Kia Orana,” said Cook Islands tourism ambassador Nane Papa, meeting my husband Nevil and me at Rarotonga airport. “Get in that queue,” indicating a shorter line. So began a five-star five-day trip to the Cook Islands, visiting the main island of Rarotonga, then flying 250km to the legendary Aitutaki, long onamust-do list after reading Paul Theroux’s inspirational The Happy Isles of Oceania.

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