Aitutaki Discovered! (Best Food, Views & Cafes) | Cook Islands Ep. 4 of 7

Aitataki is 74 square kilometers of paradise, most of it in the form of this stunning lagoon we showed off in our last episode, but the mainland is where you can get a real sense of how the 2,000 or so residents live with a slower pace of life. . It perfectly combines tourism and authentic Polynesian life and if there is one thing you can say about the people of this island it is simply kindness, yes, a lot of love, this is the fourth episode of seven in this Cook Islands series and today we will show it to you . around this quiet island, the

food

that makes this place tick, where to have a legit coffee and an adventure to reach a 124 meter viewpoint every day, every day, we have that typical tropical weather, you can see how long it has been raining. but we just noticed there's some sun shining, come on son, you can do it yeah, everything's fine, hopefully, if we can get to a viewpoint, yeah, the plan is to do a little hike, explore the island, get a A lot of

food

.

So it doesn't really matter what the weather is today, no, we have a car so we're just going to explore a little bit, so this is our trip. The Reno rental seems to be the most popular. We see old Renos everywhere, don't we? only way to get there no, it is not the only way to get around. It's been great for us to have this little car, yeah, especially when it's raining, definitely because I'm just going to say that Moana has scooters that you can use and there are also bikes too, but um, yeah, in terms of covering big distances and not getting wet, this is the way, a little Mandalorian reference, so this is the airport, this is the way, yeah, you wouldn't want to make a mistake, uh, make a mistake like landing. get naked huh because they probably look pretty similar from above but it's so casual that I think right on the other side literally the other side of that runway is the ocean and that's why it looks so beautiful walking in so the airport is right over there. and then just at the end of this road, here under the coconut trees, next to the roosters and chickens running around, passing this boathouse, we've seen signs that they have cold beer as a point of sale and then we go down this address. towards the town of Taki and a place called Koro Café which is another place we've heard a lot about, we drove through here because it's where you had to start the lagoon drive to the bishops that we did so it's the kind of start .

Yesterday morning we walked past this cafe full of people drinking coffee, so this is where we can get that latte, like the flat white, that we've been craving a little bit to be honest, but it's the

best

day to do it. It's because, um, it's not as hot this morning because of the weather, so it's us parked here, we're just sitting outside, we've got a lovely little spot. The coffees are here, it's not like they're going to get cold, no. I was literally just saying it's nice, this is the day more than any other I've been looking forward to it because of the weather, yeah that's right, so I bought a Danger latte, I bought a flat white, they're five dollars each and From the looks of them, they are worth every penny.

It's a beautiful latte, yes, yes, it looks so good that I was tempted to take a sip before you came back, but keep trying, I knew you wanted to do that, you must surely appreciate a barista's latte, yes, definitely, oh, yes, oh. that's good, all your hopes and dreams in the glass, yes I like it when it's strong but not too strong, that's really good, I should let this be a lesson, this may seem silly, but we've been told numerous times that Let's never park under a coconut tree. because those things can damage the vehicle, I didn't realize and then I got in the car, sorry we were sitting and looking at the stream, oh no it should look rocky so head to the lookout,

best

overview, best lookout of the island.

Can't you upload it? It's 20 minutes to walk but they also tell us that when the weather is bad you can drive and there is a very small track to get to the top so you can take a look at it, it's called maungapu, it looks like it's worth it doesn't it ? We did it, a sweet, simple little trip, really yeah, it's really not that long and then you see the sign that says no driving, that's when you know where to go. stop and where the little hike to the summit starts, yeah, so look that way, I think I think that direction is where we did the tour around the lagoon, it's like that way and then it comes back to the side where we are.

You're going to stay on what is that strip over there, so is it the airport? There is a plane, look, there are two of them, yes, that's where we come from, yes, so Koru is right on the spot, right there outside, oh actually, there are bishops there. where we leave from, that's where we leave for the lagoon tour, I don't know if that's focusing enough, we'll see that plane take off, here we go, but I mean the tires, we're still going to get to that point. I reached the top of mangapoo. It's lovely. You have 360 ​​degree

views

around the entire island.

We have decided that our favorite place is around here, where you can see much of the lagoon. Yes, it's so beautiful. It's all about that color. light blue, yes it's a blue we haven't seen anywhere, I know we keep saying that but we haven't seen it anywhere, it's special, it's unique in the way it feels here, yes you can see all the engines external, yes, I love it. Sometimes I also love these more informal days. I just explore, even as soon as I climbed this mountain, we are driving halfway. I thought, oh no, this is fine, but it's all part of the adventure and if there's one thing you can say about the people on this island it's just friendship, yes, so much love, so much friendship, so much warmth, yes, everyone is willing to help, yes, it's not just that slow time on the island, it's like a slow warmth, friendly hospitality, it's almost like everyone here is family, exactly, yes, it's lovely to chat. and just hearing about the people and their stories and their lives and where they come from and like last night we ended up playing cards with one of the ladies' daughter, that was like running the place we went to, hey Azaria.

If you're watching this, you know who you are. I was wondering if they are open today? We would love to come buy coconut bread. Sure, yeah, okay, awesome, see you soon. We're outside, it's okay, it's okay, thank you. Bye, yeah, we've seen this little sign so many times we've passed by and it's basically Sonja's Market and it says coconut bread and that's enough for us to be convinced we have to go in and try it. Oh, look here. he comes that was the entry condition we had to pat the cat give the pets help yourself with what you need oh thank you wow it looks great are you looking for something to

cook

or not, not so much to

cook

, but we just want, yes, we would love to try that coconut bread, a perfect example of how the locals are lovely, friendly and welcoming.

I have to close that so the pigs don't get in apparently, so yeah, that's where all her stuff goes and We had heard about her as some kind of local legend, but we were told that sometimes you can call here just to make sure she has some product, which it does, is actually frozen coconut bread. We asked him how we should eat. is, how should we try it? she said just cut it like yeah just eat it try it for Halloween even frozen you can eat it oh really yeah I think we'll do it we'll wait let it thaw.

Try it a little later, so now we'll go to a place called Avatia Café, which is where we went. Well, let me let me reproduce my reaction to something that was out of this world. A local place tonight that we heard so many different people talk about, it's called Avatia Café, but it's not just the coffee, they have all this amazing local Cook Island, sort of vibrant stuff, we have sunglasses and all sorts, but we. I've heard so many good things about the food, uh, so many, and I'm distracted by the candles, so we order some fish curries, a jug, a beer, it'll be good, best curry ever.

Fish curry would hurt a lot. Is incredible. tempted to come back before we leave you're back you're back you're back how are you good good day yes I know I thought what happened we went to the viewpoint to take a look around but we already knew The food was going to call us back. I know what I want, but Stacey can't make up her mind, so I'll have to take you an hour. No, I think we'll just have two beers. Probably not, probably no jug yet. Thank you so much. We'll be back in a second. We have the trio of fish tacos.

I think there's tuna in there. The taco itself is very unique. It's probably more like a roti bread than anything else or a fried bread. It has lettuce, a little cabbage, tomato, yes, tuna. and then some really good salsa and as we relaxed and drank our liquid gold, the heavens graced us with a different kind of tropical liquid that one expects from time to time, although I love tree tunnels, so we braved it. The rain to see an incredible tunnel formed by a banyan tree is colder than you can imagine in the best possible way, but there are still supermarkets and food options everywhere and, like any unoccupied island, you just have to adapt to the climate. given, oh my gosh, futon, come to a place called tamanu beach resort just down the street from where we're staying, it's sunday, which means they like a sunday barbecue, which i think we're going to do, i'm excited, Yes Yes.

So Sundays are a very calm day, whether you are in Raro or Narutaki, it is a very very cold day, so the resorts are the safest place to get some kai, I think so, but always there are more good and better seafood. maybe down there but I'm not sure so there is also a holiday bar and a restaurant. I'm always always interested in a little bit of that. It's like a nice place from outside, yes very nice, I like the sound of baka bar. They also look like nice villas. of course it's beachfront I think absolutely everything is here really and we're right on the cusp of sunset we may have missed some sun with the color but I can see a little bit of orange oh this is great, yes, very nice.

I can never get enough of the day. What kind of bird is that? Oh yeah, I don't see another person, one of the people, one of the people, thank you very much for coming and now our food is ready before we start eating. I would like to say thank you for everything we have, we have salad, garlic bread, pineapple, what is that? Oh yeah, some kind of tomato salad, egg salad, watermelon, some rice, pasta, oh, it's this taro, oh, taro too, oh yeah, I love the color too, fish. sauces lamb chops and steak what a delight wow that's a good selection too i don't know where to start yes i'll start here and at 8pm i'll be at that address and that puts an end to our time in

aitutaki

but we still have three amazing videos for you share of our time in Rarotonga, so stay tuned.