Matriki Beach HutsOur stay on Aitutaki was unfortunately not very well timed.A lot of the lagoon was closed down due to the filming of Survivor: Cook Islands.  A couple of months before the trip I had spend several hours on the phone calling every hotel in Aitutaki despera

Ian and I spent 3 weeks in the South Pacific, visiting Tahiti, Easter Island, and the Cook Islands. We finished up in the Cook Islands. We backtracked once again to Papeete where we stayed with our by-now good friend at Chez Myrna, and then it’s only a short 2 hour flight from

Ahu Tahai and Ahu Vai UriThe first day, we saw some of the moai that are located close to town – in fact, they are right in front of the Mana Nui Inn (we could see some from our balcony!).  We saw Ahu Tahai, Ahu Akapu, and Ahu Tautira.  It was a great introduction, and

My wife and I took a 3 week trip to the South Pacific in July of 2006.  We visited the islands of Bora Bora, Moorea and Tahiti in French Polynesia, followed by Easter Island (Chile) and finally Rarotonga and Aitutaki of the Cook Islands.…

Tahiti ATM machine that We never managed to get either of our bank cards to work.  We have both Cirrus and Plus bank cards and they have worked faithfully all over the world.  We tried to withdraw money using both cards in several banks in Papeete, several more in Vaitape,

Overlooking the ocean at the Mana Nui InnOur hotel was the Mana Nui Inn. They met us at the airport. Watch out when you arrive: They make everyone x-ray their baggage as you exit the airport (?!) and the machines are not guaranteed to be film-safe.  They will pass your film aroun

Ahu TongarikiEaster Island, or Rapa Nui, is only accessible via Santiago, Chile or via Papeete.  Since Chile has enough in and of itself to warrant a trip, we decided to interrupt our French Polynesian vacation with three days in Easter Island.…

We struck out for restaurants on Moorea. Since there is no public transport in Moorea, and the island is fairly big, independent travelers are at the mercy of the restaurants sometimes-included transfer services.  We found only the restaurants in Cook’s Bay were willing to

Horseback Riding We did a 2 hour horseback riding trip with Ranch Opunohu Valley.  It cost $55 apiece, and was definitely worth it.  Our guide picked us up from our hotel exactly on time, and 15 minutes later we were on horseback for a guided tour of the interior of the isla

Opunohu BayOur Pension owner arranged a rental car with Avis for us.  It cost $75 for the day and only standard/manual transmission was available.  The pick-up was 25 minutes late, but they gave us a free upgrade to an A/C car.  We drove up to Belvedere Point for a grea