samoa

Early Thursday morning I returned from a fortnight or so spent in Samoa. To sum up my trip, anybody with plans to visit me here in Tonga should change them and start planning to go to Samoa instead. Samoa is far more beautiful and at the same time tourist friendly. Admittedly, Jess' presence in Samoa may mean I left with a more favourable impression than any ordinary tourist, but the small slice of Polynesia I currently call home pales in comparison.

My time in Samoa was broken up roughly into four lots.

For the first few days, while Jess was still working, I spent my days exploring the capital Apia. I watched Jess' dance performance (I would share the photos, but I value our relationship too much), snorkelled at the Palolo Deep Marine Conservation reserve (so many fish), visited the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, the Museum of Samoa and generally made my way to almost every tourist attraction in town. Compared to Nuku'alofa, Apia is big. Well bigger, at least. However, it doesn't really contain enough to occupy four full days. Fortunately, friends and relatives hanging out in the workplace is entirely acceptable in Samao (and Tonga) so I was able to spend a few hours each day at Ministry of Women and Community Development, chatting to Jess, reading the paper, checking emails, etc. This was really good, as I wouldn’t have seen enough of Jess otherwise.

With the first week over and Jess on leave for the second, we were able to hop in our shiny, red hyundai getz hire-car and explore Upolu and Savaii the two main islands of Samoa. We started by heading out of Apia, on Upolu, catching the ferry across to Savaii and enjoying three days of sun and relaxation as we circumnavigated the island staying at various beach fales on our way. On the fourth day, we allowed ourselves plenty of time to catch the ferry back to Upolu. Just as well. When we parked at Saleolonga Wharf to confirm that we were on the ferry, a bus backed over our hire car. Read Jess’s blog for a good account of the accident and drama that followed, I am trying to keep this entry to a manageable size.

After a day off at home to catch up on domestic chores and get over the drama on Savaii, we set off to spend a few more relaxing days on Upolu. After enjoying a nice lunch at The Curry House overlooking Apia from high up on the Cross Island road we journeyed down to Samoana Resort, photo above. Samoana is a surf resort so we went with some trepidation that we would be surrounded by 20 guys only interested in the waves breaking out the front. In the end, the place was fairly empty and the other guests included only one small group of surfers. For the most part, we felt we had the place to ourselves. The two days of lounging around by the pool or in hammocks, using the resorts kayaks or snorkelling were very nice indeed. It probably helped that the Channel Nine travel program was visiting the following week, so the place looked immaculate.

After two nights of luxury, we went back to beach fales at Virgin Cove. Apart from the tranquil white sandy beach, we also enjoyed an umu (food cooked in a traditional underground oven) and a fiefia, which included some spectacular fire dancing.


to be continued.