South Pacific Part 2
Western Samoa
Throughout much of the South Pacific we decided to steer clear of excursions offered by the ship, and we decided to find our own tours through Viator and Trip Advisor. In Western Samoa we booked our town tour with a few other couples from the ship. We stepped out of the ship in the port of Apia and walked through some very cool carved wooden totem poles to meet our guide for the day. He was an Australian expat who had been living in Western Samoa for the past 30 years - not a bad gig.
Our first stop was to Papapapaitai Waterfall which was impressively tall. We simply pulled off the side of the road and viewed it from across a verdant canyon. Western Samoa was the most pristine and untouched place we went. There was so much natural beauty, and most of the houses were simple open air huts. Our next stop took us to To Sua Ocean Trench, which is like a cenote. This saltwater swimming hole/trench is about 40 feet below ground level so you have to climb backwards down a steep ladder to gain access - not for the faint of heart. Once inside the swimming hole we could appreciate its connectivity to the ocean. Underwater lava tubes connect the swimming hole to the ocean, which gives it a strong current as the tide pushes water in and pulls water out. The current is so strong that there’s a rope that’s been installed in the trench to grab on to so you don’t get sucked towards the cave that leads out to the ocean. It was a beautiful spot, but we saw it on a day after the tides had churned up the water so it didn’t appear as pristine and clear blue as it normally does.
After climbing out of the ocean trench we were rewarded with some fresh papaya and mango, and I learned how to eat a rambutan fruit. Once you get past the scary peel they’re so delicious. We continued driving around the island, and Ashley and I ended up riding in the bed of a pick up truck, and we were pretty happy to be in the open air, wind in our hair. Our Australian friend brought us to Lalomano Beach, a perfectly picturesque tropical beach with white sand and adorable beach huts. As we were pulling into the beach area we saw some words spray painted on rocks; one said, “Blessings 2019,” the other said, “Sam SS.’ We took this to mean our luck had flipped for the better after we returned the snatched lava rocks to their rightful place. We lounged on the beach for a couple hours before we headed over to Falefa Falls for a picnic lunch next to the river. The foliage that surrounded us was so abundant, and we were mesmerized by the vivid yellows, fuchsias, and greens.
We finished up the day in another swimming hole, this time a fresh water cave. The water was much cooler as it was spring fed instead of coming from the ocean. It was a small pool near the entrance to a cave that you could swim right into. We paddled around the refreshingly cool water and continued into the dark cave until we came to the end. It conveniently had a few seats carved into the rocks at the back of the cave where we could take a rest and marvel at the pitch blackness of our surroundings. We could still see the entrance of the cave letting some light in, but otherwise it looked like we were floating in black water. We sat for a few minutes, listened to the water drip off the ceiling, and smelled the damp stone walls. Finally we were ready for daylight again and swam out of the cave to greet the sun.
Tonga
We kept our day simple in Tonga by getting together with some friends from the ship and hiring a car and driver right outside the port. I had originally wanted to hire a moped and see that island that way, but Ashley quickly put the kibosh on that idea after reading trip advisor reviews about the dangers of riding mopeds in Tonga. If there is information pertaining to the dangers of an activity, Ashley will find it and read it out loud to me. Safely in our vehicle with four wheels, our driver took us first to see a massive boulder full of fossilized corals that was several kilometers from the ocean. The legend goes that Maui (the folk hero) was angry at a crowing rooster so he picked up the boulder from the sea and threw it at the rooster far inland. Either that or a tsunami brought it up on shore many 1000s of years ago, take your pick. I’m with Maui on this one, roosters just don’t know when to stop.
We then got see one of the longest stretches of blow holes in the world, which was poetically timed with the tide to bring about thunderous crashes all along the shore. It was quite a spectacle as the water splashed in synchrony.
Our driver wanted us to see Haʻamonga ʻa Maui which is said to be the “Stonehenge of the South Pacific” It’s a coral limestone megalith with two upright sides supporting a stone beam at the top. It’s dated back to 1200 CE and it makes you wonder how they moved and carved these massive stones back then. We learned that Tongan Kings used to use the monument as a throne. Near the monument were some small shops and we got to see a group of women making tapa cloth, which is a papery cloth made from bark. They were all singing in unison and slapping the cloth against the table in rhythm with their singing.
Finally our driver brought us to a beach where we could relax after learning a bit of history about the island. Down where the gentle tide came to the shore there were thousands of miniature hermit crabs the size a pencil eraser wandering about. We had fun watching them and scooping them up in our hands. After a while our driver deposited us back to the port, we explored on foot for a bit. We wandered by the Royal Palace which still houses the royal Tongan family so it’s not open to the public. During our walk a black pot bellied pig started following us making grunting sounds. I think he thought we would feed him, but he was oinking up the wrong tree. Thankfully he wandered away as we looped back into the port, I don’t think ship security would be too pleased if we came back with a pet.
Fiji
Our Ship had two ports of call in Fiji, the first stop was Suva, the capital. We had booked a snorkeling excursion since our guides in Moorea told us Fiji had some of the best snorkeling in the world. We drove about an hour away from Suva with an entertaining guide, named Joe. He told us how Fijians used to be cannibals but of course they’re not any more. Apparently they ate the first missionary who showed up to convert the “heathens” to christianity - probably served him right. However, the subsequent missionaries did succeed, as the majority of Fijians practice Christianity now. It has been interesting to see churches throughout the world, and to see how they take on different architectural patterns. We saw several open air churches throughout the South Pacific, and the lack of walls and loud singing was a juxtiposition against the dark churches we’ve seen through Europe and at home. All of the Fijians we encountered seemed to be very warm and joyful people, nearly everyone we encountered offered us a friendly, “Bula!” - it’s a word with a variety of meanings, used as a greeting it literally means wishing you happiness and good health.
We finally arrived at the location where we would take a boat to a reef. Ashley was very gracious to agree to snorkel so many times throughout this leg of the trip. I used to keep a saltwater aquarium and grow corals so I am fascinated see fish and corals in the wild, especially ones I used to keep in my tank. Ashley is of a mind to not go into the shark’s lair aka the ocean. Fortunately one of our guides was smitten with her blue eyes - who isn’t? And he offered to hold her hand while snorkeling since this was a deeper site. She was grateful to have a snorkel buddy who would stay with her since I’m usually diving under the water to get a better look at a coral or getting distracted by a school of fish and swimming off. I had never seen so many soft corals before, and this was one of the healthiest reefs we had been on, it was stunningly beautiful. We enjoyed a few beers on our boat ride back to Suva while we chatted with our snorkel guide. He showed us an island in the distance where they filmed Castaway.
We had a few more hours to explore Suva so we wandered through the open air market near the port. There were some familiar foods and some unfamiliar ones, from hot chilies to parrot fish. Not wanting to be tardy for our departure we hopped back on the ship and watched the happenings of the port from the back deck of our ship. We watched a crew skillfully unload a boat full of massive tuna into the market, and we watched an isolated thunderstorm assail a nearby island - thankfully not the one we were on!
The next day we woke up in Lautoka on the opposite side of Fiji. We decided to treat ourselves this day and booked a yacht to a private beach club island where we could lounge like pros. The boat brought us to a long jetty that led to an amazingly beautiful island. It was surrounded by shallow clear water, and you could see bright corals and fish just from looking down off the dock. We had full access to an infinity pool, restaurant/bar, lounge chairs, stand up paddle boards, kayaks, and snorkeling. We were in hog heaven. We planned to relax by the pool all day and have tropical drinks brought to us, but it turns out we just aren’t the sit-by-the-pool-and-do-nothing types. After all, we could do that on the ship any day. After a dip in the pool we took to the ocean, me on a stand up paddle board, Ashley in a kayak.
We paddled out past the shallows were the reef dropped off and water turned deep blue. I couldn’t believe how much coral I could see from the stand up paddle board, I returned it to the beach to exchange it for my mask and snorkel. Ashley joined me for a bit of snorkeling and swam back to shore after a while. I popped my head up to look around for her and saw her on shore waving at me. Seeing that she was safely on shore, I waved then dunked my head underwater again marveling at all the tiny creatures I could spot among the reef. About 20 minutes later I swam to shore and Ashley anxiously greeted me at the water’s edge, “Did you not notice me waving at you?” I told her I had seen her wave and thought it was fine to continue snorkeling. She said, “I was trying to tell you there was a shark in the water!” My eyes got big, “What!?” She explained how while she was snorkeling she looked to her left and saw a shark that was much bigger than herself and much bigger than the sharks we intentionally swam with in Tahiti. She got out of the water as fast as possible and tried to alert me, but her wave did little to convey that I was swimming near a shark! “In the future, this means shark,” I placed my hand vertically on top of my head like a dorsal fin. We’ve since worked on our snorkeling sign language.
Grateful that we had escaped the clutches of death-by-shark yet again, we stayed out of the water for the rest of the day. We found a lonely hammock slung between some shady palm trees and we called it our own for the rest of the afternoon. We were loathe to leave, but we had to get back on the boat that would return us to mainland Fiji. One of the boat crew, Mike chatted with us on our way back, and Ashley told him about her shark encounter. He said, “Oh don’t worry, sharks here don’t bite, and if they do it’s only a bula bite.” Yeah. Right. That should be their tourism slogan. Ashley took it upon herself to research shark bites in Fiji later that night and it turned out that someone lost an arm from a shark bite about 2 months before we were there, is that what they call a bula bite!?
We absolutely adored Western Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji, and if we ever get an opportunity to go back we would jump at the chance. These South Pacific islands are among the most remote places we’ve been, and we’ve learned that rewards are usually found off the well worn path. Until next time, bula!