sunnuntai 1. heinäkuuta 2018

Visiting Samoa and Some Moa

After NZ South Island we stayed couple of days in the North Island again before our trip to Samoa. It was cool to go back to our "roots" as we stayed again at the Bamber House. From there it was easy to get to the airport and to the city center. It was a bit bittersweet to go back to Auckland as I missed my mum and sis but.. It was also exciting :)
One year before we were planning to pack our bags and head out to the world my two (actually three) co-workers said farewells and went to see the world :) and now.. after 1,5 years it was time to see Sofia and Sebu again.. In Auckland NZ! Haha that was so cool! :)
So on one Saturday afternoon we met up on Queen Street and hopped on a ferry and went to the Waiheke Island. It was so nice to catch up as I had followed their journey through Instagram and got some good tips of places to visit. We had a great sunny and warm day at Waiheke Island playing frisbee golf, Tantrix and consuming beer on a beach. The night got even better when we tried unhealthy vegetarian food (by Lord of the Fries) talking about future plans and chilies in wrong places.. Good times 😎


A summer day well spent
Tantrix and beer on the beach
But yeah, that was the "Moa" part* of the story but the actual post is about Samoa.
What started as a joke in a bar in Bondi Beach Sydney turned out to be our reality and all of a sudden we were in a bumpy plane ride towards Samoa.

It took maybe 3-4 hours to get to Samoa from Auckland and when we got there we immediately noticed that we aren't in a super Western country anymore. The main terminal was under construction so we were guided to a nearby building for our immigration. There was a duty free "shop" consisting of one little stand in the corridor and a Samoan band wearing Samoan Talofa shirts was playing ukuleles and singing local island songs near the luggage belt. That was so special and thoughtful. We did not have any expectations whatsoever so it was all so exciting! When we arrived it was pitch black so we didn't see anything from the van's window and it was quite late when arriving to our accommodation in Apia, Talofa Inn. It was so late that no shops were open, they don't have any 24h 7/11 or gas stations there. But after a quick Google search we found a place of relief.. McDonald's! Oh hallelujah! And the best thing was that McD was just few blocks away and it was pretty much the only building staying open 24/7.
It was so dark and silent outside that I was super afraid to go out after 11pm in a strange place.. but we had to eat so my knight in not-so-shiny armor went to fetch some dinner for us. My hero <3

I can not even put into words how wonderful place Talofa Inn was. It's a small place in a wonderful location in Apia. Only 6 rooms, commodity kitchen, marvellous breakfast and smiling lovely ladies taking care of the people there. Talofa Inn was also a place where we met this one German/UK/Chinese guy and a Canadian girl.

Talofa Inn breakfast

Chatting at the breakfast table lead us to experience Samoa in a way we hadn't planned. Odin and Megan were heading to see the island of Upolu and we had the pleasure to join them. First we checked a 100m waterfall Papapapaitai and then got to swim in smaller one called Togitogiga (I am not making these names up...). Well Matias couldn't unfortunately swim as he had his new ink on him, but he got to enjoy the scenery still :) It was refreshing and amazing experience to have a dip. Also interesting experience as we met this local guy who first talked about his life and then laid his eyes on the Canadian girl trying to hook up with her behind the bathroom :D Well no time for hooking up as we had to rush to see what more the island had to offer ;D then we ended up in a paradise.. To Sua Ocean Trench. This place was so pretty with ocean view, small fales and clear water ocean trench where one can just chill and float. It had some scary ladders but I made it with Odin and Megan while Matias guarded our stuff and had his chill time enjoying few cold ones :)

Driving through the island

Togitogiga Waterfall

To Sua Ocean Trench

Chillin' in a fale

After the chill time we headed to explore the island little bit more.
We ended up in a tiny village of Uafato. The whole village was playing and enjoying some cricket like sport by the ocean and we actually drove through their playing field.. twice. Whoopsie. Luckily the village people were patient and let us move on in peace.
Odin was a good driver and we made back to Talofa Inn and cooked some dinner and we got introduced to Dhal soup :D ah.. that thing "saved" our lives later on our journey!

We stayed little over a week in Apia and we chilled, read books and wandered around a lot. We visited the fruit market and the flea market often and enjoyed the view of the ocean and the colorful bus terminal :) We also found an amazing restaurant called Paddles. It's a Italian restaurant founded by Italian guy who fell in love with a Samoan lady. You should always make a reservation, but if you forget and go just when it opens, you just might get lucky and get to have the marvelous food over there before the hustle. Especially the tuna and the salsa brings big smile to my face to this day :)

Apia bus terminal

Flea market

Mmm..

Heavenly tuna

We also visited The Cultural village of Samoa and that was an eye opener and amazing peak of Samoan history and the way of living there. We also got to taste some taro with Palusami and some fish made in umu, the tradition natural oven. The cultural village visit was free of charge but they accept donations so we felt it was good to give a little something back.

Umu cooking

Palusami is good!

We pondered should we go to visit Savai´i the bigger island and supposedly more beautiful island of Samoa but we counted our days and resources and wanted to try something fancy for a change instead. We booked our last 3 nights near the airport in a five star hotel. It was Sheraton Samoa Beach Resort and it was something else.

Breathtaking beach with hammocks and peace. Super friendly staff, swimming pool, good beer and big comfortable bed and also.. great food :) Though as we had our budget also in mind we weren't the typical five start residents.. oh no :) we had our own canned food! We had Dhal soup and dynamite chili meat mix and noodles with us! Matias, our chef "cooked" our delicious meal by putting the water heater on and filled the sink with hot water. Then he added our cans to heat up. After some waiting we had semi warm food to fill our tummies with. Haha it was silly but hey it made sense! The last night we spoiled ourselves and went to a Fia Fia night. Samoans are proud of their fire dance skills so the night meant good food, nice dance performances from ladies and gents of Samoa. Our waiter made sure we got good seats and what do you know we were invited to dance on the stage with the locals :D The fire dance later on was also cool! Or more like on fire! The guys are talented.


Sheraton Samoa Beach 

Life hacks

One of my favourite moments of all time


Samoan dance

Fia Fia Show

Ay ay ay :) I am smiling so much while writing this post by the way. 
I still drift away to the Sheraton hammock where we cuddled in an amazing sunset while listening to our favourites Robin and Popeda <3

If you ever get a change to visit this place.. do it. And bring your sun block and mosquito repellent.. The sun is hot and there is the possibility to get dengue or zika for example so stay safe and enjoy your life :)

Next for us it was time to work our way back to Europe and.. back home :) ️

*Oh and the headline.. The Moa part was NZ of course. Moa´s are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. But Moa is also a small brewery from Marlborough, New Zealand, offering a wide range of craft beer. So the Moa lives on after all.

- Sini










Our route so far