Penrhyn Island

Penrhyn Island (also called Tongareva, Mangarongaro, Hararanga, and Te Pitaka) is the most remote and largest atoll of the 15 Cook Islands in the south Pacific Ocean, 1365 km (848 miles) north-north-east of Rarotonga, 9 degrees below the equator. It sits atop the highest submarine volcano in the Cooks, 4876 m (15,917 ft) above the ocean floor. It comprises a ring of coral 77 km (48 miles) around. The lagoon covers 233 square kilometres (90 mile²) of which 62 square kilometres (24 mile²) is covered with pearlshell. Penrhyn Atoll has two villages. The main village of Omoka, seat of Penrhyn Island Council, is on Moananui Islet, on the western rim of the atoll, north of the airport. The village of Te Tautua is on Pokerere Islet, on the eastern rim.

Carving

Carving – Woodcarving is a common art form in the Cook Islands. Sculpture in stone is much rarer although there are some excellent carvings in basalt by Mike Taveoni. The proximity of islands in the southern group helped produce a homogeneous style of carving but which had special developments in each island. Rarotonga is known for its fisherman’s gods and staff-gods, Atiu for its wooden seats, Mitiaro, Mauke and Atiu for mace and slab gods and Mangaia for its ceremonial adzes. Most of the original wood carvings were either spirited away by early European collectors or were burned in large numbers by missionary zealots. Today, carving is no longer the major art form with the same spiritual and cultural emphasis given to it by the Maori in New Zealand. However, there are continual efforts to interest young people in their heritage and some good work is being turned out under the guidance of older carvers. Atiu, in particular, has a strong tradition of crafts both in carving and local fibre arts such as tapa. Mangaia is the source of many fine adzes carved in a distinctive, idiosyncratic style with the so-called double-k design. Mangaia also produces food pounders carved from the heavy calcite found in its extensive limestone caves.

Sport

Rugby union is the most popular sport in the Cook Islands with association football (soccer) and rugby league also popular.

History

The Cook Islands were first settled in the 6th century A.D. by Polynesian people who migrated from nearby Tahiti, to the southeast.

Spanish ships visited the islands in the late sixteenth century; the first written record of contact with the Islands came with the sighting of Pukapuka by Spanish sailor Álvaro de Mendaña in 1595 who called it San Bernardo (“Saint Bernard”). Another Spaniard, Pedro Fernández de Quirós, made the first recorded European landing in the islands when he set foot on Rakahanga in 1606, calling it Gente Hermosa (“Beautiful People”).

British navigator Captain James Cook arrived in 1773 and 1779 and named the islands the Hervey Islands; the name “Cook Islands”, in honour of Cook, appeared on a Russian naval chart published in the 1820s.^[5]

In 1813, John Williams, a missionary on the Endeavour (not the same ship as that of Cook), made the first official sighting of the island of Rarotonga.

The first recorded landing on Rarotonga by Europeans was in 1814 by the Cumberland; trouble broke out between the sailors and the Islanders and many were killed on both sides.

The islands saw no more Europeans until missionaries arrived from England in 1821. Christianity quickly took hold in the culture and many islanders continue to be Christian believers today.

The Cook Islands became a British protectorate at their own request in 1888, mainly to thwart French expansionism. They were transferred to New Zealand in 1901. They remained a New Zealand protectorate until 1965, at which point they became a self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand. In that year, Albert Henry of the Cook Islands Party was elected as the first Prime Minister. Sir Albert Henry led the country until he was accused of vote-rigging. He was succeeded in 1978 by Tom Davis of the Democratic Party.

Today, the Cook Islands are essentially independent (“self-governing in free association with New Zealand”) but New Zealand is tasked with overseeing the country’s defence.

On June 11, 1980, the United States signed a treaty with New Zealand specifying the maritime border between the Cook Islands and American Samoa and also relinquishing its claim to the islands of Penrhyn Island, Pukapuka (Danger), Manihiki, and Rakahanga.

Politics

The politics of the Cook Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic associated state, whereby the Queen of New Zealand, represented in the Cook Islands by the Queen’s Representative, is Head of State and the Chief Minister is the head of government. There is a pluriform multi-party system and the islands are self-governing in free association with New Zealand and fully responsible for both internal and external affairs. New Zealand no longer has any responsibility for external affairs. As of 2005, it has diplomatic relations in its own name with eighteen other countries. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of the Cook Islands.

The Cook Islands are not United Nations full members but participate in WHO and UNESCO.

The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

When to Go

The Cook Islands has a pleasantly even climate year round, with no excesses of temperature or humidity, although it can rain quite often. The best times of year to visit are around September and October, when there’s a nice trade-off between warm temperatures and reduced humidity; March and April are also good months to come, as the cyclone season has passed and the skies are likely to be clear and sunny.

Festivals may sway your plans: the big dance competition is in late April, the independence bash in early August. The only really tricky time to visit is Christmas/New Year, when many Cook Islanders return home to celebrate the holiday season with their families. Flights (especially from Australia and New Zealand) and accommodation will be much harder to come by.

Avarua

Avarua is a town in the north of Rarotonga Island and the national capital of Cook Islands. The town is located at 21°12′S, 159°46′W at sea level, below the towering peaks of Rarotonga (altitude 208 m or 682 ft). The town has several supermarkets, two banks, several restaurants and other shops specializing in the sale of black pearls and other handicrafts. The town’s open air market is on Saturday, where you can find everything from brightly coloured sarongs (wrap around dresses), to flower garlands, fresh fish and tropical fruits. The town is served by Rarotonga International Airport (IATA Airport Code: RAR). The population of Avarua is 2,600 who mainly make their living from tourism, trade, fishing and agriculture. The one main road in Avarua is Ara Maire Nui, usually referred to as Marine Drive or Main Street, which turns into the island-circling ring road Ara Tapu at both ends of town.

The Cook Islands

The Cook Islands (Cook Islands Māori: Kūki ‘Āirani) are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in free association with New Zealand. The fifteen small islands in this South Pacific Ocean country have a total land area of 240 square kilometres (92.7 sq mi), but the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1.8 million square kilometres (0.7 million sq mi) of ocean.^[1]

The main population centres are on the island of Rarotonga (c.10,000), where there is an international airport. There is also a much larger population of Cook Islanders in New Zealand, particularly the North Island; in the 2006 census, 58,008 self-identified as being of ethnic Cook Island Māori descent.^[2]

With over 90,000 visitors travelling to the islands in 2006, tourism is the country’s number one industry, and the leading element of the economy, far ahead of offshore banking, pearls, marine and fruit exports.

Defence is the responsibility of New Zealand, in consultation with the Cook Islands and at its request. In recent times, the Cook Islands have adopted an increasingly independent foreign policy.