Tales of the South Pacific - Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Cruise Day 34

Saturday, November 1, 2025

I had a terrible night last night as I just couldn’t stop coughing.  I had a tickle in my throat that I just couldn’t get rid of.  I tried drinking water, taking cough drops and several doses of cough syrup but nothing seemed to help although the second dose of cough syrup gave me some relief.  Unfortunately, I also kept Val awake so neither one of us got much sleep.

Today we are on the Island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands.  It is a tender port, and the tender will be dropping us off in the town of Avarua.  Val and I visited here in 2013 and had a great time snorkeling, but today we have nothing planned except to go ashore.  

Here is the Google description of the Cook Islands: "The Cook Islands is a nation in the South Pacific, with political links to New Zealand. Its 15 islands are scattered over a vast area. The largest island, Rarotonga, is home to rugged mountains and Avarua, the national capital. To the north, Aitutaki Island has a vast lagoon encircled by coral reefs and small, sandy islets. The country is renowned for its many snorkeling and scuba-diving sites."

Here is a map of the Cook Islands, today we are in Avarua on the island of Rarotonga (marked at the bottom of the map).

A detailed map of Rarotonga.

Surprisingly, I gave up on sleeping and got up at 7:30 and felt pretty good despite the coughing.  I went out on the balcony for a view of Rarotonga and then read for a while to let Val sleep.  The weather was mostly cloudy with the sun occasionally peeking through.  Rarotonga is a beautiful, lush tropical island.

We arrive at Rarotonga.

 

The town of Avarua where the tenders will be docking.

Val got up by nine and after getting ready, we went to the Neptune Lounge for breakfast.  I had decided not to take my antibiotic with breakfast, but to wait for lunch when I had a fuller stomach.  After eating, we got ready and went down to Wajong Theater to get our priority boarding number.  The seas were pretty rough today, so tendering was very slow and they even had to shut down one of the tender platforms because of the currents.

It took us almost an hour to be called to the tender and it was pretty rough boarding the tender.  The tender was bobbing up and down so getting on had to be timed just right.  The crew was expert at doing this and helped get everyone on board safely.  It was a quick ride to the dock where it was much calmer and easier to get out of the tender.

A look at the ship after getting off the tender.

The Punanga Nui Market was only a ten-minute walk from the tender dock so that’s where we headed.  As I’ve said before, we love these open-air markets, and this one was pretty big with everything from fruits and vegetables to local crafts to places to eat and drink.  The South Pacific is a great place to buy pearls and pearl jewelry, so Val is looking for some pearl earrings in the market today.  She had read about a pearl store in the market, but we were unable to find it.  A lot of the market closes at noon on Saturday, and because of the long delay in getting ashore, it was almost noon and many places were closing up, so maybe that’s why we could find the place selling pearls.

We didn't take any pictures as a misty rain was going on so we kept our camera under wraps.

It was raining a bit, but it was more like walking through a backyard mister, so it actually felt pretty good.  It was around eighty so not too bad, but as usual the humidity was high.  Val and I were planning on finding a place to eat, but after walking through the market, we decided we had enough and walked back to the tenders.  I think we are still feeling the effects of being sick and haven’t gained our full strength back yet.  

The seas didn’t seem quite so rough going back to the ship and getting out of the tender seemed easier than getting on.  Val and I relaxed a bit and then headed up to the Lido for lunch.  We relaxed until it was time for trivia, but unfortunately my coughing continued.  I am feeling pretty good, but when will this cough go away!?

The last tender is heading back to the ship.  The weather cleared as we were getting ready to leave Rarotonga.

Arthur was back today, but we still didn’t do very well but had a good time talking.  Donna and Arthur are Canadians, so they are all excited about the Blue Jays leading the Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series.  After trivia, Val and I went down to the medical center to get the statements for our doctor’s visits and I asked about taking one of my antibiotics with lunch and the other with dinner, but they said that was too close together so it’s back to doing it at breakfast.  I’ll have to figure out how to eat more.

We rested until dinner and after eating, we spent some time in the casino where I had a very good night but didn’t stay too long as we were tired.  After a bad night of coughing last night keeping us both awake, we are hoping for a better night tonight. 

One last thought for the day, it looks like Donna and Arthur won’t be very happy tonight as the Dodgers came from behind to win the World Series.  Since I grew up in the Los Angeles area, I was rooting for the Dodgers, but I wouldn’t have felt bad if Toronto had won, but it was not to be – sorry Arthur and Donna.