Aitutaki beauty astounds guests

Aitutaki’s beauty never fails to astound.

It’s no surprise, really, that leaders and journalists who travelled to the near northeast for the Pacific Islands Leaders Forum retreat reported being “spellbound” by the island’s blue lagoon.

Their enthusiasm, says local MP and tourism minister Teina Bishop, will translate into real, tangible economic benefits for the whole of the Cook Islands.

Leaders arrived in Aitutaki on Wednesday afternoon to a turou performed by Toa Isamaela and a herd of dancers in rauti.

“I was so, so proud then, and I’ve just been realising the impact of this (in terms of) tourism promotion,” Bishop said yesterday.

“We couldn’t afford this (promotion) if we were to actually do it from our budget, so I hope that people understand, in future when we embark on these kinds of events – that they understand the value.”

Thirty-eight journalists from Australia, New Zealand and China travelled to Aitutaki yesterday to cover the leaders’ retreat.

Spellbound by the azure of the lagoon, they uttered murmurs of “This is heaven” and “I can’t believe I’m working right now”.

That reaction alone, Bishop says, is of immeasurable value.

He has another project in mind in hopes of increasing tourist traffic to Tapuaetai (One Foot Island). He and French Polynesia President Oscar Temaru visited the motu yesterday morning to re-position a coconut tree planted by a fisherman who, years ago, drifted to Aituaki from Vava’u (Bora Bora).

Bishop was concerned that a nearby building would stunt the tree’s eventual growth, so he and Temaru moved it slightly.

“My concern was it would get too big and I’d need to cut it down, so while Oscar was here we transferred the tree so it will keep going.”

He wants to transfer the fisherman’s boat – which is currently in Arutanga – to One Foot and build a museum centred on the coconut tree, the boat and the fisherman’s story.

The story was recently published in French, and Bishop wants to incorporate that book into his project. Whatever proceeds the project raises, he will contribute to the vaka society to maintain Te Au O Tonga.