Paradise found

Less than an hour's flight from Rarotonga, lies the warmer island of Aitutaki, a fabulous lagoon environment. We land and are whisked to the small hotel, Etu Moana, where the bubbly is waiting.

As a celebration of over 20 years together, we splash out on an absolute beachfront apartment with a super view of the turquoise jewelled lagoon.

The sun sets and we walk five minutes down the beach to the Tamanu Resort Feast and Dance Night.

Some fifty tourists sit at tables serenaded by a ukulele band whose repertoire includes that boomerang of an ever recurring International cultural hit - West Virginia!

An excellent buffet dinner, including marinated tuna and coconut sauce and the cooked spinach-like shredded leaves of taro, is followed by a bounding troupe of dancers accompanied on booming drums by the strong voices of the singers.

Dainty ladies twirl and shake their hips whilst the men stamp and tremble.

Young boys attack their dances with enthusiasm. A great night is had by all.

Next day, we take Kayaks for a spin in front of the beach where winds are gusty and make the return paddle a bit more work.

For a different mode of transport, we hire scooters for a few hours. The 125cc machines are heavy to handle and surprisingly speedy - so watch out chickens trying to cross the road!

The day after, we sign up for a Lagoon Tour with Teking or The King. Whilst we settle into the boat, a double rainbow magically appears. The colours of the sea in swathes of magic colour are intense.

The water is choppy and we stop at several spots for snorkelling to see the coral, feeding of giant trevally fish, and giant clams.

Rain squalls lash the boat. As Robert swims out into choppier waves, he gets into trouble, taking in water through his snorkel, and, when he takes it out, through the waves, so that he chokes and asks for help. The boat owner sends in his assistant to swim out to Robert and, together with other snorkellers, tow him back to where a buoy streamed from the boat is able to reel in the spluttering Robert. Close call.

The day brightens exponentially when we land at Honeymoon Island. This has to be contender for most beautiful island paradise in the world.

Flocks of Kiteboarders soar with tropicbirds in magnificent coloured seas.

We rest on the island for a barbie.

Above, the pirate-like Frigatebirds wait to bully fish out of the returning Tropicbird parents of little fluffy chicks tucked under bushes all around us. Paradise.

The lagoon has occasional nasties, including the Crown of Thorns starfish which ravenously eats coral unless stopped. Our guide says the simplest way to kill one is to turn it on its back to absorb its own venom and die.

Last stop for the boat is One Foot Island, another castaway dream scene, where giant Trevally rocket in close to the beach to grab morsels of baitfish.

As we head home after a fantastic day, we pass the Mangaia Resort, once the terminal in the 1950s and 60s for the Sunderland Flying Boat airline which would land here on lagoon and deposit stars like John Wayne, Marlon Brando and Cary Grant.