Martin Luther King Jr. has a day?

Uhhh yea, about that… it’s non-existent. Albeit there’s no school, no work for any government jobs, and just about every store closed early. Why you ask? Well technically speaking it’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day but here in AmSam it’s just a Monday off.  I didn’t hear one mention of it. The school never announced it. Peculiar.

Anyhow….

Addie’s here! My little sister, Ms. Addison Elaine Bates, has joined us here in AmSam. She got a job at Buckeye Donuts in Columbus, Ohio (ummm, awesome?), saved her money and bought a one-way ticket to AmSam. She’ll be here until March and then she’ll continue on to New Zealand. She’s been enjoying a gap-year before she starts at Reed College this fall.

Anyways, Saul and I have never been to flight night so it was a perfect excuse to go. We took a bus over to Tafuna, had a nice dinner and slowly meandered over to the airport. Flight Night in AmSam is a BIG deal. Being that only two or three big planes come into Pago Pago International each week (all of which originate in Honolulu) a huge amount of people show up. Some go to pick up relatives, some people go to see relatives off, and others go just to see what all of the fuss is about. We spotted quite a few of our students around the airport and the whole experience was pretty neat.

We made an A for Addie out of Quake Bars

We lined up along the fence and watched the airport light up just before the plane landed at 9:20pm. We watched people exiting the plane and walking across the tarmac but couldn’t spot Addie. Being the panic button that I am I immediately started thinking the worse.  What if something happened with customs? What if she fell asleep on the plane and no one woke her up? We moved over to the arrivals hallway and held up the signs we had made. One by one people began to leave the airport. She finally came up the arrivals ramp at about 10:30pm (fifth from last on the entire plane). She had been traveling for over 20 hours but had finally made it in one piece.  We cabbed it back to Spua Town aka Puapua (our village) where we knocked out for the night as we had a pretty full day planned on Saturday.

Flight Night

The arrival tunnel.

We finally spotted her! The guy that was guiding people was HILARIOUS.

We were a bomb.com greeting squad fully equipped with signs and ula beads.

Little sis.

We decided that a trip to Aunu’u would be the perfect way for Addie to spend her first day in AmSam. Aunu’u is an itty-bitty island off the far east coast (we live on the west sideeeee). We caught two buses and a boat to get to the island. It took us a good two hours one way but afforded all of us the opportunity to take in the entire island from coast to coast. It didn’t hurt that it was a beautiful day weather-wise. We arrived to Aunu’u after a short boat ride that cost us two bucks. The people were so friendly and helped us find our way around the island (not that it’s easy to get lost or anything). We walked almost the entire loop around the island. The water was a wonderful aquamarine blue and the mountains super lush. We were on a quest to find Aunu’u’s quicksand lake. Well, what we found was a murky looking lake that had some banks of red color across from our vantage point. It could have been the quicksand lake? Meh. I hear that the lake is best viewed at low tide, which could have contributed to the “meh” feeling we all had.

We found a pretty beach and asked the family that lived on the beach if we could go for a swim. They were more than happy to let us give it a try, as the waves were pretty rough. It was difficult to swim but the water was the perfect temperature. We had some fun and moved on.

Lastly, we went to the harbor where we heard there’s some pretty good swimming. We found some local kids who confirmed this and had a great time jumping off of the wharf into the relatively deep water.  Aunu’u was an amazing day trip that I’d definitely recommend to anyone visiting AmSam. I’m always amazed at the things you can do in AmSam for so little money. We essentially went on a day vacation that was still very AmSam but felt so far removed (although Saul did still see one of his students there). No fast food, very few cars, only one small family store ... very Gilligan Island-esque.

Saying bye to Tutuila.

Hiking trail around Aunu'u

Taro fields.

The mehh lake.

Tiny little hermit crab.

Beautiful beach where we tried to take a little bit of a swim.

My grizzly bear.

Addie's first fast of AmSam

So much fun!

It MLK Day weekend so we had two days of fun planned for Addie’s first weekend here (reminder: Sunday is a day of rest in AmSam). We kicked back on Sunday and showed Addie our school. On Monday, we made our way over to Airport Beach. Two buses and about an hour hike later we made it to the most amazing snorkeling spot I’ve ever been to (better than Costa Rica and Punta Cana).

Every time we go to Airport Beach (this was our third) I ask myself how we don’t make it here more often.  It is just SO gorgeous. The reef is so vibrant and alive, the lagoon is mellow and the beach is secluded. We got there at high tide so that we’d be able to snorkel over even the shallowest reef. Everything was fabulous. We stayed for a good 3 hours or so. Addie was obsessed. Saul and I spent some time playing Frisbee while she was still snorkeling.

Hey, Addie!

This weekend, more than any other, has felt SO much like vacation. There are times when I have to pinch myself as a reminder that this tropical island really has been and will continue to be my home until our next adventure.

-C

All good things come to an end

Yay for cliches as titles for my blogs! :)

After 2 weeks in New Zealand it was time to start making our way back home. The first leg of our flight was from Auckland to Apia, Western Samoa (travel time: 3 hours and 45 minutes). We upgraded our seats to premier economy or something of that nature. On our trip to NZ this only meant that we sat closer to the front of the plan and had priority boarding. On the way back to Apia it meant that we were pretty much sitting in business class. It was fabulous! There was an excess amount of legroom and the seats even reclined with a leg rest. Being that I’m 5’10” and Saul is 6’2” this was so very welcome.

The flight was uneventful and we landed in Apia with some day light left. One of the cons of living in AmSam is that to get anywhere you have to travel through Apia. The flights from Apia to AmSam only run from 8:00am – 4:00pm. We landed back in Apia at 5:30ish meaning that we had to stay the night so that we could catch a flight back to AmSam in the morning.

We booked a garden room (pretty much the economy room) at the lovely Le Vasa Resort. Western Samoa has a major lack of airport hotels. Apia proper is almost an hour away so we found something a bit closer at only 6 miles from the airport. The taxi to get there was 40 WST, which is about $18 USD so pretty pricey, but such is life. The resort was perfect and just what we were looking for. It’s on somewhat of a peninsula so there’s gorgeous water on all sides of the resort. There’s also a nice bar and restaurant which we took full advantage of.  The biggest plus is that the room was air-conditioned. One more night of needing a blanket at night=win!

We received word at the resort that all of InterIsland’s (the plane that flies from Apia to AmSam) flight had been cancelled that day. This made us a bit worried that we would be bumped off our plane because there’s fewer than 20 seats and so many people were on stand-by.  Our original plan was to try to change our 11am flight to 2 or even 4pm but due to the circumstances from the day before we got up bright and early to head to the airport. At 8am we dragged our suitcases up the gravel drive way to find a bus. A really nice couple drove by and offered to take us to the airport because they were actually heading to AmSam on our flight so we happily obliged. 40 WST saved woohoo.

We got to the airport, checked our bags and waited for our flight. Everything went flawlessly. Since we’ve been here in AmSam, we’ve heard nothing but terrible things about Inter Island Airways. We found them 100% adequate. All of our baggage made it on our flights and the flights left and arrived on time.

Anyways we got back to AmSam to cool, rainy weather (which was just what we were hoping for) and jumped in a cab with our neighbor. After being away for a while it was surprisingly nice to return back to the place that has become our home.

-C 

How you hold your place in line at Faleolo Airport. Our suitcases are the blue ones :)

Haka and Hot Springs in Jurassic Park

We arrived in Rotorua at around 8pm and headed to our last hotel in New Zealand, the Malfroy Motor Lodge. When we noticed that the black water rafting office in Waitomo had free Wi-Fi, we had the foresight to email the hotel managers to let them know that we would be getting in late (we said around 8pm). When we got there, we knocked on the office door but no one answered. After standing outside clueless for a few minutes the manager came to the door, said he waited until 8:20 and we didn’t come so pmff **insert farting sound from his mouth** he emailed us back and left the key under a rock. It was 8:23 at the time. He tried to make up for his rudeness in the morning by showing us around, but we still laugh at the obnoxious fart sound he made that night. It has become somewhat of an inside joke for us. Crazy guy.

The first night wasn’t very eventful. We ended up having a delicious dinner at Domino’s Pizza. I’m not being sarcastic at all. Domino’s is a completely different animal in New Zealand. It feels like a trendy, gourmet pizza joint. It’s a lot cleaner at home and they have a fancy menu. They even have some delicious varieties of pizza that they don’t have in the states (lots of shrimp!). They also have a GREAT value menu. We got two pizzas, a 1.5 Liter Diet Coke, and some cheese bread sticks for about $15 NZD. That is a steal! It helped that the guy at the checkout hooked it up with cheese bread sticks instead of the normal variety when he saw we were too cheap to pay for them (I’m not paying two extra dollars for cheese on my breadsticks when I’m getting pizza anyway). That made up for the fact that he wrote what Chels and I agree is possibly the best misspelling/butchery of my name EVER on our receipt. I’m so mad I can’t remember what it is. I kept the receipt, but I must have misplaced it. What a shame!

The next day (our only full day in Rotorua) we started the morning early with a tour of the volcanic activity in Rotorua. Our tour driver/leader was a Maori basket weaver. It was pretty cool finally meeting a Maori after all we have heard about them living in Samoa and in our short time in New Zealand. It’s pretty cool how New Zealand embraces the Maori culture and how much of a presence they have in the country. It’s hard not to juxtapose that with the way Native Americans are treated in the US. No bueno.

Anyways, our tour was pretty awesome. Our guide took us to the Wai-o-tapu thermal wonderland where we saw some amazing natural hot springs and boiling mud pools. The hot springs contained some of the most vivid colors I have ever seen in nature; a beautiful assortment of blues, reds, yellows, and greens. He then took us to see the (man activated) Lady Knox Geyser; it was pretty tourist trappy I must say. We ended the morning with a visit to the Waimangu Volcanic Valley. It was a pretty amazing sight to see. Between the luscious greenery, large fern trees, and smoking lakes and rocks the landscape looked like it could have been taken directly out of a scene from Jurassic Park. We sat at a table and enjoyed a savory scone, cappuccino, and a wonderful view of the valley before heading back to the motel.

Later that night we were scheduled to have a “cultural experience” in the Tamaki Maori village. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. After living in a similar culture for almost 6 months in Samoa, we predicted that the experience would either be captivating or extremely cheesy. It started out interesting enough, and then quickly descended into a big cheese fest. It felt like we were at Disney Land. The cheese started on the complementary bus ride from the hotel to the village when they elected a chief and showed him the nose touching ritual he would have to as the representative of our tribe when we arrived. After the arrival ritual, we were all ushered in to the feaux village where stations were set up to show us what Maori life was like back in the day. Our favorite station was the Haka station where they show you how to do the traditional Maori dance, which includes a fun scream where you stick your tongue out, bulge your eyes and grunt. After learning in the village you watch a short show, eat dinner and head home. The show was okay, the food was decent. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this experience unless you have young kids.

On the bus ride back, the driver and our “chief” called on different country representatives to sing songs from their homeland. Most countries would sing their anthem or rallying songs that meant something to their country. When it was time for the US, someone in the back started singing Amazing Grace… So random!

We were the last stop on the bus route back, and when they finally dropped us off we were exhausted. Since it was our only night there we had to kick ourselves into having a second wind and go in the 24 hour sulfur hot spring pool on site. It was said to have mystical healing powers, but I don’t think we stayed in it long enough to benefit from them before we retired back to our room to rest up for the travel day that would begin the following morning.

We woke up the next morning, said goodbye to the Malfroy Motor Lodge, and hit the road. We cut the time pretty close, but everything worked out well and we made it back to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We dropped off our rental car, grabbed a Kiwi Burger (a cheeseburger with beetroot and egg) at the McDonald’s in the airport. It was something we had wanted to try since we first saw the signs in the airport on the way in. We killed the rest of our time spending the rest of our NZD on coffee and whatever else we could before getting on our plane and heading back to Western Samoa where we would spend one more night before heading home to American Samoa.

-S

Tree tunnel.

Bubbling mud pools

Our Maori tour guide for the thermal tours.

They call this the devil's toilet.

This bird got a bit too close to the lake.

Three birds on the lake and the reflection of two birds.

Jurassic Park defined.

Nice photo bomb (and a  meat pie)

The "chief" of our "village" aka bus.

Tamaki Maori Village

Haka time.

Thermal hot springs at our motor lodge. They supposedly have healing powers.

Our durable little car