Rarotonga

Polynesia is a geographical triangle in the Pacific Ocean with Hawaii,New Zealand, and Rapa Nui (Easter Island) as its three points. Starting about 65 million years ago, ongoing volcanic activity began forming the Cook Islands of Polynesia between Fiji and Tahiti. The resultant archipelago consists of 15 major islands, six of which are the worn emergent peaks of now-extinct volcanoes (Mauke, Atiu, Mangaia, Mitiaro,Rarotonga, and Aitutaki); islets, or Hotus; sand-cays on coral reefs; and atolls. Rarotonga is the largest and youngest of those volcanoes forming the Cook Islands. It is located almost 3,000 statute miles directly south of Kauai, the oldest major island of the Hawaiian archipelago. Radiometric dates of lavas indicate that Rarotonga started emerging during the PliōPleistocene Age, about 2.8 million years ago. Today, this dormant and eroded volcano has a core surrounded by Pleistocene sands and gravels.

Rarotonga is an elliptical island whose impressive prehistoric-like landscape consists of towering razor-back volcanic ridges of central mountains covered with rich tropical vegetation (sea winds keep Rarotonga [Page 1991]cool). This mountainous area is deeply dissected by steep valleys and numerous streams. The rich lowlands are studded with coconut and banana plantations. White beaches stretch along the southern shore of this pristine and peaceful island, but the distant roar of ocean breakers is a constant reminder of both the creative and destructive forces of nature.

Source: © iStockphoto/Brent Hatcher.

One of the geological landmarks of Rarotonga is The Needle (Te Rua Manga), although this unique 300-foot rock outcrop is dwarfed by the higher igneous horizon of this volcanic island landscape. A short, pleasant hike inland along the Avatiu stream, with butterflies and ubiquitous mynah birds as companions, and then a long, strenuous climb up a steep, root-covered mud path will take the adventurous intruder through breathtaking forests of tropical greenery and, finally, to a close-up sight of The Needle in all its primeval splendor.

During the past few thousand years, Rarotonga may have welcomed to its shores many brave migrating peoples who came first from the Tongan Islands and then from all over the Pacific Ocean. Not surprisingly, the first discoverers of this island are remembered only through legends and myths.

Centuries ago, seafaring Māori warriors from the islands of Tahiti, Samoa, New Zealand, and elsewhere navigated the ocean on rafts or in outrigger canoes. Using a canopy of stars as their compass, they voyaged throughout Polynesia, eventually discovering the Cook Islands and then the Hawaiian archipelago. No doubt these migrations helped to limit the detrimental kin intermarriages within small communities on these isolated islands.

After waves of early arrivals, the lofty mountains and fertile shores of Rarotonga welcomed their final and definitive visitors from Tahiti during the 13th century. These fierce but cunning Māori warrior clans settled in over 20 tribes, or Iwi,scattered throughout three geographical districts of the island. The Māori of Rarotonga are tall and robust, with black hair, dark eyes, and medium-brown skin. They have a friendly disposition, living close to the land and enjoying music and dance. For hundreds of years,Rarotonga was inhabited only by these nonliterate settlers, who explained their origin and interpreted this world in terms of magicōreligious beliefs and an oral tradition.

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