Touring Cook Island

The Cook Islands are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in free association with New Zealand. The fifteen small islands in this South Pacific Ocean country have a total land area of 240 square kilometres (92.7 sq mi), but the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1.8 million square kilometres (0.7 million sq mi) of ocean. The main population centres are on the island of Rarotonga (14,153 as of 2006), where there is an international airport. There is also a much larger population of Cook Islanders in New Zealand, particularly the North Island. In the 2006 census, 58,008 self-identified as being of ethnic Cook Island Māori descent. With over 90,000 visitors travelling to the islands in 2006, tourism is the country's number one industry, and the leading element of the economy, far ahead of offshore banking, pearls, marine and fruit exports. Defence is the responsibility of New Zealand, in consultation with the Cook Islands and at its request. In recent times, the Cook Islands have adopted an increasingly independent foreign policy.

From Wikipedia

Rarotonga

Rarotonga is the most populous island in a group of islands known as the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 (census 2006). Cook Islands' Parliament buildings, as well as the international airport, are located on Rarotonga. Because it is the most populous island, Cook Islanders may be referred to as Rarotongan, but they may in fact come from one of the other 15 islands in the group, such as Aitutaki or Mangaia. Rarotonga is also a very popular tourist destination with many resorts, hotels and motels. The chief town, Avarua, on the north coast, is also the capital of the Cook Islands.

Geography of Rarotonga

The island of Rarotonga stands over 14,750 feet (4,500 meters) above the ocean floor. The island is 20 miles (32 km) in circumference and has an area of 26 square miles (67.19 km²). At a depth of 13,000 ft (4,000 m), the volcano is nearly 31 miles (50 km) in diameter. Te Manga, at 2,140 ft (658 m) above sea level, is the highest peak on the island. The island is surrounded by a lagoon, which often extends more than a hundred yards (meters) to the reef, then sloping steeply to deep water. The reef fronts the shore to the north of the island, making the lagoon there unsuitable for swimming and water sports, but to the south east, particularly around Muri, the lagoon is at its widest and deepest. This part of the island is the most popular with tourists for swimming, snorkelling and boating. Agricultural terraces, flats, and swamps surround the central mountain area. Along the southeast coast, off Muri Beach are four small coral islets within a few hundred meters of the shore, within the fringing coral reef, listed from north to south with their areas in hectares:
Mo tutapu 11.0
Oneroa 10.6
Koromiri 3.0
Taakoka 1.7
The interior of the island is dominated by eroded volcanic peaks cloaked in dense vegetation. Paved and unpaved roads allow access to valleys but the interior of the island remains largely unpopulated due to forbidding terrain and lack of infrastructure. A large tract of land has been set aside in the south east as the Takitumu Conservation Area to protect the islands' native birds and plants, especially the endangered Kakerori, the Rarotonga Flycatcher.