The Cook Islands are situated 3500km (2200 miles) northeast of New Zealand and 1000km (600 miles) southwest of Tahiti in the South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia. The islands fall into two groups: the scattered Northern Group are all coral atolls while the Southern Group is of volcanic origin. Rarotonga is the largest and highest island with a rugged volcanic interior, its highest peak being Te Manga, at 652m (2140ft).

Coral reef surrounds the island and the population lives between reef and hills where rich soil supports both tropical and subtropical vegetation. Most of the island is covered by thick evergreen bush. Most of the larger islands include lagoons surrounded by small areas of fertile land, above which rise volcanic hills. The best beaches found on Aitutaki are also part of the eight-island Southern Group. The Northern Group comprises seven islands, the largest being Penrhyn, Manihiki and Pukapuka. The Cook Islands have been used as the setting for several films, the best-known being Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence

The island’s present-day name stems from the local language, however the precise origin of the meaning is elusive. Simply, ‘raro’ means ‘down’ and ‘tonga’ means ’south’. Some say the famous Tahitian navigator, Iro, visited it once and some years later reported he had “gone down to the south,” hence raro tonga. The Samoan voyager, Karika, is also reputed to have called it Rarotonga when he first saw it from the northeast because it was leeward — ‘raro’ — and towards the south — ‘tonga’.

These beautiful islands consist of two main groups, one in the north and one in the south. The southern group is nine “high” islands mainly of volcanic origin although some are virtually atolls. The majority of the population lives in the southern group. The northern group comprises six true atolls.