Memory Lane
Nicholas family reconnect through history
Saturday 7 August 2021 | Written by Al Williams | Published in Features, Memory Lane
The Nicholas family has a long and rich history across the Cook Islands, throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, and the world. Al Williams met a member of the extended family who is making connections across the globe.
Mutiny on the Vaka? The story of unescorted Mangaian sea voyage
Saturday 3 April 2021 | Written by Rod Dixon | Published in Features, Memory Lane
Almost 30 years ago, a Mangaian vaka set sail for Rarotonga with no electronic or navigational aids, no captain and no escort vessel. The vaka was ‘missing’ for two days and a night and mounting concerns for the crew’s safety sparked an air and sea search. Here the vaka’s navigator, the late Ma’ara Peraua, and crew member Maire Kareroa record their memories of the voyage, while extracts from Rod Dixon’s 1992 diary describe reactions on the ground in Mangaia.
Christchurch earthquake, ten years on: The trauma, chaos and the compassion
Saturday 27 February 2021 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Features, Memory Lane, Weekend
A decade ago, on February 22, 2011, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch at 12.51pm, causing widespread damage across the city, killing 185 people, in the nation’s fifth-deadliest disaster. Cook Islands News columnist Ruta Mave had just dropped her children at school when the incident happened.
From hunters to watchers – whaling in Raro waters
Saturday 6 February 2021 | Written by Rod Dixon | Published in Features, Memory Lane
Commercial shore-based whaling began on Rarotonga in 1865 with the help of Rarotongan whaler Jimmy Pi’i and members of a Ngāpuhi family from New Zealand. With whale numbers already in decline, it soon became clear a commercial industry was not viable. Yet a local taste for whale-meat meant opportunistic whale-hunting continued off Rarotonga and Aitutaki for almost another century.
The day ‘the Don’ and ‘Phar Lap’ visited Rarotonga
Saturday 12 December 2020 | Written by Rod Dixon | Published in Features, Memory Lane
Zane Grey “the father of the American cowboy novel’ was one of the many celebrities who visited Rarotonga on the Union Steamship Company’s trans-Pacific liner service. Others included the English novelist D.H. Lawrence, the composer Percy Grainger, several All Blacks squads, the Australian cricket legend Don Bradman, the actor Peter Lawford, the 1932 New Zealand Olympic Team, and the great New Zealand-born Australian racehorse Phar Lap.
The Flying Nicholas Brothers of Ruatonga: Pt 2
Saturday 21 November 2020 | Written by Rod Dixon | Published in Features, Memory Lane
This second of two articles, concludes the story of two courageous brothers from Ruatonga, Tatio and Marama Nicholas, who flew with Bomber Command and the Royal New Zealand Air Force in the Second World War. By Rod Dixon.
The flying Nicholas brothers of Ruatonga
Saturday 14 November 2020 | Written by Supplied | Published in Features, Memory Lane
Tuaine Kaitara Nicholas of Ruatonga and his wife Ngatuaine had four boys and three girls. Three of the boys enlisted in the Air Force in WWII and a fourth was directed by his brothers to the Army. In the first of two articles, Rod Dixon tells the story of two of the courageous Nicholas brothers, Tatio and Marama.
‘Cook Islanders have served bravely and with distinction’
Thursday 12 November 2020 | Written by Losirene Lacanivalu | Published in Features, Memory Lane, Weekend
Local war veterans were remembered at the 102nd Armistice Day commemoration in Rarotonga on Wednesday November 11 - the day when an armistice was signed to end the Great War.
Jim Marurai: The unexpected prime minister
Saturday 7 November 2020 | Written by Supplied | Published in Features, Memory Lane
Former Cook Islands prime minister Jim Marurai passed away peacefully at the age of 73, in his Ivirua home on the southern island of Mangaia, where he was born and raised. Veteran journalist Florence Syme-Buchanan pens a poignant tribute to the former leader.
Rarotonga doctor was unsung hero of NZ’s worst bus crash
Saturday 31 October 2020 | Written by Supplied | Published in Memory Lane
Last week, Cook Islands News told the story of Dr James Maoate Rennie, a Ngatangiia -born doctor who served as a medic with the Eighth Army in North Africa. After the story was published, Cook Islands News was contacted by Dr. Rennie’s son Bill, who lives in Titikaveka.
'Fighting fires ran through his veins … he will be dearly missed'
Tuesday 18 August 2020 | Written by Supplied | Published in Features, Local, Memory Lane, National
“When a call comes in that there is a fire on the west side of Rarotonga, chances are Barry Hill would have been first at the scene.”
Top stories of year that was 2016
Thursday 5 January 2017 | Written by CI News Staff | Published in Features, Local, Memory Lane
JANUARY
Centenary brings back memories for former Apii Avarua student
Monday 10 October 2016 | Written by Melina Etches | Published in Features, Local, Memory Lane, Weekend
This week, Apii Avarua celebrates 100 years of providing education. In this feature, Tuaine Bailey (nee Strickland), daughter of Mana and Mauariki Strickland recalls her return to Rarotonga from Pukapuka and enrolling at Avarua School in 1949 at the age of seven.
Apii Avarua's oldest pupil looks back
Saturday 10 September 2016 | Written by Losirene Lacanivalu | Published in Features, Local, Memory Lane
AS APII Avarua counts down to its centennial celebration, bonfires and the flying of the British flag, the Union Jack is what the oldest surviving student of Apii Avarua recalls the most from her school days.
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