As we were bringing our trip to a close, we had planned a stay in the Cook Islands which is a group of Islands in the South Pacific on the way from NZ to the US. This was to be a real break from the backpacking lifestyle we had been through and was a full on beach holiday. We had lined up 10 days stay, which I was looking forward to at this point. Surely, what could go wrong with miles of beaches, great diving and loads of sun?The coolest thing was that in order to get to Rarotonga we had to cross the International Date Line. This meant that we effectively went backwards in time by 18 hours and arrived a day before we had actually left!! It was my own personal Dr Who moment which was simultaneously cool and confusing!

The main island in the group of the Cook Islands is Rarotonga, which is where we were staying. The first thing that we realised about Rarotonga is that it's REALLY quiet. The island is only 30km all the way round and there is one main town called Avarua with a couple of small little villages dotted around the island. Even this "main" town is literally 2 roads with 1 main supermarket and a couple of bars and restaurants. It makes even little towns in Ireland look like major industrial hubs. We started our trip by staying in a hostel which was about 5km from the centre of town, but soon realised that that wasn't the best idea. It was a nice place, but as we were on the island in the off season, it was very quiet in our hostel so we had to head into town for any sort of action. This was quite difficult as there is only 1 main road around the perimeter of the island. There is a bus that runs around the island in each direction, but it only runs once an hour in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction which means if you miss it, you are in real trouble.And after 6pm, it only runs in one direction. As a result of the lack of transport options around the island, after 2 days in the hostel we went to the tourist office and found a B&B to stay in. This was actually one of the best things to do as we ended up being located smack bang in the centre of town staying with a local woman. She was really nice and friendly but seemed to have about 6 or 7 jobs. She spent some days working at her sister's shop, she did floristry work for the island nights and was always disappearing off to do something else and would then tell us how she felt tired ?? However, the house was really nice and a good place to be based as it was right in the heart of the main town.

Because of the lack of transport, most people opt to rent a scooter to get round and there are loads of places to rent you a scooter. The island has developed a whole little industry designed to help you part with your money. In order to rent a scooter, you first need to get a Cook Islands driving license. To get this you have to apply at the local police station at a cost of $30 and if you don't have an acceptable license already, then you have to pay another $10 and pass a driving test which is basically driving round the block with a cop following you. It is the easiest money the cops make because every 2 or 3 days when the new planes arrive and another load of tourists land and have to all get the licenses. Luckily a UK driving license is apparently good enough, so we didn't need to do the test. However as I've never ridden a scooter, we left the driving to Emma, which was a little emasculating as every other scooter we passed had the bloke driving and the g/friend on the back J

The island itself is an atoll, which is a former dormant volcano and this leads to the formation of the island being quite unique.The island is surrounded by a shallow lagoon which is a haven for lots of fish and different types of coral.The water in this lagoon is really shallow and is perfect for snorkelling.At the edge of the lagoon, the drop off from the island starts to descend really quickly. This leads to some great diving as well as meaning that you can fish for large pelagic fish quite close to shore so all the restaurants have tuna, swordfish and shark on their menu's. The national dish of Rarotonga is Ika Mata which is raw tuna in coconut milk. Very yummy !!!!We went on our first dive on our 2nd day and unfortunately managed to do some damage to my ears, which means that we had to hold off on the dives for a few days. I was able to snorkel and it was almost as good. I also bought a case for my camera to get some underwater shots which was a lot of fun.After a couple of days resting the ear I was able to get back diving and went to dive on one of my favourite sites on the island - sand river. This is a really sharp descent from the beach, which doesn't have much life or coral, but because of the descent the sand rolls down like a river to a sheer drop off. We managed to swim out over the drop off which goes from a depth of 20m to more than 400m as a sheer cliff face. It's very freaky to swim out over the drop off but it was an awesome dive for something that didn't have much life. The island has a great reputation as a diving destination, but if I'm honest the snorkelling is equally as good and you can last much longer. Although in places you have to be careful because there are a lot of strong currents and some rip tides. At one point, I got stuck in a current, grabbed onto a large rock to stabilise myself and the current simply dragged me and my rock away.My favourite trick though was to park up about 100yds away from the posh resorts, drop into the ocean drift down to the area in front of the resort and then walk off the beach as if you were always part of the resort.

Apart from the water sports, there really isn't a huge amount else to do on the island. We spent a fair amount of time simply driving around and seeing what there was to be seen. One thing that hampered us during our stay is that it rained....A LOT. It rained on most days that we were there, although luckily it would only last an hour or so before settling down again.One aspect of Cook Island culture is the large influence that religion plays in their lives. Most people belong to the Cook Island Church which is a sort of Presbyterian Church. They are all quite basic churches made in a traditional style, but the big story in the churches is the congregation.We didn't go to one of their ceremonies, but the catholic one that we went to was sufficiently different to give you an idea of what it is like.It was a very happy-clappy ceremony with lots of singing and the congregation was all done up to the nines. Everyone in their full on Sunday best and all of them were wearing hats and floral garlands which is part of the culture in the cook islands. Despite the prevalence of Christianity in the cook islands, they have retained, and actively promote the existence of one of their old Polynesian gods; Tangaroa. Tangaroa is the fertility god and is blessed with a rather large appendage.... there are loads of statues of him dotted around the island and most tourist tat includes an image of him in some form or another.One other interesting aspect of their religious culture is that they bury their deceased on their own land. This means that they effectively have little graveyards in the front yard of their houses. As interesting as this looks, it must make selling your property quite difficult J

One other highlight of any trip to the Cooks, is an Island night. These are held at the resorts all around the island and most of the big resorts hold at least one of these a week. Essentially they are a cultural show designed to show the music and dancing that is part of their heritage in the cook islands. What they effectively are though, is an excuse to really pig out on the fantastic buffet dinners that they lay on. Well, that's the approach that I took when I went to it. After so many months of living on noodles and stuff, it was a real treat to have a big blowout like that!

We spent 10 days in the cook islands overall and whilst its lovely, there isn't an awfullot to do and as a result it felt like it was a little long. We should definitely have capped it at a week, particularly as we enjoyed our next leg in San Francisco so much.....