Mangaia’s traditional name, Auau Enua, refers to terraces. The natural crevices through the makatea were widened and stepped by earlier generations, carrying rock by hand, to reach the fertile interior.

Why walk them

Because the engineering is remarkable and unheralded, and because the transition is dramatic — from coastal coral rock, up through a cutting, into green plantation country in a few hundred metres.

Practical

• Grip. Makatea is sharp and uneven.
• Some tracks are private access. Ask.
• Take water — there is no shade in the cuttings.

Guided nature walks on Rarotonga focus less on covering ground and more on what is growing beside it — traditional plant medicine, food plants, forest ecology and island history.

Who it suits

Anyone more interested in understanding the forest than in getting across it quickly. Also a good option for people who want to do the cross-island route with someone experienced rather than alone.

Practical

• Book ahead — these run on demand rather than a fixed schedule.
• Footwear with grip, water, insect repellent.

Wigmore’s Waterfall, also called Papua Falls, is the most accessible waterfall on Rarotonga: a flat ten-minute walk in from the road, ending at a cascade dropping into a cool freshwater pool.

Worth knowing before you go

The volume depends entirely on rainfall in the preceding days. After a wet spell it is a proper waterfall you can stand under. In a dry patch it is a modest trickle. Ask locally, or judge by whether it has rained that week.

Swimming

The pool is cold, fresh and a genuine relief after a hot day. Most of the people who describe the falls as underwhelming did not get in.

Practical

• There is a small entry fee that goes to the landowners.
• Mosquitoes are enthusiastic here. Repellent is worth having.
• This is the southern end of the Cross-Island Track, so you can combine the two.

Maungapu is the highest point on Aitutaki at roughly 124 metres — modest by any standard, but it is the only elevation on an otherwise flat island, and from the top the entire lagoon opens out below you.

The walk

Short and steep. Most people are at the top in around twenty to thirty minutes. The track is straightforward but it is a genuine climb rather than a stroll, and it is loose and slippery after rain.

The view

This is the payoff. From the summit you can see the triangular shape of the reef, the scattered motu, and the graduated blues of the lagoon in a way that no photograph taken from the water conveys. It is the clearest possible explanation of why Aitutaki looks the way it does.

Practical notes

• Shoes with grip. The track is dirt and roots.
• Take water — there is none on the way.
• There is no shade at the top.
• Early morning and late afternoon are far more comfortable than the middle of the day.

The Cross-Island Track runs from Avatiu Valley in the north, up to the base of Te Rua Manga — the volcanic spire known as The Needle — and then down the south side to Papua (Wigmore’s) Waterfall. It is about six kilometres end to end and takes most people three to three and a half hours.

Be honest with yourself about the difficulty

This is not a stroll. The climb up from the northern side is steep enough that you will be using tree roots as handholds, and the descent on the southern side crosses a stream repeatedly. After rain — which is often — the track is genuinely slippery and the stream crossings can be deeper than you would like.

People of a wide range of ages and fitness complete it every day. But they do it in proper footwear, having started early, carrying more water than they thought they needed.

The route

Start at the end of Uruau Drive in Avatiu Valley. The track is marked with orange markers. You climb steadily to a ridgeline junction, where a short detour — about fifteen minutes return — takes you to the base of The Needle itself. That detour is the only place on the walk with a view across the island to both coasts, and it is worth the extra time.

From the junction the track drops south through the valley, crossing the stream several times, and comes out at Papua Waterfall. Whether the waterfall is impressive or a trickle depends entirely on how much rain has fallen in the preceding days.

What to bring

• Footwear with grip. This is the one thing people get wrong. Jandals and smooth-soled trainers are how the track sends people home with injuries.
• More water than feels necessary. The humidity is the difficult part, more than the gradient.
• A way to carry your rubbish out. There are no bins and no toilets at either end.

Mobile coverage

Patchy at best. There is generally signal at the base of The Needle and very little elsewhere on the track. Tell someone where you are going and roughly when you expect to be out.

Getting there and back

The practical problem with a cross-island walk is that you finish a long way from where you started. The island bus runs clockwise and anti-clockwise around the coast road and will get you back, or you can arrange a pick-up at the southern end.