TRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert WalsheLiving

Denmark looks set to be a haven for all foodies this summer as new nordic Cui-sine makes an appearance and exciting culinary festi-vals take over. Visit kerte-minde in central Denmark, on the island of Funen, from 20th-22nd July 2012 and be part of the exciting Cherry Festival. The cherry has a time honoured tradition in Funen and the festival itself is a combination of cultural events, food product show-cases, music and other en-tertainment, all under the slogan of See, listen, and taste. SaS fly twice daily from Dublin to Copenha-gen from just 75 one way including all taxes and charges. www.flysas.ie

Holiday Hotspot Atiu - Cook Islands

www.cookislands.travelOver the last two weeks I

shared my new found love affair with the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Atiu Island, also known as enu-amanu or land of the birds lies northeast of rarotonga or a forty-five minute plane ride away. Its true to say that an increasing number of tourists are looking for a different side of these is-lands and nothing is more unique than a visit here. The land is made up of thick jun-gle, secluded beaches, dark caves and a thriving bird sanctuary while the reefs are home to thousands of fish including the amazing flying variety which is usu-ally caught at night! Sev-eral nice beaches are also available for tourists includ-ing matai, Taungaroro and Takauroa and a number of thatched huts have been set up for visitors to relax and enjoy while here. In addition, a great place for snorkeling and swimming is in Taunganui Harbor. as atiu is one of the few islands in the Cooks that has not been invaded by the ship

rat, two endangered birds including the flycatcher have been introduced to the island. Local Birdman George mateariki was em-ployed by the Takitumu Conservation area to look after these birds as part of a recovery programme. Born and raised on the island he picked up this love from his grandparents who were avid bird watchers and pro-tectors He now offers a full four hour eco tour showing off the islands thriving bird population including ancient trails where visitors see dif-ferent types of plants and hear about their uses fol-lowed by a picnic from the land. Coffee has been grown on atiu for around 200 years, having been established by the early missionaries to create a commercial crop. By 1865 the Cook Islands were major coffee export-ers however the business has had its ups and downs since so when Juergen man-ske-eimke, arrived on the is-land in the 1980s then-prime minister Sir Tom Davis sug-gested reviving the islands coffee trade in conjunc-tion with local landowners. This prompted Juergen to set up the atiu Coffee Fac-tory, importing process-ing machinery, clearing the old plantations and producing roasted coffee beans .Today the company manages numerous coffee plantations hand-picking around 17 tonnes of beans annually which are dried in the bright atiu sun for at least 250 hours then stored for six months to let the fla-vours develop and roasted to order, producing tonnes of roasted beans. The cof-fee is packed in sealed bags and sold to restaurants or by mail-order on the web-site to customers around the world. www.atiu-coffee.com His wife Andreas fibre arts studio next door offers contemporary handmade jewellery and tivaivai a

traditional ceremonial un-padded, patchwork cloth with intricate embroidery. This local art combines tra-ditional knowledge, skills and materials with new techniques and inspiration. www.atiu-fibrearts.com as well as rocky caverns and lush rainforest visitors also enjoy marshall Humphries caving tour along the coral makatea deep into the rainforest before descend-ing into anatakitaki Cave, home to the kopeka birds. another tour by the same company is the Discovery Island tour which takes cli-ents along hidden tracks to discover many white sand beaches. They will learn of the people of atiu, their his-tory, customs and about the conservation programmes followed by lunch. www.atiutoursaccommodation.com. Wild pig hunting is one non-commercial activ-ity also offered on the island where you can accompany locals for the chase. For night owls, crayfishing at night on the reef is also an option but both activities are dependent on the locals and weather and can only be arranged once you arrive. atiu boasts seven tumu-nus or bush beer schools. everyone gathers round a barrel which these days is more likely to be plastic than the hollowed out trunk

of a coconut tree as in the old days. The barman hands out the strongly alcoholic drink in a coconut shell. The drink itself is made either from fermented bananas or simply a home brew which is served young.

Once emptied, its handed back, refilled and passed to the next person...and so it goes on, round after round proving popular with locals & tourists alike. all visitors are encouraged to visit the tumunu though it is best to go with a local who can explain the protocol and rituals of this drinking cer-emony.

accommodation on the island varies from budget to comfortable, and most of the providers have main-tained a traditional charm in line with the island itself. roger malcolm, who came to roratonga over 30 years ago to research his physics PhD, met a local lady and moved here. Today, the two

of them run atiu Villas the most comfortable on the island offering six self-con-tained units. The property is surrounded by forest and also boasts a tennis court, restaurant and pool accom-modating families of up to six. Clients can also hire scooters, bicycles and cars here. www.atiuvillas.com Flights from the Uk are op-erated on the award winning 777-300 aircraft where you can try out the economy skycouch or spacious pre-mium economy spaceseat. From Dublin fares start from 1356.00 Inc taxes and from Belfast 1315.00. www.air-newzealand.co.uk Domestic flights are operated by Air Rarotonga with daily flights to aitutaki and scheduled flights to Atiu, www.airraro.com. If you would prefer to book with a travel agency Trailfinders offer a 14 night package from 3,899 pp in-

cludes international flights with air new Zealand from Dublin (Cork or Shannon via London Heathrow & Los Angeles) or from 3,469per person ex Belfast for 7 nights at the 4+* Little Poly-nesian resort, raratonga in a Garden Pia Tiare room with transfers & continental breakfast and 7 nights at 3+* Tamanu Beach, aitutaki, in a Garden Studio with con-tinental breakfast & flight / road transfers. These prices are based on two people sharing travelling for 1 to 30 nov 2012 departures, sub-ject to availability. Other dates available. www.trail-finders.ie

Robert Walshe is a free-lance contributor / broad-caster and Travel Editor for River Media newspa-per titles across the island of Ireland. www.robertw-alshe.com

Pets Corner... with Kathleen Murray

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has some fantastic summer offers now available at over 100 hotels, with savings of up to 33% off the best available rate until the 31st August 2012*.

In addition to receiving the best available rate, when customers join the Club which is free to join, guests will receive a com-

plimentary room upgrade* and after their first stay, further benefits such as compli-mentary breakfast, early check in and late check out. With a variety of destinations including europe, USa, Far east, Caribbean and the Indian Ocean, theres sure to be something to suit every taste. www.slhm.com/delaville

n Atiu Villas, Cook Islands.n Atiu Island, Cook Is

lands.

Pet birds do some homeworkIn reCenT times the demand for pet birds has risen as people think that they are very cute, and the fact that some can talk is very entertaining.

There are lots of birds to choose from and they are easily got which is a problem. Some of these birds are very expensive and have been taken from their natural environment by poachers, for cash.

This is no reflection on pet shops, by the way, as they know where their birds are coming from, and can trace them back to source. If there is a bird that you are interested in then do some homework first. Find out more about this type of bird in a book or on the net. Find out where it comes from and what it eats in its natural environment. If you have a

bird already or have lost a bird be-cause someone has let it out by acci-dent then youll know the downside to having a bird in your home. Cute as they are they need exercise like any other animal and some can be destructive.

They need space to flap their wings and fly. You need to have a very safe place for them to do this. If we lived in a very warm sunny country then getting out by accident wouldnt be as big a problem than getting out here on a cold windy day. keep-ing these birds in a central heated house and then losing them to the elements outside is very upsetting as they cant withstand the cold or feed themselves without danger.

They are used to having food in a

certain place every day (provided for them) and then suddenly they are in a world that they dont know, where there are other birds with ter-ritorial issues that wont be so gener-ous with the food if your bird arrives to eat with them. Pet birds are very trusting and dont know the dan-gers of the outside world so enemy number one is the local cat.

as our cat population is enormous due to cats not being neutered in time (6 months) the bird wont be around for long. Safety plans are very important when you have a bird in your house. Summertime is the most dangerous as we have our windows and doors open for fresh air. If you are out and about in the garden in the summer you can

take the bird out there in the cage with you and put it up on a table or somewhere that you can supervise it. Protect it from the strong sun by putting a towel over the top of the cage. Being in the sun is fine but if you are stuck there for a lengthy pe-riod of time, in a cage, with no way to get to a tree for shade, then it is not fine any more. If there are chil-dren in the house then they must be taught not to leave doors open when they go in and out when the bird is loose.

Children should always be super-vised around any animal as they dont know the right way to behave around animals. They often bring problems onto themselves by just simply being children. Birds are

intelligent. They can be trained to do many things and adapt to many situations, but they also need to be protected.