We landed in Samoa (used to be called Western Samoa but now just Samoa). It was extremely humid and we had a ship tour called Island highlights booked.
We had breakfast and were in the same tour bus as Lesley and Chris but luckily there were no quizzes. The tour started with a trip around some sights and there were already a constant stream of people waving at us as we drove past.
and then we were taken to the Samoa Tourism Authority where we were given these…
And greeted by members of the centre pic
The purpose of the place is show visitors the history and culture of Samoa and how they are continuing to try to keep their traditions and culture alive - it seems to be more of a struggle now with the global, commercial world with internet and 24/7 news and information that we all have and it has reached beautiful islands such as here. You can see the battle as within a stone’s throw of the centre are numerous banks and a McDonald’s and children are all in western culture matching school uniforms and adults wearing common branded goods in the streets. The world moves on faster and faster it seems.
We were shown a kava ceremony (a welcoming ceremony with a drink- kava, give out to guests) and listened to traditional music but it was very busy with over a hundred of us and felt very false - especially due to where it is located. We moved around the centre where we were giving a cooking demonstration and a carving demonstration plus witnessed a lady in the processing of receiving a tattoo (can take a couple of days for a lady who only have a portion of their bodies tattooed).
We were glad we went to the Polynesian culture centre as it was just as informative as here and although it was obviously a tourist venue (Disneyesque) it was stand-alone and clear in its objectives. Here felt like people coming together in the centre of town and performing a show whilst we hoped to arrive in a real village (maybe they don’t exist anymore). As we left, the heavens opened and we were all soaked in a tropical rain shower. When it rains it certainly goes all in. It cleared the muggy, humid air for about 15mins.
Next up was a market. We had no Samoa Tala currency so anything we bought at to be in US dollars at exorbitant prices. We are off to a Fiji village tour in 2 days and cannot show knees, ankles or elbows so Pam convinced Mark to buy this sarong. He cannot be wearing trousers in this heat and shorts won’t cut it. We will carry it in a bag and temporarily put it on when required.
Off to the highlight of our tour. The house, and final resting place, of Robert Louis Stevenson. The author bought the land and built this house though little of the original remains due to fire and extensions.
We were shown around various recreated rooms some containing original furnishings.
The great author lived here for 4.5 years and is buried 45min walk up on top of the mountain, we didn’t have time for the walk nor could we have managed it in the heat and humidity of the midday sun. We had been to the Bronte’s house last summer and it was very nice to see the home of another author but this time outside the UK.
Our final stop was a fantastic Christian church with amazing decorations. Samoa is a Christian country due to the missionaries. The ceiling had their own version of the last supper depicted on it.
We did have some time in the afternoon to venture out on our own again into Apia but the humidity and constant rain showers, plus lack of maps/Wi-Fi etc… made progress difficult.
We did get to see more of the town though and show some fishes and crabs etc… along the seashore and harbour.
Back onboard we missed the sail away party at 5:30. We don’t believe the sail away happened as we didn’t sail away till much later and there was lots of rain plus we had an urgent announcement from the Captain at 6pm. We were informed that there was a dangerous weather storm coming our way and therefore the decision had been taken to skip the visit to Fiji to avoid it. Instead we would sail straight to New Zealand and spend an extra night there. Very disappointing as we don’t have as many ports as usual for this cruise and this would be the 2nd one missed but in this case it is fully justified and explained clearly, early and consistently. We just hope the storm doesn’t cause much damage to Fiji when it arrives. We have already heard that New Zealand have been suffering badly from the weather and this storm could be heading that way as well. Time will no doubt tell.
Our evening was more or less spent in the Globe where we saw Pulse who were doing an 80s night with 3 shows. We skipped the John Denver tribute act in the theatre for Pulse as we are the 80s generation - not to be confused with many of our fellow cruisers who are actually in their 80s.
Another bonus for us was that the buffet dinner offering included Paella which we have been craving. As we danced most of the night away with Pulse we felt we had earned a midnight buffet snack of hot chocolate and hot sausage rolls.
It has been a lovely day in Samoa and a lovely evening. We will remember the friendly island for a very long time.
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