Motu life

Garry and I are currently enjoying 11 nights in Rarotonga, the largest of the Cook Islands far flung tropical islands. We’ve based ourselves at Motu Beachside Art Villas. This is a collection of comfortably appointed self catering boutique villas set among flawlessly maintained tropical gardens overlooking Titikaveka Beach on the island’s south coast.

The view from our premium oceanfront villa is magical. We’re enjoying an uninterrupted view of the island’s aquamarine lagoon framed by swaying tropical palm trees. We honestly couldn’t chosen a better venue if we’d tried. We’ve already visited a couple of other highly rated resorts for dinner reservations. However, so far, none have proven better than Motu Villas. 

Our overnight flight, courtesy of Jetstar, also proved uneventful. The six hour flight departed an hour behind schedule giving us some much welcome extra dining time in the First Class lounge. Jetstar started flying direct to Rarotonga less than three months ago. It currently flies three times weekly using an Airbus 321neo, the newest aircraft in its fleet. 

At the last minute, we managed to score a couple of exit row seats towards the back of the plane. These ultimately proved the most spacious seats available thanks to an extra wide aisle reserved for a flight attendant’s fold down seat. Garry loved them so much he’d already changed our return flight’s assigned seats before we’d even pushed back from the gate. I managed to get about four hours of light sleep while Garry spent the entire flight watching movies on his iPad.

In fact, the only disappointment so far has been the weather. It’s been predominantly cloudy with a warm, but persistent, easterly trade wind blowing throughout the day. Our taxi driver last night assured us the winds were rather unseasonal. He claimed that the weather had been calm and sunny all last week. Fingers crossed it'll improve for our trip to Aitutaki.

However, despite the wind, we’ve ventured out each day for a leisurely stroll along the beach, and a brief knee-deep paddle in the sea. The sea temperature is said to be a relatively comfortable 24C. At some point, we’ll make an effort to get ourselves truly wet. Oh yes, in case you’re curious, motu means “island” in the local Polynesian language.