Apia, Samoa

When I looked out from the balcony this morning we were docked in Apia, and I could hear music and singing from the quayside. That’s the sort of welcome I like! There was also the loud annoying sound of the construction workers on the dock who seem to be preparing to build a large edifice. Maybe a cruise terminal?

Once ashore we searched for the van that was going to take us to the Sinalei Reef Resort on the other side of the island. Everyone was very helpful, but it still took quite a while to track down our driver. Still, is gave me time to check things out. Presently there is no cruise terminal as such; there is a small concrete building which didn’t seem to be in use. Thus there is no ATM or free wifi, but there were several stalls selling brightly coloured clothing and souvenirs, which looked wonderful, but we were in a rush to get to the beach so didn’t stop to shop.

We finally found our driver. He was a large, quite delightful fellow, who had been a rugby player. He pointed out all of the places of interest on our drive across the island. The island certainly looked like another tropical paradise, but then he kept on mentioning things like “this all had to be rebuilt after the tsunami”, “this road was destroyed by the cyclone”, and “they had to do repairs after the earthquake”, so I began to wonder how safe it really was. However, looking at the lush green hills populated with an over abundance of palm trees and tropical flowers, I thought it was certainly all worthwhile.

We stopped briefly at Robert Louis Stevenson’s house. It is a beautiful colonial building in lush tropical grounds, with the best manicured lawn I have ever encountered. I could easily see why he had chosen this location, it is up in the hills behind Apia, and cooler than the city below.

After driving through several small villages, we arrived at our destination. The resort was absolutely beautiful, situated on a crescent of white sand, with swaying palms, and calm waters due to a reef in the distance. A charming young man brought us towels and we settled down on beach loungers in the shade of the palm trees. A short time later he reappeared with coconut shells with a straw and little paper umbrella, filled with the most delicious cocktail. Paradise found!

We spent the morning in and out of the water, and lying in the shade. At lunchtime we walked over to the resort restaurant. This is in the perfect location, built over the water with a great view of the reef. We feasted on a huge seafood platter, and drank a great New Zealand wine. Thank goodness we had our beautiful QV to return to, otherwise I may have been tempted to stay there forever.

All too soon it was time to head back to the ship. We made brief stops at the Papapapaita Falls and Baha’i temple before returning to the port. Brian was concerned that we would use up all of our travel duct tape during our boat construction, so we walked into town in search of a supermarket. Luckily there was one a short distance away, and we were able to find the tape, and several other items that would be very helpful in the construction process. Dada, in her port talk, had said that US dollars would be accepted everywhere. This turned out to be inaccurate. They would not take a credit card either. So we weren’t able to make our purchase. I was very put out, as I had found totally perfect items for our boat. It just wasn’t fair at all. It was already 3:45, and all aboard time was 4:00, so no time to go and find an ATM. Sadly, we left the store and walked back to the ship.

When we sailed away from Apia the reality set in that this was our last foreign stop, from now on we would be in US ports. This amazing trip really is going by way too fast.