Cook Islands government accepts new sports centre

It’s been eight months in the building and there have been delays and hold ups, mainly caused by shipping problems, but on Friday 31 July 2009 the Chinese builders handed over the multi sports centre to the Cook Islands, as promised.
The building will be known as the Telecom Sports Arena, at least for the next three years, as part of the sponsorship deal for the World Youth Netball Champs and the Pacific Mini Games.
It was a fairly standard handover ceremony in terms of speeches and invited guests (including the Queen’s Representative Sir Frederick Goodwin and the deputy prime minister Sir Terepai Maoate) but it was good to see that the Chinese workmen were part of the proceedings.
A prayer from the local pastor, Rev Tereora Tereora of Nikao Ekalesia, was followed by the signing of the handover documents by Cook Islands Investment Corporation chairman Tapi Taio, CIIC CEO John Tini, CCECC general deputy manager Zhongning Zhao and another CCECC representative, Mr Liu I think.
Most of the speeches were same old same old; too long and rambling. But local MP and minister of sports Ngamau Munukoa (universally known as Aunty Mau which is much easier to say) gave an emotional address thanking the workers who have become part of the Nikao community.
After the ‘ribbon’ cutting (actually made from maire) everyone went into the arena where Oire Nikao cultural troupe danced and chanted. Ushers demonstrated the retractable seating which really is very quick to deploy. Then it was time for the food without which no Cook Islands function is complete.
The new arena will certainly look good and do its job for the netball champs and during the mini games – it’s the venue for squash, weightlifting and netball again. What happens after that when it comes to maintenance is anyone’s guess!

Te Hiva Nui Action Song at Punanga Nui Market

Well, Te Hiva Nui have now flown off to Europe for their performances at various folk dance festivals over the next month or so.
They put on a really spectacular last fundraising performance at their home base - Staircase Restaurant in Rarotonga. The place was packed and included a couple of government ministers and their wives as well as other locals and tourists. I’ll get some video of that online later but in the meantime here’s another item from their recent show at Punanga Nui Market.
This one is an action son – kapa rima.
‘Cook Islands Culture’ has this to say.
Kapa rima (action song)
A story-telling dance, it emphasises the movements of arms and hands rather than those of the lower body. Dancers sing songs accompanied by a band of musicians, usually with ukuleles, guitars and light drumming. This type of dancing, which may be performed by a solo dancer or a troupe, is primarily for an audience. Dance actions in a troupe are usually uniform.

Te Hiva Nui drum dance – ‘ura pa’u

Cook Islands drumming and dancing is famous throughout the Pacific, justifiably so.
Drumming is an important part of the dance, particularly for setting the tempo. ‘Ura pa’u is pronounced (roughly!) oora pow.
The book ‘Cook Islands Culture’ describes it:
“ ‘Ura pa’u (drum dance)
Usually with a faster tempo than kapa rima (action songs), with emphasis on lower body movement. Music is provided by a full ensemble of drums. Drum dances actions by a group are uniform and performance is intended for an audience.”
This is one of the styles people associate most closely with Polynesian dancing. As you can see in the video, it is fast and furious, non-stop action all the way. The boys move their legs in a way that must be great for toning inner thigh muscles (fitness fans take note) and the girls swing their hips as though they’ve got elastic spine and hip joints.
Takes a lot of practice but the end result is awesome!

Te Hiva Nui Ute

When many people think of Cook Islands dancing it’s the drum dance (‘ura pa’u) or action song (kapa rima) that spring to mind.
The ute (pronounced ‘ootay’ not ‘yoot’ which is short for ‘utility vehicle’ – the Australian term for a pickup truck) is somewhat different. In fact it’s not a dance; it’s a joyous chant or celebratory song with drum and string band backing. Everybody joins in the singing and while individuals may dance for a while it is informal.
The book ‘Cook Islands Culture’ describes it as follows:
“Ute (celebratory song)
Although school children sing ute in Schools Culture Festival competitions, the one style of singing is still largely the prerogative of older people. The traditional ute was a joyful love chant-song or 'imene akaepaepa (song of praise) performed by a group of men and women in a celebratory mood. Nowadays, ute are composed about a wider range of topics. Ute today is different from that of 30 to 40 years ago. According to older Rarotongan exponents of ute, the modern ute incorporates more of the elements commonly associated with 'imene tuki, such as tuki (grunts) and perepere (singing descant), than was considered acceptable years ago. This they blame on the loss of contact with the art for a period of over 20 years when a church ban was in place. Consequently, the new generation of composers that followed, did not learn the techniques nor recognise the peculiarities, which made traditional ute different from 'imene tuki. Variations exist between the islands, however, the purpose of ute is the same on all islands - it is a celebratory song to be sung in a party atmosphere. It would be unseemly to perform ute in churches or at funerals. Ute today is performed mainly on stage during the Constitution Celebrations or at community functions.”
This ute is a new one composed specially for Te Hiva Nui’s overseas tour.

Te Hiva Nui at Punanga Nui Market

One of Rarotonga’s excellent dance groups, Te Hiva Nui, is heading for Europe soon to take part in several folk dance festivals.
Leaving on 25 July, they head first for the northeast of England where the Billingham International Folklore Festival is an annual event. From 1 – 8 August they’ll be performing alongside dancers from the Caribbean, Egypt, Mongolia, Peru, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and Thailand.
While they’re in that part of the world they’re planning a side trip to the North Yorkshire scout jamboree in Harrogate. The Cook Islands are named after Yorkshireman Captain James Cook (although not by him – he called them the Hervey Islands). Mind you, he’s associated with Whitby which is on the coast rather than the inland Harrogate and Billingham is much closer to Whitby but the scouts are at Harrogate so that’s where they’re going (on 29 July I think).
After England the group travel to France for the Confolens Festival from 12 – 17 August. Confolens is in the Poitou-Charente region and the festival of music and folk dance features 15 to 20 folklore groups and 600 musicians each year, representing 15 countries.
There will be parades, shows and concerts as well as street events. Around 200 to 300,000 spectators travel there each summer, and it sounds like a lot of fun. Check out more details here.
They’ll also be appearing at a festival in Switzerland before returning to Rarotonga at the end of August.
The travelling party of 21 includes seven male and seven female dancers as well as the musicians. They’ve been practicing hard with a whole raft of new dances and the new costumes are almost complete.
This video is from a fundraising performance at Punanga Nui Market. It was a great success and another one is planned for this Saturday. Their final show before leaving is an island night at the Staircase on Monday (20 July) when all the new dances and costumes will be ready. If you’re on Rarotonga make a point of checking them out. It’s well worth while.
And if anyone in England, France or Switzerland gets the chance to visit these festivals – go for it and don’t forget to give us some feedback. Fans in the Cook Islands would love to hear all about it.
The next few videos will be longer excerpts from the dances at last week’s fundraiser.

Cook Islands Football Association’s new grandstand opened

Guest blog by Ulamila Wragg, CIFA Media

Cook Islands Football Association’s 500-seat covered grandstand with international standard changing room facilities, was opened on Friday by Prime Minister Mr Jim Marurai and FIFA Vice-President Mr Reynald Temarii in the presence of CIFA President Mr Lee Harmon.
Harmon in his speech said that in the last nine years football had brought in $12million to the country. In recognition Mr Harmon was awarded the FIFA Order of Merit, the first for any Cook Islander.
“This inauguration marks the second and third phase of FIFA’s Goal Programme set by FIFA nine years ago aimed at elevating national football associations around the globe,” Mr Harmon said.
“Although CIFA has not hosted any major sporting event, our existence has brought into this country over 12-million dollars in the last nine years. As you can see football is not just a sport, it helps the economy and it is a tool to build better and stronger communities.
“This inauguration marks the dawn of a new day for the Cook Islands, a new day for our people and for football. These facilities will give our young people the opportunity to achieve their full potential at national and international levels.”
Mr Temarii, who is also president of the regional Oceania Football Confederation, told the 100 plus guests, that statistics show that the Cook Islands has a high percentage of involvement with the sport compared to other countries around the globe.
“This is a great achievement when compared to the statistics of other country.”
The Cook Islands has 8-percent (1200) of its total population registered with the sport while Spain has 6-percent, New Zealand 6-percent and France 4-percent.
Mr Temarii praised the consistent hard work put into the game of football by CIFA president, Lee Harmon.
“These objectives were shared with me by the CIFA president, Lee Harmon when we met 12 years ago for the first time in Auckland, as young presidents in the oceania confederation. he did not stop and with the support of a very committed executive committee together they have achieved. Congratulations”, Temarii said.
Cook Islands Prime Minister, the Honourable Jim Marurai, was also on hand to officially open the facilities.
Then followed the unveiling of the plaque, the blessing by Pastor Eliu Eliu and the ceremonial cutting of banana leaves before guests enjoyed a tour of the various facilities.
From humble beginningsThe official ground-breaking on what is now the ‘Home of Football' took place on 16 April 2003. With coastal land scarce and traditionally owned by families and handed down through generations, officials had spent an exhaustive two years securing the low-lying plot of land and several subsequent months implementing underground irrigation and drainage systems.
Less than a year later on 2 April 2004, the doors of CIFA's new home were flung open. The Cook Islands football community finally had a centralised facility, an important step for a country made up of island groups scattered as far as 1200km from Rarotonga.
CIFA's administrative offices were integrated into the new building and the association duly stepped up their activities, especially in the area of development. Cook Islands may be one of FIFA's smallest member associations with a mere 15,000 inhabitants, but it has an impressive track record of development programmes in a variety of areas including junior, youth and women's football, as well as coaching and refereeing.
With the completion of Goal III, the complex now has dressing rooms for players and officials, a spectator tribune with covered seating for 500 people as well as media rooms and PA capabilities.
All told, this complex is the football epicentre for the tiny Southern Pacific jewel. And in a country known as one of the most idyllic places in the world, it is only fitting there is now a picturesque home for 'the beautiful game.'
Read more about the opening on the FIFA website.

The changing face of Nikao beach, Rarotonga

The best beaches on Rarotonga are on the south side, along Muri lagoon, but Nikao on the northwest is certainly an interesting spot.
It stretches about a kilometre, from the sea wall at the end of the airport to Black Rock, the legendary leaping off place of the spirits of the dead.
It’s made of coarse yellow sand with pieces of coral ranging from gravel-sized to large boulders, and the arrangement of sand and gravel changes every time we have extra high seas.
Black Rock is a large piece of basalt, an eroded reminder of Rarotonga’s volcanic past. There’s a channel between the land and Black Rock itself. After really heavy weather like cyclones, the sand in the channel is scoured out and it makes a great platform for kids to jump from. Then tidal action gradually brings the sand back, diving’s out and it’s back to being used for swimming.
Cyclone Heta in 2004 hit Niue really badly. Niue’s about 1000km from Rarotonga and we escaped much damage but the high seas cleaned out the Black Rock channel beautifully as you can see from the video of kids playing there. Since then the sand has gradually returned and it’s now too shallow for jumping.
The Cook Islands’ five cyclones in February/March 2005 had a major effect on Nikao beach. Vegetation was trashed, several trees toppled and large bites were taken out of the land in a couple of places. The toilet block at the Nikao social centre was demolished (the so-called ‘social centre’ was once a building - it was demolished by cyclone Sally in 1987 but the remaining concrete pad kept the name).
Coral boulders and gravel covered most of the area after the cyclones but now much of that has moved along and the sand is back.
Looking on the bright side, the cyclones washed away a lot of the rubbish that accumulates on Black Rock and the beach. It’s a sad fact of life that bottles, tins, paper and various articles of clothing are discarded there (mainly by locals I’m sorry to say).
Hermit crabs are abundant all the time. At the moment there isn’t much bird life – the occasional heron, and brown noddies when the maito are plentiful.
From September to April there are also wandering tattlers and other visitors to our shores.
On fine holiday weekends Nikao is popular with local families but on weekdays, particularly in the morning and early afternoon, you can often have the beach to yourself.

Aussies beat Cook Islands league squad

The Australian Affiliated States league team was in Rarotonga last week to play a couple of games against the Cook Islands league squad.
The AAS is the best players from the Victorian, Western Australian, South Australian and Northern Territory leagues. The Cook Islands squad, called the President’s XIII, comprised the best local players – those eligible to play for the country in the forthcoming Pacific Mini Games. There’s a residency requirement for that so overseas-based Cookies don’t qualify.
The matches were billed locally as ‘tests’ but they weren’t really as the ASS isn’t a national side. Nevertheless it did the local players good to have two tough matches against quality opposition.
We lost both games, the first 20-38 and the second 10-18.
Cook Islands News reported after the first game:
“The local team worked hard to keep up with the Australian team earlier on in the match but lagged off in the final quarter of the game.Australia led 20-10 at the half time break.The superior fitness of the Australians saw them wear down the Cooks in the last quarter to score some very good tries to increase their lead and win the game 38-20.The Cooks had their chances to score and win the game but sloppy passes and poor defence around the ruck costs them the game.”
A few months out from the mini games you might think that local athletes would be pretty fit, after all, the squad’s been selected for a while. Still, in their defence, they haven’t played any other good teams so they won’t be match-ready and this was 13-a-side whereas it’ll be 9-a-side at the games.
The CINews report on the second game said:
“While the Cook Islands league team had visibly improved since their first match against the Australian Affiliated States team on Monday, they just couldn’t bury the Aussies when they had the chance.
The Cooks … were again defeated on Thursday 18-10.
The local boys certainly held their own with the score at 8-8 in the first half.
The team even led 10-8 for part of the game.
However, a lapse in concentration in the last 10 minutes of the game with some basic errors and missed opportunities allowed the Aussies to run in two quick tries to seal the game.
The local lads certainly matched the Aussies in the physical battle but just lacked that mental toughness to really bury the Aussies when they had the chance. However, it was certainly an awesome experience for many of the local boys playing their first international game.”

Drums of our Forefathers - Cook Islands dancing

All Cook Islands dancing is good to watch; the boys are dynamic and the girls graceful.
Most Cook Islanders, the ones who live here anyway, can get up and dance any time the mood takes them, but visitors should make sure they see an island night show while they are here.
‘Drums of our Forefathers’ at Highland Paradise is a musical history of Rarotonga from the time the ancestors arrived to the present day.
Legend tells of Polynesians sailing vaka (ocean-going canoes) from Avaiki – the ancestral and spiritual homeland. They settled on Rarotonga but over the years inter-tribal rivalry led to battles. There was cannibalism but it was mainly a ritual – eating a defeated enemy gave a warrior some of his strength and spirit. Dancing and chants were performed at special celebrations - the so-called grass skirts were made from the inner bark of trees.
The missionaries thought those costumes were a bit too exotic. They didn’t stop the local population dancing but made the guys wear long black pants under the skirts while the girls covered up with shorts.
The muumuu dress for women was also introduced by missionaries. It’s a long dress, often with a frill around the bottom and puffed sleeves. These days it’s made out of colourful pareu material and it’s probably the most popular dress style for both formal and less informal occasions. Well, maybe not for teeny-boppers but certainly for the more mature ladies.
Dance groups used to put on shows for visiting ships but tourism really got going when the international airport opened (in the early nineteen seventies I think).
Nowadays the groups have a variety of colourful costumes and choreographers are composing new dances all the time so Cook Islands culture is in good shape.
In fact, the Maeva Nui festival (usually held in July/August but it’s going to be later this year) is a cultural dance competition between Rarotonga villages and the outer islands. This is fiercely contested and with up to fifty performers on the stage at a time it’s quite a sight. But more on that later.

Island feast and show at Highland Paradise, Rarotonga

“Drums of our Forefathers” is the island show at Highland Paradise on Wednesdays and Fridays, performed by dance troupe E Matike.
It’s very popular and having seen it I can understand why.
Over a hundred visitors arrived in five buses and were first taken to a marae on the property where they were welcomed in a traditional way (although it was too dark to get any decent pictures of that).
Then came the feast, featuring pork, chicken and vegetables prepared in the umu that day as shown in ‘Papa Rima’s Umu’, while the E Matike singers and drummers played.
Later MC Danny Mataroa joked and chatted until it was time for the show. Part of that includes the ura piani where the dancers choose victims – ah, make that volunteers – from the audience to join them on the stage and move to the rhythm. At the end of the show anyone who wants can have friends take photos of them with the dancers. Very popular.
(Excerpts from “Drums of our Forefathers” are in the next video).

Preparing an umu in Rarotonga

I’ve mentioned Highland Paradise before. The tour of the beautiful gardens set in rugged hillside bush is a great way to learn something about Rarotonga’s history and culture.
They also put on an island night feast and show twice a week and I went along to a recent Wednesday night “Drums of Rarotonga”. Great fun – more on that in a later post.
But in order to have a feast, an umukai, you first need an umu. (Umu is an underground oven, kai means food). So I headed into the hills to watch Papa Rima get the umu started at about half past eight in the morning. He uses coconut husks and ironwood, they burn really hot, and gets the fire going with orange tree twigs. He then piles rocks on top and leaves it for about four hours.
Meanwhile kitchen workers are preparing the food. Pork, chicken and some of the vegetables, pumpkin and bananas, will go in the umu. Other island favourites like taro, chowmein, potato salad and various salads are cooked the normal way!
By one o’clock the rocks are hot enough and Papa Rima adds the meat and vegetables, covers them with banana leaves and then a fireproof sheet. Everything slow-cooks for about four hours and believe me, the meat is really tender when it’s time for the feast and show.
And as Papa Rima says, you can cook enough for a hundred people in one pot!
By the way, the background music in this video is a chant by the dance troupe E Matike who perform the "Drums of our forefathers" show.

Takitumu Lagoon Day

Stretching from the Avana passage to the Papua stream, Takitumu lagoon has the best beaches on Rarotonga with palm-fringed white sand lapped by gentle waves - a real tropical island paradise.
But for many years it’s been under attack from pigs and people.
Pig farms located too close to streams cause waste to drain into the lagoon; soil from hillside house sections and dirt roads runs into the lagoon after rain; and new buildings with their septic tanks can also put a strain on the environment.
The good news is that the local population is determined safeguard the health of their lagoon. The water is safe for swimming according to WHO standards but there is a gradual deterioration of fish and coral life.
Takitumu Lagoon Day spreads the good word on environmental protection to schoolchildren and the general public. (Actually it was two days this year because it proved to be such a success last time.)
With information about things like septic tanks, environmentally friendly shopping, e-waste, non-polluting pig litter, composting, soil erosion, lagoon life and water testing, the kids had plenty to think about and questionnaires and competitions kept them all busy and entertained.
And when hunger for information turned to hunger for food plenty of refreshments were available!

New top cop is a Mitiaro man

Cook Islander Maara Tetava took over as police commissioner on Wednesday 17 June.
He follows in the footsteps of New Zealander Pat Tasker who’s done a terrific job of improving the standards and morale of the islands’ police over the last two years.
The Robinson report painted a grim picture of the force but the boys (and girls) in blue now have much more public respect. They still cop a bit of flak from time to time but most people think they’re doing a reasonable job and absolutely everyone wants Maara Tetava to carry on the good work.
The weather on Wednesday was hot and what with all the speeches you had to feel sorry for the police standing on parade for several hours, especially the two drug dogs that had official uniform jackets as well as fur. Whew! Well, I was there for the march, which was accompanied by the Nikao Boys Brigade brass band, and the first few speeches but I had to leave everyone sweating and head off to another appointment so I missed out on the fun and games when the people of Mitiaro and Atiu got going.
According to the report in Cook Islands News, they sang and danced, dressed the new commissioner in traditional clothing, piled layers of ei around his neck and carried him on a paata around the parade area in front of the police station.
It was a great welcome for the country’s new top cop.

Rarotonga Careers Expo 2009

For many years the Cook Islands Ministry of Education has organised a careers expo to give school students some ideas about job and tertiary training opportunities available to them.
This year it was held over two days at the national auditorium and was bigger and better than ever.
As well as local students – of all ages – over 60 outer islands children from Mitiaro, Mangaia, Mauke, Atiu and Aitutaki were able to attend thanks to sponsorship by way of subsidised fares from Air Rarotonga.
There were 32 booths and heaps of freebies, giveaways and competitions to keep the kids occupied and DJ G-Dub kept toes tapping with a non-stop music broadcast.
The major prize, a laptop courtesy of Rarotonga Rotary Club, was won by 17-year-old Theresa Apera of Araura College in Aitutaki.
But judging by the noise and excitement, everyone who attended was a winner this year.

Golden oldies rugby mini festival in Rarotonga

Twelve local and overseas teams joined in the fun at the two-day golden oldies rugby tournament in Rarotonga over Queen’s Birthday weekend.
Brisbane Budgies, Tauranga Old Stars, Lunchtime Legends, Grafton Big River Bullrouts, Tawa Toads, Stokes Valley Gangsters and Manukau Mudlarks were joined by Aitutaki Happy Feet, Avatiu Nikao Mongoose, Takitumu, Takuvaine Legends, Tupapa-Maraerenga and the lone Kevin Murphy (origin unknown – by me at least).
Saturday began with a march past of the teams. Then a minute’s silence was held in honour of Duncan Barrowman of Manukau Mudlarks, who was tragically killed in an accident on Friday.
Once play got under way many of the teams were ‘fruit salads’ with players from a mixture of sides.
As Cook Islands News reported, “This certainly spiced up the festival with visiting players relishing the chance to play with and against the country’s prime minister Jim Marurai and foreign affairs minister Wilkie Rasmussen who donned the black and white
jersey of Tupapa.”
Deputy prime minister Sir Terepai Maoate, a stalwart golden oldie, was also there playing for Takitumu.
Another local star was ‘Mama Mongoose’ – Ake Hosea – a regular player for the Avatiu Nikao Mongoose team.
In golden oldies rugby everyone’s a winner and, as is the golden rule, all games ended in a six-all draw.
The weather on Saturday was brilliant but I can’t speak for Monday because by then I was in Auckland for a few days R&R (rest and retail therapy). Actually the weather in Auckland was great; sunny all day and not a cloud in the sky. Cold, mind you, but you expect it in winter and dress accordingly. It stayed like that until Friday morning when fog rolled in but it was clear at the airport and didn’t stop the return flight to Rarotonga.
A pity because back in the Cooks it was cold and wet, had been raining for days with more to come and the road home was thick with mud where trenching work had got bogged down.
Ah, the pleasures of a tropical island paradise!

High-tech troubles in paradise

This video was filmed in December 2001.
You might wonder why the most recent blog posts have all been of days gone by.
Well, my camera broke down. It refused to zoom – stayed at the wide-angle setting all the time. Mind you, it still recorded to tape which is an improvement over last time it went belly up. Back then something weird happened with the sensors and I got pixelated images and garish colours. I had to send it back to New Zealand three times before it worked properly again. It took eight months in total to repair.
This time it’s been a mere month – that’s assuming that the repair is effective. I’m heading to NZ for a few days so I’ll pick it up and see.
I had a back-up camera but it’s feeling its age and no longer has the strength to load and eject tapes.
On top of that, I can’t get on to YouTube to upload videos. In fact, most days I can’t get on to YouTube at all unless I use a numerical IP address instead of the domain name. It’s only YouTube that’s inaccessible; everywhere else is fine so I’m storing the videos directly with Blogger at the moment. We’ve got a small home network and the problem’s the same for all the computers so it looks like a router malfunction and we’re planning to get a new one in NZ – the model we want isn’t available here.
Fortunately other hardware bits and pieces are available locally. My monitor started doing strange things - parts of it would pixelate and the desktop icons flickered. We replaced the graphics card (which was supposed to be pretty fancy and wasn’t all that old). The machine worked OK for a day or two and then the problem started up again. So we replaced the motherboard. Same thing happened. Fine for a day and then back came the flickers and blobs.
Ended up removing the graphics card completely and using the motherboard’s own graphics and (touch wood) it’s now working properly.
It’s beginning to look as though the fault lies with the graphics card not sitting properly in the case.
Living in a tropical island paradise has its drawbacks.
Back to the video.
The schooner Silent Lady spent a few years in Rarotonga when Skip Price was the owner. It was a beautiful boat and Skip did short day trips for tourists sailing from Ngatangiia Harbour out to sea and back. I’m a rotten sailor and I didn’t take any Dramamine so looking at the video makes me feel queasy all over again!
Skip sailed Silent Lady back to America for a tall ships festival and never returned. It is now owned by someone in Florida. Shame really as it really looked magnificent in this setting.
In an earlier blog (Flying High) I mentioned various air-related business ventures in the Cook Islands that have turned up their toes. I missed one – we had a helicopter for a while. It island hopped all the way from Australia to Rarotonga which was quite a feat. The company got a licence to operate here but unfortunately the chopper didn’t have a NZ airworthiness certificate (or something similar) and it’s not possible to get one here – the chopper would have had to get to New Zealand for that. Another dream bites the dust.
Water-based tourism ventures haven’t fared a lot better. Over the years we’ve had the Silent Lady, jet boats, jet skis, a hovercraft, and kayak tours. A catamaran, the Release, went aground during a cyclone but was replaced by the Hotel California which is still sailing away. Fishing charters and dive boats are also still going strong, as is the Reef Sub, but sadly many maritime ventures on Rarotonga have sunk without a trace.

The FV Ana rescue – success!

Fortunately the tide didn’t wash away the causeway and the next day it was beefed up and a Landholdings crane took over. Slings were fixed around the boat and it was hoisted off the rocks, manoeuvred onto a cradle and lifted onto the back of a trailer.
The load was heavy and there was a short, steep incline leading onto the shore so a tractor joined the parade to add muscle.
This time everything worked well, FV Ana made it to land and the best free show in town was over.

The FV Ana rescue – day 2

Well, re-floating FV Ana didn’t work. It was time for plan B.
This involved T&M Heather building a causeway out to the boat. Fortunately the reef is pretty close to the shore at Panama and the lagoon is grungy – rocky foreshore, not much in the way of sand, no living coral. There were a few environmental worries but nobody had any other ideas for rescuing the boat and having it break up on the reef would no doubt have been worse for the environment.
But at the end of that day it looked as though plan B had turned to custard. As the tide came in seawater rolled over the causeway and the Ana remained stuck fast…

Looking back - FV Ana on the rocks

Just over a year ago, in March 2008, Tapi Taio’s fishing boat FV Ana ended up on the reef in Panama. It was a Saturday afternoon and conditions were calm so the grounding was a bit of a mystery. Cook Islands News photographer Matariki Wilson, who took the still photos at the start of this video, says the engine must have failed and the boat just got swept onto the reef.
Poor old Tapi had a run of bad luck back then. In November 2007 he was the centre of controversy when his decrepit inter-island freighter Miss Mataroa was loaded with asbestos and sunk in deep water a few miles offshore. There were environmental concerns but nobody could come up with an alternative way of getting rid of the stuff, mainly old roofing, so down it went.
Then in January 2008 a storm washed up a second inter-island freighter, MV Maungaroa, on the reef in front of Avatiu Harbour.
That wreck was still there when the FV Ana ran aground.
It was tough on Tapi but for a few days the effort to save the boat was the best free entertainment in town.
The first attempt was to get a line on board and tow the boat off the reef. Tapi’s last remaining freighter, the Manu Nui, and the Ports Authority tug Toa stood by but it all came to nothing as this video shows.
More later…

Highland Paradise

I recently tagged on to a tour at Highland Paradise, a twenty acre haven carved out of dense bush-clad hillsides on Mount Maungaroa.
The Tinomana tribe used to live there before the arrival of missionaries in the 1820s.
When the then-chief converted to Christianity everybody moved down to the coast where the missionaries built a model village – Arorangi.
Up on the mountain the houses rotted away, and trees and shrubs soon covered the marae, meeting places and other important rocks and stones.
The late Raymond Pirangi Senior began the mammoth task of reclaiming the area and his daughter Tutu carried on the work and is now in charge of Highland Paradise.
The views from up there are magnificent. Lookouts would have been able to see enemy warriors (of which it seems there were many) long before they came near.
Danny Mataroa was the guide on this occasion. He’s a well-known local personality, a great showman and a mine of information about the old days with their battles and legends, as well as the trees and flowers all around.
A Tereora College social studies class organised the tour and it was an awesome way to study history and culture with a bit of biology thrown in. Interactive too. Danny got kids to play the part of priests, chiefs … and victims!
The weather was lovely; the paths were gentle, the botanical gardens beautiful, and the tour fascinating. Check out the Highland Paradise website for more information.

The Esther Honey - Hash House K9 run

Rarotonga Hash House Harriers and the Esther Honey Foundation recently combined for a fun fundraiser – the K9 9K run.
Runners, walkers, dogs and their owners gathered at Punanga Nui market. The hounds, all dogged up in their EHF bandanas, must have been on their best behaviour. There were plenty of tail wags and barks but no dog fights!
The run, along the back road to the post office, was a double loop so the two and four-footed participants could go the whole 9 kilometres, four-and-a-half km, or the not-so-fit, elderly or arthritic (dogs or owners) could cut down a side road and back to the market where there were refreshments – a BBQ for the humans and dog biscuits for the rest.
Raffles and donations raised $500.
EHF clinic director Karen Galvan said the clinic has now treated over 24,000 animals and hopes this will be the first of many more fundraisers with flair.

Rarotonga ANZAC Day ceremony

Servicemen and women marched from Avarua CICC to the war memorial outside the courthouse and the uniformed organisations joined the parade; Boys’ Brigade, Girls’ Brigade, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. The latter two organisations included some very young marchers - cubs and brownies.
About a dozen dignitaries as well as representatives from the uniformed organisations laid wreaths on the cenotaph.
This second ANZAC video shows some of the service.

ANZAC Day in Rarotonga

ANZAC Day is a public holiday in the Cook Islands and is celebrated with a dawn service and a parade and wreath-laying ceremony at the war memorial which is now situated at the front of the courthouse.
There was controversy this year as ANZAC Day fell on a Saturday and the market stalls and many shops decided to open. Stallholders said Saturday was their most profitable day but some people thought it showed a lack of respect.
The advantage of a Saturday ceremony was that many people who were out shopping stopped to look and listen whereas on weekday public holidays the town is usually deserted!
We were lucky with the weather. The day started dull but dry and by 11 o’clock it was fine and sunny. Right now the Cooks are at the centre of a huge area of cloud and today (Sunday) it’s been raining most of the day and there is 100% cloud cover. It’s supposed to stay that way until Thursday according to the forecasts.
The ANZAC Day church service was held at Avarua CICC and following this the old soldiers (as well as sailors and airmen – male and female) marched to the courthouse followed by the Boys’ Brigade brass band. The uniformed organisations also joined the parade and by the time they reached the cenotaph it was an impressive display.
This first video is of the initial march leaving Avarua church.

Matthew Pierre dances at the Avatiu fundraiser

Here is another video from the Avatiu Eels rugby league fundraiser.
Matthew Pierre represented the premier grade team with this drum dance. The drummers are the Tumeke dance group players.

Cook Islands Games rugby sevens and netball

These are the last two Cook Islands Games sports code videos.
There were only six teams in the rugby sevens competition and two of them disappeared before the fifth/sixth place play-off. Well it was a hot day and liquid refreshment was obviously more attractive than a game that didn’t have much meaning. I believe Aitutaki (the boys in yellow) won the gold medal. Rugby has quite a bit of experience running tournaments so the mini games shouldn’t be a problem.
The two-evening netball competition was well-attended with plenty of vocal supporters as well as players. No doubt everyone is looking forward to the junior world champs in the new indoor stadium. The junior squad were in Rarotonga recently and had a couple of matches against the (senior) mini games squad. The seniors won both matches which ought to silence a few critics who have made snide comments about the age of some of the players. By all accounts the junior squad were very fit but the golden girls have experience and a killer instinct as well. Hard combination to beat.
It might seem that there’s been a huge amount of sport on this blog recently but people in the islands play a lot of different codes and inter-village rivalry is big in some of them. Now that the games are over it’s back to normal sporting activities until the international triathlon in May, netball in August and mini games in September.
One thing that does need fixing before then is getting the results on the web. The pages at Sporting Pulse never did get updated.

Cook Islands Games soccer and squash

The ‘Cook Islands Games soccer tournament’ wasn’t really a games event. Every year there’s a junior soccer championship with under 16 boys and under 15 girls teams from the southern group outer islands as well as Rarotonga vaka. The organisers decided to call it part of the CI Games and at least it had real outer islanders taking part.
Soccer is a relatively rich code in the Cook Islands because it is funded by FIFA. It’s got its own headquarters at Matavera with an ‘academy’ and a couple of soccer pitches. One has a great surface and is well-drained. The other is very good but gets flooded during very heavy downpours.
A grandstand is currently being built by the number one field. Altogether soccer is a very well off and popular sport.
So it’s surprising that it isn’t part of the Pacific Mini Games! The games organising committee set down criteria for codes. For example basketball and volleyball weren’t ranked high enough regionally so they didn’t make it. Soccer, however, didn’t even apply!
It’s an odd decision. It would have given our top players the chance to play against quality opposition and many others who take part and support would have enjoyed seeing good games. Maybe the bosses just like travelling overseas. That’s an endemic problem with those in authority here.
Squash is one of the smaller codes but its players are very active and they’ve really got something to play for this year. Two glass-backed squash courts are included in the new indoor stadium. This will make it easier for spectators than leaning over a balcony looking down on things. A few years ago they hosted the Oceania squash champs and they usually hold an international tournament each year although last year’s was smaller than usual, probably because of the global financial crisis. So with brand new courts and experience in running competitions, squash is looking good for the mini games.