Week Seven
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Talofa Lava
Wednesday 19th July
Kate wanted to find one of her favourite childhood beaches, that was known (to her family) as Ropati’s Beach, named for the village chief or local man who used to collect their money and allow them to picnic and swim there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coral_Island_(TV_series)
She remembered that it was used as a location for a television series called ‘Coral Island’ in the early 80’s. With this information we were able to ascertain that this beach was in fact Salamumu, which was also a popular destination for our family's group picnics.
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| The tribe picnics |
It was a regular occurrence during our time in Samoa for a whole tribe of us to travel either in a convoy of several vehicles or piled onto the back of a big red 3-tonne truck, one of the church vehicles, with dad at the wheel. We would lay mats on the flat deck to sit on, then load up with people and food.
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| 3-tonne truck |
We would travel over one of the cross-island roads, which at times, as we went high up into the hills could be freezing cold, foggy and wet then we’d warm up as we dropped down into Lalomanu, Lefaga or Salamumu, our main destination. Not all the roads were sealed, many were coral sand tracks or dusty gravel.
After dropping Pablo at work, Kate & I set off to explore the South Coast. It was a bit drizzly but we weren’t going to let the weather stop us. First stop was the Sinalei Reef Resort & Spa (touted as the number one luxury resort in Samoa), to see how the other half live.
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| Sinalei Reef Reseort & Spa |
We made a brief stop at Coconuts too so Kate could see what that was like but we were both eager to reach Salamumu, so we continued on our way. We were nearly at our destination when we encountered a road block and the local man on duty was not going to let us pass.
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| Road to Salamumu |
Turns out that this is the location where the Australian Survivor Reality TV show is about to be shot. They are currently in pre-production, setting up the challenges etc with shooting set to commence early August. I had seen an advert for crew a couple of weeks ago and I was sorely tempted, but due to house-sitting commitments back on Great Barrier Island in August & September, I decided to pass.
https://www.mamamia.com.au/australian-survivor-2023-samoa/
We weren’t allowed to drive past the barrier but we managed to convince the local man to let us park the car and walk the rest of the way, which according to Google maps was only another 160m. Having come this far we both really wanted to see the beach.
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| Kate & I, Salamumu |
Our walk, which ended up being at least a kilometre, took us past the Sa’Moana Beach Bungalows, which prior to Covid was popular with the surfing crowd. It looked pretty desolate and abandoned. We were told not to venture onto the property due to cranky palagi who still lived there.
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| Sa' Moana Beach Bungalows |
The beach was literally in our sights when we stumbled upon a group of young men walking towards us carrying coconuts. We got chatting to one in particular, name of Anzac Day (love the names some Samoan’s give their children!), who kindly offered us a niu to drink.
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| Kate & Anzac Day |
Anzac Day and his crew had been collecting coconuts, for health and safety purposes, so that none would fall on the cast and crew while filming. He advised us that there was more security ahead wh would most likely turn us back. We reluctantly heeded his advice and headed back to the car.
Kate & I contemplated trying to reach Salamumu from the neighbouring village of Sa’anapu, via Nu’uavasa Beach. It would have added fifty minutes onto our journey but because Anzac Day seemed to think that there would most likely be road blocks in place on that side too, we resigned ourselves to the fact that we got as close as we could.
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| Salamumu |
We decided to push on and head to the Return to Paradise Resort in Lefaga for lunch. This was also a regular destination for Kate’s family. But we weren’t having a lot of luck. We were also stopped at the entrance by the gate-man, who told us that the resort was not currently taking any day visitors. I rang reception to check and got the same response. Full, we were told.
By this stage, Kate and I were getting “hangry” and looking at the map, there didn’t appear to be a lot of other food options around. We tried the Faimafili Village Resort down the road but once again, no joy. They suggested we try the local shop back at the turn off.
There was a little hole in the wall store that did have some cooked food but who knew how long it had been sitting there. We decided to err on the side of caution and each purchased a packet of cheese balls from the general store. Not exactly what we had envisaged for lunch, but it was enough to take the edge off for our next planned activity.
https://www.samoa.travel/plan-book/activities/savaia-giant-clam-sanctuary/
Located a few minutes down the road was the Giant Clam Sanctuary at Savaia. Kate didn’t need to hire goggles or snorkel this time because Pablo informed us that he had some in the back of his car. Entry was $20 tala pp. They had changing rooms with a shower and toilets too.
The tide was on it’s way out so I would recommend going at high tide rather than low. But OMG, what an experience. I have never seen so many clams in my life. They had lots of baby ones, heaps about the size of a rugby ball and then they had the giant ones (aged between 50-100 years old). These were roughly the size of a sheep and weighed approximately 500 pounds. Massive!
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| Savaia - Giant Clam Sanctuary |
We were lucky that the rain had held off for most of our journey but as we headed back to Apia via the Western Cross Island Rd, then cutting across through Aleisa to Siusega the heavens opened. It was torrential in places but was still beautiful seeing the mist in the coconut plantations. We also did a drive by Samoa’s Fiafia Theme Park, which only opens on weekends and public holidays.
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| Coconut plantation |
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| Fiafia Theme Park |
https://www.thecoconet.tv/coco-talanoa/coco-news/samoa-fiafia-park-samoas-latest-attraction/
Kate needed some contact lens solution which she found at Maria’s Pharmacy then we ducked into Lucky Foodtown to buy a couple of Pineappple pies as we were both starving. After that we collected Pablo from work. We relaxed and had an early gin o’clock before heading to the fiafia night at the Tanoa Tusitala.
The venue was a little disappointing, the beautiful old fale at the hotel is either no longer or has been enclosed. The room was a very sterile white, which made it feel more like a conference centre. The food was tasty but limited, the only vegetables were a potato salad and palusami and they only had cupcakes for dessert.
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| Fiafia & Fire dance, Tanoa Tusitala |
The dancers were a little lacklustre at times and the music was essentially a too loud soundtrack, which de-accelerated as they moved into the performance numbers. I love to hear the Samoan people sing so I was disappointed that they only actually sang one song. Due to the light rain, they did the fire dancing in the hotel entrance. This was the best part of the show and I recognised the fire dancer from Sails, the week before.
Thursday 20th July
I had my best sleep in ages, it rained all night. Initially Kate and I had planned to do a day trip over to Manono Island but with the weather forecast predicting rain all day we had to revise our plan.
Pablo dropped Kate and I downtown at Indoors. We had decided to rent a car from Alo Kamu, a little black Nissan Note. We have hired it for four days ($150 tala/day) with a bond of $500 tala. With Joanne and Bin arriving tomorrow, we don’t want to inconvenience Pablo, who has generously allowed us to use his car all this time.
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| Nissan Note |
We had arranged to meet up with James Atherton, as we were keen to look at his Samoa Green Jewellery Range. Kate and I both purchased some earrings for gifts. James and Kate do remember each other from all those years ago. We chatted for an hour or so over a cup of tea.
As I mentioned previously, James and Ariane are Hash House Harriers, which it turns out, Kate’s dad started in Apia.
https://www.samoa.travel/plan-book/activities/plantation-house/
Due to the weather we decided to spend the morning shopping so went to Plantation House where Kate purchased a cool ring and a notebook. We then went to go to the Flea Market as Jenny and Ingrid had asked me to buy them some holographic religious necklaces they had seen there, but to my shock the market was closed down. We were told it would be relocating to a new building sometime, somewhere. Couldn’t find the necklaces at the Fugalei Market either. Damn.
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| Plantation House |
We took a wander around the fish market. The smell wasn’t overpowering, as there weren’t too many vendors peddling their wares. The best time to buy fresh fish here is first thing in the morning. I wouldn’t take my chances in the middle of the day because none of it is kept on ice and they use palm fronds to wave away the flies.
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| Fish Market |
While we were in town we checked out two of the main department stores, Eveni Carruthers and Tanoa. Some of the clothing was lovely and not too badly priced. Kate purchased a cute plum coloured short pant suit for $80 tala. She didn’t try it on and disappointingly it didn’t fit; she will look to exchange it tomorrow.
https://evenicarruthers.com/ https://tanoa.co.nz/
James had recommended that we eat lunch at Bella’s Kitchen, on the waterfront, owned by a Tokelauan man Mika and his Samoan wife Bella. We didn’t meet either of them and were slightly surprised, as we had imagined a more local style of cuisine. But they had quite an extensive menu and opted for burgers, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Kate’s was vegetarian and mine was fish.
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| Bella's Kitchen |
By this stage we were getting excited because we had booked ourselves into Le Vasa Resort, at Cape Fatuosofia in Apolima-uta. We took the long scenic route to get there, over the Western Cross Island Road, back down past the Savaia Giant Clam Sanctuary then around to the Western tip of Upolu Island. The rain didn’t let up but the drive was very scenic through the mountains and down to the coast. We also got some lovely glimpses of Manono and Apolima Islands.
https://www.levasaresort.com/en/
Our excitement at staying at the resort, upon checking in, was very short-lived. We were led to a tiny, pokey fale, far away from the resorts facilities (restaurant, pool and bar), nestled in an ugly area next door to the maintenance sheds. The ocean view also did not live up to expectation, being a rather small man-made inlet.
We had requested a twin share and to our horror, the room only had a double bed. They told us they were completely full and could not offer us another room but we could have a mattress to throw on the floor. Well you could barely swing a cat in there, we would have been terribly confined.
Plus with it being so wet we couldn’t even sit outside on the tiny verandah. There was no air conditioner and only a fan. The other downside was that you had to go outside and down some rickety steps to use the bathroom. Neither of us were inclined to stay. Luckily management offered to give us a refund.
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/apwgs-sheraton-samoa-beach-resort/overview/
As we were going to be picking up Joanne & Bin from the airport around noon the following day, we didn’t fancy driving all the way back into Apia only to return again in the morning. I suggested to Kate that we swing by the Sheraton (ex-Aggie Gray), now Marriott Bonvoy hotel, near the airport on the off-chance of a room.
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| Waiting to check in |
Well the gods decided to smile on us because our fortunes changed. They were able to offer us an amazing twin share (queen sized beds I might add) at a very affordable rate (only marginally more expensive than Le Vasa), with breakfast thrown in. Kate and I celebrated our luck with a cocktail, while we waited for them to service the room.
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| Celebratory cocktails |
There are a number of Aussie’s staying at the hotel. We got chatting to a couple of guys, wearing “Survivor” T-shirts. Proudly informing us they were working as grips on the show and would be staying at the hotel for their 10 week duration.
Friday 21st July
I don’t usually like air conditioning but it was a nice change to sleep in cool comfort. Had an amazing sleep, until I was disturbed by one of the hotel cats, that Kate had befriended the night before, meowing at our door, followed by an aeroplane coming into land at Faleolo Airport next door.
We were both out of bed and in the water by 8:37am. The pool is huge, wish I’d bought my swimming goggles, it was big enough to chuck laps. They even had a swim up bar, but it was closed. After our dip we changed then ate.
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| Marriott Bonvoy pool |
The buffet breakfast was served in a cute little fale next to the main restaurant. Once again they had a good selection of food. I ate an omelette, among other things while Kate had pancakes. From where I was sitting I got a bird’s eye view of the Savai’i ferry coming into Mulifanua.
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| Breakfast fale |
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| Savai'i ferry |
We changed back into our bathers then took our books down to recline on loungers by the lagoon for an hour or so. Kate swam in the lagoon but I opted to swim in the pool again. Before long it was time to check out and head to the airport. We didn’t have to wait too long for Joanne & Bin to arrive.
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| lounging lagoon side |
Yay, it is so exciting that Joanne and Bin have come to visit me. It has been nearly forty three years since they left too.
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| Joanne with plane from Pago Pago |
The morning sunshine didn’t last long and as we drove into Apia it chose to rain again. We drove slowly through Faleula, as we will come back on Monday after we have dropped Kate at the airport, to take a better look. We took a little tiki tour through town then parked while Kate ran to exchange her pantsuit at Tanoa.
Joanne wanted to sort out a sim card for her phone so we stopped at Vodafone before heading to the Sula Supermarket to get some bakery food for a light lunch, which we took back up to Vaoala Heights. We chatted as we ate then got Joanne & Bin settled in their room downstairs.
https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/samoa/101184
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| Samoa Art & Culture Centre |
We headed out again in the mid-afternoon to visit the new Samoa Art & Culture Centre, which has been gifted by the Chinese Government. It’s a very impressive building. I had tried to find out online what time they closed but couldn’t find any information. We got there at 3:30pm only to discover they shut at 4pm. Luckily they only have two small gallery spaces currently open to the public, so we managed to see both with time to spare. We had hoped to look in the auditorium as they do have performances there but it was locked.
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| Joanne & Bin, Samoa Art & Culture Centre |
We headed down to the Taumeasina Island Resort to have a drink to celebrate our visitors arrival. A palagi wedding ceremony was about to take place, so there was lots of drum banging going on. We sat poolside and chatted for about an hour then got changed into our bathers then took a dip down the road at the lagoon.
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| Taumeasina Island Resort |
https://www.taumeasinaislandresortsamoa.com/
Once we had sufficiently cooled down we headed back up the hill to freshen up then shot down again to meet Pablo for dinner at the Phat Burger. Pablo had ordered a tower of Taula, as I was driving I only had one small glass. Even with everyone else drinking they still didn’t finish it. It positively bucketed down with rain while we ate.
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| Phat Burger |
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057372651262
We had arranged with Sela to meet at the Vailima Primary School hall opposite the Robert Louis Stevenson museum at 8:15pm. We had signed up to play Bingo, which started at 8:30pm. It cost $20 tala/pp for ten sheets, which had eighteen sets of bingo numbers on each page. It was a mind-boggling amount of numbers. We also paid $5 tala for the red marker pen, which we gifted to Sela afterwards.
A table was set up front, in the middle of the fale, for the four of us (Pablo declined the Bingo invite) and Sela. We were amping to play but had to sit out the first four rounds as they had additional special games, for extra tala with a higher prize pool.
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| Bingo night |
It was harder than it looked. The emcee was good and for our benefit called the numbers in both Samoan and English. It took a bit of getting used to as you could only mark the numbers in the designated column eg B-5, I-23, N-44, G-57, O-75. The numbers weren’t in numerical order and it was hard to keep up, and often by the time you got through the eighteen sets of numbers, he had already called the next number; so you had to try and keep track in your head.
Sela was super fast. You could tell she had been doing it for years. Her mother was also there and then one of her sisters, Susana ended up sitting at our table and helping Bin and proceeded to win $60 tala for him! He shared his winnings with her.
Sela told us that this weekly event was a fund-raiser for the youth ministry of the Catholic Church that they attend. So far they have raised over $20k tala. It is also compulsory for at least one family member of the church to attend. If they don’t they have to pay a penalty of $60 tala. Harsh.
We didn’t finish up until 11pm. By which time Joanne and Bin were nearly falling asleep on their feet. Kate’s & my brain were also overloaded by the numbers but it didn’t take me long to remember how to count to ten. Tasi, Lua, Tolu, Fa, Lima, Ono, Fitu, Valu, Iva, Sefulu. A lot of similarity to Te Reo.
Saturday 22nd July
Woke up way too early, feel quite knackered. Joanne, Kate, Pablo and I sat on the balcony and chatted over teas and coffees for an hour or so. Around 10ish, Kate and I popped down to the cafe at the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to see if we could find any of those kitch holographic necklaces. No luck there either.
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| Joanne, Connie, Kate, Pablo, Bin |
We popped across the road to the SWAG market where Kate bought some jewellery from both Janet and Vanya. She wanted to find a musical instrument for one of her boys so we returned to the Fugalei Market, where I bought a pineapple. Checked out one other religious shop but zip, nada there too.
Stopped at Myna’s to get more bread and tonic. Chai had snuck into the house earlier and had gotten into the loaf of bread and made a mess of crumbs on the kitchen floor. He got sharp shift, plus a squirt with the newly acquired water pistol, courtesy of Pablo.
We headed back up the hill to collect Joanne & Bin then headed out to Piula. We had a little bit of rain on the way but it cleared as we reached the Theological college. I’m so impressed with Bin, he has really good Samoan language skills still and is able to communicate with the locals quite competently.
I think being a male helps! Anyway, his skill saw the guys collecting the $ to waive the fee for the car and only charge us the $5 tala each to swim at the pool. Thankfully it wasn’t as crowded as the last time I was here and the tide was still reasonably high, although on its way out.
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| Piula Cave Pool |
Kate and I swam into the cave and we managed to find the ledge this time, plus the opening to the tunnel into the other cave. She wasn’t interested in swimming through again either. We had a nice swim but could see that the rain was coming again so dried off and headed next door to Le Uaina for lunch.
We did get caught in the rain which wasn’t so bad because it’s warm precipitation. Kate ordered a toasted sandwich while the rest of us tried their fish, which was Hoki and chips. We had thought we might go back for another swim after lunch but the rain did not let up so we gave up and headed back to Apia.
It was really hot and steamy by the time we returned to town so we swam at the lagoon to cool off before heading back to Vaoala to freshen up for our dinner at Paddles. We seated at a great table near the windows, so had a lovely view of the waterfront and the new moon shining on the water.
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| Paddles Restaurant |
Kate and I shared a gnocchi, Joanne & Bin did the same. I had a chicken and mushroom risotto for main, Kate had Scallopini, Joanne & Bin had Lasagne and Pablo had a Tuna Nicoise salad. Honestly, it is the best Italian food I have ever eaten! The gnocchi really is to die for. Pablo and Bin went to Scoops for dessert afterwards while us girls headed back up the hill. I was pleased to get horizontal.
https://www.samoa.travel/plan-book/activities/paddles-restaurant/
Sunday 23rd July
I had bumped into the neighbours at Myna’s yesterday and invited them to join us on our excursion today, so we were seven in a convoy of three cars, with Pablo and Bin in one car, Joanne, Kate and I in another. It was a beautiful clear morning and we set out reasonably early, around 9:30am.
We took the North Eastern route, past Piula with our first stop at Falefa Falls. You can cross a bridge to view the waterfall from the other side for free, but we stopped and dutifully paid $5 tala/pp for the privilege to see.
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| Falefa Falls |
Further up the road is the remnants of an old volcanic caldera and beyond that is a lookout point over the Afulilo Hydro Electric Dam and Lake. We continued on to Lalomanu Beach and parked up at Anita’s and the beach fales around 11:30am.
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| caldera & lookout |
So far so good with the weather. I was already wearing my bathers and in the water within two shakes of a tail feather. Kate and I both had goggles and snorkels and attempted to swim out to the reef. It was hard going and a good work out but the closer we got, the more we got swept back. Really needed flippers.
Coming back in was easier and as you glided quietly over the dead coral and sea grass, it was surprising just how much marine life there was. At one point while talking to the neighbours, I could see fish swimming through our legs and around our feet.
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| Lalomanu Beach |
Around 1pm we all went to the restaurant to eat. Kate ate pring rolls while I ordered chicken and chips, everyone else opted for fish and chips. We were all satisfied with our meals and once digested we continued on with our day’s excursion.
It rained as we drove but it conveniently stopped once we reached To Sua Trench, about twenty minutes later. No one was really interested in going down the ladder to swim, although Kate and the neighbours walked down the stairs to the top of the ladder to get a better look.
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| To Sua Ocean Trench |
We then parted company, the neighbours headed home while the rest of us headed to the Ocean Club at Maninoa Beach, in between Sinalei & Coconut Resorts. James Atherton had invited us to a wee social gathering and a number of Pablo’s work-mates from SPREP were there. We arrived to find everyone sitting in the shallow water drinking. It was quite a funny sight.
https://www.ocmaninoasamoa.com/new-page
As well as meeting some of Pablo’s work mates we also met Charmina, James’ partner; Diane, a stunning, tall Cook Islander who currently works in Korea (and was Malvern’s partner); and Mele (who I had met before), at the SWAG Market.
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| Ocean Club, Maninoa Beach |
I got chatting to one girl called Hannah. She works for DoC in NZ and would you believe she arrived on the same flight as me and coincidentally will be on my return flight as well. She knows my old flatmates Jon Terry and Juzah Zammit-Ross, who both used to work for DoC.
Everyone started tp pack up so we headed off around 5pm. We freshened up then Kate, Joanne, Bin and I headed to Giordano’s Pizzeria for dinner. Being a Sunday there aren’t too many places open. Pablo had a video work call so couldn’t join us.
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| Giordano's Pizzeria |
It was a great setting and the pizza’s were delicious. Kate had a blue cheese one, I chose a vegetarian while Joanne & Bin shared a picante. We took a doggy bag for the remaining six pieces but when we checked the bag later, we only had five slices, not sure how they misplaced one piece?!
https://www.facebook.com/giordanospizzeriasamoa/
Maybe the waiter misheard and thought we were giving him the doggy bag because we had to ask where it was when we went to pay for our food. I think they were pretty busy with their take-out side of the business so the service was not as efficient as Paddles but I would definitely eat their pizza again.
Can’t believe that the week has flown by and that it is Kate’s last night! We got home, had a gin and played Skip Bo. Kate won this time. She’s a quick learner and super competitive.
Monday 24th July
I was still awake at 2am then woke again at dawn. Not sure why I couldn’t sleep. Never mind. Bin wasn’t quite ready so Kate, Joanne and I went to look for the lookout at the Malololelei Recreation Reserve that James had suggested we check out. We must’ve taken the wrong road, couldn’t find it so headed back to collect Bin.
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| Malololelei Recreation Reserve |
We went to the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum and did their guided tour. There were at least a dozen others doing the tour with us and we got whipped through pretty quickly. It was still informative second time around but I didn’t really learn anything new.
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| Robert Louis Stevenson Museum |
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| Tapa Room |
Sadly, after that it was time to head out to the airport to drop Kate. As we were making good time we made a brief stop at the EFKS Museum at the Malua Theological College. It was stinking hot outside so it was a relief to step into some air conditioning. They had some neat art pieces; paintings, mosaics and sculptures. Cost of entry was $10 tala/pp ($50 if you took photos) and it was well worth the visit.
Driving down the road towards the airport Kate got a notification to say that her plane was going to be delayed by an hour, which was concerning for her connecting flight from Auckland back to Welly. To fill in some time we drove down to Mulifanua and parked on the waters edge and ate a picnic lunch; aloe vera juice, cold pizza, pineapple, breadfruit chips and some yummy cookie and popcorn treats from Hawaii.
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| Waiting at Mulifanua |
At the airport Joanne and Bin exchanged some money and we bumped into James and Charmina. James is on the same flight as Kate. I kept my eyes peeled for Kamu who is also flying to NZ on this flight but I didn’t see him. I think Kate would liked to have stayed longer but we did have an amazing time and I’m so glad she decided to visit. We crammed in a lot during her short stay.
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| Kate departing |
Once she walked through the gates, Joanne, Bin and I moseyed back via Avoka, George Brown and Levaula/Wesley College so that they could reminisce. It was way too hot to be outside though and we soon headed back to Apia.
Pablo had needed his car today so I had rung Alo earlier to see if we could return the car in the afternoon instead of the morning, which was fine. But the three of us made a collective decision that it might be better if we keep the car for the duration of the Mochizuki’s stay, so we went to Indoors to sort out the rental agreement and pay for a further 11 days. Alo generously negotiated a cheaper daily rate too. My dress was ready for collection. It looks quite striking.
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| New dress |
We made a quick stop to the Samoan Information Centre and sorted out a temporary tourist drivers licence for Bin. Wish I had known earlier that I could have done mine there, it was super quick. I sent Alo a photo of the licence so he could add Bin as a driver on the rental agreement.
Once we got back to the apartment, we all got changed into our bathers and walked to the neighbours to swim in their pool. This will most likely be the last time as it is going to be be drained tomorrow for re-tiling. We were given a ripe papaya for our breakfast tomorrow.
I ended up cooking dinner for us all and used up the vegetables in the fridge. We had corn, coleslaw, potato bake and some chicken frankfurters. Nothing fancy but nice to have a home-cooked meal. I was beat and crashed out early.
Tuesday 25th July
I woke around 5:30am and got to work. William had sent through another version of Ghosted a couple of days ago and I really needed to get back to him. I had shown Kate the film and she thought it was super cute. There are only a few minor tweaks needed and then I am happy to finish it there. Now I need to find some funding to cover the sound mix and colour grade.
I haven’t done any work on my blog this week so had advised Joanne and Bin that I really needed today to write. With Bin added as a driver it does mean that they are free to take the car and go explore town by themselves, which they did. They sampled the Samoan McDonald's for lunch.
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| Joanne & McD's |
I only have ten days left to catch up with the last few people on my list plus we are looking to go to Savai’i for a four-five days in between. So I sent messages to both Loama and Tafito about catching up. I would also like to see Donna Kamu once more before I go.
Having all these visitors reminds me about the number of people who came to see us in Samoa those many years ago. As I mentioned previously, my cousin Alison Shannon came and not just once, but twice. The first time she came we flew to American Samoa in a tiny plane plus we watched Grease at the movie theatre there.
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| With Alison Shannon in Pago Pago |
There used to be a Cable Car in Tutuila that stretched across the Pago Pago Harbour to Solo Hill. The tramway (as it was called) was built to carry technicians to the TV transmitters on Mount Alava. At the time it was the longest single-span aerial tramway in the world.
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| Pago Pago Cable Car |
It was quite exciting going up and looking down on the Rainmaker Hotel. I remember that the water of the Pago Pago harbour was dark blue, nearly black in colour. I was told this was because it was very deep water.
https://visitpagopago.com/solo-hill/
Unfortunately on 17th April 1980, during the country’s Flag Day celebrations (to commemorate the ceding of the Eastern Samoan Islands to the United States) there was a tragic military event.
There was supposed to be a paratroop display but it was too windy and the Airforce P-130 Orion aircraft that had been carrying the paratroopers misjudged and clipped the cable spanning the harbour and its rear fin snapped off. The plane burst into flames and crashed into the Rainmaker Hotel.
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| RLS Tomb atop Mt Vaea |
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| Midnight Feast |
Back in Western Samoa we would also do other activities like climb Mt Vaea to see the tomb of Robert Louis Stevenson or have midnight feasts. We would also spend a lot of time having sing-a-longs as Mum and Dad had bought their piano accordions to Samoa.
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| Fale & Linda Haddock |
Another cousin Linda Haddock also came to visit. Many of the local men were intrigued by her dark red hair. Her older brother James also came on holiday to Samoa with his then girlfriend, also called Lynda.
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| With James Haddock & gf Lynda |
Their parents, Mum’s sister, my Aunty Margaret and Uncle Cornwall Haddock joined us for a brief stint along with Aunty Jo and Uncle Pieter Van der Meulen (our adopted Dutch family).
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| Margaret, Siaosi, Penny Curry, Cornwall |
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| Penny, Cornwall, Jo, Mum, Pieter |
My friend Erin’s parent’s, Joy and Frank Murphy also travelled across the Pacific to visit us and other friends of theirs, Elma and Dean Balme, who worked as an agricultural farming advisor in Samoa.
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| Elma Balme, Joy Murphy, Dad, Mum |
We had quite a social time of it. We were often hosting bible study evenings or meals at our house. Seated in chairs, bench seats or on the floor, I don’t know how we crammed everyone in. But these were always lively events, with a mix of local Samoans and Palagi’s from the Levaula and George Brown compounds.
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| Bible Study Nights |
Photo 1: David, Penny Curry, Anne Groom
Hana and Siaosi Selesele who befriended mum and dad and took them under their wing, were often at these events. At the time they had a couple of little girls and a baby boy called Fa’atauva’a, named after the then Methodist Church President.
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| Hana & Siaosi Selesele |
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| Hana & baby Fa'atauva'a |
Unfortunately, my parents lost touch with them over the years but I understand that after we left Samoa they took a missionary posting in the Torres Strait of Australia’s Far North. Sadly, they passed away some years ago, Hana from ovarian cancer and Siaosi from his heart.
Another person very dear to our family was Fale Siuga. He was dad’s apprentice mechanic. He was ever present and like a big brother to us. We would play fight and bicker about which country was better NZ or Samoa. He constantly wanted to borrow and wear my sunhat. I have made several inquiries about him and I am sad to report that he has died, but I’ve not been able to find out any more details like what from or when.
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| Fale with Susana Mavaeao |
Other regular fixtures for our bible study nights were Gordon & Mavis Askew, who when we first arrived in Samoa fed us kids some familiar food (Vegemite sandwiches on white bread); Dean & Yvonne Mordaunt (who replaced the Askews) and Ian & Val McKenzie with daughter Raewyn.
Other attendees were Penny Curry & Barbara Giorgio, Australians who came in the same AVA influx as Chris & Anne Groom would often be there. Along with American teachers Sue & Mike Blair from Des Moines, Scott & Gay Bohle and Jim Brokaw who did carpentry at the SMLD. Gay used to teach up on the Cross Island Rd at Papauta College with Monica Fry, that Dad had met in the New Hebrides. Scott & Gay met in Samoa and eloped to American Samoa to get married.
Photo 1: David & Jim Brokaw
Photo 2: Mum with Sue & Mike Blair
Photo 3: Joanne, Monica Fry (holding baby Nathan), Scott & Gay Bohle
I remember David was absolutely bessoted by Barbara’s breasts. She wasn’t very tall and had large boobies that would bounce a lot when she took her occasional run around the Levaula compound. David who came up to her chest would often accompany her. We used to joke that it was a wonder that he didn’t get knocked out.
The Methodist were quite strict about drinking, in fact it was supposed to be prohibited, but there were always ways around that. Joanne and Bin were telling me that Scott used to make this amazingly potent passionfruit wine and on the occasions that they would imbibe, they would often get lost walking back from his place on the the opposite side of the compound.
One time I remember being at Chris and Anne’s place with my parents in the late afternoon. I think that they must have returned from a recent international trip somewhere and had some duty free whiskey. I was given a decent sized tipple, which I did not like, but they made me drink it then afterwards told me to go for a run around the compound. It was not a good idea as I felt quite ill and promptly vomited. Think my parents figured it might help deter me from drinking. It also explains why to this day I’m not a huge whiskey fan.
We threw a party at our house one time. I’m not sure what the occasion was, an orphan Christmas maybe? Anyway, several of the guests had bought wine. In those days I think it came in a cask. We didn’t serve the alcohol in glasses, in case any of our Samoan neighbours were walking by, instead we drank it from tea cups.
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| Party time |
We were having a jolly old time, until one of our guests, and I think it may have been Anne Groom, thought she was seeing things. The liquid in her cup kept moving. She bought it to everyone’s attention and yes, something was definitely dripping into her drink. We cast our eyes upwards to the ceiling.
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| David & Springy |
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| Springy & kittens |
Turns out our cat, a tabby by the name of Springy (short for Springdale) had pissed up in the roof. Speaking of Springy, she also gave birth to three cute black kittens. We had been out and came home to find she had delivered them on Erana’s bed.
We also became friendly with another Kiwi family from Hamilton. Ken & Virginia Graham. Ken worked in telecommunications and Virginia was part of the music group with mum, Anne and Kaye. They had twin daughters, Christine & Merryn, who went to Leifiifi Intermediate with David and a younger girl called Patricia, who used to play with Erana.
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| Nicholson Family with the Vaai's & Graham's |
David also had another Kiwi friend from school who used to hang out with us a lot. His name was Fraser Manson and his father worked at the Bank of Samoa. They lived down the far end of Beach Rd, near where we used to access Palolo Deep. He was hilarious and did a great impersonation of Robin Williams character Mork (from Mork & Mindy) and always say “I am not a Tuna”. Any leads on his whereabouts would be grand.
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| Fraser Manson |
There was one other Dutch family that we were friendly with who lived down the road in Puipa'a. I got on well with their daughter Ilka Gobius, but they shifted to Grafton. We met them when we holidayed in Australia on our way back to NZ. She came with us one day to visit the Findlay's, an older couple who lived in Alafua. They took us for a ride in their cool Mini Moke.
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| With Ilka Gobius & Findlay's |
It’s been wonderful to reminisce with Joanne and Bin about our time in Levaula. Joanne was my confidante and they were both very patient and tolerant having a teenaged girl hanging around them all the time. I remember that Joanne constantly drank iced tea, which was quite exotic as we only ever drank it hot. Plus I had my first taste of Mexican food, they were always cooking tacos.
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| Us kids with Joanne & Koroseta |
Koroseta, their student (who was eighteen to my twelve) had decided from day one that he wanted to be my special friend. In those first few days he always wanted to shake my hand and would scratch one of his fingers across my palm. I later learned that this was the secret signal to the recipient about their interest.
I will never forget, when after only being in the country for three days, we were returning from wherever we had been for dinner that evening. Joanne, Bin and Koroseta must have been with us. As the adults all walked up the stairs into our house, I was dragged aside by Koroseta, out into the darkness of the malae and he french kissed me. I had never had anyone tickle my tonsils before and wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.
But he was persistent, quite fit and good looking, so I let him be my special friend for awhile. Koroseta bought me a gift, a cassette tape of Linda Ronstadt's 'Simple Dreams' which we both listened to endlessly. He tried very hard to have his wicked way with me but I managed to keep him at bay. Not so for the daughter of the palagi family that moved into our house after we left. There was a bit of a scandal when the head boy of the college got her up the duff and they were forced to marry.
Koroseta was right into martial arts and would do chin ups off a limb on the breadfruit tree. He would show off and flex his muscles on his “Bullworker” and demonstrated how to use his nunchucku. He was a huge fan of Bruce Lee and I was sometimes allowed to go and watch the Bruce Lee movies at the Chinese Theatre with Koroseta and his friend Avia.
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| Koroseta & I |
I will never forget one time a friend of theirs had a motorbike and let us all ride it around the compound. When it came to Avia’s turn his lavalava got caught up in the bike wheel. He nearly had a bad crash and lost his lavalava in the process. Luckily he was wearing underpants.
When Koroseta and Avia finished their education at Levaula College they got accepted to study at the hospital to become male nurses. I’m not sure what happened to Avia, but these days Koroseta is happily married to Ane. They have four children, several grandchildren and he is a pastor of an Assembly of God Church in the Bay of Plenty, NZ.
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| Koroseta & Ane (matching outfit) with his brother & wife |
On Joanne & Bin's return from their exploration in town, we sorted out our travel arrangements for Savai'i. James had given us some recommendations for places to stay over there. We will go for four days and leave on Friday returning on Tuesday.
We met Pablo at Seafood Gourmet, along from Paddles on the waterfront for dinner. Another restaurant on my hit list. Lots of locals eat there as the meals are affordable although the selection was not extensive. While we were debating what to eat, the neighbours unexpectedly turned up so they joined our table.
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| Seafood Gourmet |
The food was really good. Bin and I had the seafood chowder while Joanne & Pablo had the fish and chips. But the highlight of the meal was the cheesecake from the Kool Shack attached to the front of their restaurant. Made by a Kiwi bloke called Tony, the pieces were massive. He served with two scoops of ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream.
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| Cheesecake to die for |
The flavours of cheesecake available were passionfruit, cookies & cream or koko samoa. I selected the passionfruit with a side of koko samoa icecream. Total cost $15 tala. I was in a food coma after that!
And that folks brings us to the end of week seven. It hasn't really hit me yet that I have one week to go. Until next week, go well.
onepurplefish
PS Some photo credits to Kate Larkindale and Joanne & Bin Mochizuki
PPS Hope you like this weeks quotes
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