. No sooner said than done, in ten minutes we were already in the van taking us towards the town centre. It was the occasion for a first look at Rarotonga. It is a small volcanic island (barely 31 km in circumference) surrounded for the most part by a coral reef that borders an enchanting lagoon. The island is covered everywhere in lush, very green vegetation, a particularly attractive place for trekking lovers. We came out of the supermarket loaded with bags, almost as if we were setting off on a gruelling expedition to who knows what wild place. We wandered around for a while before figuring out where the bus stop was and finally managed to get home.

After putting something in our stomachs, we headed towards the beach which was about a hundred metres from our hostel. The lagoon was completely different from the one we had grown used to seeing in Fiji. Much shallower water, a mostly sandy seabed but with superlative and abundant marine life.

The following days were characterised by the most absolute tranquillity, between beaches and crystal-clear water. We also decided to rent a little scooter that allowed us to go and discover even the most distant and hidden spots of this beautiful island. So we spent an alternative Easter, far from big feasts and chocolate eggs but immersed in a fairytale setting. In our sunny afternoons we made the acquaintance of thousands of fish of the strangest shapes and colours. The thing that surprised us most was the almost unnatural sociability of these inhabitants of the sea, clearly used to the presence of humans and intrigued by our masks, they allowed us to admire them in all their beauty.

We reached the last day in a flash, which was spent entirely under an insistent drizzle that didn't, however, stop us from continuing our explorations by scooter.

The end of the month also marked the end of our stay in the Cook Islands; with the usual backpack loaded on our shoulders we once again found ourselves at the airport ready to board for the last pearl of the Pacific Ocean: French Polynesia.