The Islands have proved a popular location for TV programme makers, writers and even Hollywood. And in turn, it's provided revenue and publicity that money can't buy.
ON FILM
IN BOOKS
Tom Neale was a sailor who dreamed of living alone on a tropical island. He read about Northern Group island, Suwarrow in a book and when his ship stopped there in 1945. It was love at first sight. He finally got Government permission in 1952 to live on the island, and in October that year became a modern Robinson Crusoe. For 15 of the next 25 years he lived alone, tending his garden and chickens, and catching fish and coconut crabs. In 1966, a friend helped him publish his story, AN ISLAND TO ONESELF. The book is very difficult to get hold of, but you can download it in chapters by clicking here, then selecting "Tom Neale Book" from the menu on the left of the page. You can find out more about Suwarrow by clicking here.
US author, Robert Dean Frisbie helped to inspire and actively encouraged Tom to undertake his remarkable adventure. Frisbie wrote about living and trading in the Cooks in the early years of the 20th century in THE BOOK OF PUKA-PUKA and THE ISLAND OF DESIRE.
MUSIC
Music and song are an important part of Cook Islands heritage, and visitors need only go along the nearest church to hear the passion and power. I would also recommend a visit to one of the island nights at hotels and restaurants to see a wonderful mix of traditional music and dance, and including some spectacular drumming.
The wooden drums and slit gongs of the islands were used during the missionary period to signal events, curfews and to call church goers to services. The conch shell trumpet is another frequently heard sound in the islands and is used to signal the arrival of a visiting party of fishermen.
The wooden drums and slit gongs of the islands were used during the missionary period to signal events, curfews and to call church goers to services. The conch shell trumpet is another frequently heard sound in the islands and is used to signal the arrival of a visiting party of fishermen.
Finding such music outside the Cook Islands and New Zealand is not easy, but one CD which seems to be widely available through usual internet outlets is "Drums, Songs and Chants of the Cook Islands". Recorded live in Avarua, Rarotonga in 1993, it features the Cook Islands National Arts Theatre. It includes hauntingly beautiful chants from Raro, Pukapuka and Manihiki, and a drum dance from Aitutaki among its 13 tracks. I can recommend it because I have a copy myself which came from Raro Records (left) on the island. And anytime I want to be transported back to the islands - in spirit at least - I only need to put it on. (Ode Record Company Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand - catalogue number CD MANU 1447)
ON DVD
ChillArt is described by its UK originators as "an evolution in sound and vision". And the stunningly beautiful lagoon of Aitutaki features in this new art concept, created on a DVD which is playable anywhere in the world (i.e "region free"). Original footage is combined with specially composed music to help you relax totally. The shot on the right is from a sequence filmed from the motu called Heaven. The other Aitutaki shots are of sunbeams playing on the waters of the lagoon. Click here to see more stills from both, and to find out how to get this unique DVD (opens in new window)
ALSO ON MY OWN BOOKSHELF...
YEARS OF THE POOH-BAH: A COOK ISLANDS HISTORY by Dick Scott, is an amazingly detailed history of the islands up to independence, lavishly illustrated with photographs.
Alphons MJ Kloosterman's meticulously researched DISCOVERERS OF THE COOK ISLANDS & THE NAMES THEY GAVE gives a brief history of each island, the early legends of each and the variety of names given by early settlers and those who later discovered them. Academic but fasinating.
YEARS OF THE POOH-BAH: A COOK ISLANDS HISTORY by Dick Scott, is an amazingly detailed history of the islands up to independence, lavishly illustrated with photographs.
Alphons MJ Kloosterman's meticulously researched DISCOVERERS OF THE COOK ISLANDS & THE NAMES THEY GAVE gives a brief history of each island, the early legends of each and the variety of names given by early settlers and those who later discovered them. Academic but fasinating.
MERRY CHRISTMAS MR LAWRENCE is set in a Japanese prisoner of war camp but once again the location was Rarotonga. The 1983 film, starring Tom Conti and David Bowie, won nine international awards.
Aitutaki was the location for the 1984 family feature, THE SILENT ONE about a handicapped boy who becomes friends with the sea turtles, as it was again for the 2003 movie, THE LEGEND OF JOHNNY LINGO.
Aitutaki was the location for the 1984 family feature, THE SILENT ONE about a handicapped boy who becomes friends with the sea turtles, as it was again for the 2003 movie, THE LEGEND OF JOHNNY LINGO.
Information verified by the Internet Movie Database
THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN was filmed mostly on the capital island of Rarotonga, rather than in Tonga where it's set. That's supposedly because the director didn't think Tonga had the unspoiled beauty he was looking for, whereas the Cook Islands did! The 2001 film is a coming of age tale is based on the true story of a farm boy, John Grohberg from Idaho Falls in the USA who becomes a missionary in the Tongan Islands of the 1950s. Starring Christopher Gorman and Anne Hathaway.
Pamela Stephenson (yes, the former comedienne married to Billy Connolly) is now a best selling author and I can't recommend too highly her tales of travel around the South Seas under the title "TREASURE ISLANDS". She provides a fascinating insight into life in some of the rarely visited outer Cook Islands, which were among her destinations on an extraodinary voyage of discovery. Widely available (Headline Book Publishing, 2005).
TV companies in the US and UK seem to fallen in love with Aitutaki. It's stunningly blue lagoon was the backdrop for series 13 of the American reality show, SURVIVOR which was sold around the world....so there's a good chance you could catch on a cable or satellite channel sometime.
And in the UK, a similar format programme called SHIPWRECKED (Channel 4 TV) has had four series based there, the first in 2000. In both cases, the contestants battled for a big cash prize after being "abandoned" on one or more of the motus (islets) within the lagoon.
In the series they called it Paradise Island, but in reality it's the capital island of Rarotonga which was chosen by the BBC as the setting for a children's tv series, PARADISE CAFE. Thirteen, half hour episodes were filmed on location in Raro and in New Zealand, with local children among the "extras". The series was first shown in the UK in January and February, 2009.
AND THE STORY IN BRIEF: Robbo and his sister Megan have moved to stunningly beautiful Paradise Island with their marine biologist dad who's investigating what's going on with the black rotting coral that's ruining the island's hotel business. The kids set up a beachside smoothie bar to make some spare cash. Before the opening party, Megan, Robbo and his new mate Tai go snorkelling and disturb an ancient looking seal in the coral. Later, while the kids get the cafe ready for the big bash, freaky things start to happen. The gang finally work out that they've got a haunting on their hands.
These are the Hunts from Swindon in the UK - a high spending family who swapped their lavish lifestyle for three weeks on Atiu. How they came to terms with back to basics living was told in THE REAL SWISS FAMLY ROBINSON on BBC television. And the weather gave them a less than warm welcome..the programme began with their struggle to build a shelter in the face of a tropical storm. The experience changed their lives (for the better, they said). And of course, they fell in love with Island life and the Atiuans.
The Islands as featured on film, TV, video, music and in books
ON TELEVISION
A word of warning...if you're tempted to pick up a video of the Islands while you're there, be very careful with your selection. Some are truly dreadful. Ask for a preview before you buy. One I would recommend though is an annual production...it's the officla video of the Te Meava Nui (cultural festival) with performances from music and dance groups throughout the islands. The production values are appalling with adverts scrolling across the bottom of the screen all the time, but the content is unique and a great souvenir.
ISLES OF THE FRIGATE BIRD is a very readable, often humorous account by Irish biographer, Ronald Syme of his life in the Islands where he set up home in the 1950s, aquiring along the way a wife, cottage, hens and a pig (which got eaten for Christmas!). Highly recommended
The sisters in the title, SISTERS IN THE SUN are the remote islands of Suwarrow and Palmerston, and this book is a fascinating and very carefully researched factual story of each, filled with tales of shipwrecks, castaways, pearl poachers, buried treasure and enigmatic characters. Ths book is long out of print, but you can pick up copies occasionally on Amazon or Abebooks.
The sisters in the title, SISTERS IN THE SUN are the remote islands of Suwarrow and Palmerston, and this book is a fascinating and very carefully researched factual story of each, filled with tales of shipwrecks, castaways, pearl poachers, buried treasure and enigmatic characters. Ths book is long out of print, but you can pick up copies occasionally on Amazon or Abebooks.
