Winiata’s Blog

Te Awamutu Intermediate kapahaka roopu went to Rarotonga on the 14^th of June this year. We left on a Saturday and we returned on Sunday the 22^nd of June. We stayed for 8 days at The Edgewater Resort.

We arrived at school on Saturday at noon and we all got into the van and one other car. There were four adults going, Mr McCabe, Tracey Paekau, and two of the mums, Aunty Mel (Kataroa’s mum) and Aunty Linda (Anahera’s mum).

We got to Auckland airport at 4pm and we did a final repack of the luggage. We had to weigh our bags and get then to the check-in. Everyone had the maximum limit on weight because we were also carrying most of the food we would eat while we were there.

After check-in, we went upstairs and spent almost an hour, eating dinner – McDonalds – and looking around at the expensive shops. My brother Etere put his wallet down while he played in the arcade, and that disappeared so already he had no wallet and we weren’t even on the plane yet!

Then we said goodbye to the families that were there, then we finally boarded the plane. I sat with Etere and Pania, and we played cards and listened to music on the headphones.

We finally got there at 1 am in the morning. My first impression when I looked out the window was of how small the island was, judging by the lights I could see. When we landed they put on the brakes straight away because the runaway was so short so it was a fast stop.

We got out luggage from the conveyer belt and we got it stamped and checked. There was a man in the corner with a guitar and he was sing a welcome song, and wearing traditional lavalava and a lei around his neck. We got a lei each from some big cook island local, then we loaded the bags and were off! We could just see the beach as we were driving past to Edgewater resort.

On that first morning we just went into the villas and crashed out in our room. It was so hot that the boys all took their shirts off, even to sleep. It was so strange because it’s winter in NZ and it was hotter than a NZ summer over here, even though it was their winter too.

We were also having another Saturday all over again, because we had crossed the international dateline on our flight. So on Saturday morning we ate a tropical breakfast of all sorts of fruits as well as normal cereal.

Then went to the markets and had a look around at all the local crafts. I bought a slingshot and some food. I loaned $20 to Etere seeing as he had no cash, and he bought the same as me.

After lunch we went on an island hopper, a tour of Rarotonga. We saw all the main attractions like historical sites, the hospital, town, and schools, and some other smaller islands that were part of Rarotonga.

On Sunday we ate another delicious breakfast and then at 9am my aunty Turama came to get my brother and I. My aunty is from Wairoa and she grew up with my mum. In Rarotonga she is a lawyer for an American company. Mum had arranged for her to get us and take us out for the day.  First she took us to the Mormon church in Rarotonga, and everyone else in our group went to another church. Then she took us back to her house and we had lunch there with her and her husband. After that we rode on her scooter around the lawn, and watch a DVD. The best thing about her house was her BIG TV. Later on she took us on a tour of all the back roads and we asked all these questions about living in Rarotonga and about everything else she showed us. That was awesome.

Back at the resort that evening we had dinner with everyone else, then we went for a walk on the beach. The adults were talking and making plans for the rest of the week and aunty Turama was helping them with some ‘inside info’ on what to do and see.

On Monday we went on the highland paradise tour, where we saw the sites like the old marae. The tour guide pointed out all these other places where the Cook Island gods had made sacrifices on a big rock. A lot of their gods were the same as our maori gods, like Tangaroa. We saw the rock that pointed the way to Aotearoa New Zealand. We were told about their early life on the island and other historical information about their tribes.

 Then we had a big lunch with taro and coconut and more fruit. In the afternoon we went snorkelling, and I saw lots of tiny fish.

On Tuesday we were supposed to hire pushbikes and ride around the island but that got cut off the itinerary. So instead we went to the shops all day. That night we had island night at Edgewater Resort. It was held in the restaurant on their stage. There was exotic dancing and drums and performances from the locals. We had a big dinner of roast meats and seafood and curries and lots of salads. There were loads of desserts and cakes and pavlova and chocolate so we ate a lot that night.

This is part one and part two will follow!