Cook Islands / Vanuatu - Anyone been?

**BellyBelly** · September 13th, 2007, 09:16 PM

Has anyone been to the Cook Islands or Vanuatu? What did you think? Any tips/advice/recommendations?

**MantaRay** · September 13th, 2007, 09:17 PM

My sister went there for her honeymoon and really enjoyed it. I can't remember where they stayed but I can ask her.

**Rouge** · September 13th, 2007, 09:23 PM

I hear they can be prone to tsunami's...

Sorry I couldn't resist!

**Visitor9** · September 13th, 2007, 09:56 PM

Fi has been..I'll tell her to post here

**Shanti** · September 13th, 2007, 09:57 PM

Oh the Cook Islands! I have never been but I have seen pics and i have heard it is such a beautiful place!! Don't worry about Tsunami's, they could happen anywhere, anytime!
The people in the cook islands are meant to be so lovely too!

**Rouge** · September 13th, 2007, 10:04 PM

I'm just teasing... bad Cailin is coming out... sorry!

**BellyBelly** · September 13th, 2007, 10:43 PM

Is there a tsunami season?

**BellyBelly** · September 13th, 2007, 10:53 PM

Bah when we are planning on having a holiday it's cyclone season... pffft...

Anyone know a great place to go in the summer thats not too hot in January (preferably under 30C) and family friendly? We need a holiday!

**Rouge** · September 13th, 2007, 11:20 PM

The only reason I mentioned it was coz there was a tsunami warning for the cook & christmas islands and the coast of aus last night. It was downgraded though.

Not sure on holidays. Sounds great... Why not somewhere local or do you feel like a plane trip?

**MantaRay** · September 14th, 2007, 08:45 AM

Vanuatu is very kid friendly. Food is expensive but it's a really great place. We were then in Jan with a nearly 2yo and a baby and had a great time. We even managed to do a couple of day trips with the boys.

**BellyBelly** · September 14th, 2007, 09:05 AM

I wanna get on a plane Cai, I hate summer here, I want to do it somewhere else where its cooler

Thanks for the suggestion Melanie, will check it out

slyder · September 14th, 2007, 09:18 AM

Kelly,

The Cook Islands are a fantastic place and one of the top pacific island destinations. Life is very laid back, and it is set up for tourists without being like Hawaii.

A cheaper alternative is Vanuatu, as Melanie suggested. Flights are very cheap as it's just west of Fiji and not far away from Aust. as compared with the Cooks which are much further to the SE. The culture between the two is reasonably different as Vanuatu is Melanesian and the Cook Islands is Polynesian. Port Vila caters very well for tourists, yet doesn't feel anywhere near as 'westernised' as you might imagine. It genuinely exists in a very authentic way and the people are great. Very kid friendly too. Somewhere like Hideaway Island, which is about 30-45 minutes from Port Vila has fantastic snorkelling and the kids and adults alike love it.

Transport is dead cheap, you just pay the driver of any marked minivan 100 Vatu per person (about a dollar) to go anywhere you want, in order of first on first off. The only problem is, it may be a bit tropical in January as the drier months tend to be the southern hemisphere winter.

If you want any other info please let me know.

**diva det** · September 14th, 2007, 09:19 AM

what about New Zealand???
anything above the brissy is the wet season through summer and can be hot and humid and wet
otherwise what about going south to Tassie??

slyder · September 14th, 2007, 09:45 AM

I can 110% recommend Tasmania. Despite the utter tripe you see in the media, it is not covered with a permafrost or unnaturally cold. In Hobart it frequently rises above 25-30c in summer. The east coast beaches are awesome, and there are about 1000 other things I could recommend. But I guess that's potentially OT.

Can definitely recommend NZ too.

**BellyBelly** · September 14th, 2007, 10:26 AM

Thanks Rols, keep the suggestions coming

Melanie, where did you stay? I see that in January many of the pacific islands are below 30 which is perfect... we did consider NZ, but we'll go there for a skiing holiday some time, John is a skiing nut

So it was on our list, thanks

**Pandora** · September 14th, 2007, 10:31 AM

Yep, I was going to recommend Tasmania too.
Cooler, you get the plane ride (or boat ride), mmm and the fudge...

**Rouge** · September 14th, 2007, 10:33 AM

OMG @ the fudge... I got some from my MIL's cousin and it was sooo good. Even found a website and have it bookmarked for future reference

**Nicambhar** · September 14th, 2007, 10:34 AM

Kelly - We went to Vanuatu for New Year and it was fabulous..Even though it was wet season it only rained once and that was late in the afternoon. It was only DP and I (no kids) and we got an all inclusive package with meals, accom and flights for about $1400 pp. There aint much nightlife at all there, but after you have been cruising around the islands all day and drinking at happy hour you just want to fall into bed.. I can highly recomment Iririkki - the little ferry taking you to the mainland runs 24/7 and only takes a couple of minutes.. The town itself is pretty dirty, but the beaches and the snorkelling are superb..