7 Nights on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands – flying on Jetstar’s inaugural flight and staying in a local Airbnb. July 2023

Left Sydney at 9:30pm and arrived at 7:00am the same day. Crossing the International Date Line can mess with your head for a minute. Flight time was less than 6 hours going to Rarotonga and closer to 7 hours coming back. Brilliant place for a quick getaway.

We stayed at a fairly basic Airbnb but the location (Southern part of island) was amazing. Walk out of our apartment and you are on the beautiful beach with snorkelling right out the front. This area was very quiet and perfect for us. 7 nights of lazy beach days, reading and walking, hanging with the island dogs and not much else.

We caught the local buses (the clockwise and anti-clockwise bus) for the first few days, which was a great way to orient ourselves. Hiring a motorbike for a few days was the best way to get around and Neil’s motorbike licence process was all part of the Raro experience. We were able to lap the island a few times (32kms), visit the Muri night markets for dinner, Punanga markets, visit the yacht club for a cocktail (sounds fancy but isn’t) and drive the backstreets of Rarotonga to get a feel for local life.

We give Rarotonga 4.5 stars.

All video content and music copyright Leigh and Neil. Filmed July 2023 | Rarotonga, Cook Islands & Sydney Australia