Christmas in April in Rarotonga?

By Mandy Brown

As my family will confirm, I love Christmas.  So when Rebecca from ‘Storytellers – Eco Cycle Tours’ in Rarotonga mentioned Christmas, I was all ears. 

Joining Rebecca for a Christmas visit seemed like a fantastic idea, unusual though as it was the middle of April. To get to this Christmas celebration we travelled by bike.  My family will attest to this is not being my best form of travel, but I was up for everything on this journey to the Cook Islands with friend and travel writer, Jane.

I must mention I was forewarned about the bike trip so I took my trusty ‘Gel-seat’ much to the amusement of Dave, owner of Storytellers.  Dave needed to record this event  and I proudly posed for a gel-seat photo.  

Rebecca, a Cook Islander, was our main storyteller with an impressive  knowledge of the history, culture and agriculture of the island.  Dave isn’t an islander, but has developed a huge knowledge of the island and its people, who in return have warmly welcomed Dave and his family into their lives.

Dave led the group to a small shed where we met Natua, an incredible musician. If you can get him to warm to you he will play one of his handmade ukuleles.  These beautifully crafted instruments are sort after and are all sold before they are finished. He believes  the purchaser of a ukulele needs to have their soul in the instrument so he encourages them to be a part of the crafting process. 

You can book ahead of your holiday and do a 1 or 2 day workshop making your own ukulele with Natua.  With his big smile and warm heart he will win you over.

We needed to move on and as I didn’t want to miss out on Christmas I was on my bike and racing up a dirt track (ok racing is perhaps not the right word).  We stopped to trydifferent types of fruit including paw paw, mandarins, pineapples and wonderful bananas.

Along the way were ruins of ancient Maraes, which are sometimes still used today. We also visited a more resent ruin, the Sheraton Resort. The resort was built in the 1980’s and is  a sad tale of corruption and fraud, never being completed.  Of course there is also a local tale of curses on the land.

“Christmas must be close?” I thought.  And sure enough as we got off our bikes and walked through a pineapple patch I hear Rebecca say “and here’s Christmas!”  Not  exactly what I had in mind, but yes, there she was, standing on her hind legs to get a better look at us as we walked up to her pen. Squealing with excitement when she saw Rebecca with some pineapple leaves for her.  80 kilos of Pig, sow to be exact.  She was quite a character with gorgeous eyes and huge ears and her name is Christmas.

Mandy cycled Rarotonga with Storytellers Eco Cycle Tours   www.storytellers.co.ck  

With bike tours for the most basic to the most experienced riders available.

 Natua’s Ukeleles       www.natuaukulele.com