The lagoon, Rarotonga Cook Islands. Credit: Cook Islands Tourism Uncle Jimmy is an enormous fellow with a wispy tangle for a beard and permanently knotted brows. His cycle helmet perches atop his ...

The Cook Islands are 15 little islands scattered across an area of two million sq km, home to 18,000 souls. Oliver Thring visited to find out if it is the world's last perfect island destination.

Rarotonga is unique among most small islands in that visitors are part of the ebb and flow of daily life, rather than tucked away in a resort. The sun rises over Rarotonga’s Muri Beach.