Cook Islands Travel Guide

500

Polynesians reach Rarotonga from the northeast

1595

Spanish explorer Mendana sights Pukapuka

1773

Captain Cook contacts Atiu and four other islands

1789

Captain Bligh discovers Aitutaki

1789

Bounty mutineers call at Rarotonga

1821

British missionary John Williams visits Aitutaki

1823

Tahitian missionary Papeiha arrives on Rarotonga

1888

British declare a protectorate over the southern Cooks

1889

British add northern Cooks to their protectorate

1901

the Cook Islands transferred to New Zealand administration

1942

Americans build airfields on Aitutaki and Penrhyn

1965

the Cook Islands achieve internal self-government

1973

Rarotonga International Airport opens

1977

government-owned Rarotongan Resort Hotel opens

1984

tax haven scheme established in the Cook Islands

1989

cultured pearl farm established on Manihiki

1990

so-called Sheraton Resort project launched on Rarotonga

1991

Australians and New Zealanders forbidden to use tax haven

1992

6th Festival of Pacific Arts held on Rarotonga

1993

construction of "Sheraton" halted by Italian underwriters

1996

austerity measures introduced to avoid financial collapse

1997

Hurricane Martin devastates Manihiki

2001

Hurricane Trina devastates Mangaia

2001

Cook Islands declares its waters a whale sanctuary

2006

the TV series Survivor is filmed on Aitutaki

2007

Air New Zealand cancels its flights from Fiji and Tahiti