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 Hoofing It Around Aitutaki
I got unpacked at Vaikoa after my short plane ride, then around noon I walked down to the powdery white beach, only a dozen yards away. Down at the beach, I met an Aitutakian named Mary Thatcher who lives nearby and we talked for a half-hour. Mary told me that she'd returned home to Aitutaki last week for her father's funeral here after teaching for the past 14 years in Auckland. "I don't want to go back to New Zealand," she said. "It's too crazy there. My husband lives in Auckland, but I told him that I don't want to leave Aitutaki. It's peaceful here and this is my home." From what little I'd seen of Aitutaki so far, I could understand why she wanted to stay.
After our talk, I strolled on the brilliant white sand beach for a half-hour, then hiked up to the 400-foot high Maungapu, the highest point on the island. I was rewarded with an absolutely stunning view of the huge, turquoise-colored lagoon with the most distant motus (small islands) visible about 10 miles away, on the other side of the lagoon. It was warm, around 80 degrees, and quite humid, but the constant trade winds were refreshing and made it comfortable.
Above left: Outrigger canoes on the empty beach at Vaikoa. Above right: Part of the huge lagoon at Aitutaki, from Maungapu. In the late 1940s, flying boats crossing the Pacific landed in this lagoon and refueled. While the planes refueled, passengers often went swimming in the lagoon.
I walked down Maungapu and hiked through a forest of mango trees, so I picked up several mangoes to have for breakfast the next morning. Where in the U.S., I wondered, can you hike while picking up the next day’s breakfast? Beware of ripe mangoes, though. As I was walking along the trail, I heard a loud "splat." I turned around and saw a mango splattered on the ground right behind me. At first I thought someone had thrown it at me, but then I realized it had fallen from a tree. I very narrowly missed getting a mango shampoo, something I would've had to pay $30 for in the U.S.
I spent the next four hours walking completely around Aitutaki, about 10 miles altogether, strolling through coconut groves, small villages, and scattered settlements where the children waved shyly as I passed by. They were curious, I’m sure, about this white foreigner with the camera and daypack. Judging from the reaction of the Aitutakians that I passed, I figured that not many white tourists ever visit this far side of the island.
During my walk that afternoon, I saw hundreds of Aitutakians but not one Caucasian. Perhaps they were holed up in their $200-a-night bungalows. While walking down the dirt lane with scattered farms on either side, I heard a young voice shout, "Hello, hello!" I turned around to see a young boy shouting and waving to me, so I smiled, waved and yelled back, "Hello!"
Late that afternoon, around 5 p.m., I strolled into the town of Arutanga, which is the largest settlement on the island. I stopped at a nearly-deserted open-air cafe overlooking the wharf, ordered some fish and chips for dinner, sat down at a picnic table there, and watched the sun set beyond the reef while listening to Jimmy Buffett music playing on the boombox. A few minutes later, a couple sitting nearby invited me to join them for dinner – typical behavior in the Cook Islands. I spent the next few hours getting to know Wayne, a retired Caucasian engineer from Auckland and Chloe, his Cook Islander wife who was about 10 years younger. They told me they lived in the Cook Islands now and loved it, and I could understand why.
It was a pleasant evening spent with a pleasant couple. And after saying goodnight to Wayne and Chloe, I had a pleasant walk back to Vaikoa by moonlight.
Above left: Flowers on Aitutaki. Above right: There's lots of fruit all over the island, like these bananas. I picked up several mangoes and ate them for breakfast the next morning.
Above left: On the hike up to Maungapu. Above right: Why did the chicken cross the road? Apparently to eat a squished mango.
Above left: The Aitutaki welcoming committee. Above right: Arutanga, the main town on Aitutaki, is a sleepy south Pacific seaport.
Above left: Back at Vaikoa that evening downloading photos on my laptop (right). The rooms here are small but cost only $14 a night. Above right: And they come with complimentary lizards.
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