A recent blog mentioned Aggie Grey’s Hotel in Apia, but what about the woman it is named after? She’s a bit of a legend and was certainly a colourful character…

Aggie was born in 1897 and died in 1988. She was friends with author James Michener and is said to be the inspiration for the character Bloody Mary in his book, Tales of the South Pacific (which was the basis for the musical South Pacific). In the artwork portrait right she may look like a tropical cross between Queen Elizabeth and Miss Marple but she was a bit of a wild lass in her youth.

I once had a delightful dinner with her granddaughter, Aggie Grey Jnr, who introduced me to the famous Aggie Grey cocktail. It is said to have so much alcohol in it that no one has ever finished one. I couldn’t finish mine, possibly because there was also a lot of tropical fruit juice and the size of the glass could have provided a home for a few schools of goldfish. The story goes that Grandma Aggie gave birth to a child in the bar cellar and came upstairs to celebrate – “Drinks are on the house!” she shouted. The patrons nearly drank the bar dry and for the final round Aggie poured what was left in every bottle into a huge glass and topped it up with tropical juice – and that is the mysterious cocktail!

The Cook Islands Ensign leaves no doubt about its British heritage with the Union Jack so prominent top left. The top left quadrant on a flag is called the ‘canton’.

The blue background represents the sea and the circle of 15 stars represents the 15 islands that make up the Cooks Islands.

Most people have only heard of the main touristy two islands of Rarotonga and Aitutaki. There’s also Penrhyn (aka Tongareva), Rakahanga, Manihiki, Pukapuka (aka Danger), Nassau, Palmerston, Mangaia, Mauke, Atiu (aka Enuamanu), Mitiaro, Takutea, Manuae and Suwarrow islands.

There have been half a dozen flags before this one including the United Kingdom flag and the New Zealand flag. The one before the current design had no Union Jack, a green background and yellow stars.

The collecting and studying of flags, by the way, is ‘vexillology’ and someone who does that is a vexillophile. Funny how everything has a name… the space between the thumb and forefinger is the purlicue… the space between your eyebrows is the glabella… and the groove below your nose and above the middle of your top lip is the philtrum….

The Rev John Williams was sent to the South Pacific by the London Missionary Society and he did a lot to introduce Christianity into the region. He travelled with his wife Mary and they had ten children, with only three surviving to adulthood. He also travelled with fellow missionaries, William Ellis and James Harris.

Williams was trained as a mechanic and foundry worker but, at the age of 20, found his calling. He moved through the Pacific for over 20 years spreading the word of the Gospel. He started in the Society Islands (Tahiti) in 1817 and then went to The Cook Islands, taking Tahitian converts with him for extra backup. He visited both Aitutaki and Rarotonga and built churches. On a return to England in 1934 he supervised the printing of the New Testament into Rarotongan.

He was also a big hit in Samoa. A local prophet had predicted that a white ‘man of God’ would arrive by ship and when that ship lobbed on the island of Savai’i he was given an amazing welcome. He was the first missionary to arrive in Savai’i and Upolu and the Gospel was well-received.

No doubt Williams and Harris thought they were on a roll when they ventured to Vanuatu (New Hebrides) in 1839 but when they arrived on the island of Erromango, they were promptly killed and eaten. The Good Lord works in mysterious ways!

Painting of Rev Williams by George Baxter 1843