Rarotonga Questions
Sep 7, 2014, 2:39 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Bollington, Cheshire, UK
Programs: BA, Best Western, Miles & More
Posts: 358
Rarotonga Questions
Planning on going to Rarotonga next September as part of a trip to New Zealand.
Thinking of spending 5 days there to explore and relax.
Is 5 days enough to see the island and maybe do a boat trip to Atutaki?
Would anyone recommend hiring a car for 3 days whilst we're on Rarotonga?
Thinking of spending 5 days there to explore and relax.
Is 5 days enough to see the island and maybe do a boat trip to Atutaki?
Would anyone recommend hiring a car for 3 days whilst we're on Rarotonga?
Sep 8, 2014, 1:01 am
#2
Join Date: Feb 2007
Programs: NZ Koru
Posts: 6,411
maybe do a boat trip to Atutaki?
Personally I go for an car while in Rarotonga, that way you can hop off to your own private beach etc and not be restrcited to expensive hotel meals.
Sep 8, 2014, 2:20 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Bollington, Cheshire, UK
Programs: BA, Best Western, Miles & More
Posts: 358
WE thought about doing an organized boat trip to Atutaki for a day.
One thing that concerns us about renting a car is obtaining a local licence which, i believe you must have in order to rent a car out there?
As we plan or arriving in the small hours from AKL this might be a problem.
One thing that concerns us about renting a car is obtaining a local licence which, i believe you must have in order to rent a car out there?
As we plan or arriving in the small hours from AKL this might be a problem.
Sep 8, 2014, 5:55 pm
#4
Join Date: May 2011
Location: CBR (Australia)
Programs: QF
Posts: 290
Getting a license over there is really very easy.
I went across there with the family a couple of years ago, a few members of the family got their car license and I got my motorbike license. The "test" was basically don't fall off (or in the case of a car, prove you know what the steering wheel does), take the slip of paper the hire place gives you (which allows you to drive / ride to the nearby police station) where you'll fill in a form, have a photo taken, pay your dollars and 10 minutes later you'll have a nice little memento of your trip which doubles as a local drivers license.
The whole process took about an hour and was very easy to do, and you didn't need to prove that you actually had a license from any other country.
When we went we spent 5 days there. We never made it over to Atutaki, that said we certainly won't bored whilst on Rarotonga, there is a lot to see / do there, esp if you stay at one of the resorts.
A couple of the family members hired out a local house, and to me it just felt like hiring a beach house for the weekend when we visited. The resort on the other hand felt like a tropical island getaway. Esp with things like the islander nights.
I did a basic trip report here -> http://www.australianfrequentflyer.c...nds-17560.html
I went across there with the family a couple of years ago, a few members of the family got their car license and I got my motorbike license. The "test" was basically don't fall off (or in the case of a car, prove you know what the steering wheel does), take the slip of paper the hire place gives you (which allows you to drive / ride to the nearby police station) where you'll fill in a form, have a photo taken, pay your dollars and 10 minutes later you'll have a nice little memento of your trip which doubles as a local drivers license.
The whole process took about an hour and was very easy to do, and you didn't need to prove that you actually had a license from any other country.
When we went we spent 5 days there. We never made it over to Atutaki, that said we certainly won't bored whilst on Rarotonga, there is a lot to see / do there, esp if you stay at one of the resorts.
A couple of the family members hired out a local house, and to me it just felt like hiring a beach house for the weekend when we visited. The resort on the other hand felt like a tropical island getaway. Esp with things like the islander nights.
I did a basic trip report here -> http://www.australianfrequentflyer.c...nds-17560.html