A COOK ISLAND AND A NIGHT IN BEVERIDGE REEF

On leaving French Polynesia you have to make a choice as to which way you go to get to Tonga. Some boats go North to the Samoa islands (US and West) and some via a variety of the Cook Islands. We were very undecided until the last minute but in the end headed for Rarotonga so that we could at least experience one of the Cook Islands. In retrospect it was the wrong decision but you can’t get it all right and you can’t see everything.

For the first two days of our crossing we had very light winds which is always a little frustrating, and George our auto helm does not like sailing in these conditions. Our biggest fear is that he will go on strike and then god forbid we would have to helm the boat! On our second night there was no wind at all so we had to motor. The sea was as flat as a mill pond and you could see all the stars reflected in it, it was truly beautiful. Day three brought us some decent breeze and we were soon trundling along at six and a half knots, finally making land in Rarotonga, our chosen Cook island, after four nights at sea.

We motored into Avatiu Harbour and moored up stern to the land. It is not a nice harbour at all as it is open to the swell and in order to get ashore you need to launch the dinghy and risk life and limb clinging to a rickety ladder on the wall, avoiding landing in the large puddles at the top.  Before we could do this though we had to wait for the Customs to arrive and go through the usual checking in process, which was all relatively easy. However the local currency is New Zealand dollars, of which we had none, so a quick trip into town was needed to pay our dues. They also bought us tired sailors a very good fish and chip supper before we retired to bed for an early night.

The next day brought with it torrential rain. It seemed a waste of money to hire a car but there is a bus that circumnavigates the Island so for five dollars each we hopped on it and did the circuit. The weather didn’t help but we weren’t hugely taken with the place. It appears to be a holiday destination for a certain type of Kiwi and has lots of take out fast food joints and not a lot else.

So we decided the next day to walk across the island and experience the more scenic part of the place. Whilst we had been on the bus the day before a family had got on covered in mud from their trek and had not been allowed to sit down, so himself hit upon the idea of catching the bus first to the other side of the Island whilst we were all clean and walking back towards the boat. We should have realised our mistake when I read a notice at the start of the Trek suggesting that it was advisable to start from the other side. However we were on Dallas tours and so we ventured past the Waterfalls and on into the jungle.

I mentioned that it had been raining the day before and we were expecting some mud. We were also expecting some sign posts. To begin with all went well but it became harder and harder to find the painted blue arrows showing the way. I wasn’t very happy when I came face to face with a rat who then proceeded to run over my head on a branch. I soon got tired of taking off my shoes every time we had to cross a river and greatly enjoyed watching the efforts my guide went to avoiding getting his feet wet, some of them quite athletic as he crossed streams by going through the branches. 

We eventually got completely lost, no mobile phone, no GPS, no food and little water, what muppets! We climbed a hillside/mountain in the hope of finding our way, clinging on to the tree roots we some how made some progress. The tour guide thankfully, and correctly, decided to descend which he did quite quickly but I am frightened of heights and was not easily letting go of my new found friends the tree roots. Once back down the hillside he was happy to find a young Czechoslovakian couple with Google maps on their phone. They kindly waited for the old dear to descend and tried not to look too shocked at the state I was in when I arrived. Think yeti covered head to toe in mud, steam coming out of ears and generally not a happy bunny. But we found the path and then waved them on, much to their relief. We had another very steep hillside to climb, Andrew was in much better shape than me at this point and I was reminded of learning to ski when you are the worst in the party and finally catch up with everyone, only for them to set off again before you have had a moment to catch your breath.

We met a couple going the other way who told us that they had been going to walk both ways but had just had a terrifying experience at the top traversing across a sheer drop with only a rope to hold onto and were therefore going to get the bus back to their car. Blood pressure now at boiling point we continued onwards. On reaching the sheer drop, hyperventilating I hung onto the rope and didn’t look down, breathing a huge sigh of relief I  made it to the top. There was a lovely view and a magnificent cockerel, but we were too exhausted to walk to the view point so  commenced our descent. It wasn’t easy but at least we had sign posts and finally we were at the bottom. 

We were however unbelievably hot and covered from head to toe in mud! The tour guide spotted a river, clinging to another rope we descended down a slope through some bushes and there was clear cold water and not a soul around. We had the best skinny dip ever, and emerged in a more presentable state. Our journey was far from over however as we had quite an walk still to get back to the boat. We travelled past lots of local houses marvelling at how many pigs there were, some piglets foot loose and fancy free and some large pigs tied up. Together with lots of dogs of the loud barking variety.

Finally we were at the harbour and we fell upon the nearest burger joint. We devoured our very late lunch surrounded by the inevitable chickens that roam all these islands, just a shame no one collects the eggs. We had intended to go out to dinner that evening toTrader Vics but we were so tired we could hardly move so we had baked beans on toast and a very early night.

The wind turned direction in the night and the conditions in the harbour became even more uncomfortable so the decision was made to leave that day.  Taking our life into our hands we clambered ashore to start the checking out process, purchased a few vegetables and were happily on our way back out to sea after lunch. Rarotonga probably our least favourite place so far in the Pacific.

We had another four nights at sea and quickly fell back into life onboard. With the Yankee poled out we made great headway romping along, Hullabaloo at her very best.  Our disastrous fishing record in the Pacific continued however. We caught a Tuna and Andrew gallantly reeled it in, I could taste the Sashimi, and then just as he leant over the side to bring it onto the boat the lure broke and it dropped back into the sea. A couple of hours later we had another bite but that jumped off, so sadly no fish supper for us. The weather and sea state were good enough to play cards so at least the skipper could console himself with thrashing me, the score was not looking too good!

We arranged to meet Bill and Zoe for dinner in Beveridge Reef which is in the middle of the Ocean. Surrounded by reef with a single pass into the lagoon it is like an Atoll but with no surrounding land.  The only solid object that can be seen even at low tide is the wreck of an old fishing boat.  There is no land above water anywhere.  On our approach we could see Into the Blue anchored in the middle and we motored though the pass into calm waters and anchored next to them. They cooked us a delicious dinner and sitting around their cockpit table it was all very surreal. It really felt like we were anchored in the middle of the Ocean and the only indication that we were surrounded by reef was when the odd wave crashed over it.

The next morning Bill wanted to take us shark fishing in the pass.  We motored to the South of the lagoon and anchored but the wind was starting to pick up and he decided it was too dangerous. As they had told stories the night before of the sharks in a feeding frenzy bashing their dinghy two days previously I was secretly happy to have been saved by the weather, even if it meant we cut our stay there short and left that afternoon.

We headed out together into the swell and we set course for Tonga. Zoe and Bill decided to head for Niue but we didn’t like the sound of the weather forecast. As it turned out they had a great few days there and we probably missed out but such is life. There were lots of squirrels around and consequently quite a lot of rain. We were told when we left Panama we would not see any rain but that has not proved to be the case. Sheltering below we began our sail to The Kingdom of Tonga....