Samoa

We have just returned from a week’s holiday in Samoa.
Noreen was up there for the previous two weeks doing voluntary work in the hospital in the capital Apia.
She had several babies named in her honour and one boy was named after me (fame at last). Here he is
sleeping in the market where his mum and grandmother work.

Samoa lies in the tropics about 13 degrees south and 172 degrees west so just over the date line from a New Zealand perspective. There are two main islands, Upolu and Savai’i, and a few smaller inhabited ones. (American Samoa is a third larger island lying to the east).

Vegetation is lush

as the rainfall is high and the volcanic soil very fertile. Coconuts are one of the defining images,

together with numerous tropical fruits such as mango, pawpaw, papaya and banana.

The country is not super developed and has not been ruined by tourism. There is ample sun

and scope for snorkelling,

diving

and surfing; the scenery is attractive

and the locals delightful (this little fellow is off to church in his Sunday best).

Food (and drink) are good.

Here are links to other postings on our trip to Samoa -

Upolu

Savai'i

Apia

Flora & Fauna

Robert Louis Stevenson

Upolu

This is where the majority of Samoans live (about 130,000 out of a total of some 180,000). The capital Apia is midway along the northern coast. I’ll do a separate post on the town but here are some impressions of the rest of the island. The first thing you notice in Samoa is the proliferation of churches

and their opulence when contrasted with the dwellings of ordinary people.

We drove round the island on our way to our first resort and saw the effects of the tsunami which struck nearly a year ago. It was caused by an 8.1 earthquake deep in the Pacific between Tonga and Samoa. The south coast of Upolu bore the brunt of the damage and the 190 people who died.

Rebuilding has been swift but many of the villages have been moved away from the coast as the inhabitants are naturally wary of another event.

We spent three nights at Maninoa. It’s a surf resort and Sam got several good sessions although there are no pictures to prove it.

This area was affected by the tsunami – all the wooden buildings were washed away and water damaged the ground floor rooms of concrete structures. We stayed on the first floor where the guests had slept through three waves coming ashore. The first was 3 metres high and travelled 300 metres inland. The second was smaller but did more damage. Several surfers were out on the water at the time but luckily the locals recognised the signs and got them all out to deeper water where they sat out the drama for five hours.

The water came up to where the building has been repainted. The resort has been rebuilt and they are very much open for business.

This is the local church with the minister’s house to the left.

Savai'i

Savai’i is a larger island than Upolu but with a population of only about 43,000 concentrated around the south east coast.
It is an hour’s journey across Apolima Strait with views of the smaller islands of Manono, Nuulopa and Apolima.
There are two ferries – this is the smaller which is not as comfortable as the one we travelled on.

We made good use of the four wheel drive vehicle

visiting Pulemelei, a pre-European star temple, reputedly the biggest in Polynesia.

It’s a steep climb up a man made 12 metre high mound of volcanic rocks.

It was very overgrown when we were there so difficult to get a feel for its scope. This link gives a picture when it has been cleared.

The island is volcanic in origin and the last eruption of Mount Matavanu was only a hundred years ago. There is an entertaining drive up a four wheel drive track to the crater. The track is maintained by the self appointed guardian known as The World Famous Craterman.

He makes signs in his strange pseudo txt-speak like this one

He has quite a following and even his own Facebook page.

The crater is impressive but difficult to get a picture conveying its size and depth as the forest has grown up inside. These will have to do.

If you don’t have a four wheel drive you can walk, but it’s a long hot climb.

The lava flow inundated a number of villages. At the edge of the destruction it is possible to see a church that was damaged.

Inside you can see the outline of the corrugated iron roof that dropped onto the molten lava

and nature doesn’t take long to recolonise the area.

Winter is nearly over

It doesn’t seem like it has been a year since the last Petone Winter Carnival, but it has been.
This year the Settlers’ Museum was lit up.
We felt the fire sculptures were more spectacular than before

and the fireworks were as good as ever.

(Apologies for poor quality caused by low light levels. I must get a new camera that is a bit more sensitive!)

Looking back to last year it appears that the garden is not as far along as then. It has been a fairly wet winter but not so cold. There is lots of life just starting to burst into colour.

These pohutakawa seedlings (actually a cultivar m. parnell) were given to Jenny when she attended a conference in Rotorua. I’ll have to find room on the bank for them when they are ready for transplanting next year.

And here is the veggie box with a good crop of cauliflower and salad greens growing. In the background are various herbs, including rosemary and bay in the big pots on the left.

Next week we are going up to Samoa so expect some pictures when we get back towards the end of the month.