Our Story

Your Hosts – Vicki Candish & Alan Chrastecky

We are a passionate hospitality couple from New Zealand with a wealth of personal experience in running a tourism operation. After falling in love with the Cook Islands on holiday, we returned on a three-year work contract and successfully managed one of Rarotonga’s leading tourist attractions. When we saw Ikurangi Eco Retreat for sale, we just knew that this was a venture we could invest in as its principles and values are so special and we believe it is truly a business that ‘gives back’ not only to the economy of the local people, but also to the pristine environment, protecting it for generations to come.

With an Executive Chef background, Alan is excited by the tropical fruit abundant on our property and fresh seasonal produce is a feature of our daily complimentary breakfasts. With healthy, flavoursome options and something different most every day of your stay, Alan loves to be creative using products like chia seeds, buckwheat, quinoa, sago and tapioca to produce a wholesome breakfast that sets you up for the day.

A small team of three, Susan is the boss in housekeeping and the gardens. We all take great pride in our beautiful property and have been expanding our organic garden to include more fresh fruit to use in our guest breakfasts. We have avocado, pawpaw and pineapples growing, just to name a few. We are also propagating stem stock flowering species such as hibiscus and frangipani that are thriving in the compost material from our compositing loos. Native and endemic plants have been used widely in landscaping and care is taken to ensure harmful invasive species are not prevalent on site.

We feel privileged to call the Cook Islands home and love to share the warm “Kia Orana” spirit with our guests and ensure they have the best holiday ever! We give you space to unwind, guidance to help you explore, and the perfect tropical setting for your next getaway.

Welcome to our little paradise.

Kia Manuia, Vicki & Alan

Owners, Alan & Vicki		Our little island, Rarotonga		Housekeeping & Gardens, Susan