Sunday was a busy, fun day. We started with 8am service at the Catholic Church about a 20 minute walk around the bay, then took a tour of the eastern side of the island.
The day started out beautiful in Apia.
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John and Malo walking the embankment surrounding the bay.
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Our view to the catholic church on our morning walk.
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The catholic church we attended was absolutely beautiful. It is in my top 5 of beautiful churches that we have ever visited - and we have visited a lot around the world! When we walked in the choir was already singing - the sound was unbelievably beautiful. It was hard not to tear up!
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I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures or video during the service, so we took some afterwards. Here is Moses standing in front of the alter.
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The ceiling was made of beautifully carved wood, there was a huge organ in the back wall
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and the stained glass all around - amazing!
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The guys in their sarongs - or "lavalava", as they are called here in Western Samoa.
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Taula was our driver for the day. Neat guy! He had lived in the US for many years - fishing the coast from San Diego to Astoria, so we had lots to talk about!
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Our first stop was on one of the highest points of the island at the Bahai'i House of Worship. The temple is very unique in that it is one of only 8 in the world. Each temple is unique except for being domed and having 9 sides and 9 entrances. The inside of the temple is very simple, just rows of benches, and a podium in front. The religion started in Iran 100's of years before Judaism and Christianity.
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The grounds were well kept and beautiful.
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Next stop - Papapapai-uta Waterfall.
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It is a 100m plunge to the bottom.
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After the waterfall we continued south and out of the mountains down to ocean level once again, where we found more wind and cloudy/rainy conditions. We stopped at a beautiful resort to take in the views.
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The property was beautiful, and all newly rebuilt, as a cyclone had devastated the resort a couple of years ago.
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The buildings at the resort follow the traditional Samoan style.
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As we drove along the road we saw many fales - a typical home for most Samoans. I didn't want to stop and take a picture straight on of one of them, it felt a little too intrusive, so instead I took a drive-by photo. Most fales are simply a floor, and surrounding posts to support the roof. That's it. No walls - just open to the world. For privacy, they hang a sheet of some sort. Although in a sense it is practical - because it keeps them cooler in the hot summer than a closed in cement house with tin roof, but it is also the only structure most Samoans can afford. Typical wage is equivalent of $1 US dollar an hour, hardly enough to subsist on.
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We stopped for lunch at a backpackers resort in the far SE corner of the island, Lalomanu. It was a typical Samoan spread - and very similar to Fijian buffets with taro, roro, raw tuna in coconut milk, and suckling pig. The guys really enjoyed the familiar chow!
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This was our view to the east - it is suppose to be one of the best spots on the island to snorkel, but since it was very windy and trying to rain, we all decided to opt out of the snorkeling option.
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And a view to the west with backpacker fales to the right. This area of the coast was devastated by a tsunami in 2009. Hundreds of people in the villages and resorts were killed and villages completely destroyed. Since much of this area butts up against an extremely steep hillside, stone and gravel ramps have been built into the side of the hills at various locations for people to evacuate to if another one ever happens again - and that's assuming the people can be warned in time. There is no tsunami warning sirens like we have along our US coast line.
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A very cute backpacker fale with solid walls.
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Our last major stop was called 'The Trench' - an area that overlooked the ocean to the south.
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And just a few hundred yards from the ocean - the actual Trench - a natural swimming pool down in the massive rocks. We watched for awhile as people took turns jumping off the high walls and into the drink.
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And finally back to the marina - like I said - Moses loves to be in the picture! Good thing he is very photogenic!
Yesterday (Monday) was a very productive day. John and the guys finalized the installation of the new watermaker, they tracked down some extra fuel filters for our diesel engines, and I defrosted 2 freezers and prepared some passage meals.
Today we are going to take in the cultural show downtown, and if we have time, head up to the Robert Louis Stevenson museum. We are still looking at tomorrow (Wednesday) as a possible departure day.
And that's all for now!
Lisa