Experience the best of Avarua

Avarua is the capital of the Cook Islands, on the north coast of Rarotonga, the largest island of the group. The name means two harbours in Māori. Missionaries of the London Missionary Society arrived in 1823, and the whitewashed Cook Islands Christian Church stands among the town's central streets. The islands became a British protectorate in 1888 and later part of New Zealand, and since 1965 they have governed themselves in free association with New Zealand.

The National Museum and the library stand in the Sir Geoffrey Henry National Culture Centre, and Para O Tane Palace is a landmark of the town. The Saturday morning market fills with stalls of fruit, crafts, black pearls and island music. A road of about thirty-two kilometres circles Rarotonga, and a footpath crosses the mountainous interior from the north to the south coast.

Raw fish in coconut cream, ika mata, tuna from the harbour, taro and fruit from the stalls make up much of the local table, with an earth oven used for feasts. May to October brings the drier weather, and the months from November to April are warm, humid and open to cyclones.