My second home

As a child, I had a best friend who visited an exotic far off place in the South Pacific called Samoa.
She and her family came home from their holiday changed people. I remember sitting for hours listening to their stories of this magical, untouched place.
Year after year, they would return to Samoa, bringing home more and more things home which ended up with their home authentically decorated like a traditional Samoan 'fale' (grass, open walled hut) with tapa cloths, wooden carvings, ava (kava) bowls and countless other things.


When I was 10, she and her family moved away. One of the last things she said to me was "Promise me you'll go to Samoa one day!" I promised I would.

18 years later at the local shopping centre, I heard my name called. I looked around and saw my old childhood friend racing toward me. 2 hours later and 1/2 a dozen coffees between us, I found out that not only was she still going back to Samoa every year but she and her brother and sister had all married Samoans! Perhaps they ran out of souvenirs..

It was that day that I made up my mind. I was going.

The following year on the 10th of September, my daughter and I flew out of Tullamarine airport on our way to fulfill my 24 year old dream.

At the airport ready to leave.

Nothing could have prepared me for the beauty of not only the island, but the people there as well stole my heart. Within days, I had made friendships that will last forever, created memories that will last a lifetime.


Our friends Alofa, Peisi, Alfata and Nive

We spent the most of our holiday in the big island of Savaii in a small village called Manase. My daughter and I would eat our breakfast of tropical fruit, eggs and hand made bread with our newfound friends and she would take off for the rest of the day - only coming back to our little hut for food and water. She spent her time with the children of the village learning the language and the culture and would come back at the end of the day with so much to tell.


I taught her to snorkel in the warm waters amongst the schools of tropical fish swimming around us. We learnt that the coconut has so many purposes there. Not just for its meat and milk, but also for crafts, weaving and many other things. I learnt that the milk of an immature coconut is actually fizzy and is the milk of the gods. Nothing like drinking a huge coconut full of sparkling milk on a balmy tropical day!

Drinking coconuts at Marketi Fou - Apia

We swam in a crystal clear freshwater lagoon fed by an absolutely breathtaking waterfall. We climbed a huge banyan tree which towered over the canopy of a rainforest and looked down on the world from the heavens.

Waterfall on the island of Upolu

We experienced the thrill of standing next to the largest blowhole in the world and threw coconuts into which shot 50 feet into the air. We went swimming with turtles and had a great time holding onto their shells and being pulled along in the water.


Blow Holes
Swimming with the turtles

I even managed to have a bit of a holiday romance while I was there! His name was Isaako (Isaac in Palagi (white man) language) and he was absolutely divine!

Isaako

Time stood still for me on this little island in the middle of the South Pacific. I'd look at the other tourists and wonder why they looked and acted like tourists in a place that I felt like home. I believe it's because Samoa's not my choice for a holiday. It's my second home.

End of the day in paradise

We returned again exactly one year later and will do so again this year and for many years to come!