‘IT was a romantic thing

To Do’ Say Nz Newlyweds

Malcolm and Mary MacQuarrie, well-known Rarotongan residents, are kept very busy these days looking after Tipani Tours, the business they have established catering to the needs of the ever-increasing flow of tour ists.

Recently they filled a cupid

role in that they helped to arrange the flight to Aitutaki by Cook Island Airways of two young New Zealanders, Lind say Campbell and Joan Blasenak. As Mr Campbell tells it “My wife and I orig inally intended just to have a honeymoon in the Cook Islands. We decided, however, that it would be nice to get mar ried there as well. Back home we often have Japanese coming to get married, because to the Japanese, it is good luck to get married outside one’s own

country. Now, we have no such custom in New Zealand, but it just seemed a romantic thing to do”.

The bridal couple didn’t know of the existence of Aitu taki until before they left for Rarotonga when they met lan and Diane Boulton, who had been teachers at the Aitutaki Junior High School. They were also fortunate that when they

reached Rarotonga they met

up with Paddy Griffin, the New Zealand Government supervisor of the Aitutaki hospital project, who made all the wedding arrangements.

It seems that this wedding involved almost everybody on the island. The couple stayed at the Rapae Motel, and Harold and Rima Brown, the motel hosts, organised drummers and arranged for the truck,

transporting the wedding

party, to be garlanded with flowers. The Aitutaki Junior High School choir sang at the service, which was conducted by the Reverend Totini, after which the couple were driven around the various villages according to island custom.

The groom summed up the wedding: “The way in which

the wedding turned out was far

beyond our expectations be

cause of the spontaneous gen

erosity and hospitality

extended to us by the Aitu takians. Unmentioned are many others who helped make the wedding the success it was.

Apparently, we made history

by being the first Europeans

(Papaa) to be married on Aitu taki. So not only was Aitutaki a beautiful place in which to get married, but also on which to have a honeymoon para dise itself, so much so that spending the last couple of days on Rarotonga a bit of an anti-climax but enjoyable nevertheless.”

The Wedding Party