More on Samoa

Well, we're in New Zealand now, but I'm going to finish telling you about our stay in Samoa. I'll tell you about New Zealand in a day or two.

Our new beach huts were very nice indeed. The beach was one of the best in Samoa and the snorkling was great. We saw loads of colourful fish swimming about. It looked as if they were all glammed up for an eighties cocktail party, fluorescent pinks, yellows, turquoises and greens. Totally our style! The food at Taufua Beach Fales was really good too. There was always a huge selection of yummy stuff, both at breakfast and dinner. So our bellies were always full and bulging. Not a great look when sporting a bikini, but hey, what can you do? It would be rude not to try every single dish and have seconds of the particularly good ones.

We met lots of people at our fales as well, as it was a very sociable place. We made friends with a really nice couple from San Francisco, Ken and Elaine. They came with us on a day trip around the island, checking out a couple of waterfalls, the To Sua Trench and the Cave Pools. It was a really good trip. To Sua Trench is a big hole in the ground, filled with seawater anc connected to the ocean via underground channels. You can go swimming in there, but in order to do so, you have to climb down a 15 metre long ladder that I didn't really like the look of. So Hulda and I stayed above ground admiring the view from the clifftop while Ken and Elaine took a dip. Then we all took a walk to check out the lavafield and blowholes. Very cool. The highlight of the day, for me anyway, were the cave pools. THE BEST PLACE EVER! A cool, fresh, clean pool where you can swim into a cave to get away from the sun. It is on a lovely beach, but is fed by a freshwater spring. There are some very friendly fish in it, as well as a big eel that we were unfortunately unable to spot. And if you're feeling adventurous, you can take a 3 metre underwater swim to the next pool. I never feel adventurous, so I just swam in the lovely water and felt good. Ken and Elaine did the underwater swim, though. They turned out to be a couple of daredevils! But guys, if you ever go to Samoa, you must check these pools out, they are my absolute favorite place in a totally wonderful country. And bring swimming goggles, they are very useful if you want to do the underwater swim or just look at the eel.

On Wednesday night it was Fiafia night, which means dancing, drinking and fancy food. We got lobster for dinner and then a group of dancers came and performed dances from all over Polynesia for us. I accidentally ended up on stage performing some sort of hippity hoppity Polynesian dance, that I think is only meant to be done by young men. It was good fun and nice to hear from the other guests that they thought I was brave to go up there and dance. Especially since I had been such a chicken at the trench and the cave pools and the sliding rocks (they frankly looked dangerous). I am scared of many things, but dancing is not one of them!

After the dancing, a large group of us sat down and had a few drinks together. We even got to taste Kava! It tastes a bit like water with flour in it. The party carried on well into the night but we went to bed before most of the partypeople (I know, totally out of character for us). We are trying to keep to our new regime of early to bed, early to rise. That way we have more time to look at all the wonderful things there are to behold on this side of the world.

So we stayed at Taufua for three days and had a really lovely time, snorkling, socializing, sightseeing and lounging. When it became time for us to leave, our little rental car came in very handy once again. One of the other guests had become quite ill and needed to get into town so we gave her a lift. She was very grateful to get into an air conditioned car and be taken to a cool, calm place near the hospital where she could recover. I hope she started feeling better soon. Food poisoning and dehydration is so unpleasant. It can really ruin you holiday.

Our flight wasn't at the best of times, totally ruining our early to bed policy. From 2.40 in the morning to 6.40 the next morning. We flew across the dateline so even though it was only a 4 hour flight, it took more than a day, somehow!?!?? I don't really understand why all the flights to and from Samoa have to be in the middle of the night. It's not as if the airport is buzy. We tried to nap in our car in the airport car park for an hour. It was a little difficult to sleep because of all the people hanging about in the car park - a strange place to hang! After the rental place guy came to pick up our car, we just wandered aimlessly around the airport for hours, being stared at by the locals. I found it mystifying to be suddenly so interesting. We didn't get that kind of attention anywhere else on the island and it's not as if people should be surprized to see foreigners at an international airport. After and endless wait our flight finally took off. We were very happy to land in Auckland and go straight to our lovely bed for a lovely nap.

Photos:
1. Our beach fale at Taufua, Lalomanu Beach
2. Sun sets over Lalomanu beach
3. Hulda and her good friend Vailima (very good local beer)
4. To Sua Trench
5. Hulda admires the view at To Sua Trench
6. Asta refreshed after bathing in the cave pool
7. Lovely Samoan bus
8. Lovely Samoan family prefers truck to bus

9. Should Hulda do this?