Spectacular views over the island can be enjoyed from the rocky, pointed peak of Te Rua Manga (the Needle). We climb 400 metres to reach the Needle, where the more adventurous among us use ropes ...

Step over step, step over step. I focused on the sinewy brown calves ahead of me as they carefully climbed over twisted roots and jagged rocks higher and higher through the tropical jungle of Rarot… ...

E u’u no te akau roa, ka oki rai ki tona akau roa” (the (parrot) fish from the reef, will always return to its home) – Aitutakian proverb. I was born under the shadow of Te Rua Manga in Ruatonga with ...

THERE is no doubt that the Cook Islands are a long way from Scotland. ... a 71-year-old who accompanied me to Te Rua Manga, or the Needle. As you clamber up the steep slope, ...