Jet Spectacle

One of the best forms of free entertainment on Rarotonga, especially for visitors, is watching passenger jets land at the seawall end of the airport runway.

When the weather is good, scores of people line up on the seawall road footpath, all gazing into the distant sky, in search of that elusive black dot.

Once it’s properly in view, and the jet edges ever closer, it’s out with the cameras, and the watchers jostle to position themselves for the best picture.

The black dot is transformed into the shape of an aircraft, the distant noise of jet engines turns into a loud roar, and within seconds the plane is directly overhead, then safely on to the runway, setting off a blast of wind as it slows.

Last Saturday there was the usual large crowd on the footpath waiting for the arrival of the Air New Zealand afternoon flight from Auckland, and on the adjacent empty section of land, numerous people with cameras – even one with a large, professional-type video camera.

If you want to enjoy the jet landing experience, check first whether aircraft are landing on the seaward end of the runway, and get there 15 or 20 minutes earlier than the scheduled arrival time. Takeoffs from the inland end of the runway are best avoided as a number of people have been injured as a result of being blown onto rocks or off their motorcycles. The pictures on this page were taken from the Nikao side of the seawall.

(Source: Cook Islands News Local News 27 April 2018)

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