Day 16 - 10/18/22 - Apia, Samoa

 Finally, after 5 days at sea after leaving Hawaii, we reached Apia, Samoa.  We had a good sleep and I didn't wake up until 7:30am to prepare for my day.  At this point it appeared we were docked.   During the waiting process for the ship to be cleared, the Captain came on the PA and commented that we had made two approaches to the harbor due to the wind.  I could see three tugs standing by at ready when I was eating breakfast.  When I went out on the aft of deck nine (Lido), there was a very brisk wind blowing.  

Our tour group met in the Ocean Bar on Deck 3 and waited for our leader, Penny, who was exchanging money with the money changer who was brought on board.  The ship was cleared shortly after 8 but it wasn't until around 8:30 when she showed up after getting local currency.  We requested that our tour driver make a stop in town so several more of us could get local currency.  We headed off the ship, and the port required that we wear masks in the port area.  I should note that we are the first cruise ship to visit Apia since the pandemic began and the country went into lockdown.  This will likely be the case as we make our way through the various islands on our way to Australia.

The ship was greeted by a large band, and there was a large craft market set up next to the ship.  Our group made its way out of the port area and easily found our driver and tour guides for the day and paid our $135/pp tour fee in US$.  The tour company was called Tour Samoa and we were issued very colorful lanyards with our credentials to be able to visit the various stops on our tour.    We really liked the lanyards, but at the end of the day, they wanted $20US for them which was too much.

None of us were interested in visiting the local market, so To & Elijah (our guides) first took us to a local viewpoint and to a local money changer.  Four of us wanted to exchange currency, but there was a long line.  When I finally got to the window, to change $20US, I had to show a driver's license and the clerk had to enter it into a computer.  When that was done, I received $55.40 in local currency (TALA).  It worked out that the exchange rate was about $3 tala less than the actual rate.  When I asked To about why all of the paperwork just to change $20, he said new anti-money laundering laws recently went into effect which required more paperwork.

After the currency exchange was complete, we headed out of town to the Robert Lewis Stevenson Museum.  The Museum is located in the house that Stevenson lived in for the last 4 years of his life.  I didn't know this, but he was a sickly man all his life and died in his early 40's of a stroke.  In any event the "house" (quite large), was sold to new owners after his death and occupied by the Germans who governed the island until their defeat in World War One.  The New Zealanders then occupied the house for many years.  In 1990 and 1991 the house was severely damaged by two cyclones and left to decay for many years.  A wealthy Mormon businessman bought the place and provided the very substantial funding to restore the house and acquire artifacts to display within it. It's well curated, and we had guides that explained each of the rooms.  What I found very interesting was that Stevenson had his own bedroom, his wife her own bedroom, his mother her own, and a grandson, his own.  Stevenson and his wife had a window between their rooms through which they could communicate.  Also interesting was that Stevenson's bed was the most simple single bed, his wife's was a much more elegant double bed, and his mother's was a very large queen sized canopy bed.  When Stevenson died, he had two requests:  Bury me wearing my boots, and bury me on top of the nearby mountain.  So they did.  

The grounds are beautiful and worthy of a longer visit to explore, but we didn't have time.  We continued on up the mountain road and back down to the south or east side of the island.  There were many colorful villages we passed by and schools were definitely in session with school children all dressed in their respective school colors.  There are also many churches of all denomination and variety with a large number of Mormon or Latter Day Saints structures of similar design.  Some only had a Samoan name on the outside, but the majority had the English wording.

Along the way we visit the Bahai temple (one of only 7 in the world.  It has beautiful grounds and a very imposing domed structure with very clean architectural lines.  Continuing on our journey we finally reach the Vavau Beach for snorkeling.  It's a very pretty beach but it was very windy and there was a lot of current.  I was the only one who went in and snorkeled.  It was rather shallow, the water was very clear, but the currents were extremely strong in multiple directions.  I saw a few fish and some live coral, but it wasn't worth staying in the water.  We packed up the van and headed off to Le Sua.  It turned out that we had visited this location in 2016 and loved the snorkeling in the lava tubes.  But we weren't able to snorkel this day.  Bummer.  I even commented to To that we should have come here to snorkel and skipped the beach stop.  He said he would pass on my comments.

In any event, we enjoyed a cultural singing and dance presentation and we all got to weave our plate for the lunch out of palm fronds.  It was a pretty cool activity.and eliminated the need for paper plates.  The lunch was grilled chicken, a sausage, a ceviche like dish, salad, a small piece of bread and coleslaw.  We washed it down with some nice lemonade.  

Back on the bus we headed back to the ship along the east shore.  Along the way I was contacted by a friend who lives in Apia of our Tukwila, WA Pastor.  Samuel really wanted to meet us.  So I computed what time I thought we would be at the Catholic Cathedral (3:30pm) and gave him a description of what we looked like.  We arrived at the Cathedral on time and after visiting it briefly, we made text contact and we waited for him behind the church while the rest of our group went on back to the ship.  I didn't know what he looked like and we expected to have to walk the 15-20 minutes back to the ship.  Suddenly this light grey police crew cab pickup swerves off the street into a parking area in front of us.  A man yells out my name and opens the door.  He's a big man and introduces himself and I quickly learn that Samuel is the Deputy Commissioner of the Police in Apia (second in command).  He was the best man in our Pastor's wedding and he also served 2 years on the UN police force in New York City. We had a nice but brief chat, and I noted that we needed to leave to walk back to the ship.  He was having none of that!  We were ordered into the back seat of the truck, and Samuel's driver (or bodyguard (like he needed one)), drove us back to the port.  We didn't even slow down at the entry gate.  The guards just waved us through.  As we approached where we needed to pass through Port Security, I said we need to stop here.  But they were having nothing of that either!  We drove past that area and pulled into a covered parking parking area next to the port police office.  We took documentary selfies, and shared affectionate goodbyes.  What a way to come back to the ship:  in a police car with the Assistant Chief of Police.  That's my story and I'm sticking with it. My criminal record is still clean, but we really came back to the ship in a police car.

       

Back on board just after 4pm with a 4:30pm requirement, we changed into drier clothes.  The Captain came on the PA system with his customary departure message except this time he said that the Staff Captain would be handling the departure and that we would leave the dock with the use of the wind, set up for the exit straight ahead, and the Staff Captain would push the throttle levers full ahead to counter act the wind coming from our starboard side.  We were pointed out to sea.  As a precaution, two tugs were alongside.  With three long blasts of the ship's horn, we began the maneuver which was executed flawlessly.  Very little ship's side thrust was used because of the strong wind; and once we were in position, we fairly quickly accelerated in a straight line into a setting sun and open seas ahead.  

We joined Erik and Marilyn in the Lido Pool area for dinner and a chance to compare notes from the day.  Their biggest disappointment was the lack of WIFI at McDonalds.  Our T-Mobile service worked well all over the island.  There are two carriers here: Vodaphone and Digicelll.  Dinner tonight was a Samoan theme and I really enjoyed the Samoan banana tapioca pudding for dessert.  

Angela and I went to see Paul Sepien perform his 7pm show which was essentially rock & roll themed music.  He's good and played Amazing Grace on the flute as a tribute to Ukraine.  Afterwards, we didn't want to attend the Majority Rules game show and Billboard Onboard is off tonight.  So I came up to the Lido to write my blog while Angela lounged in the room. 

And so ended our short stay in Apia, Samoa.  It's a worthy stop and we've enjoyed both of our visits.  We have a sea day tomorrow before reaching our first port in Fiji, Suva.  We'll be there for two days.