Aitutaki or what is Kia Orana?
Is that a strange word? In my translation, that means Paradise in south Pacific. I wrote Paradise with capital letter on purpose, as this is what it is. Kia Orana is their traditional greeting.
I simply love planes and the moment they start moving and get the speed, I know that I’m going on an adventure. I’m excited as a small child gets excited about his birthday. And this time it was the same.
Flying on a smaller plane was good. It was great because the pilot cabin was open and you can really see the sky in every direction. After coming to a miniature airport Aitutaki (the flight takes about an hour from the bigger island Rarotonga) you can immediately see the beautiful lagoon of this beautiful atoll. Turquoise colours of the sea, white sand and palms are visible even from the plane. And you feel complete in a moment. You get a sparkle in your eyes.
Workers from the resorts are waiting for you at the airport with the flowers on the small airport. And I’m waiting to get the flower necklace myself. But my resort didn’t have five stars so I didn’t get the flowers. I made a reservation in a tiny wooden house. But the flowers were planted all around my house, where I stayed for a couple of days. I also had an unlimited access to kayaks. And the beach was only a few metres away. The only bad thing about this beauty was that I had to experience it alone. I’m writing this article almost six years after I visited this beautiful islands, I can tell you that no one wanted to visit this part of the world with me yet, so I really made a smart decision to visit it six years ago. If I wouldn’t do it back then, I would never see those places.
And really, I still remember this paradise every day. I would love to visit this paradise with my better half to show him that no money, car or an apartment can compare with what I experienced and seen on this archipelago. Let me begin.
What is Aitutaki? It is one of the 15 Cook Islands that are located in the middle of the Pacific a little under the equator and around 2000 kilometres from New Zealand. If you want to imagine it better, they are located between New Zealand and Hawaii. The locals are called Maori.
I spent my three days on the island like that. Every morning I went for breakfast in the neighbouring resort. My wooden house didn’t have breakfast, but that didn’t really matter. After breakfast I went on the beach and then on an adventure across the island. I walked everywhere so I could admire every palm tree and every house, wooden or bricked. It is interesting that there are only 1800 inhabitants on this island. And that is why everyone wants to talk to you, they offer you a ride on a motorbike when they see you walk... There are only few cars on the island. I walk by trees and notice that almost half of the island is damaged. The bad side of these islands is that they can easily be ruined by tsunamis or tropical storms. And there are a lot of these catastrophes. So people are really brave to live and stay here. But they don’t know a different life. This is their home. They feel good here. And how wouldn’t they?
The second day I went to the small harbour where a ship was waiting for me to take a trip in the lagoon, which is on the opposite part of the island and I was happy again. It’s the same lagoon that I saw from the plane. Lagoon was supposed to be full of colourful fishes, turtles, little islands with white sand and the colour of the sea is so beautiful that the eyes can’t stop resting on it.
When we finished snorkeling between fishes and turtles, the ship left us on one of the mini islands that is completely covered in sand and there are no trees. A perfect photographing spot. Then we walked in a half-metre high water to the One Foot Island. It was quite exhausting, walking on water like that. But the water was crystal clear, you almost can’t believe your eyes. A man can lose his mind over this beauty. It is difficult to decide whether to go swimming or to just look at the lagoon and the islands around it in the middle of Polynesia.
On the third day, I “climbed” the top of the island, to Maungapu, 124 metres high. Despite still being very low, you can still see the famous lagoon. And the highest hill was close to my little house.
These few days here went by so quickly. But they were full of emotions. You can see the passion burning inside you while you are here. And the word “Aitutaki” means just that – “keep the fire going” or in my translation: have your passion inside you, always and forever. A short advice to every traveller: if you want something, do it. Not tomorrow, plan it now, in this moment. Even if you don’t have a better half. The most beautiful things happen when you go on a trip alone.
