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Atui is a beautiful island untouched almost by tourism and modern day life and we spent a wonderfully relaxing 10 days there recovering from our non-stop NZ adventures.
We stayed in a bungalow type lodge with our own bathroom, kitchen, lounge and 2 varandas to boot, fully self-contained in a secluded place surrounded by lush gardens and for the most part were the only poeple staying in the whole place. It was luxury for us and came at a price of just 60 bucks a night, about 24 quid for both of us.
We were adopted by a bunch of cats and the owner's dog, Pumba, who followed us everywhere, including when we were on the scooter which sometimes meant we cut our trips short because he seemed knackered!
For the most part we spent our days doing not much, exploring the island and finding little secluded beahces to lie on and just read. Atui's not great for swimming as the reef is so close but you could paddle and swim down at the harbour where we watched a few lovely sunsets.
We found ourselves being invited along to do activites with the couple who stayed next to us for a couple of days or by the owner and never really planned to do anything, just stepped out the door and they'd ask us to join them which was nice. We took a cave tour and saw the Kopeka bird which is only found on Atui and like a bat uses echo-location to find its way in the dark. We also went to an island night at the only bar on the island and watched in amazement as these 15 year old girls shook their hips and just about managed to escape having to humiliate ourselves by joining in. We had a nice dinner out there, our only one of the island as we thought we wouldn't have enough cash to pay our host. Trying to pay people in the Cook Islands is actually a bit of a mission, they always say, "we'll sort you're bill tomorrow".
We were also invited to a couple of bush-beer drinking sessions with the local men who make there own barrel of cider-like brew and every day go and drink from about 4-8 and invite tourists to join them and pay for the cost of their brew. The barman is in charge and decides how much everyone gets and when they should stop and after a time says you can now choose to decline if you wish. The stuff is pretty potent so we declined quite early on but our honey-mooning friends kept going and gave the boys some good entertainment. Half way throught they stop and say prayers and then everybody introduces themselves. It's the only island in the Cook islands where the ritual is still allowed. Strictly its men only but female tourists are allowed. The second night we went the boys had also prepared some food for us, including salad for us veggies and the barman was about 10 times as drunk as anybody else which was hilarious. He said his wife went to give birth on rarotonga (as the hospital there is not up to much) and when our Canadian neighbour asked how long ago that was he said "four years". And burst out laughing. They are like a group of school boys, giggling "I heard what you said" if any tourist swears, especially a woman.
We would love to go back there some day, or go on a trip exploring all the outer islands. Coming back to Rarotonga feels like such a contrast and so developed. The friendliness of the people and the pace of life in Atui was refreshing. It's about 50 years behind Rarotonga and we hope it stays that way.
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