I arrived at Faleola airport at night and was picked up by Olivia's hostel. I took cash out of the atm and was shocked by the extortionate banks fees. It took an hour to get to my hostel as the driver was really slow. Lucy at the hostel helped me book an island tour but unfortunately it was a private tour so was super expensive. Luckily for me I met a girl at breakfast who was happy to join me on the tour. That brought the price down and I had company for a change. Livi was a 20 year old kiwi and Samoa was only her second trip overseas. Our guide and her assistant Lina collected us at 9am and our first stop was the cave pools at Pula. We headed down and took many photos and we were the only ones there. I saw the pool but couldn't see why it was called the cave pools as there were no caves. At one point I said I bet we're swimming in someone's private pool. We happily swam for at least 20 mins when someone yelled out excuse me...you're not allowed to swim in there. It's the fish pool. Well we felt stupid and embarrassed and we sheepishly got out and walked to the correct pool. Now we could see the cave and it was a fresh water pool as well. This caused a lot of laughs with our guides. They said nobody has ever done that before. Our next stop was Fulela waterfall. It was set in beautiful gardens. One thing that stands out about this Pacific island is how colourful it is. Their gardens and houses and fales are vibrant. The island of Upolu is clean and well maintained. The islanders are proud of their homes and show it off. At every beach or waterfall stop there is an entrance fee which tourists have to pay as we are on their land. The fees are nominal and that's how the locals make their money. Our next stop was Lalomanu beach which is one of the best beaches I have ever seen. The water was so clear and the waves were amazing. Apart from a few locals and tourist couple we had the beach to ourselves.
Then lunch stop was at a nearby beach. We ordered fish and chips but funnily enough they said they were out of fish where I pointed to the sea right next to us. We were offered chicken and chips instead. There's a whole ocean and they ran out of fish. The highlight of the day has to be our visit to to Sua trench. I saw the photos of this place and it looked interesting and the water or pool looked really inviting. It wasn't until I actually saw it that I got a little nervous. The ladder going down looked sturdy enough but it was very steep and had lots of steps. It is recommended to not use flip flops to go down the ladder. So I took it off but I was determined to take my bag with me. As we syched ourselves to head down and group of people started to come up. Ten minutes later I started my descent. I just felt extremely tense the whole way down. After my long cycle ride on Moorea my left knee had been playing up. Let's just say it didn't help climbing this ladder. Finally I was down but you had to swing left or right to step onto the platform so l could put my bag down and also get a minute breather just to calm down. When I decided to get into the water it was cold and as soon as I let go off the ladder the current pulled me away. The people in the pool holding onto the ropes told me to grab a rope immediately so I had to swim hard the opposite way to grab the nearest rope. Pretty tense moment again. I finally relaxed when I realised my feet could touch the ground. We spent over an hour being dragged from left to right depending on the current and swaying on the ropes. By the end the whole trench was ours as everybody left. It started to get cold so we left. To be honest I was leaving it to the last minute to leave as I wasn't looking forward to the climb up the ladder. By the time we got back into Apia we had seen more waterfalls and Mount Fito which was the highest on the island and we drove past Robert Louis Stevensons house, now a museum. He is buried on the top of the mountain. He wrote treasure island and came to live in Samoa at the end of his life.
The next morning I headed off to the big island of Savaii with my new friend Livi. A taxi picked us up at 5:20am to take us to the ferry bus. We made it in the nick of time as the bus was just about to leave and our taxi driver signalled him to stop. We got on the bus and settled in for the hour ride to the north of the island to catch the ferry. I loved this bus as it played loudly 80s love songs and 90s boybands music. It certainly kept me awake. We arrived at the ferry dock at 6:30 which meant 90 mins wait. At least we got here. This whole day was just about winging it and seeing what happens. My new friend was going to stay on Savaii but obviously I'm only doing a day trip. After we crossed the Apolina strait we hopped on the traditional wooden buses. They are small and colourful and pretty old. The seats are short wooden slats and 2 skinny people would just about fit on it. So one of my butt cheeks was always hanging off. The locals told us that to get to Manase on the north would take 30 minutes but I guess they didn't think we would take the local bus. We got on the bus at 9:15am and it took 30 minutes to get out of the ferry wharf. The bus kept going round the docks and nearby shops picking up more customers. There was a Samoan couple on board with lots of luggage who were going back home and the lady kept getting the bus conductor to buy random things from every stop. At one point a rolled up sheet metal was brought into the bus. Apparently she was doing some roof work on her house. Then there were other people on the bus with their shopping. This wasn't a small shopping bag stuff but 10kilos bag of rice or sugar or boxes of 20 loaves of bread, big cooking and garden equipment. I was waiting for someone to bring in livestock but that never happened. We finally started heading north but slowly as we stopped every 2 minutes to pick up more people or more things for delivery. At least the scenery was beautiful as after 2 hours on those wooden slats by butt was dead.
At 11:15 we got off an Manase and luckily it was right outside the fale accommodation my friend needed. After trying to get information about what time the next bus was due I realised I either had 5 minutes or 45 minutes for the only bus back to the ferry. So the fales are open beach huts made into a room right in front of the beach. And in the sea there were turtles so I made the best of my very short time by getting into the sea for a swim. I saw 3 turtles or 1 turtle 3 times. I had a quick shower and ate loads of fruit that they gave us. I didn't eat anything as I didn't know the journey would be so long that I must have devoured a whole coconut and bunch of bananas. At 12:15 the same bus came by and picked me up. It was much quicker going down to the wharf, well it had to be as the ferry was at 2 and we got there at 1:40pm. I rushed to get my ticket and then on the ferry I fell asleep. Once on the dock I went back to the shop I got my coffee and bought a hot dog. The lady asked me where my friend was. She wasn't the only one. I got back on the same bus from Apia and the guys there asked me why I was alone and where my friend was too. Even the lady sitting next to me said she saw me that morning in Savaii with my friend and wondered where she was. I guess the locals noticed us. They are a friendly bunch. One guy we met in the dark as the street lights are poor on Apia, on the way to Tomasina resort actually lives on Papatoetoe in Auckland. I was surprised as that's where I have been and will be staying during my stopovers. What a small world. After my Savaii adventure I slowly walked back to the hostel via Apia wharf and the chicken shop. I was going to wing it and get the unreliable bus back to the airport the next morning but after what happened in Tahiti I decided to stick with the airport taxi.
