CITY Issue 53

TRAVEL PARADISE FOUND Situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the Cook Islands are home to stunning tropical beaches, friendly locals, and at least one season of Survivor. So what’s missing? Luxury resorts. By Alex Garinger I WAS WEARING SUNSCREEN; I SWEAR I WAS wearing sunscreen. Yet there I was, six hours later, lying stomach down on my bed, shivering from what I quickly self-diagnosed as sun poisoning, or something equally painful. And at that moment, for the first time in my life, teeth chattering and body practically in traction, I had a new-found respect for, of all people, reality TV contestants. Let me explain. I had spent the day on Aitutaki, a tiny atoll that is one of the 15 main Cook Islands. The Cooks, named for Captain James Cook, comprise barely 92 square miles of land area, and yet span some 850,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean. Located this side of the International Date Line almost 3,000 miles south of Hawaii, they’re an independent state defended by New Zealand. If “Cook Islands” and “Aitutaki” sound familiar, it’s because, admit it, you’re a Survivor junkie. In 2006, the CBS show’s most controversial season, in which the four tribes of contestants were initially split by race, was filmed on Aitutaki. Shipwrecked, the British version Shipwrecked of the show, also stranded strangers on the Cooks that year. Except for the tiny glitch of a glaring sun that, once your sunscreen washes off in the water, will braise your skin like a glazed ham, I couldn’t think of a better place to be stranded. The Cooks, and Aitutaki in particular, are simply stunning, the stuff of computer backgrounds and mid-work daydreams. (No wonder a shot of local Maori boys jumping into the waters of Rarotonga, the most populous of the islands, was a finalist in our recent travel photography contest.) The turquoise water you see in patches surrounding other tropical islands is ever-present on Aitutaki, enveloping you in a warm, reef-induced lagoon of fluorescent blue. No one seems to enjoy it more than the fish, equally spectacular in color and eager to put on a show for spoiled snorkelers. The white sand beaches (with requisite gravity-defying palm trees) practically scream for a bikini-clad model or realitystarlet-in-the-making. It’s little wonder why CBS chose this Pacific paradise as its back lot and considerably more curious why those survivors didn’t just skip the pesky challenges and lounge in the sand all day. (Oh, right, that sun.) 44 CI T Y P H OTO S C O U RT E S Y R I C H G U Y. C O M

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CITY Issue 53

CITY Issue 53 Contents Letter from CITY Our Friends Action Wanted City Moment In Rogue Fast Food The Amused Bouche Fit Unnatural Wonders Paradise Found Gold Standard Parc Yourself Get Wet Naughty or Nice Raise the Roof Luxury Is... Bird of Prey Hardwear To Die For Twisted Sisters Basic Instinct Where To Buy It Socials Icon

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