South Pacific - Here We Come

[kookaburra75]

Most people live on a lonely island,
Lost in the middle of a foggy sea city.
Most people long for another island,
One where they know they will like to be

Living in Canberra, the lyrics from South Pacific hit the spot with MrsK and I. Each year we take an escape from Canberra during the winter, and this year we ended up in Samoa.

We plan out trips a fair way out and started planning for his winter escape in November last year. We had been discussing different options and decided after travelling to a lot of places within Australia, we would go somewhere different, but not too far away. Options in the Pacific Islands were talked about, although we wanted somewhere where we weren't stuck in a big resort. Although, a relaxing resort-like ambience was high on MrsK's list.

As always, our mobile phones were listening in, sending on our deepest thoughts to Facebook, and onto their many followers in advertising - so I wasn't that surprised to see ads from Luxury Escapes to a resort in Samoa pop up in my emails and webpages. We have used LE a few times, and always had a good experience. Also, we had never been to Samoa and it fitted with our loose criteria, of "somewhere warm". Looking at the online reviews for the Taumeasina Island Resort, Samoa it fitted our brief.

The LE packages included a lot - breakfasts, three lunches, three dinners, eight 30 minute massage vouchers that could be combined, and two drink vouchers each day. We picked an ocean view queen room and locked that in. I then started looking at flights. In Nov 22 there wasn't much in the way of direct flights, so I cashed in points to get J seats from Canberra to Auckland return, on QF3/4 and paid for Air NZ flights from Auckland to Apia. We overnighted in Auckland going over and back, as it was the only way to connect the flights. At that stage, QF3/4 hadn't been confirmed "subject to government approvals" but being so far out I wasn't that worried. Having the chance of trying out the 787 for the first time was going to be fun. Leaving Canberra at 6am to get the connections, maybe not so much fun, but I pointed out to MrsK that we would be able to experience the Sydney 1st Class Lounge.

After several months of watching the many changes to flights etc, the day dawned that we were really going to leave Canberra's winter. It started as all trips do, too early and waiting for the taxi to get us to the airport.

Bags packed - combination of normal suitcases, and our cabin bags, just in case anything went astray

Our taxi was there waiting for us, and we headed out to Canberra Airport, although at that time of day the bar wasn't open in the lounge, or even downstairs - "Heathens!" declared MrsK. We boarded our trusty Dash8 to Sydney, with it still being below zero in Canberra.


After the usual quick trip to Sydney, we arrived at Gate 17, so it was only a short walk to Gate 15 for the transfer bus. The usual quick trip across to international and we navigated security as quickly as we could. Then, we were able to get into the "calm" bubble that is QF 1st Class Lounge in Sydney; Champagne marks the true start of a holiday.

 

[RooFlyer]

Bags packed - combination of normal suitcases, and our cabin bags, just in case anything went astray

And a flamingo. Good to see. I sometimes forget mine.

 

[kookaburra75]

And a flamingo. Good to see. I sometimes forget mine.

That's one of the inside flamingos - they never leave the house. Too good aparently.

 

[kookaburra75]

After enjoying the calm at the 1st Class Lounge, we decided to stretch our legs and head down towards the gate for boarding. When we were up in the lounge, we couldn't see a 787 at the gates in front of us, which was a bit odd. We could see the shuttle busses zipping in and out of Gate 25, and took a video to send to the grandson, as they looked like strange little caterpillars.

Little did we know we would be part of that "party" soon. Our aircraft was parked down past the freight section, almost back over at domestic. We descended into the downstairs area of Gate 25 and it took almost an hour to get onto our bus, out to the aircraft and board up the stairs. There was a lot of people milling around at Gate 25 trying to work out where their bus was leaving from, and a lot of very hassled staff trying to get people to their busses. Our flight was an hour late departing.

Thankfully, once we boarded and settled into our seats (1K for MrsK, 4K for me), we got our pre-departure bubbles and settled in. The only downside was to get back the lost time they put the foot down and we had less time up front than we hoped.

 

[kookaburra75]

As our fight into Auckland was scheduled to land mid-afternoon, we booked to stay in Auckland. I picked the Ohtel Auckland, as it was near the Viaduct area and I hadn't stayed there before - and booked through Booking.com. We got upgraded when we arrived. It was a great hotel, excellent services, friendly staff, large room, comfortable bed - but.

OK - bath in the room, on a tiled floor is ok. But, as you can see from the photo above the basin was ok (left), but the arrangement for the shower and toilet was way out there. The large sliding door was either the screen for the shower (middle) or the door for the toilet (right).

We quickly escaped from the room and headed out to the bars and restaurants.


We checked out a couple of bars, but most were booked out for dinner. Luckily, and which fitted with MrsK's stated dinner preferences (Steak!!), we got into Botswana Butchery and had an excellent steak meal and wines.

As our next leg was on Air NZ, I had loaded up their app some time ago and picked seats etc. After receiving an email from them, I had also put in bid to upgrade from economy premium economy for the leg from Auckland to Apia - which was only 3 hours. I put in the minimum bid, which from the feedback from the app, didn't seem to have much of a chance. But one good thing from the app, I could book a taxi from where we were staying to the airport in the morning - which I did. The flight was due to depart at 8.45am, so another early-ish start, but nothing too stressful. Not having lounge access s at Auckland, we picked a cafe in the departure area and that was ok - especially as they were serving prosecco at that hour.

 

[ellen10]

Looking forward to following along. Samoa is on our list of places to visit in the next year or so.

 

[kookaburra75]

Our flight to Apia was uneventful. The service on the 777 from the AirNZ crew was good as always. The flight was full - our upgrade bid had been declined. The only issue was that I had picked seats down the back as I hoped we would get a spare one in the row of three, which didn't happen. There wasn't a lot to see on the flight, although we did spot Tonga as we flew over it.

We arrived into Apia on time, and as we were down the back, it took ages to get off the plane. We then joined the considerable queue to clear immigration. They had all five desks open, so it moved quickly enough. Then a wait to get my bag, which seemed to be last off, and then finally through quarantine and out into the street.

Outside Faleolo Airport (APW)

The driver of the transfer bus was waiting for us, and we headed over to the bus. It was nearly full, and the other people must have been waiting for a while - yes, we were "those" people who were holding them up. But we jumped aboard and got into holiday mode. The bus trip is 45 minutes, and you travel along the northern coast of Upolu island, being the smaller of the two main islands that makes up Samoa. We travelled through many villages, and it was obvious that the church plays a big role in the local society - going on the number and size of them.

We finally arrived at our home for the next week - Taumeasina Island Resort.

MrsK is happy!


The foyer, looking back towards the entrance

When we arrived, the weather was getting stormy. We went for a walk around the resort to get stretch our legs and get our bearings. It had everything we were after.

Pool - tick.


Beach - tick


Coconut palms and view - tick


Ocean view - tick

 

[Pushka]

So, I'm seeing that the toilet is in full view of any occupants in the room? Surely not?

The resort looks wonderful.

 

[kookaburra75]

So, I'm seeing that the toilet is in full view of any occupants in the room? Surely not?

There was some attempt of privacy, with a strip of frosting half way up. But yes - not something I would recommend. While I would stay at Ohtel again, it certainly wouldn't be in that room.

 

[kookaburra75]

We picked the resort as it looked peaceful and had everything we wanted. We knew it was a family resort, and kids weren't an issue for us.

First, the resort

Image pinched from their website. Our room is on the right-hand side, marked by the red star/blob

The resort is on a man-made island. It was built between 2012-2016, opening up in 2016. We arrived on a Saturday, which is when they have the Fia Fia evening - the fire dancing, and other dances and songs. Unfortunately, when we arrived there were some big storms whipping through and the performances had to be held undercover, which made things a bit cramped. Especially for the fire dancing. There was a wedding party who were going to use the event pavilion out on the point (centre front in the image) but had to use the cover at the entry of the resort.

There were a lot of locals there for a night out, which was good for us. The resort is part of the community, and there was a mix of tourists and Samoans there all the time. The dinner was a buffet. A lot of rich food, a bit too much for us but we could pick what we had. The performances, although a bit curtailed were impressive, given the circumstances. The coughtails and the local beer were excellent.

And our room. I forgot to take photos when everything was neat, but it makes it realistic.

Looking into the room from the sliding door out onto the verandah. The black glass sliding panels go into the bathroom - not transparent thankfully.


View from behind the bed. There is a desk/bench running the length of the bed with drawers and cupboards underneath, which was good for spreading out on, having things on charge. We had pulled the doors out to the verandah back, but with the humidity everything got damp and fogged up very quickly.


Looking back towards the front door from the bedroom. Fridge and mini-kitchen, and wardrobe with plenty of room.


The bathroom, which was behind the black glass screen door/panel - 90%+ tint, so you couldn't see in. Plenty of room and space for all of our things.

The room was serviced daily, and getting additional items was never a problem. Many a time we sat out on our verandah and watched the world go by, with a cold drink in hand.

 

[kookaburra75]

On our first two days at the resort, we basically did as little as possible and slipped into holiday/island mode. On the Monday, there was an orientation tour of the resort, where the staff provided information on the resort, facilities etc. The staff at the Activities Desk did a variety of roles, including manging the snorkeling, kayak and catamaran hire, life saving in the pool, kept an eye on the kids, and some participated in the dancing - more on that later.


View from the Event Pavilion back across to the resort (looking west)


The Event Pavilion - looking east

We saw functions most nights up at the Pavilion (except when it rained) - a range of weddings, birthday parties and corporate events.


MrsK hiding behind plants, looking back across the beach to the Event Pavilion


Walking around the edge of the island - our room is outlined in red


Looking out across the pools towards the ocean, from the activities area


Getting into holiday mode by the pool

As I mentioned, there were a lot of families staying there, and activity in and around the pool. Yes, they were noisy, but not too over the top - not "Mantra-at-Palm-Cove" type screaming, just a few yells. There was also a few extra people staying there as we found out. On the Saturday we arrived, Samoa were playing Fiji for a "friendly" prior to the Rugby World Cup, Many of the Samoan players were staying at the resort with their families. You could tell if they were about, exercising in the pool, as suddenly female tourists would stand up and get their friends to pose for a photo, with the rugby players in shot.

 

[kookaburra75]

We quickly settled into a routine. Wake up late, wander over for breakfast. It was a standard breakfast buffet, good range of items, including heathier options like bircher, fruit, yogurt. They had an omelette station which MrsK enjoyed using for her morning starter.

MrsK at breakfast. The restaurant area wrapped around the pool area - a good way to start the day

Next step was to go back to the room, change into bathers and go for a quick dip in the pool, and morning coughtails.


They had a good range of the 'standard' holiday coughtails. Margaritas could be 'shaken' or 'frozen'. In the tropical heat the frozen ones were good - they were made from scratch in a blender with ice, not poured from one of those frozen-headache machines. Other classics such as Mai-Tais, Expresso Martinis, Pina Coladas, Strawberry Daiquiris (no umbrellas) were available. You could get them by the glass, or for four of them by the Fish Bowl. We had one, just to be able to show you a picture - Frozen Margarita Fishbowl.

The things we do...

As we had a late breakfast, we tended to skip lunch and have a mid-afternoon snack. The pool area, and the other bar next to the pool area, the Manu Bar had a good range of drinks - local and imported beers, wines, and coughtails, with reasonable prices (Tapas menu).

Then we would get up and do something, sometimes snorkelling, taking a taxi into Apia, or going for another swim in the pool to cool off. Evenings would start off with a bubbles/coughtail/beer in the Manu Bar area, watching the sun go down and the moon rise.

Watching the sun go down



And the moon rise

 

[kookaburra75]

On Wednesday, we caught a taxi into Apia, to check out the town, get souvenirs etc. I had looked at the Samoa Travel website before our trip, which provided a lot of practical and realistic information (Welcome to Samoa | Pacific Island Holiday | Official Guide). I knew I had to use cash. Rummaging through the drawers before we left, I found GBP50, which I am not going to use anytime soon. I stopped at the Money Changers at the airport and got the equivalent in Samoan Dollars or Tala. That saw us through our stay. Although, I could have saved some time by using the ATM at the resort, but then I would still have the pounds in the drawer.

It was 10 tala to get into town, and we headed to the flea market, or the big market. As the website says "...many drivers drive very slowly, especially when the road is rough". From the resort we drove through the main part of Apia and got dropped off at the market.

The Flea Market

We had a look around and picked up a few thoughtful gifts for the kids back home - Samoan themed magnetic bottle openers. We also got some of the cane fans people use to keep cool, and some other tops and shirts. There was a meals stall in the middle of the market if you wanted to get some local food to eat.

We walked back to the main part of town, along the side streets and bought some more board shorts and tops.


I didn't take any photos of the main part of town, including the main government buildings, and churches. It's a modern town, with a range of shops, eateries etc. We went along the main road and headed up to Amanaki Restaurant for lunch. The food was good, drinks cold and it was nice to sit, and people watch. From there, we headed across the road to the Triple 777 Taxi Stand and got a taxi back to the resort.

We only spent a short time in Apia. There were a lot of restaurants and bars that were rated in TripAdvisor, but they only opened for dinner. Italian seemed to be a big thing, and the western style food. If we had more time, we would be explored Apia a bit more and found out where the other restaurants were, to try more seafood and local dishes. On our list for next time.

After we got back to the resort, we slipped back into our habits. In the afternoon, following lunch, a dip and rest, we would head to the Manu Bar for pre-dinner coughtails. We would laze away and watch the sun go down and the moon rise.

 

[kookaburra75]

Most evenings there was live music, performances, trivia. The audience was a mix of guests and locals, so it was always quite boisterous and funny. Everyone enjoyed themselves. A highlight was the trivia night - not easy - but I picked up a handy third and a voucher for two jugs of beer. Karaoke night - well was a karaoke night.

One night was "Ladies Night" and the performances were based on the traditional Samoan dances, which are very energetic. Young men, some who were part of the team at the resort, dancing enthusiastically, there was a lot of interest.

A lucky guest being photographed.

There was always something happening in and around the resort. Each morning, at the Activities Desk there was a list of going-ons, for the kids and adults. Usually kayak tours, catamarans, weaving palm frond for hats, printing, and one day coconut harvesting. One morning, I was sitting out the front of our room and heard a chopping noise. I looked up in time to see one of the staff (the one on the top right in the photo above) climbing up the coconut palm out the front of our room, and proceeded to trim off bunches of coconuts and fronds. There was one guest with him, and he trimmed up a coconut and carved off the top so she could have a drink.


We applauded his effort as his slid down to the ground.

He then brought across an additional coconut for MrsK, which we shared.

 

[kookaburra75]

On Thursday, we booked a day tour of the island (Sua Ocean Trench & Aleipata Districts Waterfalls) through the tour company associated with the hotel. There are a few other operators who do the same, but we went with Samoa Holidays and Events as it was an easy option.

There was only MrsK and I and two other guests on the trip. Junior, who was our guide and driver was excellent. As we drove along, he explained the places we saw, as well as the background, including answering questions about history, local culture, family life. It added a lot to the trip. We headed off from Apia, going due south to cross up and over the range in the middle of the island, down to the south coast. We stopped at waterfalls along the way.

Papapapaitai Falls - a bit worried with MrsK's instructions of "just back up a bit further"



Sopoaga Falls

As we were driving around, Junior explained that a lot of the land is community owned and run by the families (good explanation here...). The Sopoaga Falls were operated by a family, with an entry fee (included in our tour). As we were driving past many of the villages, which had the community meeting areas out the front, the Fale, sometimes had graves of people who were considered important. Apparently, if the family owned the land they could do that, otherwise if it was community owned they couldn't.

We continued down to the southern coast, passing through many villages and passing other resorts, and stopped next at To-Sua Ocean Trench. It was a spectacular location. The main sight being the deep swimming hole where the rock had worn away. It was only accessible by climbing down a ladder and jumping off the platform. I went down for a swim, while MrsK waited on the surface.

The grounds above the swimming hole

Me, down swimming in the waterhole - in the top of the photo


MrsK looking east along the coast

 

[kookaburra75]

After our swim, we continued east along the coast to our next stop at LuluLosa Beach. Along the way there were a lot of smaller, family run beach camp areas and cabins - fales. Junior was telling us about the way different families had ownership down to the water's edge and out to sea in places. Some families have restricted fishing to avoid overfishing, which has occurred in some areas. The reef is close into the beach in places, so the number of fish available close to shore is restricted.

A stop along the way

In places along the southern road, some villages have been rebuilt and moved up the hills, as they were impacted by the 2009 earthquake and tsunami. You could see where landslides had covered sections of villages, and where roads had to be rerouted.

We arrived at LuluLosa Beach which was our lunch stop, at the LuluLosa Beach Fales Bar & Grill

LuluLosa Beach, looking towards Nu'utele Isalnd

We had the small fale at the front, and kicked back with lunch (provided), and bought a couple of cold beers from the Bar. I had a swim out a little way, but only about half way to the reef (you can see the breakers). As the coral reef is close in, the sand is covered by pieces of broken coral, but not enough to be a problem. The white sand was perfect for relaxing on. There were a few local and international tourists along the beach.

After an hour break, we headed off east and looped around the eastern end of the island, past the Afulilo Dam and back to our next stop at Piula Cave Pool. It's a natural spring water pool that goes back into the rock for 10 metres or so. I and one of the other guests went for a swim, and while the initial shock of cold water wore off, it was a good swim and wash off the salt.

Piula Cave Pool

We then reluctantly continued on our way, driving westward along the north coast through the many villages. We did a quick stop for supplies at the supermarket near the resort, for beers and wine, just for enjoying out on our balcony.

All in all, it was a great trip. Being only four people makes it easy to change things, and also chat to the driver about what we were seeing, what his life was like, and about the family and culture of Samoa. He said that Covid had hit Samoa very hard, obviously tourism, but a lot of their food and other supplies are shipped in and there were genuine shortages - although not toilet paper. He was very amused when we told him of the run on toilet paper in Australia.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Thanks @kookaburra75 , a great TR.
I went to Samoa 49 years ago and sharing your holiday has planted the seed as a destination for our winter break next year.
Must check out Luxury Escapes.

 

[kookaburra75]

Part of the Luxury Escapes package was a romantic dinner for two, which could be set up below the pool on the edge of the beach. We booked and selected from the food options - having watched several couples over the previous nights in their special high back chairs and tables, watching the sun go down. Unfortunately, on the night we picked, it was blowing a gale and if tried to have dinner down near the beach, we would have been blown away. They set us up under the verandah, outside the Sina's Restaurant where we could enjoy our dinner and wine without being sand blasted. Next time we're there we will try it again.



The next day was our second last day, so we relaxed and enjoyed swims and rests. We had our final drinks out on the open area by the pool, watching the sky change colours as night fell.

Out by the pool


Sunset from our room

 

[kookaburra75]

The final day arrived. We looked out at the view from our balcony one more time (sigh).


Then after breakfast, attended to the work of sorting out what to take home, packing bags, making sure nothing was left behind etc.


Our flight was at 2.45pm, and the transfer bus would leave the resort at noon. That gave us time for one more coughtail in the lobby, before boarding the bus to go out to the airport. We were the only ones on the bus, so we spread out and enjoyed watching the world go past until we got to the airport.

Getting through security and passport control was easy enough, despite it being busy with a few flights. There is a pay-to-use lounge at Apia, but from the reviews and what I could see, it wasn't worth it. We stayed out in the departure area. One trap though. The two bars (downstairs and upstairs) only take cash. and I had used up all my Samoan dollars. Thankfully, I spotted on the counter that they took other currencies, such as Aus, NZ, Fiji dollars, with a reasonable conversion rate. I had Aus $ in my wallet, so we were able to sit back with beer bubbles at least.


We were flying on AirNZ down to Auckland, and then over-nighting at the Novotel Hotel, before picking up QF4 the next morning to get back to Sydney, and then Canberra. I had put in a bid to upgrade to premium economy - minimum bid. Thankfully, it came through, and while it is only a 4 hour flight, the extra leg room and pre-departure bubbles went down well. It was a good flight, on time, friendly and attentive service - although we were leaving!

I didn't pull the camera out for the remainder of the trip, except for a selfie after we had boarded QF4. We chose to stay out at the airport, as we arrived at 6pm local time into Auckland, and ourf flight in the morning was due to depart at 7am. It took at least an hour and a half to get through immigration and quarantine. The queues were massive, as five flights had arrived within a short window of time. It wasn't helped by the building works that are going on, to repair the damage from when the airport was flooded recently.

The Novotel is in a great location for transiting through the airport, and as an Accor Gold, we got the drinks. However, the hotel was packed, with no seats in the restaurant area, but we were able to get two seats at the end of the bar. The food and service was good, and an added extra for entertainment, was a large group of Japanese tourists watching the Japan vs Norway game on the TV. After a good night's sleep, we headed back over to the airport, checked in and cleared border control. We then headed up stairs and I introduced MrsK to the Auckland broom closet aka 1st Class Lounge. It was ok, everything clean and tidy, the usual range of food and drinks, without many people in there.

We then boarded QF4 on time and settled in with pre-departure bubbles.


Most of the people in bus class seemed to have been on the New York leg and stretched out after take-off and slept. It was a good flight, with great service. And all too soon we landed back at Sydney at around 9am on Sunday.

Getting through immigration control was the worst I have seen at Sydney - even worse than the 6am arrival scrum. Maybe it had something to do with flights coming in for the Soccer World Cup. It took well over an hour and half, queuing to get the slip from the machine (we went down to the second set), and then queuing to go through the gates. Collecting our bags was the usual 30 minute wait, but it then took about 45 minutes in the queue to go through quarantine and out into the outside world. I knew we wouldn't make our connecting flight to Canberra, but there were plenty of flights that day and it was up to Qantas to get us on the next flight - something that has happened to me often with no issues.

We go to the Domestic Transfer desk, through security again and they confirmed we would be put on the next flight. However, when we got to the baggage drop off, they claimed they could get us on our original flight, but it would be short. Off we went on the bus, climbed onto the trusty Dash8 and down to Canberra. Waiting at the baggage claim in Canberra we quickly realised that while MrsK's bag had made it, mine hadn't. That started the process of reporting it at the desk, getting the reference number, follow up phone calls to see where my bag was after it didn't turn up when expected, no one seemed to know etc. After a couple of days, it finally rejoined us in Canberra.

 

[kookaburra75]

It's been three and a bit weeks since we got back from our Winter Break. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Samoa and would happily go back.

The people we met were friendly and welcoming. The landscape is spectacular, and we saw a lot of places we'd like to go back and visit. I would highly recommend the day tour we took, to get an idea of other sites on the island. The Samoa Information website is worth a read, as it covers everything in detail and prepares you for the visit.

The Taumeasina Island Resort was perfect for us - relaxing, laid back, warm and had the necessary pool, beach etc. The room was great, large enough, comfortable bed, ocean view, clean and well stocked (and no see-through toilet). As I mentioned up thread, there were kids at the resort, running around the pool and doing kid stuff. The activities staff kept an eye on things, and made sure everyone was ok, as well as running kids' activities to keep them occupied. The resort was also used by the locals, which added to the experience for us.
The food choices were good, but limited - the menus for the Manu Bar, Lapita Restaurant (which you could order from by the pool or bar as well), and Sina's Restaurant give you an idea of the range. We probably would have liked to see more fresh local seafood.
The range of drinks satisfied us. We both had a coughtail or two, I stuck to the local beer (Taula), while MrsK had prosecco or the NZ pinot gris. The bar area could get busy at times, and while the service was friendly and attentive, their system of taking orders at the tables on a docket, going up to a central cashier who would enter the orders into the system, which then printed out a docket for the barmen to make up the drinks could break down. There was a couple of times where the orders went missing, but all I had to do was go up and ask, and they fixed things up. Fishbowl drinks were very popular, and one night I saw they were madly searching for any glass containers big enough to get the coughtails in.
The Spa & Sauna was excellent. MrsK used up a most of the 30 minutes vouchers included in the package, as they could be combined, although there were some of the spa treatments that aren't included, and you must pay for. I used two vouchers for an hour massage, and the masseur managed to get out knots in my muscles I didn't know were there but did feel them pop.
There was a gym - but really!?

On other things:

• Cash, as I noted earlier, there was an ATM at the hotel if you needed cash
• Mobile phone: you could get tourist SIM cards at the hotel desk for the two networks on the island, Digicel or Vodafone. I use Woolies Mobile, and bought a 10 day roaming pack which covered NZ and Samoa for $50 to keep things simple.
• Taxis: there are a lot of taxi companies, although the quality can range from old cars without air conditioning, to modern cars that are more comfortable. We experienced both sorts. The fare into Apia was 10 tala.
• Swimming: we had no issues swimming at the beaches. At the resort they advised on the best times to kayak or take the catamarans out, as there is a tidal current. Swimming from the beach, and down at LuluLosa Beach was easy. The only thing was the bits of broken coral on the sand. I would recommend wearing reef shoes or similar to protect your feet.
• Getting there: Back in Nov 22 there weren't many direct flights, so I chose to go via Auckland, so we could experience the 787. I used points for the CBR-SYD-AKL return in J, and then paid flights in Y on AirNZ to get to Apia. We had an overnight in each direction, as it wasn't possible to line up flights, plus give us a buffer. Now Virgin and Qantas fly direct to Apai on certain days of the week, but the arrival and departure times for Qantas via Brisbane, look horrendous. Virgin via Sydney looks a lot more civilised.

We aren't sure when we get back, as we have a few family events next year. We would certainly stay at the Resort again, although just for a few days to get our bearings. There were other resorts we drove past that looked interesting on the south coast (Saletoga Sands Resort & Spa, Seabreeze Resort), as well as the family fales. Another option would be to rent a house up in the hills and hire a car to get around the place ourselves. The roads, while narrow and rough in places were ok. There's also the other island Savai'i to check out as well. So many things to see and do.