The Cooks Part II

The Rarotongan Mountains

In the cross-island trek brochure it was recommended we bring our own mosquito repellent. Having been the “victim” of many mosquito attacks on past hikes, I made sure not to leave home without it. Once everyone had assembled we started to liberally apply mosquito repellent until Pa told us to stop! We put down our bottles of DEET and Pa said in a broken local accent “don’t put on, you get halfway up mountain and you get tired!” He insisted we instead apply his own homemade mosquito repellent consisting of eucalyptus oil, which I must say worked wonderfully!!

As we started our ascent to "The Needle”, Pa told us to hold off on conversation so he could listen to people breathing. By listening to the sound of our breathing he would be able to tell if anyone was 

Pa blazing the way for us hikers!

having a heart attack, which happened on one of his treks. Luckily the guy was ok, but Pa had to carry him down the mountain. Instead of talking to one another Pa recommended we stay quiet and focused. He added, “If you need to talk to someone, talk to God (pointing to the sky), he listen.” It was quite a nice change from the usual group hikes I take when you have people talking loudly as if they were in a bar.

Besides leading eco-tours up and down the Rarotongan mountains Pa also was the local “medicine man” and ran a small naturopathic
clinic out of his house. So, once we reached the top of the mountain, he gave us a quick crash course seminar in “bush medicine”. To the average tourist all the flora and fauna growing in the rainforest does not amount to much, however to Pa the rainforest served as a gold mine! It was amazing all the different plants, flowers, leaves, etc.., which could be used for cures to common illnesses and all types of disease. The one “bush technique” that really stood out in my mind was a way to tell if someone has diabetes. According to Pa you simply pee on to a leaf, set it on the ground and if ants flock to it, you likely have diabetes. If the ants leave it, then you are ok. My crash course in Rarotongan bush medicine made me realize why naturopathic medicine is such a fast growing field!

The Hardcore Traveler @ Te Rua Manga

As we approached the top, the rainforest canopy disappeared behind us and before our eyes was the legendary and majestic Te Rua Manga, otherwise known in English as “The Needle”. It was too steep to actually climb to the tiptop, however we were able to get far enough up to pose for some cool pictures. After standing around admiring the view of “The Needle” and the rainforest below us, it was time to descend down the other side of the mountain.

Upon our descent we noticed two local guys running toward us. These were not any ordinary guys they were the local police. They were on the hunt for an escaped convict from the local jail. The officers gave us a brief description and asked if we had seen him. Pa stated he had noticed at one point during our trek a guy running in the opposite direction. So, with this tip they continued their pursuit. Sure enough the next day I read in the local Raro newspaper they had caught the guy about a mile from where we were. As the old saying goes, “you can run, but you can’t hide”, especially on a small tropical island! 

We continued to tramp (the word Kiwis use for hiking) through the rainforest until darkness started to give way to light. This could only mean one thing; we were coming to the end of our journey across Rarotonga.  Once we reached the end of the path there was a beautiful waterfall and billabong (Australian for water hole and also the name of a famous worldwide surfing company) just waiting for us! I decided to take a pass since I still had haunting memories of an infamous time when I was 8 years old and swam in such a pool on Maui, subsequently ending up with leeches all over my body. My poor mother had to pick them off one by one! Not a good memory and not something I really wanted to repeat.

As everyone dried off from his or her swim, it was time to say aere ra to Pa, meaning goodbye in Cook Maori. He was in a real hurry since he had to get to the other side of the island to preside over a big wedding. Supposedly he was also an ordained minister or something to that degree. Although we had only known Pa for several hours it felt like we were saying goodbye to a dear family member or friend! We all felt as if we had known him our entire lives.

Pa saying a prayer for our safe return down the mountains

If anyone is planning to vist Rarotonga, Cook Islands, a trek

The view from the top!

with Pa is strongly recommended. For those who are not all that thrilled about a long, grueling hike through the mountains, Pa also runs a low key nature tour where he discusses in depth all the different tropical floral and fauna used to help and cure diseases. A visit to Raro without meeting Pa is like visiting Sydney and never seeing the Harbour Bridge! 

Stay tuned for The Cooks Part III about my adventure out to what is popularly known as the “Honeymoon Island” of Aitutaki. Meitaki ma’ata (thanks a lot) for reading!

The beautiful island of Aitutaki, coming up in The Cooks Part III