Oct 1992: Cook Islands

    Town 'n Around the Cook Island of Rarotonga for the Te Maire Nui 1992

      The Festival of Pacific Arts (Te Maire Nui) is held every 4 years in a different Pacific Island Country.  Dorothy attended the 1988 one held in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, a victim of her own publicity, and had such a good time that she decided if she were still in the southern hemisphere in 1992 she would try to attend the next one - to be held in the Cook Islands in 1992.
      A year ago, we wrote to the Cook Islands for information which was received several months later with a scarcity of information about the festival itself.  A request to a travel agent in December 1991 resulted in nothing but 'it's way too early to book.'  A subsequent request in late January 1992 resulted in Dorothy being told it was already booked out but the travel agent did put her on a waiting list and six weeks later she was notified there was a package booking available and the scene was set.
     Using her life's savings (ed. note - slight embellishment), and 3 weeks leave Dorothy's journey began on Oct 12, 1992, Columbus Day. First stop was Sydney where she spent a night and morning as the plane for Auckland, New Zealand, the second stop on her island hopping - did not leave until 3 p.m.
      Dorothy stayed in a motel, the Gemini, in Randwick, a suburb of Sydney for several reasons - it provided transportation to and from the airport, was less expensive (flash) than many, and was on a bus route to the city.  Dorothy spent the morning roaming around Circular Quay, the Rocks, and the harbor area taking pictures and going in and out of shops.  At 2 p.m., she caught the bus back to the hotel and got a ride to the airport.
     At Sydney International Airport, Dorothy saw many members of the Australian delegation to the festival, who were on the same flight to Auckland.  The festival is a South Pacific cultural event designed to promote the art, craft, music, dance and other cultural expressions of the indigenous people of the South Pacific countries. Twenty-seven countries are considered members.  The islands range from Australia and Papua New Guinea in the west to Easter Island, off the coast of Chile in the east.  Hawaii, Guam, Nuie, Vanuatu, French Polynesia and New Zealand are just a few of the others.  Most delegations averaged about 100 with contemporary cultural expression being included as well as traditional. This year's focus was on the canoes, or Vaka, which took the people from island to island. Historians have claimed the early inhabitants wee not smart enough to sail between islands, that discoveries and settlements were only started by accident when weather conditions blew a sea-going vessel off course.  For this festival many countries built canoes using traditional methods to sail to the Cook Islands, including one from
      
New Zealand which took 32 days.  The canoes were followed by support vessels as a safety measure but in each case the canoe was sailed and navigated using traditional methods such as oars and the stars, and one of the events was the traditional welcoming ceremony - with islanders playing conch shells and greeting visitors with drums and dancing.
      But back to Dorothy's story - Dorothy arrived in Auckland at midnight and reached her motel room by 1 a.m.  With her flight for Rarotonga not leaving until 10 p.m. the next day, Dorothy spent the day in downtown Auckland checking out comic book shops for additions to Toby's comic book collection, as well as any inside activity which would take her out of the cold, rainy, overcast New Zealand climate.  One good refuge was the city art gallery where she spent several hours, first listening to a talk by contemporary N.Z. artists, then studying the gallery's collections of historic N.Z. paintings, as well as a photographic display and video on the photographer's life.  The photographer, a European WWI veteran, later was based in New York (Dorothy can't remember his name). All in all she spent almost 4 hours in the art gallery.
      Finally at the Auckland airport, Dorothy began her journey to Rarotonga, the largest of the islands which form the Cook Islands. Her flight included a 50-minute stop in Fiji where she got off the plane to check the transit lounge of the Fiji airport. There, the Fijian delegation to the Festival boarded the plane.
     The plane landed in Rarotonga about 6:30 a.m., Wed, as the Cook Islands are across the date line from Australia.  So Dorothy got to live Wed, Oct. 14th twice.  Cook Islanders in grass skirts were out beating drums to welcome the visitors to the island.  As Dorothy waited to go through passport control and customs she was landed a leaflet on how to stay healthy for the festival - the key words being "Don't drink the water.  (Boil it first) and Don't eat the food (eat small quantities)."  Not being an adventuresome eater in the first place, this news was not greeted joyfully. Finally enroute to her "resort" hotel, Dorothy looked back and was amazed to see the big New Zealand jet dwarfed the little Cook island airport.
     Dorothy's 'home' for the next 16 days was the Edgewater Resort. Its big advantage was being on the Town 'N Around bus route.  The Edgewater is on the west side of the island, 7 kilometers from Avarua, the main city of Rarotonga.  As a resort hotel, the Edgewater has an activities director whose responsibility it is to plan trips for the estimated 100 guests (when there are no such things as festivals) - and things like tennis coaching, crab racing, fashion shows and so forth.
     After settling in, Dorothy decided to catch the bus to town to see just what Avarua was like.  This was when her major case of culture shock occurred.  The "town" consisted of many small (stress the word small) shops most selling tourist type souvenirs.  The main grocery store, supposedly the largest on the island made the small Alice Springs grocery stores look gigantic.  All in all, Avarua made Alice Springs look like a thriving metropolis. Evidently most people in the Cook Islands grow, catch or raise their own food as during her stay, Dorothy saw tethered goats, horses, pigs, and cows while roosters and hens and little chicks roamed freely.  Bananas grew close to the ground as well as other fruits and vegetables while coconuts on tall palm trees abound.  A sign at the Edgewater stated, "DO NOT PARK, FALLING COCONUTS."
     After walking through the town and looking for various publications which would provide more information on the festival and applying for media accrediation, Dorothy stocked up on Coke, peanut butter, bread and cookies which were to be the main stay of her diet for the next 16 days.  Back at the bus stop, Dorothy decided to take the clockwise bus around the island in order to see the rest of this island and perhaps locate some of the venues where the festival events were to be held. (The festival itself was not scheduled to officially begin until Saturday evening with an opening ceremony.)
      Back at the motel, Dorothy took a walk on the beach and a took a couple of sunset pictures before tuning in to the Cook Islands' one TV station, which only broadcasts from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m., each day.  Two versions of local news are included - English and Maori.  At the end of the broadcast, along with the weather is the status of the islands' water supply which is dependent on rainfall and the island had not had any significant rainfall for 2 months, so upon Dorothy's arrival, the supply was at the critical point (ed. note - this at a critical time of the addition of 4000 visitors to the island).
      The big news on Wednesday's TV news was the arrival of Prince Edward the next day and the public was invited.  So, after a little more sightseeing via the little yellow bus, Dorothy rode to the airport and joined the people waiting patiently in the hot sun.  The prince arrived at 1 p.m. in his Royal jet and was given the traditional welcome of the islands including children in grass skirts dancing to the beat of the drums, as well as speeches by the Cook Islands Prime Minister, Sir Geoffrey Henry.  The prince was carried in the traditional chair (paata) by islanders and Dorothy later heard him say to some of the islanders he hoped he wasn't too heavy (he is tall, thin, balding and is much like his father, Prince Phillip, in appearance and manner).
      From the airport Dorothy caught the bus back to Avarua to be on hand for when the Prince opened the city's divided stretch of road which runs  along the shore.  Prince Edward stayed in Rarotonga until Sunday morning during which time he was to unveil lots of plaques commemorating lots of things from the town's new cultural centre named by the Prime Minister after himself to the sign marking the new Sheraton Hotel/Country Club constructions site.  At 4 p.m., there was a press conference for accredited media with the festival director.  The cultural center includes a 2000-seat auditorium for the island's 10,000 residents.
      Friday, it rained and rained and rained.  Despite the weather, Dorothy made a couple of trips to Avarua and around the island, visiting the small library and old museum.  She was there for the excitement of arriving canoes - everyone gathered on the beach to watch their arrival.  Then it was back on the bus and back to the room for an evening of TV, reading and writing postcards.  The water supply level had improved significantly.
      Saturday it was back to town for the morning as everything closes and the bus stops running at noon. The afternoon was spent reading and writing letters before heading off by foot for the opening ceremony at the stadium, located about an hour's walk from the hotel.  The schedule had VIPs arriving from 4:30-6:30 p.m. with speeches until 7:30 p.m. followed by the procession of the various delegations.  Although only scheduled for 15-30 minutes, this took a couple of hours, followed by presentations and performances before the Prince, as well as a pageant by Cook Islanders - adults and youngsters.  Dorothy left at 11:30 p.m., walking back through the darkness to the hotel.
      Sunday is a holy day in the Cook Islands and the only thing open are churches.  The hotel provides taxi service to a nearby Christian Church and rather than sit in the motel the entire day (the bus does not run), Dorothy headed for church.  The majority of the service was in Maori with about the only English being a "commercial" from the pulpit that if you wanted to buy a cassette of the church's music, you could get one after the service at the mission house for $20.  The memorable attractions of the 90-minute service was the women's attire in bright colorful dresses and wide brim straw hats in may colors.  Dorothy spent the afternoon doing wash, writing letters, watching TV and taking a walk along the beach. In the evening, she walked to the stadium for an ecumenical service.  Especially memorable was a presentation of the Messiah by a choir of Islanders. This service was mostly in English although delayed for 30 minutes waiting for Sir Henry, who never came, was completed within 90 minutes, quick by Cook island standards.
      Monday - the first day of the festival was rainy - it poured and poured.  Determined to try to make the most of the situation even if it meant sitting in the film festival all day, Dorothy boarded the bus again.  She did manage to see 3 groups that day -Wallis and Futura who performed in the rain for an hour, the water causing the red dye to flow from their beads all over their outfits. Dorothy saw pieces of a few films a bit of the Australian delegation during a break in the weather and later, back in the hotel, the performance by the French Polynesian group.  Dorothy also took advantage of the rainy day to visit exhibits set up in a couple of exhibition halls as well as craft demonstrations including a pottery one by the women from Hermannsburg, the Aboriginal community 120 km from Alice Springs, for whom Dorothy has provided publicity in the past.  Another demonstration attracting a lot of attention was tattooing by the members of the New Zealand delegation.  Dorothy later read in the paper that the guy would be tattooed throughout the week from the middle of his back to his knees.  On subsequent visits Dorothy saw them applying ink and salve to the areas but never had the fortitude to watch him being stabbed repeatedly with the needle. From the way the man winced every time his tattooed area was patted with ink or salve it was quite evident he was quite uncomfortable.
      Tuesday it was back to the bus.  With the weather better, events could be stages as planned.  Dorothy spent the morning watching chanting and story telling by participants from Australia, Fiji and Guam before heading to a different area for the afternoon segment where she saw New Zealand, Wallis and Futura and Hawaii. Tuesday's big event was the firewalking ceremony which in typical Cook Island fashion was scheduled to start at 6 p.m., but really didn't start until 7 p.m.  Lots of people stayed to walk the coals but after seeing the long line, Dorothy thought she'd try to see the entertainment at another area, only upon arriving there they were having trouble with the lights and sound, so she decided to catch the next bus back to the hotel.
     Wednesday was the big Vaka pageant where the 16 canoes would be paddled or towed into the Vaka Village area on the east side of the island.  Scheduled to begin at 7 a.m., Dorothy arrived after 8 when the bus finally reached the area and stayed a couple of hours until the hoards of people, pushing media,and continual slow speeches drove her to catch the bus back to the hotel.  Off again for the afternoon events, Dorothy saw performances by Western Somoa and Papua New Guinea before heading back to the hotel as she was anxious to see the Australian delegation perform their contemporary show Bran Nue Dae, which was very good and well received by the hotel crowd.
      Thursday it was back on the bus for more entertainment -dividing her time between small groups from Guam and the Marshall Islands and the larger groups in another area, including Vanuatu and Norfolk Island.  Dorothy spent Thursday night back in the hotel, this time watching the French Polynesian group from Tahiti perform again.
      Friday, Dorothy spent watching groups from a couple different groups from the Northern Marianas, Guam, and French Polynesia, before seeing the theatre group, Wan Smolbag Theatre from Vanuatu performed a series of short pieces on Vanuatu legends.  Dorothy was very impressed by this group both by their show and their dramatic presentation.  After the show it was time for the scheduled press conference that the Prime Minister had set up for accredited media, which totaled more than 200 from 32 countries.  The press conference opened and closed with a prayer and Dorothy couldn't help wondering how may press conferences by heads of state feature prayers.
      By now Dorothy was fed up with going to scheduled events only to have long delays in starting, groups not showing up, trouble with sound equipment and so forth and beginning to worry that she wasn't getting her money's worth so she decided to pay the $10 for a ticket to the auditorium.  Besides the bus ran late on Friday nights.  Due to start at 7 p.m., the show didn't start until 8 p.m., then featured New Zealand, a group Dorothy had seen several times already.  The traditional performance was excellent, but the contemporary ones (a new show for Dorothy) were another story.  When one man lay on the stage hugging a big rock for 10-15 minutes while someone off stage read a poem, Dorothy had had enough and headed off to find the little yellow bus and return to the hotel.
      Saturday, it was back on the bus for the morning show.  This time, Dorothy went to the downtown civic center area and perched on the grandstand seating for the duration.  After watching New Zealand, Tonga, and Papua New Guinea, she noticed her legs were getting very sunburned but stuck out the 2-hour Fiji performance nonetheless, after all watching these countries perform was the very reason she had come to the Cook Islands in the first place.
      That night it was back to town on little yellow bus and the auditorium for the Pageant of Costumes and Custom.  Although late starting as usual, the show was very good with highlights being the dance presentation by members of the Australian delegation and the repeated theme of the arrival of Christianity to the people of the South Sea Islands. The most boring was a very slow fashion sequence by the Tahitian group.  The bus picked up at the auditorium and Dorothy was back at her room by 1 a.m.
      Sunday morning it was back to the Christian Church with its predominately Maori service.  The excitement of that service was when a young child was hit by a car.  An Oregon film maker saw the accident and hurried to the child to encourage him to lay still but the islanders picked up the child to comfort him, finally managed to locate a relative inside the church who went off in a car with the child, presumably for medical care, while the driver of the car who had hit the child got back into his car and drove off.  Dorothy spent the afternoon taking a short walk inland and at 7 p.m. went to the conference room at the hotel to see a video about a very popular Hawaiian singer and her family.
      Monday was a public holiday, Gospel Day, but much to Dorothy's delight, the little yellow bus was running and Dorothy was off to see some of the gospel pageants.  Gospel Day celebrates the arrival of Christianity in the Cook Islands, October 26, 1821 (she thinks) and all the churches put on pageants acting out the arrival of Christianity and/or stories from the Bible.  Dorothy arrived at 9 a.m., only to find the Prime Minister still giving his opening speech for the event which was to start at 8 a.m. (ed. note - do you get the feeling Dorothy was not impressed by the Prime Minister). Dorothy stayed until 10:30 a.m., when she caught the bus back to town so she could see the Wan Smolbag Theatre Group do their AIDS play.  The most impressive thing she saw was hundreds of islanders dressed in grass skirts marching into the park area singing something in Maori to the tune of Glory, Glory Hallelujah as the islanders recreated the arrival of Christianity.  Somehow Dorothy had never thought of that number, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" as a Cook Island Song.
      From the AIDS play, Dorothy went back to the room to write letters as she had been under the impression the Gospel Day pageants were to end at midday.  She was later to learn that they did not finish until almost 4 p.m.  By that time Dorothy was back on the bus to town, this time to attend the presentation of a carving done during the week by the Easter Island delegation to the Cook Islands and then attended a slide show about the Easter islands.  The slide presentation was very interesting, all about the excavations and research about the statues found on the Easter Islands.  From the slide show, in the museum area of the culture center, Dorothy headed to the outdoor performance area where she saw the French Polynesians again and a contemporary band from New Caledonia known as Kauntu (she thinks).  The group of 13 musicians took 45 minutes to tune their instruments and their music wasn't a whole lot better.  During the tuning period Dorothy remarked that traditional instruments were definitely better - they don't require tuning.  Disgusted with the lack of inspiring music or precision dancing, Dorothy caught the bus back to the motel.
      Tuesday morning found Dorothy "on the bus again."  This time she wanted to see the Wan Smolbag Theatre present their environmental pantomime.  She also wandered around town and spent a little time at a perfume making place buying some coconut oil soap.
     Back in town waiting for the closing ceremony to begin, she met some acquaintances and waited with them for the event to start.  As usual everything started late, so the scheduled 4:30-7:70 p.m. closing ceremony and 9 p.m. fireworks over the water turned out to be still going on at 10 p.m., and Dorothy got to see the fireworks through the back window of the bus (ed. note - I believe it was either take the bus or walk a long distance back to the hotel).
     Wednesday - with the festival officially over Dorothy spent the day walking around part of the island in a drizzle, some last minute shopping and a fantastic contemporary show by Papua New Guinea, Sana Sana, at the auditorium.  With her plane due to leave at 2 a.m., Dorothy was determined to do everything possible to stay awake including one last ride around the island on the little yellow bus. (ed. note - did you ever think about actually getting in the beautiful crystal clear water around the island, Dorothy?)  Dorothy got to the airport OK and listened to an entertainer serenading the waiting passengers at 2 in the morning.
      Dorothy slept away the 4-hour flight across the international date line to Auckland and after an hour wait in the transit lounge there boarded an Air New Zealand flight to Sydney arriving at 9:30 a.m. Friday morning.  After getting organized in her hotel room, the Gemini again, Dorothy headed off to downtown Sydney where she divided her time between the Imperial China exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, looking for comics for Toby and walking around Darling Harbor.  Back in the room for an early evening and an early flight to Alice Springs and home.
      Although there were period during the 19-day trip when Dorothy wandered what she had gotten herself into, she was glad in retrospect that she had made the effort to do.  Dorothy did take lots of pictures - 22 rolls in fact, 2 black and white, 4 slide and 16 color print.  (ed. note - it is not true that I said most were awful - I said I was glad she did not make her living as a photographer).  The next festival will be held in 1996 in Western Somoa.  Dorothy is already talking about going.
(ed notes:
1. I'm not sure why Dorothy wrote this in the 3rd person -maybe she has been a journalist too long.
2. I would have liked to have gone, but cost was prohibitive. If we are still here in 1996 maybe I'll go too.  I would have gotten in the water.
3. I need a massage after typing this saga.)