Coconut Islands 13
A cross-island trail begins on the island of Rarotonga near the town of Avarua, on the northern coast, and ends at the Papua waterfall on the south coast. It’s a popular hike for adventurous tourists, but few natives bother using the trail since the coastal road makes travel so much easier. The hiking route leads through small patches of undistinguished forest; the true rainforest, hugging the damp cloudy sides of the most precipitous peaks, is almost impossible to reach, which explains why it is still there. Although Rarotonga’s cloud forest covers only three percent of the island, its biological significance is world-class. Three hundred flowering plants grow in the rainforest, many of them unique to Rarotonga, including the spectacular Manga Cytranda, with its huge white, orchid-like flowers, and the Rarotonga Sclerotheca, whose pale green blossoms are tipped in purple. These specimens, and numerous other flowering plants, enliven the forest with color. The island also is home to ninety varieties of ferns, many of which are found only in the highland rainforest. The ferns, especially the giant Kingfern — which stands several meters high — give the rainforest a primordial look.
The cross-island track cuts through the lower forest as it follows the Avatiu stream for much of its route. Slightly above the agricultural belt, where the trail passes through an ancient grove of chestnut trees, the buttressed trunks and dense root system of the forest hold the muddy soil together and keep the slopes from eroding into the sea. Near the base of Te Rua-Manga are several exceedingly unique trees, including the Rata (Pacific metrosideros), which has spiky red flowers, the Neinei (Rarotonaga Fitchia) with its drooping orange and black flowers, and the lovely Pua (Fagraea), which boasts fragrant nocturnal white flowers. Flowering shrubs grace the trail in a riotous ground cover of green textures. The southern part of the hiking route follows a steep gorge filled with hanging waterfalls and tree ferns. This section of the trail provides some of the most spectacular scenery in Polynesia, including panoramic views of the misty summits of Te Manga, Te ‘Atukua, and Te Ko’u, the ocean, which is visible in the distance as a huge saucer of blue green water, and the upper rainforest, which spills luxuriantly from clouds that hide the fluted peaks. The overall affect is of a protected sanctuary filled with mysterious and alluring places where life is rare and fragile. In fact, a newly-proposed nature reserve will set aside eighty percent of Rarotonga’s existing cloud forest for preservation, thus allowing people to gaze upon it in the future.
