Apia

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Apia, Samoa

January 26, 2008 we docked in Apia, the capital of Samoa and the only place you can really call a city. This is the first port since Tahiti that we were able to dock, and didn’t have to tender in. It is warm but raining and showing no signs of letting up, so I don’t know if I will go ashore or not. We’ve been so luck so far with such good weather that I guess we’re due for a bad day. Our friends are going snorkeling so it doesn’t matter to them if it is raining or not as long as there is no lightening. We are docked in an industrial area with not much to look at of any interest except lots of shipping crates ready to be loaded. I can’t see much else to report.
There are a few interesting sites on the island, I understand. Robert Lewis Stevenson lived here the last for years of his life, and his home is now a museum. There is a clock tower in the center of town which is a memorial to WWII casualties, and an old hotel, restaurant, and bar called Aggie Gray’s. She opened a hamburger joint and bar that became a hangout for WWII GI’s. I believe the “hotel” also served other purposes as well. Anyway, the hotel and restaurant are still here and it continues to serve good burgers, although I guess I will have to take that on faith if the rain continues.
The ship offers many options during the days at sea. There is a constant stream of entertainment - both good and not so good—as well as lecturers. The astronomy professor was wonderful. He left the ship in Tahiti and now we have an anthropologist from Chico State who is not as good. He talks very fast and is not too easy to listen to. People nod off a bit. The young woman who played classical piano has real talent and poise, as does the opera singer. The banjo player and classical guitarist were superior, the magician and comedian, not so. These people stay on the ship a week or maybe more and then new people arrive so the change is welcome most of the time.
We continue to enjoy our table mates. Marie (we don’t say Marie Louise any more) has wonderful stories to relate about her life. She doesn’t brag, but rather she just tells anecdotes that are appropriate to the conversation. I can’t really say how, exactly, without it sounding pretentious. There is a rumor that somewhere in New Zealand our ship meets up with the Queen’s ship. She is rumored to interact in some way with people on our ship. Marie mentioned that she had lunch with the Queen on the Britannia one time, and that she is such a gracious person and it was such a delightful experience. I know that sounds pretentious, but when she said it, it didn’t seem that way at all. If we ask her questions she volunteers more, but she doesn’t go on and on and brag. You might call it good breeding? Roger, her husband, gives toasts every night, and we all laugh a lot. It is a nice way to end the day.
I have no pictures today and am waiting to publish the others until the signal is stronger and I can add more than two pictures at a time. So, if you get this out of order, that is why.

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Comments

[nuanua]

Took me 20 years to discover Samoa
Hi Cindy and Bruce, Wish I had 6 hours with you and the Kids to show you their highlights, giving you something really interesting to write about Samoa. Our blog, http://nuanuasooaemalelagi.blogspot.com tells all. We've published our poems, short stories and even a first-draft filmscript/brief. May be one day we'll send you a copy of our documentary. Happy sailing. We saw your boat. In fact, we're dancing on a Japanese cruiseliner tomorrow here in Apia Harbour. We'll even come and dance for free if we can have peanut jelly on our toasts at the end of the evenings!!