Koru Cafe

Hello everyone,

I believe it is time I really started to write about all the different places on Aitutaki before I forget them all (no, that won't happen any time soon).

I feel that I should start my reviews with one of my favourite places to visit for food and coffee on Aitutaki - Koru Cafe. It is by far the best place for lunch and coffee anywhere on the island. Pacific Resort may debate over the best food but I think for the money and quality of service you get there, you can't beat it anywhere. Food is always top-notch and it is probably the one of very few places that give you that Western cafe-feel.

I admit to having lots of photos of food from Koru Cafe, because I went there several times a week (it was that good) and was a regular there.

Koru Cafe - there are seats inside (windows have mosquito nets) or brave the mossies on the outdoor seats depending on your preference.

Situated (unfortunately) on the opposite end of the island from the hospital out towards Ootu Beach, it takes a good 15-20mins on the scooter to reach Koru Cafe. Whilst the length of the island takes about 10mins, the length of the airstrip also takes just as long! However, the trip is worth it, and those staying at Samade on the Beach or Popoara Beach Villas (aka Boatshed) or Aitutaki Lagoon Resort (Akitua), well lucky you, because you are close by!

Koru Cafe has some very modern looking interiors and nice and comfy couch in the corner as well. The table by the couches hide folders containing lots of information about things to do on the island + pamphlets of different charters and businesses for tourists.

My apologies for lots of food photos, but this is what you can expect to get from Koru Cafe every single time you go there. You get a decent portion of very very yummy food made right from the kitchen. They have different specials on each week and they are al. worth a try too.

The moment you enter the cafe, you just pick any seat and the girls bring you out a bottle of chilled water and a glass. You can take your time to order your meal and food is usually ready in about 10-20minutes. They come and top up your water when it runs low and service is just awesome. You don't find that anywhere else (except at resorts where you are forking out a fortune for it!). 

EDIT: I just found that Koru Cafe has their menu online.  

Click here to view.

Coffee goes from about $4.50ish (very reasonable!) through to $6-8 for ice chocolates and coffees. From memory, milkshakes were about $9.

Vanilla Latte (from memory, just under $6). It is better than those from most cafes in New Zealand and apparently UK as well!

Iced Coffee for those really sticky hot days!!! Made from real espresso coffee and spliced with a scoop of ice cream. Yum!

Most meals are usually accompanied by salad and chips. They do very good burgers. Their fish burger in particular is worth mentioning. Most main meals go between $18 - $28ish range. The most expensive on the menu is a Turkish Chicken sandwich (the name is along the lines of this) and is $29.90 - but is huge and can easily be shared between two people.

The famous Fish Burger - served with chips and fresh salad (they are hard to get by sometimes on the island!).

Oh for those Asian lovers, this was the week's special before I left. I think it was called something like Soy Noodle Stir Fry. They did it once before with a type of meat as well. Both times it was really good. If I could find it in New Zealand, I would go out and eat out!

Their Salt & Pepper Calamari is also just gorgeous for the seafood lovers. Yummy!

The Salt & Pepper Calamari (main) - just YUMMY!

Beer-Battered Mahi Mahi (it's a fish) - one of the specials. It is really good.

For those who haven't got the tummies for a full sized meal, they also have Tapas and burgers on their own for a very good price (and still packed with flavours). I am beginning to sound like an advertiser, aren't I? But seriously, I think this place deserves it ;)

Ika Mata (Tapa) - fresh fish (I think this might have been tuna) cooked just on the outside. Served with garlic aioli, soy sauce and some pickled ginger.

I think this was Ben's BLT or Chicken Burger. Roughly $12 from memory and still a good meal when you aren't feeling up to fries and salad.

The biggest downsides of Koru Cafe for elective students are the distance it takes to get there (particularly on a wet day!) and the fact that its opening hours are from 7am through to 3pm (7 days a week) - meaning that a hard-working medical student won't be able to make it after a long day at clinic (bummer!). 

Otherwise, it is a fab place to go in the weekends particularly because it is also close to the beautiful Ootu Beach or Aitutaki Lagoon Resort where you can go for some nice swims.

You can also get some locally made souvenirs at Koru Cafe. Mostly at reasonable prices without you having to travel all around the island. They have books, jewellery made by Steph at T&S Artworx, flax fans, artwork for the walls and more. You can order online as well from anywhere in the world @ http://www.korucafe.biz/

Just some of the souvenirs you can get at Koru Cafe. You can also buy online.

Jasmine, me, and Trina (owner) at Koru Cafe on my last day in Aitutaki. I was covered in "eis" as leaving gift given by several people. I really miss them :'(

I just loved Koru Cafe to bits and the people who worked there. Trina and Steve, the owners, are just lovely and during my 9 weeks, I got very familiar with the place. I hope Trina & Jasmine doesn't mind the photo going up, because I just wanted to show how much I was loved. Besides, I said lots of nice things about the cafe! ;)

Anyway, all in all, a 5 out of 5 hands down cafe on Aitutaki. It's a must-visit cafe for tourists, visitors and the foodies amongst us in my opinion.

Back in New Zealand

Hello everyone,

Sorry for my lack of updates recently. I have had a bit of a rollercoaster two weeks and have had to cut my time in Aitutaki short by two and a half weeks. This follows after having had a scooter accident and getting a reasonable wound to the left knee that would have done better back in New Zealand. So I had to rush and re-arrange flights and returned earlier this week after a rollercoaster week.

It certainly does not help with my "post-elective blues" that I had to come away in a rush. I was given a massive send off with 1 shell necklace, 6 eis (flower necklaces) and 3 flower head bands on my last day. I did look like a dork wearing all of them at the airport but I knew I was well-loved.

Me, covered in a few "eis" at Aitutaki Airport on the day I left. There are a few more in a plastic bag on the table that I wasn't wearing at the time!

As for all the bits I promised about the blog... I will slowly write about each place on Aitutaki now that I am back in a place with more reliable technology and internet, and hopefully with complementary map to each locations! ;) It will take time, but I hope you will be patient with me.

Aitutaki Hospital

Sorry for lack of updates! I will be slowly putting more information about Aitutaki.

My elective buddy, Ben, has left this afternoon, and now that I'm lacking a companion to hang out with, I have a whole lot more time to blog!

I figured it is about time to show you around Aitutaki Hospital. There is very little information about Aitutaki particularly for prospective elective students, so here are some snapshots of the hospital life...

Aitutaki Hospital site, looking from the driveway. Outpatient clinics and the ward are on the right hand side, and the far end on the left has the dentist, public health nurse and the hospital manager's offices.

The student bedroom - free accommodation at the cost of being first on-call during your elective (if you are on hospital grounds). You can get called at all hours of the day and night. Ignore the mess of the room, but there are two single beds (old hospital beds), two bedside cabinets and a really... iffy sink. Definitely not a five star hotel suite, but it serves its purpose. The nurses call it the "President Suite." Lol.

 Aitutaki Hospital is currently manned by one permanent doctor, Dr Koko, who provides 24/7 emergency services. It really should be run by two doctors, but other doctors have come and gone in the past, only staying for short periods. Hospital services are largely like a rural GP service, with clinics running Mon-Fri from 9am-12pm and 1pm-4pm. If there are any inpatients (usual number of inpatients are 0-5), ward round occurs at 8am during weekdays and 9am on weekends.

The outpatient department waiting area. Patients are often found waiting an hour before clinic is meant to start and expect you to start early (argh). Today I had a patient who turned up at 7.45am when clinics are meant to start at 9am. Patients wait here, and somehow figure out the order in which to see the doctor(s). You don't really get a chance to call the next patient in, because as soon as your current patient leaves, the next person comes in whether you are ready or not!

   Patients turn up with 'emergency' cases all through the day and night if need be. By majority, they are minor conditions not requiring emergency care (e.g. common cold, allergic rash), but emergencies do present themselves from time to time ranging from full-blown heart attacks to motor vehicle accidents. In my 6 weeks here so far, I've been blessed to not have had a cardiac arrest in the hospital but there had been one the previous week before my arrival.

The hospital has two outpatient clinics - one is often manned by elective student(s) whilst Dr Koko runs the other. Students can always ask questions if there are any doubts, but by in large, can run the clinic solo with full responsibilities of prescribing on the island (Dr Koko only takes final year medical students). Most common presentations are, (1) common cold, (2) skin infections/boils and (3) diabetes/hypertension/gout.

Our outpatient clinic room. It's pretty much a GP office.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the "NCD" or "chronic disease" days where patients with diabetes, high blood pressure, gout and etc come for their check ups (usually 2 monthly).

Hospital back yard with pawpaw (papaya) plantation. Students are welcome to help themselves to the pawpaws as they ripen. Be warned, too many can give you the runs!

 Patients often turn up well before the clinic is meant to open (e.g. 8:10am) and expect to be seen early. I've been given the funny looks when I told them I'm not starting until 9am just so I could check my mails and get the programmes started etc.

Computers are slow here, but it does work, and just fast enough for video Skyping. The hospital uses one of the older MedTech programme for patient records (a common GP software which is not very much liked), and because everything goes through Rarotonga and back, it is slow. It is not uncommon for computers to freeze or system to crash for half a day or more.

What is available at the hospital? Well, there is an x-ray machine and a new ultrasound scanner (only been here for 2 months!). Eteta is our super-pharmacist/radiographer/phlebotomist who runs the pharmacy, takes x-rays and does blood tests. She's only had 6 weeks training for all this! Aumate is the other pharmacist at the hospital.

In terms of medications, it is largely dependent on orders from Rarotonga, but selection is very limited. Everything else is based on donations from students who have gone by. Enalapril is our only ACE inhibitor and it annoys me greatly that many go to New Zealand and get put on quinapril and come back! We do have Metoprolol, Bendrofluazide, Felodipine, Candesartan, Digoxin and Nifedipine but it's about it! We have no antihistamines except Phenergan (Promethazine) so anyone turning up with allergic rash gets zonked to sleep with 25mg of Phenergan lol Only diabetes drugs are Metformin, Gliclazide and Insulin. When you are on Aitutaki, you have to learn to do without.

Commemorating my emergency call out at midnight on the ambulance... in my pajamas! The ambulance rarely gets used on the island.

I am currently self-treating myself for probable gastritis with triple therapy. Unfortunately, no Clarithromycin means that I have to use the old regime of Omeprazole-Amoxicillin-Metronidazole combo. But students can get medications free of charge if need be. But this is not the best place to get sick... I've been battling with this tummy ache for 2 weeks now <_<

There is also a dentist at the hospital who can manage basic dental conditions. Our public health nurse deals with sexual health clinics, antenatal things and immunisations etc - she's also one of two midwives on the island.

Sparky's (the dentist) clinic. This is all we have in terms of dental services.

I am running out of things to write about currently. Will update with more photos later!

Aitutaki Lagoon Tour Photos!

Okay, so I went on the lagoon tour last Sunday with Aitutaki Adventures. There are a few companies that run it, but we chose this particular one because they gave us discounts for working at the hospital ($50). Most places now charge between $85 - $99 for the trip.

The locals call it the "Yellow Boat" - Aitutaki Adventures Cruise Ship

I've got oodles of photos to show from the trip. Aitutaki Adventures tour does not have its main focus on snorkelling. They do take you to a couple of snorkelling spots, but I hear TeKing is the one to go if you want more snorkelling.

Aitutaki Adventures takes you to 3 smaller islands (the motu) in Aitutaki lagoon - Honeymoon Island, 'Survivor Island' (because they filmed Survivor there) and One Foot Island.

We were lucky to see a sea turtle on the way to Honeymoon Island. We had to cross the deepest parts of the lagoon (from memory around 13m deep) and apparently the sea turtle like these spots. We saw one bobbing away in the distance but it quickly went underwater as it heard

Just at the edge of Honeymoon Island

Sprouting young coconut on Honeymoon Island. When husked, they call it 'uto' and it's all green/white and spongy.

Me at Honeymoon Island... without a hubby lol.

Attempting to climb a coconut palm. I sucked at it.

Wet & Wild boys at Honeymoon Island for kite surfing.

'Survivor' Island where they filmed the US Survivor series.

Puna (our captain for the day) with coconut! These are surprisingly hard/firm and addictive snacks. Need to get myself a machete...

Nice photo, except the horizon isn't level. Nothing worse than a crooked photo... To photoshop later...

One Foot Island (or Tapuaetai). Goegeous beach and better swimming spot than Ootu Beach.

So the leaders obviously stopped by at One Foot Island during their forum and planted a few trees before leaving.

Yummy yummy lunch! Top left, the thing that looks like pineapple slice is actually a breadfruit chip. I'm in love with it!

This is Puna who runs Aitutaki Adventures. He was our Captain for the day.

Get your passport stamped at the world's smallest post office on One Foot Island.

I can't move this photo up... anyway me at Survivor Island. I suspect this campfire spot is a remnant of the series.

Ka kite.

More photos!

So... Gmail still won't let me upload photos. So here are a few more while we wait for more patients to turn up (we've started 20 minutes ago, and waiting room has freed up already!).

Anyway, the irony of being in the Cook Islands - you see your own Prime Minister here in Aitutaki. All the leaders came along for the 43rd Pacific Islands Forum today. Half the island scootered down to the airport (if you could call it one) to see them. I somehow managed to get the prime spot smack bang in the middle out the front! I have even better videos of John Key, but the internet here would never let me upload it before Christmas. Lol.

John Key! Followed by the Prime Minister of Samoa

All the Pacific Island leaders in one spot! Except Julia Gillard. Lol.

The Cook Islands PM, Henry Puta.

 

The entertainment crew.. I have videos of these for later...

John Key: Hmmm what's for dinner tonight?

So... email won't let me attach photos

Email isn't letting me attach photos.

So updating it here for friends.

Giant clams at the Marine Resource Centre! Very weird seeing them with all these crazy colours, but yes, they are clams! The bigger ones are 6 years old apparently...

If you thought the previous was big... then think again. These are the true giant clams. Your head could fit into one!

Samade on the Beach

Hi everyone!

Sorry, I am getting very slack with these posts! I've forgotten to bring out my camera again, so photos today (it takes forever to upload them anyway), but I will add them in eventually to their rightful posts!

It's Sunday night here and I am running out of new things to try fast! It is a little worry when you still have another 10 weeks to go!

Today Ben and I were back out at Ootu Beach (it's my favourite beach now!). It's by the airport and on the other side of Aitutaki Lagoon Resort (which sits on its own tiny island). The beach at the resort is nice too, but they are now doing some major constructions all along the beach and have shut it down, which is ridiculous seeing as there are still people staying there. I'd be peeved off if I had to stay there and weren't allowed to use their beach and had to put up with forklifts going back and forth the whole site. It looks like they are trying really hard to clean up the whole place and 'stealing' some nice sand from the sandbars in the middle of the lagoon (it's joined to the end of their beach so forklifts can actually just go right across it - photo later) and putting it back on the beach. Our theory is that they are trying to do this for the forum coming this week - supposedly Hillary Clinton is coming on Thursday, along with Julia Gillard (Aussie Prime Minister) and probably other prominent figures. It certainly has the locals excited, since it's not everyday you get someone so significant visit here!

View of Ootu Beach across Samade on the Beach deck.

Forklifts in the middle of the lagoon... it's certainly something different to look at. lol.

Anyway, back to Ootu Beach. There is a restaurant / accommodation provider called Samade on the Beach there. It's further down from Koru Cafe (just around the corner), but the beach is just lovely here. You have the classic sandy white beach and turquoise lagoon water. You can see schools of lagoon fish literally about a metre from the shoreline. You can swim about 20-30m across to one of the sand bars and you'll look like you are standing in the middle of the lagoon!

Say hello to Ootu Beach!

Samade on the Beach provides meals / limited bar services. On Sundays, they do what is called the "All day BBQ at the beach" between 11am - 9pm (I think). Ben and I went last week, thinking it was literally a BBQ on the beach with something like "all you can eat" barbie. Well, how wrong we were. For $20, it was a platter of food cooked up in the kitchen (yeah, the BBQ was inside the kitchen). Food was nice, but I think we could have done with a bit more of a portion. I think we preferred the food at Koru Cafe for similar money (and they do good coffee there!).

The welcome sign...

The $20, All Day BBQ on the Beach Platter

 The manager at Samade, Adie, also lets med students who are here on electives to use their kayaks and paddles. So we managed to get onto one and get pretty tanned! They are currently fixing the kayaks so we were warned to check beforehand to make sure they had no holes at the bottom. So after a warning and checking the kayaks, we still managed to pick one with a hole. We went down about a 100m before we capsized in the lagoon. It was somewhat of a mission to get all the water out and then drag it back to where we started. We then managed to get an intact kayak each and had some fun. I managed to get a fair way out and saw some rocks with some coral, but didn't see a lot. It has been hot and humid the last few days and I was getting scorched out there!

I have been getting eaten left, right and centre since coming here. I think taking my antihistamines regularly is helping with the itch, but doesn't stop it completely! Now it's the heat keeping me awake at night. Thankfully we haven't been woken up too much since I've been here. I have done a few things, like stitch up someone's head half-asleep at 2am.

I think it is bed time for me. Rather surprising that bedtime has changed to around 10pm since arriving at the Cook Islands but I get pretty tired here. I think it's the heat. I don't know how I will cope later given it's only going to get hotter and hotter.

Take care everyone. Will update more later. Ka kite.

Tamanu Beach Island Night

Hi everyone!

Something to share that's worth reading - about time! I have a list of things I want to write about, but I keep writing these massive emails to people (about the length of a book chapter!) that I get lazy with the blog! But I will get there eventually and hopefully have reviews of most places in Aitutaki.

I thought I might share what Ben and I got to go see last Thursday night.

Here, every weekday, each resort/restaurant take turns in doing what is called an "Island Night." Usually a decent meal (often buffet / three course) followed by a local performance. They can be quite expensive usually between $60-85 NZ dollars. Tamanu Beach Hotel covers Thursday nights, and are famous for their fire dance show.

Luckily, we could go and watch the show for free (without the meal). Some people have said, we could go in and watch for free if we bought a drink, but they didn't seem to care when we asked! But we bought a drink each anyway :P The show itself starts around 8.30pm right by their restaurant on the white Aitutaki sand.

So this is the fire dance show. They switch in and out between traditional dances and fire dances. It's really cool to watch. I was too busy taking videos of them, I didn't see it properly. I will have to go again and watch for round 2! Mind you, there isn't much else to do on the island at night and I will shortly run out of new things to try! But it is definitely worth seeing it.

Some female dancers... Lots of hip shaking. Lol.

And guys seem to shake their legs here. Haha.

I can't obviously comment on the food, but it looked pretty nice. It was a buffet and with desserts included (because we saw the desserts get dished out as we arrived!). If I do get to go later (maybe after I get paid...), I will do a food review!

Got lots of videos of the night, but not many photos. I will post videos later if I can, because if I tried to do it now, it will be Christmas before it finishes uploading!!!

Hopefully this keeps you busy reading in the meantime! I'm off to another Island Night tomorrow - one of the more budget ones at Paradise Cove for $25 (yes with food!). Will let you all know what it's like later.

Ka kite.

PS - You need to book in for these Island Nights if you want to pay and go for the meals! They can book out fast!