Features

Another visit, another bad report

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard someone saying how privileged Maori are I wouldn’t be writing this column – I’d have retired to Tupapa with the cash. The latest United Nations official to come to Aotearoa last week has – once again – shown just how much drivel those statements are. […]

Eclipse from Te Kou Maru II

Local lawyer Tim Arnold was at sea on Taio Shipping’s inter island cargo vessel Te Kou Maru II last Sunday morning for one of the best views of the total solar eclipse. He came back with these photos of the impressive event. 10071207-09

Rehab helps rehab

A $700 cheque was handed over to Te Vaerua rehabilitation services by Scott Arlander of Rehab Nightclub and Bar. The funds were raised by Rehab at a function organised by Arlander and Michael Robinson from Australia, who was here with a group of fellow Australians for the solar eclipse earlier this month. The funds were […]

Designer label launched in Raro

Clothing outlet id.CK in the Banana Court complex launched a new designer collection for women on Thursday. The clothes are the work of well-known New Zealand designer Annah Stretton, who calls her 2010 collection ‘Sand in Her Pants’. Her business, Stretton Group, is based in Waikato. She owns a chain of 30 retail stores throughout […]

They're back!

The 2010 whale season arrived with a bang last Friday when the first pod of whales was spotted off the reef of Rarotonga. And since then, migrating humpback whales have been putting on some spectacular displays out at sea. These playful antics by the whales are mostly due to the fact that their hormones are […]

To NZ on the Mariposa in 1960

The year was 1960 and one of the great Matson cruise liners the SS Mariposa was visiting Rarotonga on its way to New Zealand. The luxury liner and her sister ship the SS Monterey made the liner service from San Francisco to Hawaii and the South Pacific renowned. Eleven-year-old Avarua School student Eric Short was […]

Te Uki Ou blesses new buildings

Apii Te Uki Ou held a special blessing ceremony yesterday for their new administration block. School principal Jason Ataera says that it has been a long process to replace the old buildings at the school and they still have a long way to go to upgrade the remaining buildings. The school has for the past […]

Taporoporo ia te ao natura

E porokirokianga reo Ki toku pukaikai taringa E kaveinga kura Ki taku pito manava E kura tinitini E kura manomano Kua itirere au Kua uriuri au Eaa ra teia e tupu nei Te enua Te moana Te ao rangi Titiro ake taku mata Taku kura nui Kua peke ki Tonga Kua peke ki Tokerau Kua […]

Tereora students get creative

A handful of Tereora College students and teachers went all out on Wednesday and dressed up as their favourite fictional characters as part of Literacy Week. The students were given the choice to come as their favourite fictional character or in island wear. Sixth form students Kara-lee Hunt and Shantdel Hirovanaa both agreed that the […]

Ombudsman considers anti-corruption

Assistant ombudsman Jeannine Daniel is currently in Samoa attending a conference on the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. She returns this weekend to brief ombudsman Janet Maki on what she learned and voice whether she feels that the Cook Islands can and should ratify the convention. “(Daniel) is at the conference to gather the information […]

Magic Moko, gone but not forgotten

He aitua I’m not sure whether you still have the word “aitua” in Cook Island’s Maori but in my brand of the language the statement means there’s been a death, and that’s what I thought I’d talk about this week. I’m referring to Moko the friendly bottlenose dolphin that, for some reason, preferred the company […]

Cowboys of yesteryear

Country hits writer dies

Hank Cochran, who wrote a cascade of country music hits, died on Thursday at his home near Nashville, according to his family. He was 74. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, his family said. Cochran gave Willie Nelson his first break in Nashville, persuading his employer, Pamper Music, to hire Nelson. When Cochran was […]

Williams rejoins Take That

British singer Robbie Williams has rejoined former band Take That to record their first album together since he walked out on them 15 years ago, the group announced on Thursday. Williams got back together with the other four members of the successful British band – Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and Mark Owen in […]

Film on women's rugby in Iran

If a relationship with a New Zealander will do nothing else for someone, it’ll give them an awareness of rugby. In the case of Faramaz Beheshti, a photographer of Iranian descent now living in New Zealand, it led him towards making Salam Rugby, a film on the unlikely subject of women’s rugby in Iran. “I’m […]

Te Maeva Nui goes international

Te Maeva Nui will be featured in an episode on locally aired television programme Pacific Pulse. Show presenter Clement Paligaru goes behind the scenes to see just how much work goes into each performance and to find varying views about whether competitions are the key to keeping the Cook Islands culture alive. The annual Te […]

Mobility bus for centre

Members of the Creative Centre School (above) in Tupapa proudly show off their new mobility bus which was donated to them by the Thames Rotary Club assisted by the Cook Islands Rotary Club. The bus has a wheelchair access ramp on the back and seats eight passengers, three wheelchair passengers and a driver. Creative Centre […]

Art symposium drawing large crowd

Around 150 people have already confirmed that they will be attending the prestigious Pacific Art Association’s Xth International Symposium, where many contemporary artists from the region will be displaying their work. “It’s great for the Cook Islands as so few of our artefacts are here. Most of them sit in museums in the northern hemisphere,” […]

Let's see openness from our politicians

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from the way politicians and the media work together in New Zealand. That’s right, that expression is ‘work together’. Even MPs from the NZ house reluctantly admit that the interaction they have with the press keeps their feet on the ground. MPs Brendon Burns and Dr […]

Sharing childhood memories with family

Mark Holland getting his hair cut outside a hotel where the Banana Court now stands. Photo 8 “/> A baby faced Mark Holland in front of the Dobiri – a 60-foot ship that had taken them from Aitutaki to Rarotonga in 1959. Photo 3 “/> Back on Rarotonga again after 36 years, Mark Holland had […]