The Cook Islands Vacation

One of the busses will take you where you want to stop. Beneath the shallow patios, banana, coconut, paws and pineapple are growing in this luxuriant green. They also have the possibility to stop in small towns and get to know the people of the islands better.

humankind

Cook Islands consist of 15 islands spread over approximately 850,000 sq. m. of the Pacific Ocean. This was during the great Polyynesian migration (which began around 1500 B.C.) when our forebears first came to these islands. Its huge doublehull canoe -'Vaka's' - led by the heavens and the force of old Polyynesian navigations, reached here around 800 AD.

They say Chief Toi landed in the Cook Islands during the initial migrations. First Europeans were the Spaniards Alvaro de Mendana, who discovered Pukapuka in 1595 and Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, who saw Rakahanga in 1606. No further contacts in Europe existed until over 160 years later, in 1773, Captain James Cook, after whom the archipelago was finally given its name, saw the Manuae Atlantis, which he renamed Hervey Iceland.

In the 1850' s the Cook Islands became a popular stop for whaling, the English banner was hoisted in 1888, when Aitutaki and Rarotonga belonged to New Zealand's borders. Today, an Rarotonga global Rarotonga airfield offers day-to-day flights to several cities, among them the United States. The Polynesian Cook Islands are tightly connected in terms of cultural and linguistic ties with the Maori in New Zealand, the Maohi of French Polynesia, the Rapuni of Easter Island and the Kanaka Maoli of Hawaii with around 87 percent of the Cook Islanders.

It' s the Cook Islands' innate charms that attract them. Festival is an important part of the yearly schedule, in which the inter-island contest for the best interpreters is part of the nation's proud. The Maori of Cook Islands is the official tongue, but everyone can speak English.

It is said that both Ru and Tangiia, from Polynesia in France, arrived on Aitutaki and Rarotonga respectively around 800 AD. The story of the cooks began with the sightings of Pukapuka by the Spaniard Alvaro de Mendaa in 1595, followed by a landings on Rakahanga in 1606 by another Spaniard researcher, Pedro Quiros.

The British came to Pukapuka in 1764 and called it Danger Island because they could not dock. From 1773 to 1779, Captain James Cook saw and ended up on many of the South Group, but never came near Rarotonga. 1789 Captain William Bligh ended up on Aitutaki, while the first formal inspection of Rarotonga in Europe took place in 1813 by a msn. John Williams.

Troubles erupted between the seamen and the islanders and many were murdered from both sides. No Europeans could see the islands until 1821 when English misionaries came. Rarotonga was founded in 1858 and declared a protected area in 1888 at the wish of Queen Makea Takau.

From 1901 to 1965 it became a New Zealand patronage, after which it became a self-governing area in free associations with New Zealand. Today, the Cook Islands are largely autonomous, but are still formally under New Zealand sovereignties and have the task of monitoring the country's external affairs and defence.

In the Cook Islands, the New Zealand Dollars (NZ$) are the currencies, complemented by banknotes and coin for domestic use. There is no trade in the uniquely authentic banknotes and coin outside the Cook Islands, but there is strong demand from collector groups around the world. Cook Islands is a year-round hot and sun-drenched area.

Tips are not recommended in the Cook Islands. Polynesians say that if you give something for free, the recipient owes you something - and so you get a tip. Visa, MasterCard and Bankcard are acceptable in most places on Rarotonga. The New Zealand dollars as well as the Cook Island dollars are split by 100 Cent.