samoa #1- Savai'i

Time to start the Samoan adventure! Albums for the two islands, Savai'i and 'Upolu, are to the right. It's been a lifetime dream to go to Samoa, where my dad served in the Peace Corps in '67-'68 (Western Samoa then). Growing up with siapo (tapa - bark cloth prints) in the house and my dad daily (rather nightly) in a lava lava (unisex sarong), I just had to see it for myself. With my sister's cheap winter ticket to New Zealand she could choose a free stopover, so naturally we chose Samoa and I decided to meet her. Though her stopover was only 3 days (she met me on the 11th) I spent a full week and went over to Savai'i (the big island) for the first three days.

I began my journey by boarding a jam-packed 8am holiday weekend ferry from Mulifanua wharf on 'Upolu, just after arriving around 6am Saturday. (Father's Day is a public holiday, with Monday off, and it just happened to be my Sat-Mon weekend in Savai'i.) It's a big struggle just to board, as a crowd like a european soccer mob is funneled down a narrow gauntlet about two-wide with ceiling high metal bars. Once aboard there's not a seat to be found unless you were one of the lucky first 100. I found a cool deck spot to stand the whole way (a slice of heaven compared to the return trip).

Upon arrival, it's another competition to board buses for other parts of island. I spotted the one I would go for from the ferry deck and joined the mob, working my way toward the front this time. I landed a spot on a bus to Manase on the north coast. I was travelling without reservations for the week, so just hoped for the best, seeing that Manase had a few fale options (rows of huts on the beach - Samoa's budget accomodation, but truly the BEST).

Samoa's buses are colorful old clunkers with wooden seats and blast Samoan pop music over big speakers on the boa-bordered dashboard. It makes the whole bus vibrate (drowning out the sound of the struggling motor) and they don't leave until they're abosolutely packed. Locals give up their seats for foreigners and everyone and their luggage is piled high on laps - four to a seat and dozens in the aisles. This is how we rode for the 1.5 hours to Manase! (yes, that's my forehead, I threw up the camera to sneak a quick shot)

I arrived in beautiful Manase before lunch and settled into my fale (check out the album for details). This was my favorite village, as the fales I stayed at were right in the middle of town and I met a bunch of locals on Father's day when I went to the special service and celebration at the church. 

I was even gifted my own lolly necklace, which I will pass on to my dad. I enjoyed ice cream at the big community dining fale before heading back to Salelologa the next day. Dinner and breakfast were included with my fale fee ($28/night), so I met the other guests, mostly kiwi + one aussie I would run into later in Apia. We had a great time, consumed plenty of Vailima (Samoa's "very own beer") and enjoyed the warm hospitality of the family running the fales. Sleeping in a fale is a dream, with the breeze filtering through the woven coconut-palm-frond blinds, which you raise and lower to your liking. I needed a week at this place alone, but alas, moved on.

Though no bus ever came on the holiday (locals thought ONE would come, at least to meet the ferry), I managed to flag down a passing van and tag on to a resort transfer back to the port of Salelologa. Chris, the driver, dropped me at Lusia's Lagoon fales after letting the ferry folks go and asked if I'd come with him to Afu-A-Au falls, his usual Sunday swim. (He tells his boss he's taking the long way around the island back and goes swimming instead every week.) I agreed and he picked me up a half hour later. We stopped at the fale at the head of the road to the falls where you usually pay a small admission fee (villages collect this because it's their property). But the guys in the fale let us know it was a new rule not to swim there on Sundays -- it's a special place and it was believed swimming there on Sundays caused the 2009 tsunami. The younger boys at the fale offered to show us another swimming hole down the road (a less influential spot, I guess), so they jumped in the van, and off I went to swim in some unknown jungle location with 3 strange Samoan boys.

Chris dropped me at Lusia's lagoon afterwards (but not before asking if I wanted a Samoan boyfriend). We'd discovered his SJC tatoo - the high school where my dad taught: St Joseph's College (St Jo's), so that was a fun connection. Lusia's had amazing fales on stilts over water, 'loosely' constructed with driftwood. I enjoyed stargazing from my deck (Perseid meteor shower) and a fantastic sunrise. That's the ferry coming to whisk me back to 'Upolu. . . but not before one last magical day on Savai'i!

On my final day I decided to climb Pulemelei Mound (aka Tia Sue ancient mound, but locals just call it the pyramid). It's the largest ancient platform structure in Polynesia - use unknown (view from on top - L). Continuing my taxi friendships, the driver who quoted 60 tala said, "for you, 20" when I got out. I credit our chat -- I got in the habit of sitting in the front seat and striking up good conversation with drivers, usually mentioning Dad and trying to pull out their expertise about the island (or learning they used to play rugby for auckland). An old plantation road forms 1/2 of the 3km track to the pyramid, then there's a bit a bush-whacking. A couple signs ensure you stay on track and a smart sign under a coconut tree warns not to linger in the shade (unless you want a big headache).-it just says WATCH OUT!

On the hike out I got to the stream crossing and noticed a guy with a machete on the other side. I walked up and talked to him, hoping that wasn't his method of collecting the admission to the pyramid (I had the tip to pay at Afu-A-Au falls fale, if anywhere). So, I kept the conversation to coconuts and left him, promising to give the guys at the fale some tala. That was just down the road. I greeted the guys at the fale (same ones from the day before) and started walking up a long road to the falls (now open - not Sunday).

This is the magical Afu-A-Au (aka Olemoe) Falls. Had a wonderful swim, jumped off that 10-ft rock you see at the right (all objects are larger than they appear), and thoroughly enjoyed floating about. Around noon I thought I'd better make tracks toward the ferry, since my "plan" was to catch some unidentified bus (hopefully existent, though), then pack up and walk to the port from the lagoon fales.

When I got out to the main road I lucked out and a bus came within 5 min. I hopped on and was soon offered the front seat between the driver and an older gentleman. We cruised down the road to the blasting tunes and I asked if I could be dropped at Lusia's after he unloaded at the ferry. He promised to, but we loitered at the ferry terminal forever, talking to his local friends, making change, buying food. Of course this was all fine with me when he jumped on the bus with a coconut for me with a straw in it - ah, lunch! Fresh coconut milk is divine! (note his strawless method, above, not to mention bus decorations)

I made it back to Lusia's with just enough time to throw my stuff in my pack and walk to the ferry (and take a pic with my new friends, coconut in hand - R). It was a madhouse - even more crowded than the way over. I waited for the masses to board before making my way down the gauntlet with my pack. But then the gates shut! (So this is why they push their way on.) I continued my laid-back approach to the trip and resolved to take the small ferry at 4pm. Soon after I sat down they reopened the gates (apparenly there is no limit to how many people they will take) and I got on. It was sweltering until we shoved off, almost an hour later. I found a small patch of floor in an aisle to sit on -- all seats and floor space were filled to the max. A woman named Sina shared her fan with me and during the crossing offered to take me home with her in Apia! Samoans are very open about inviting strangers into their home at no charge. I totally would have gone, but I had already confused the hostel in town so much (cancelling my first night, then rebooking to this night), I thought I'd better make good on my paid room (my only reservation since originally I was to arrive at 1am). Also, it was the meeting place for my sister and a bit late to change that with her already en route.

Sina was great, though, and got us on a packed bus to Apia no problem (I probably wouldn't have attempted it with all the people already hanging out the windows for lack of space). I was even allowed further back on the bus with a local pulling me along. Quite fun! She got off well before me, so it probably was wise not to be that far out of town.

That's it for Savai'i! 'Upolu adventures continue in next post . . .

northland

Just returned from a drenched few days in Northland (the arm of the north island stretching northwest from Auckland). I tacked on a couple days ahead of an Auckland conference and rented a car just to see how far north I could get. Though it had to be the wettest week ever, it aided me in making it all the way to Cape Reinga, not being distracted by dry sunny beaches along the way that are the culprit of the wayward vacationer to these parts.

This is Cape Reinga at the north tip of the north island where the Tasman Sea meets the south Pacific Ocean in a flurry of crashing waves and currents. There's even a color change in the water, not discernible above in my wind and water-soaked photo. Obviously I was the only one crazy enough to venture down the path to the lighthouse on the cape in this storm so had to take my own photo. But this became the theme of my loop north -- getting everything to myself (thanks to the foul weather). I drove up the east coast and down the west coast - weaving through ancient kauri forests and small coastal towns.

On the way north I was sure to hold it until Kawakawa, so I could have the privilege of relieving myself in the Hundertwasser toilets. Wow, it's been almost 20 years since seeing my first Hundertwasser in Germany -- I hadn't realized he passed much of his late life in New Zealand (1973-2000).

I did get a few hours of dry weather on the east coast. I hiked to the top of the hill in Matauri Bay where the memorial to the Rainbow Warrior stands (and had it all to myself). After the unrepairable damage from French secret service explosives that rocked the ship 25 years ago, it was decided to sink the vessel off a remote section of Northland coast, where it now provides a rich marine reef environment + popular dive site. 

Other sites on the east coast I explored: Waitangi (Bay of Islands + Treaty of Waitangi site), Matai Beach (Karikari Peninsula, where much of The Piano was filmed), and a good loop of being lost somewhere south of Whangarei. Occasional cows in the road slowed my journey to the northern tip a bit, but between that and the occasional rain-washed landslide into the road, I wasn't taking the driving too quickly anyway (though I am now an accomplished left-side driver). Below is the beach where I had my own personal landslide down a muddy path - change of clothes #1, day #1.

Not only was I drenched and disheveled outside the car, I also had my own personal interior waterfall when I pulled over in Omapere to take a photo of the enormous sand dunes across the harbour. A car whizzed by, plowing through a swimming pool-sized puddle next to my car and sent an ocean wave inside, soaking me (and everything in the front seat) completely. After an hour of nearly drying off, I got to the Waipoua Kauri Forest and soaked myself again hiking to the Kauri trees. But, I got these giants all to myself! Below is Te Matua Ngahere (the Father of the Forest) weighing in with a 16.4m girth - the widest living Kauri. He's not as tall as Tane Mahuta (51m), the 1,200-2,000-year-old Kauri regarded as the forest god, but Te Matua Ngahere seems in better health. These are very sensitive trees with shallow roots and these native forests have a rough road ahead with the many invasive species threatening their destruction.

I stayed in Kohukohu on the west coast my second night (after dropping in on a GP and nurse from Klamath Falls, OR in Kaitaia, north of Kohukohu). Kohukohu is on the Hokianga Harbour and retains many of the buildings of the early Pakeha settlement. My hostel was literally a tree house just out of town. It was fantastic -- got the whole 'dorm' building to myself, kitchen upstairs, outdoor bathrooms below. I started the next day bright & early, catching the car ferry across Hokianga Harbour. I took the indoor car wash soon after that, but did reward myself with a flat white to try to start the day off right again!

Other gems along the way were a few nifty museums: Scottish settlers at Waipu, the Dargaville Museum with it's amazing accordion collection and 25th anniversary tribute to the Rainbow Warrior, and the Kauri Museum with stories of ancient swamp kauri, gumdiggers and a crazy amount and variety of kauri gum objects.

Okay, I've squeezed as much as I can out of that accordion. I'm now on my way to Samoa for the week, where I will meet my sister Wednesday and we'll begin our adventure . . . will try my best to blog on the road!