Here's a brief summary of Marian and my trip to Samoa. We arrived early Sunday morning around 1 am and after a few hours' sleep we had a look around Apia. Being a Sunday, everything was closed so we didn't see much apart from doing some snorkelling at the Palolo Deep Marine Reserve and having a cold drink at the famous Aggie Grey's Hotel.
Luckily however the
Teuila Festival was starting that evening. This is a week long cultural festival named after Samoa's favourite flower, the
teuila or red ginger. The festival opened with a Gospel/Choir hymnal exhibition so we headed down to see some of the choirs - which were very impressive, some were 200+ strong:
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| Choir Festival, Apia 2 September 2012 |
Following the choral exhibition we had dinner at Giordano's Pizzeria - which I recommend (note reddish face tinge - still acclimatising after a winter in Wellington):
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| Marian and I at Giordano's Pizza Restaurant, Apia |
The following day Monday 3 September Marian and I visited Villa Vailima, residence of the famous Scottish author and poet Robert Louis Stevenson for the last four years of his life (1890 - 1894). You will know "RLS" from his most popular books Treasure Island (1883), Kidnapped (1886) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). Stevenson suffered from poor health and moved to Samoa to seek relief from his tuberculosis - however he died at just 44 years of age. Vailima means "water in the hand" in Samoan and is also the name of the national beer.
As we were still acclimatising to the tropical climes (it was hot as) we didn't make the rather steep trek up the mountain next to the villa to visit RLS' tomb with its famous
epitaph; however we did enjoy a walk around the lovely gardens and grounds, and our own personal guided tour of the villa.
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| Marian at Robert Louis Stevenson's Villa "Vailima" |
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| Marian in Colonial Pose, Villa Vailima |
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| View from First Floor of Villa Vailima |
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| Marian and I in front of RLS' safe & the Man himself, Villa Vailima |
After the visit to Villa Vailima we headed across the island to Lalomanu on the south-eastern corner of Upolu. We checked into a very nice fale at
Taufua Beach Fales which is right on the beach. Here we stayed for the remainder of our holiday.
We had a great 5 days at Lalomanu, mainly reading, swimming, eating and playing cards, and met some convivial fellow holiday makers too.
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| Marian and our Fale, Taufua Beach Fales, Lalomanu |
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| View from our Balcony Towards the Main Dining Area |
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| Marian on the Beach Outside our Fale, View Looking East |
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| View Looking West |
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Intrepid Snorkler
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| View of Nu'utele Island off Lalomanu |
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| Pre-Dinner Entertainment, Playing "500" |
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| After Dinner Entertainment Part 1 - Samoan Fire Dance |
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| After Dinner Entertainment Part 2 - Marian doing Samoan Dance |
On Wednesday we took a day trip to To Sua ocean trench, one of two large holes in the ground by the coast in Lotofaga village. Water flows into the holes via tunnels in the rock connecting the holes to the ocean. The hole is around 15 metres deep and thankfully the old rope ladder has been replaced with a more accessible wooden ladder. Once inside the trench the swimming was amazing.
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| To Sua Trench |
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| Marian (Arms Raised) Stu and Jo, To Sua Trench |
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| View Looking East from Near To Sua Trench |
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| View Looking West from Near To Sua Trench |
