Cook Islands Sun Magazine

26 ISLAND LIFE CoOK ISLANDS SuN
The custard squares
are Deli Licious!
MOST CAFÉS IN
RAROTONGA HAVE
SOME CLAIM TO
MAKING THE BEST
COFFEE, OTHERS CLAIM
TO MAKE THE BEST
CUSTARD SQUARES,
BUT JUST ONE CAN
CLAIM TO BE THE MOST
DELI LICIOUS CAFÉ ON
THE ISLAND!
Muri’s cool looking
Deli-Licious
Café is located
on the village’s main road,
conspicuous for it’s shady
outdoor seating and umbrellas.
Open Sunday to Friday 8am-
3pm for breakfast, brunch and
lunch, owner-manager Kris
Higgins said Sunday is their
busiest day.
As with many expat business
owners, Kris and husband Neil
came to Rarotonga on holiday
and dreamt of making a living
on the island one day.
“The place reminded me of the
Whangaparaoa Peninsula on
the outskirts of of Auckland.
Kris and Neil came
to Rarotonga on
holiday and dreamt
of making a living on
the island one day
The Deli-Licious Café at Muri
Kris Higgins with a Deli Lious custard square
The hibiscus, the sun, the
beaches; just reminded me of
that!
“In New Zealand I worked in
corporate finance: I worked
in banking then went into
investments, but I just didn’t
feel I had any quality of life.”
Neil, who worked for the
Department of Corrections
as a Corrections Officer, felt
the same way, so they started
looking and soon found Deli-
Licious Café online, and it was
for sale.
“We bought Deli Licous as it
was; we saw it on Trade Me
about four years ago. We are
now in our fifth year,” said
Kris.
“We revamped the menu a
little bit, but didn’t make
huge changes as the café was
running so well”.
Focusing on quality coffee,
cakes and light meals, Deli-
Licious Café is not only
vegetarian and vegan friendly;
it is also dog friendly!
“We have a real love of
animals. So visitors to the café
must love dogs, because they
are always around. They just
hang about being friendly. We
feed them around the back!”
But getting back to custard
squares, Kris is very proud of
the Deli Licous variety.
“We have the best custard
square on the island because
ours are made with eggs, milk
and all things natural!”
When asked if their custard
squares are fattening, Kris
replied lightheartedly: “When
you are on holiday, nothing is
fattening!”
Kris concluded: “We didn’t
come to Rarotonga to make
millions, we came here for
quality of life. We enjoy what
we do. We love working with
the girls in the café; they are
awesome – and local!”
Polynesian Rentals expand
100% locally owned
Polynesian Rental
Cars & Bikes is now
positioned at seven locations
around Rarotonga, plus
Rarotonga Airport. In 2019,
Polynesian added its seventh
location, which is situated on
the main road at Titikaveka,
next to Royale Takitumu.
The others locations include:
two in Avarua, Muri Beach,
Aroa Beach, Club Raro and
Edgewater Resort.
New location at Titikaveka
Peter Heays and Carey Winterflood, partners in Cook Islands Real Estate Ltd.
Get advise from the experts!
COOK ISLANDS REAL ESTATE LTD PARTNERS
CAREY WINTERFLOOD AND PETER HEAYS HAVE
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE SELLING AND LISTING
PROPERTIES AND BUSINESSES IN RAROTONGA
AND AITUTAKI, PREDOMINANTLY RELATED TO
THE COOK ISLANDS TOURISM SECTOR AND
TRAVEL INDUSTRY.
We asked them what
their advice was for
people interested in
buying a business in the Cook
Islands: Is it easy or difficult?
“It's certainly not difficult,
but it is a process that has
to get approval from the
BTIB, the Business Trade
Investment Board,” said
Carey.
“You need to get past the
BTIB criteria to buy a
business, which includes
health checks, police checks
from back home, and a small
business plan. Providing the
criteria is met, you'll find that
you're most welcome, and
work and residency permits
are renewed easily.”
So why choose the Cook
Islands for a lifestyle change,
and not another South Pacific
island?
“The Cook Islands is actually
quite a sophisticated island
nation, so we have ‘the
niceties’ to conduct business.
We also have the ease of
travel to and from Australia
and New Zealand, where
most of our buyers come
from. English is widely
spoken here, and the laws are
similar to Australia and New
Zealand, but particularly
New Zealand. So it’s fairly
easy to do business here,” said
Carey.
Peter added: “We also have a
stable government, we have
laws that are recognisable,
and policies that are not
continually changing. It's
consistent, and there is
confidence in the future
of the country. That's our
biggest advantage over other
Pacific island nations.”
According to Cook Islands
Real Estate, people are
primarily looking for lifestyle
businesses mostly in tourism:
hotels, motels, bed and
breakfast type properties,
cafés, restaurants, and tourist
attractions.
Cook Islands is
actually quite a
sophisticated island
nation, so we have
‘the niceties’ to
conduct business.
“One of the factors to be
taken into consideration when
buying a lifestyle property
in the Cook Islands is that
property cannot be bought
freehold, only leased, albeit
long term leases lasting
decades. And, it certainly
makes the unaffordable, more
attainable, said Carey.
“The entry level for
accommodation property
is dramatically different
in Australia and New
Zealand. Here, a million
dollars could buy you a small
accommodation property
close to the water front; back
in Australia or New Zealand
it would be three, four, maybe
five times that amount.”
According to Peter and Carey
most of their enquiries for
lifestyle businesses come
from their website www.
cookislands-realestate.
com. “Our website has a
monumental click-on rate,”
said Carey.
“But we also get calls from
visitors here on holiday.
They’ve fallen in love with
the place, seen how easy it
appears to be to do business
here, and that's the clincher!
They're about to go back
to a 9-5 grind, and think:
maybe we could settle
here in the Cook Islands.
Others get back home, get
onto our website and start a
conversation by email.”
Cook Islands Real Estate
handle hundreds of ‘lifestyle’
enquiries each year.
Peter said: “We pride
ourselves in personally
guiding people through
the entire process from the
inspection, through the
BTIB process, immigration,
the banks, the loans, right
through to the day they take
over, and even beyond!”
“We both first came here
individually years ago as
tourists, and we know what
it's like to be a purchaser,”
said Carey. “Not just that,
we’ve brought our children
up here, so we know about
schooling, sports and
recreation and so on. We’ve
collectively got years of those
sorts of experiences to share”.
The Cook Islands Real Estate
office is next to Cook Islands
News on the main road just
out of Avarua, but mostly
Peter and Carey are with
clients and vendors.
“The best way to contact us is
by mobile telephone 24/7 or
by email,” said Carey. “We’ll
come to you, or meet you for
a coffee!”
With over 30 years experience serving the Cook Islands and investors.
Full and complete knowledge of local land laws, rules and Government regulations.
We are with you right from the from start and all the way to settlement.
Local company, sensitive and discreet —buying and selling—Your No.1 choice.
CAREY WINTERFLOOD +(682) 55678 PETER HEAYS +(682) 55289
www.cookislands-realestate.com info@cookislands-realestate.com