Back underway to get to Tonga, we’ve skipped a day! Yep, the international dateline strikes again. On the way out, we had two Mondays and now, they’ve skipped Saturday! What a crock... Friday, Sunday and back to Monday. At least they aren’t skipping pizza night. Every underway Saturday, the cooks make several different types of pizza and MWR committee donates sodas to the crew. The band is going to play again tonight, though I doubt they’ll ask me to sing again. I’ve been pretty sick sounding, feel just fine, can’t seem to kick the nasty, deep sound [View Full Entry]

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Outside of Apia (and beyond) I finally get off the ship when it’s still AM! So, Dave, the Navigator (2nd Mate), calls me last night to see if I’m still interested in sharing a taxi to go explore and I say, “of course”. I work a bit in the morning, just trying to get the guys off the ship to enjoy the island a bit. Why are we working on the 4th of July again? So after I get ridiculously antsy, Dave is finally ready to leave... we get outside the gate and I greet a taxi driver with a [View Full Entry]

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At first that might sound lame, but to be honest, it was gorgeous! Waking up on the 7th, there are many things entering my mind. One... my boss is leaving today and two... my birthday, this had better be an epic day. I open up the curtains in my stateroom and see a Greenpeace ship moored right in front of our ship. Okay, so random tangent here. I'm not necessarily opposed to what they stand for (except in a couple cases, like the nuclear stuff that they're ignorant about), their methods can just be pretty scary to me. Why bother hurting [View Full Entry]

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NOOOOoooo... this doesn't mean I'm mad a Jeremy. Roger and Hammerstein's musical South Pacific is the only exposure to what kind of adventure I'm in for with Pacific Partnership 2009. I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair is a song from that movie. :) What were you guys thinking?!? We anchored outside of Apia, Samoa on June 30th. What began as a fuzzy little speck of land transformed itself into a island with lots of green and even more waves and blue reef. But, before I get into that, here’s some things about the transit to Samoa: Pacific [View Full Entry]

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Arrived this morning to Apia....coming from very hot hot place to hot and humid place again...but thinking about seasons....love it. Love this kind of weather. Anyway...I think I am privileged by having an opportunity of travelling around OCEANIA and visiting beautiful places. Arrived to Apia this morning and staying at beautiful resort, called Aggy Greys. It was my friends recommendation. They were right, its stunning, little heaven. [View Full Entry]

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This is the place for another pin in the map. A little dot in the middle of hundreds of miles of the Pacific Ocean. It is most famous as the place where the famous author, Robert Louis Stevenson lived for the last 5 years of his life. He authored the book, Treasure Island. He moved here late in life because he had tuberculosis and felt the climate would be favorable. He and his wife died here and are buried here. His house is now a museum and is one of the main tourist attractions. That alone should give you an idea [View Full Entry]

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The last couple of weeks has been mainly a succession of ‘lasts’ for me and Ed, as we prepared to leave Samoa. Last weekend away to beach fales, last swim, last visit to the fruit and vegie lady, last day at work, last mango smoothie, last night out on the town in Apia, last outrigger paddle, last time to see friends… Some lasts came and went without us realising, for example the last time I drove across the Cross Island Road, the main road straight over the middle of the island, was quite a while ago and I can’t even remember [View Full Entry]

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It’s mango season now in Samoa, and all over Apia you can see trees heavy with the fruit, and hundreds of overripe ones litter the ground everywhere. The smell of mangoes to me means Christmas, and it certainly feels like all my Christmases have come at once with this many mangoes available. I could eat mangoes all day every day, which is pretty much what I’ve been doing. Their juicy tastiness is heavenly and I can regularly be found leaning over the sink to eat one (or two) with the juice dribbling down my arm. Unfortunately some of the stringier ones [View Full Entry]

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Friday 19th October 2007 - Friday 26th October 2007 Toni Greenhill Blair Newton [View Full Entry]

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A couple of weekends ago we farewelled a group of volunteers, our friends, who had finished their year here and were heading home. It was something of a milestone, as it was the first group we have seen leave that we were also here to greet as they arrived in country. Previous volunteers have left but they had all arrived before us; we’re now the longest-serving Aussie volunteers in Samoa. (See the pics of the farewell weekend at Vavau, complete with coconut tree climbing demonstrations). We certainly know the island inside out by now, helped by a recent flush of visitors. [View Full Entry]

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