Cook Islands Shopping

Avarua has the only large shopping centre in the Cook Islands. The high street on the coastal Ara Tapu road has lots of nice boutique shops specializing in hand crafts, black pearls and other jewellery, tourist souvenirs and local clothing including colourful shirts and pareus (sarongs). Mana Court in downtown Avarua has a dive shop selling good snorkelling gear. The Philatelic Bureau next to the Post Office sells colourful stamps and first day covers and nearby at Raro Records you can find local music, both traditional and contemporary. The local Cook Islands Trading Corp. (CITC) has its own shopping centre with department store, film processing and pharmacy in the heart of downtown Avarua and a large supermarket and liquor store slightly out of town towards the airport. Prices of most items in the Cook Islands are high as most goods are imported from New Zealand and incur extra transport costs. On Friday night and Saturday morning, the local market next to Avatiu Harbour is the place to go for food, atmosphere and bargains. Otherwise, there are lots of family owner groceries around Rarotonga, the largest being Wigmores Supermarket on the south side of the island. On all the other islands, including Aitutaki, shopping facilities are very basic.

If you're going to the Cook Islands to live, imported cars and a good variety of electrical appliances are available at a slight premium to the same products found on New Zealand. Good second hand items are hard to come.



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