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Published: December 4th 2007
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Typical Samoan Fale13.11.07
Tine woke up reasonably early, wonderfully re-freshened. We succeeded in cooling our room to a comfortable temperature after we arrived and then we fell a sleep immediately. But - one thing is a cooled room another is reality when you step out into the tropical heat and then in the rainy season. You could cut through the air, it was so humid. Tine had a look around. Our room was just next to the pool area and the Old Fale restaurant. Very nicely made with lots of palm trees and blooming trees and bushes.
A Fale is the name of the traditional Samoan ‘house’. It is a platform raised above the ground, often just with poles carrying the roof and open to all sides.
The roof is traditionally made of weaved coco palm leaves. They would then often just have weaved mats to sleep on and their Lavalava wrapped around them when they slept.
The Lavalava is a unisex piece of cloth worn as a skirt by the men or as a dress by the women. Very comfortable and easy to wrap around you in this weather.
Got the others out of bed. Had breakfast and
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Apia Harbour and the impressive blazing white Catholic Cathedral as a landmark went to find a good place in the shade next to the pool.
Eskil once again tried to win the championship in being the one to be in the pool for the longest time. Freja and Tine went into town to see if there was anything one must have at the flea market. They had more or less the same in every booth. Some specialized in Lavalavas others in wood carvings or t-shirts. Freja and Tine bought themselves a Lavalava each and as Freja’s fan broke just before we entered the flea market we had to buy a woven fan there. And did we need it!
After going to the supermarket to get a few essentials we caught a taxi and found our swim gear and went for the pool.
Freja and Eskil later had a cool down in the room while their mother and father very luxuriously went and had a drink in the bar. A well made Marguerita. Lovely.
Had dinner and while Tine and Paul sat and chatted by the pool Eskil once again went in and Freja sat and wrote on her manuscript for her novel or her play or whatever it
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Eskil having a night swim at Aggie Grey hotel is she is writing.
A small input: not too much positive to say about Air New Zealand but they had the nicest stewardess we had ever met, and as the crew from our plane stayed at our hotel we bumped into her a couple of times. She had a couple of chats with Freja and Freja got so much praise for her English. Very nice to hear.
14.11.07
Once again a hot day. We decided to rent a car the next day and didn’t much more than read and swim and relax. There was a Fiafia at Aggie Greys that evening at 7.30 pm and we went there to see it and have the buffet afterwards. A lot of people there and not much ventilation even though it was in an open Fale. It was very much a show made for the tourists. In the beginning Freja, Paul and Eskil found it rather boring but in the end they made some funny things and brought up some of the audience on stage to let them dance with the performers. This was of course fun. We also got to see all the misses of the South Pacific since
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Fiafia evening at Aggie Greys Aggie Grey was going to be host for the miss South Pacific competition. It was a bit fun to look at them. Most of them were exotic Polynesian girls until miss Australia came on stage. She looked as if she had entered the wrong competition being blond and everything.
It was a very nice buffet and we got the chance to taste sea urchins and coconut cream steamed in banana leaves. We also tasted bread fruit but weren’t very impressed with that - very dry and tasting of absolutely nothing.
15.11.07
Paul picked up our car after breakfast and we went towards some of the smaller fishing villages along the coast. They were very colourful and lots of banana trees, bread fruit trees, coco palms, papaya everywhere. There were also pigs and piglets running around and chicken and chicks. The house type varied from an open traditional Fale to a very European looking Fale. The very poor ones just had madrasses and pillows to sleep on, the cooking was made outside. There always seemed to be a communal Fale where the women would sit and weave or something else.
It was very poor but because of
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Touring the island: traditional island work the all the green and flowers and colourful plants it didn’t seem so depressing.
Went a bit further and stopped to see the Sopoaga Waterfall. You had to pay the owner (not of the waterfall, but of the garden from where you got access to the viewing point) and he also demonstrated how they make coco cream which tasted really nice. He also had a garden where he grew pineapple and other fruits.
It is very common here in Samoa that you have to pay an entrance fee for all the locations you want to visit even the beaches. This is one of the (only) means of making some money for many Samoans and often it will be the whole village that share in the income.
Went to a very nice beach - Lalomanu Beach. Paid 25 ST and got an open Beach Fale to use for the day. Rented some snorkelling gear - and went for the water. Freja and Paul went snorkelling and Eskil and I had fun in the wonderful clear and warm water.
Had lunch and it must have been the slowest place ever to make some pasta, but Eskil eventually got
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Touring the island: 54 m. Sopoaga Waterfall his pasta a long time after the rest of us had finished our lunch.
Went for a swim again and Tine also tried the snorkelling gear. Lots of pretty fish in all kinds of colours: blue - green - yellow - black etc.
Took another road back to Apia and saw some more of the beautiful, green and lush tropical rainforest.
Had a not so terrific dinner at Aggie Greys and a midnight swim, at least some of us did.
16.11.07
Had the car one more day. Went to the same beach but took another road, perhaps I should say the other road and guedd what saw another spectacular waterfall: Papapapa-tai Waterfall. Had a look at Coconut Beach Resort where we’re going to stay the last 4 nights. Looked great. The weather was very unstable today and we got some torrential rains. Lunch was even slower than yesterday and the menu consisted mostly of things that weren’t available.
It is however not a problem to swim in the rain you just get wet!
17.11.07
Time to move on to Coconut Beach Resort. Checked out and got a cab there. He told us
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Touring the island: Lalomanu, now that is a beach! some things about Samoa which of course always is interesting. They have just passed a new law saying that from the next year they will change driving to be in the left side of the road instead of the right side as it is now and this will cost the public 750 M ST. It seems that the government has made a deal with a Chinese car factory to buy their surplus of cars with the steering wheel at the right. Totally crazy.
We were received at the resort with a coconut drink in half a coconut with umbrella and everything.
Were shown to our room. Really nice. Two big rooms with two bathrooms. All the walls were made of lava stones and the roof was woven coconut leaves. It is not a very big place especially not compared to the resort a little further away - only 22 houses that can accommodate between 3 and 5 people most of them 3.
All of the houses were unique and they were made to fit into the landscape and made of local carpenters after Samoan traditions. It had a nice restaurant and a library/cinema/games room. There was a
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Coconut Beach Club pool formed as a gecko with a pool bar and of course the beach. A bit further off there was a mangrove forest where you could sail with a kayak.
The owners of the place are Americans and one of them was a very successful restaurateur in Hawaii but joined the other two to make this place. It is a long story and the place has developed in phases with new ideas coming up and new sorts of accommodation being built.
Again we had the chance to see a Fiafia and we did. It was very different from the one at Aggie Greys and Tine was asked to come up and dance with the young villagers as the first and well she did, luckily others came shortly after so she wasn’t the only one making a fool of herself.
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We have adapted the Samoan lifestyle. These last days here we only enjoyed the place, the beach, the pool, the very nice food and the company of other travellers (at least some of them - not bragging Americans who had been drinking in the bar all day).
We had a meal deal here and we
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Tine performing live at the Coconut's Falefale evening very much enjoyed Mikas cooking - well from now on it will be home cooked meals in the campervan, so we might as well make the most of it. We got to play a lot of Uno and the children watched some movies on the computer in the evening while Paul and Tine sat outside and read or something else. Monday evening we got to see The Witness for the fifth or so time. When we looked out of the windows in the back of the room we could see the villagers sitting outside watching as well.
Paul also had a great experience. Almost all the samoan people we’ve met have been very kind and helpful but Sunday the 18th Paul borrowed a mountain bike and went for a ride a long the main road - the only road. Just after he entered the village he was approached by a small boy. When he stopped to see what boy wanted, the boy said, ‘Give me some money’.
A bit further down the road he was stopped by another person who asked him what he was doing there and that he wasn’t allowed to bike there on a Sunday.
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One of Mika's excellent dishes served on a traditional Samoan plate Eventually he was chased and beaten out of town by some young men with palm leaves or something like that. Quite rightly! It was Sunday time to rest not to bike.
Had a drink before dinner with the children and the rest of the not many guests at happy hour and I think that more or less sums up our days at Coconut Beach Resort.
Western Samoa is a small tropical paradise. If one wants a lot of action and the whole tourist thing other Pacific Islands are probably the place to go. Here everything is done in a relaxed atmosphere and with a friendly smile most of the time. Everyone greets you and it seems (most places) to be very authentic and a lot like it always has been. One could argue that the poverty and the fact that the island still seems removed from the 21st century is a minus, but sometimes it is also wonderful to see a place that at least to a certain degree remains intact and carries its history and traditions with it into our high technology world.
Go there and see the beautiful island and enjoy their lifestyle if you
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On our way back to NZ about to cross the international dateline and losing one day ever get the chance.
21.11.07
Got up and packed just to be told that our plane had a 6 hours delay. Bummer.
Could keep the room and Air New Zealand paid for that and for our lunch. We wouldn’t be in Auckland before 10 o’clock in the evening, and it was a bit irritating that we had hotel room in town as we were to pick up our camper close to the airport the following day, but we didn’t know about the delay when we booked and paid the hotel.
Had an ok flight.
22.11.07
Landed in Auckland at approx. 22.30 and Tine once again picked the wrong booth for the passport control. There was no end to what she wanted to know about us and our stay in New Zealand - we find it a bit too much. Got through customs without any hazzle this time. Found a cab and our hotel and our room and went to bed.
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