Up early for a wander down Matavera Beach in the morning light and a coffee.
Tom comes with Alissa and me. We’ve been to see Neil at Cook Islands Coffee Company so often he’s learned our order which is concerning for the budget but feels pretty good so let’s roll with it. He tells us about how Matavera used to be a sandy, unspoiled perfect little beach but a tropical cyclone rolled through in 2005 and tore it up. Now it’s a rough broken coral stretch with no swimming really. That’s the way it goes I suppose. Plenty of crabs however for Tom to herd.
I noticed on our round island race yesterday that even though it’s blowing a gale from the east/south east, the western side near The Rarotongan is protected by the island and was calm. I’ve had an inclination to snorkel over there as just in front of the resort is the Aroa Bay Marine Reserve which is supposed to be chock full of sea beasts. We take the long way over through Avarua and knock over lunch and another enormous ice-cream. Tom is a train wreck of orange choc chip as it melts at a heck of a rate in this heat.
Eventually we get down to Aroa Bay and it’s a mill pond. The water is that perfect crystal clear tropical paradise style we have been looking for. So eager to get in, Nate and I slope off and it immediately lives up to the hype. Lots of coral outcrops or bommies teeming with fish and sea urchins in crystal clear water. The gopro is used liberally as there’s so much to see. Even a reticent Max is convinced by Alissa to come down to the water and have an exploration. So many wrasses, parrotfish, giant trevally, clownfish and I managed to stumble across an enormous grouper who did not like the look of me at all. Highly recommended, far surpasses the underwater action at Muri or Fruits of Rarotonga, they are not in the same league. We arrived here pretty late so we are convinced we will be back and try and spend a more full day here. Worth the effort, easily.
The shortest path back is down past Wigmore’s so we really need a second huge ice-cream each then the 10km blat back to the house. Another trip around the island is completed. Everyone is exhausted so an early turn in is necessary as another Camino training walk is planned for the morning……
