Islands Business - Pub Crawl

Nina Ratulele
You’re heading for Rarotonga and thinking about bars. Like many people, the first bar on Rarotonga that comes to mind is Trader Jack’s.

Aroa Beachside Inn Bar... sweeping sea views.

Jack Cooper’s establishment sitting beside Avarua Harbour is a Pacific Islands legend. Visitors from everywhere walk across the road from the downtown Avarua shopping area and climb on to a bar stool there.

They watch the children jumping into and swimming in the little harbour for small boats over which Trader Jack presides. Or the waves breaking on the nearby reef.

Trader Jack’s is nice. But if visitors only went there, they would be missing out on a whole island pub crawl experience.

Rarotonga, the main island of the Cook Islands, has some of the best bars of the Pacific Islands dotted around its 32-kilometre round-the-island coastal road. Some would say it is the best bar crawl spot in the Pacific. So many bars. So many worth stopping for a drink.

Here, in no particular order, are just five of the many bars that make Rarotonga pub crawling so special.

CORAL CLUB

If you’re waiting for a plane at Rarotonga International Airport and feel a thirst for a cold beer in a nice bar, thirst no more.

The airport terminal itself doesn’t have a bar. But take the short walk past the car park to the way in. Cross the main road to the little Aquarius Rarotonga Hotel nestled between fuel tanks on the shore line.

Walk inside and you will be in the Coral Club. This is named after the legendary flying boat service Air New Zealand used to operate across the South Pacific way back in the day when Air New Zealand was still called TEAL (Tasman Empire Airways Limited).

Pull up a bar stool at the Coral Club, look out the wide, open doors to the sea crashing on the close by reef and you’ll think you’re back in a resort. It’s easy to get comfortable here. Just don’t forget you have a plane to catch.

SHIPWRECK HUT

Out in the same area as the big Rarotongan Beach Resort and Spa is tucked away one of the island’s nicest beachside hideaway bars.

The small, cosy Shipwreck Hut bar at Aroa Beachside Inn is wide open and right-on-the-beachside. It features the sweeping sea views common to many of Rarotonga’s bars. Passing whales have been seen by drinkers watching the world go by. Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings the Shipwreck Hut also features some of the best music on the island. Saturday night’s sunset barbecue cooked up outside comes with the music of Garth Young. Older New Zealanders might remember the name. He was a top performer in New Zealand in the 1950s-70s before discovering and settling into Cook Islands life in the 1980s. Jake Numanga, the musician who plays for the tourists in the arrivals area at the airport, also performs at the Shipwreck Hut at sunset on Thursdays. Reservations are essential on sunset barbecue nights.

TAMARIND HOUSE

Take a beautiful, big old house with lawns running to the beach, lovingly restore it and you have one of the best bar and restaurant spots in the Avarua town area. Tamarind House is only three or four minutes drive from downtown. It comes from another era. The house was built for managers of the Union Steam Ship Company. This in times past provided the main transport within the islands and to and from New Zealand. The house later became the British Consul’s residence. Today you can drink at the bar. Or better still on the long verandah as you watch the sunset.

GAMEFISHING CLUB

Visitors are always welcome at the Gamefishing Club, one of the popular local drinking places, especially for those who don’t want the noise of local nightclubs. It’s seaside and relaxed at Tupapa and just along the road from Tamarind House.

All you have to do is look for the roadside sign, drive on in, park and join the crowd at the bar. The club is the HQ for Rarotonga’s resident gamefishers, although their boats are tied up elsewhere. One of those characters at the bar could be happy to negotiate a “special” rate for a day of fishing or to take part in the club’s regular competitions in the seas off Rarotonga. But the only boat actually at the Gamefishing Club is high and dry outside. It is turned into the popular “Flying Boat” fish-and-chips place.

THE POINT RESTAURANT AND BAR

Want something more sophisticated? Try the bar at The Point in the classy Muri Beach Club Hotel overlooking the lagoon and the motus. A good place to watch the day become night. Rama Nui is the resident local musician, performing for both the tourists and the locals who are regulars. But don’t be surprised if you find a leading name from overseas as guest cabaret performer.

Australian-based New Zealand entertainer Peter Morgan is amongst regular visitors at Muri Beach, heading there when he wants a break from the Sydney crowds. Morgan was there during the recent holiday season. He’s due to perform next at The Point in May, general manager David Armstrong says. But sorry, kids, this is adults open. Muri Beach Club Hotel makes a point of only allowing guests 18 years and over.