Day 4 — From Church Hymns to Car Trouble: Rarotonga to Aitutaki
Date: November 16, 2025
Location: Rarotonga → Aitutaki, Cook Islands
Some Sundays feel like quiet, sacred pauses. Others sneak in a full episode of divine comedy.
Our final morning on Rarotonga started just as peacefully as we’d hoped. After checking out of The Rarotongan Beach Resort, we made our way into town for a local church service, joining the island’s vibrant Sunday tradition.
Hearts, Hymns & Hats
Cook Islanders take Sundays seriously—in the most beautiful way. Guests are not only welcome at services, they’re celebrated. You walk in as a stranger and are immediately woven into the fabric of the congregation.
The church building was bright and breezy, filled with joyful voices and women in their Sunday best—complete with stunning floral hats and feathered fascinators that would make the Royal Ascot crowd jealous. The hymns? Not just sung—belted, in rich harmony that filled every corner of the building and made the windows rattle. Even Zak looked up from his fidgeting with wide-eyed admiration.
Another lovely detail? Hotels across the island pause deep cleaning on Sundays so staff can rest and attend services, offering only fresh towels and basics. A quiet reminder that family and community matter here.
We stayed through to the very last “Amen,” and then changed into travel clothes in the chapel’s side bathrooms—multitasking at its finest.
Enter the Plot Twist: A Dead Battery
Feeling spiritually full and slightly overdressed for the airport, we returned to our rental car… and found it wouldn’t start. Nothing. Dead as a coconut husk.
We were alone in the parking lot—everyone else had long since departed.
Cue slight panic. Flight to Aitutaki: approaching rapidly. Backup plan: TBD.
Zak gamely helped push the car out onto the main road while I popped the hood like I actually knew what I was doing. I called the 24-hour emergency roadside number for the rental company… crickets.
Then, divine timing struck. Two cars pulled over. One was a kind police officer, who offered help. The other? Believe it or not—it was the rental company’s own mechanic, who had missed my call but was driving by anyway. Within minutes, the car roared to life. The heavens rejoiced. We may have, too.
Final Stop: Muri Beach & Drone Dreams
With time to spare before our flight, I convinced the crew to head to Muri Beach, the iconic lagoon spot I’d been dying to capture from the air. It had been too windy the day before, but this time I got the shot—drone soaring high, lagoon gleaming in shades of aquamarine and jade.
We circled the island one final time (you can do that in under an hour), then arrived at the airport 30 minutes before takeoff—a perfectly acceptable check-in time here. Our Air Rarotonga flight to Aitutaki was smooth and quick, just 40 minutes of tropical scenery viewed from above.
And that’s when paradise leveled up.
Arrival in Aitutaki: Lei’d Back Luxury
At the tiny Aitutaki airport, we were greeted with fresh flower leis and a warm, musical welcome. A quick hotel transfer brought us to Tamanu Beach Resort, where our beachfront bungalow awaited like something out of a travel brochure that makes you whisper, “There’s no way it actually looks like that.”
But it does.
Crystal-clear lagoon. Soft white sand. Palm trees swaying like backup dancers in a slow jam. And us—speechless.
We wrapped the day with Tamanu’s Sunday buffet dinner under the stars. Dozens of local dishes (including octopus curry and taro root everything), live music, and that unbeatable barefoot-on-the-beach energy made it the perfect end to a day that started with hymns and ended in heaven.
From a dead car to a dream island—all in one day.
Tomorrow: will our lagoon cruise get canceled again? Stay tuned…
