28 August to 6 September 2024

Leader: Dave Cox

Arriving at Outdoor Samoa - Upolu Island “Life is about the adventures you take and the memories you make. So travel often and live life with open eyes and an open heart.” (Robert Louis Stevenson).

We all arrived in Samoa with a day or two to explore Apia, the capital, before the trip itself began. People enjoyed exploring the market with its array of exotic fruits and vegetables, little craft shops, and the beautiful Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. A highlight for many of us was a tour of the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum which commemorates the life of the Scottish author and displays a curated version of his residence. At the end of the tour the staff sang to us the Robert Louis Stevenson poem “Requiem” which was wonderful. There is a great walk, through attractive forest, to see his tomb at the summit of Mount Vaea at 472 metres and this is well worth doing. The official trip began at Salty Lodge which is close to the ferry terminal on Upolu. Our lunch stop on the way was not quite as planned. Outdoor Samoa had recommended the Metro French café which is run by a pastry chef from Paris, has sweet and savory French treats, real coffee, a pretty seating area and 5-star reviews. We missed our stop for the cafe, leaving the coffee addict(s) among us in disarray. A caffeine injection at the airport helped although the ambience was, perhaps, a little lacking (and certainly not French). Things could only get better and they did! The friendly welcome and gorgeous setting at our accommodation for that night and the next were terrific. Salty Lodge was a wonderful place to stay. The staff could not have been more helpful, our rooms looked out over the ocean and there was a warm, safe swimming and sunbathing beach just across the road. We all went swimming and some tried snorkeling. The meals were lovely and served on a pretty patio in the garden. Over dinner it was magical listening to the geckos in the ceiling making their strange clicking sounds and the crickets singing outside.

Thursday 29 August at Salty Lodge. After our usual rooster crow wake-up call we meandered up to the big fale for a 7.00 am breakfast. The Salty Lodge staff busily assembled our fruit plate and weetbix followed by pancake. Afterwards we headed to Outdoor Samoa for our bike fitting, briefing and village tour (our bikes were 8 electric and two organic). Lulu led us and showed us some of her village life. She told us about the rules and land ownership, also about the banishing of bad people from the village. She had us on, saying each month there is a committee of women in the village who decide on what visitors need to buy and we would be inspected by the committee to make sure we had done so, If not we'd get a fine, this month it was 3 water drinking jugs each! We were all being polite and quietly thinking how are we going to carry these tree water jugs each on our bikes. She kept her cool having us on. We visited her friend's home. Her friend had 8 children and 2 grandchildren living with her. In this village you can leave home at 18 but if you're still home when you're 21 then you have to live with your parents for the rest of their lives. Then we went to see a demonstration of cocoa and coconut processing, along with tasting of yams with coconut cream, yum! However the cocoa drink was extremely sweet, ewk! Then back to our accommodation for toastie sandwiches, siesta followed by a swim and snorkel, happy hour, back up to the big fale for a set menu of curries and a lemon meringue for dessert. An early night followed as we needed to be ready to head to the ferry crossing to Savai’i in the morning.

Friday 30 August– Salty Lodge to Lano. After a nice breakfast at Salty Lodge we packed our bags ready for the van collection at 9.00 am. Then we were finally off on our bikes heading for the ferry terminal 3 kms away to cross the Apolima Strait to Savai’i. We passed local villages with children calling out to us as we passed them by. At the terminal we had a while to wait for the ferry to arrive so this gave us time to observe the locals preparing for the trip and disembarking. The crossing takes just over an hour to Salelologa, this is where we met our support driver for the rest of the tour. We had lunch and our driver gave us an outline of the day’s ride. The ride began passing through numerous villages as the road followed close to the lagoon. It was amazing to view the variety of different churches, these were very spectacular, some resembling castle like architecture. After 3 kms we stopped for a swim at the John Williams Memorial Pool, (he was the first European to come to Savai’i). From there it was onto the ice-cream shop and these were consumed at great speed as they were melting more quickly than we could eat them. It was another 8 kms to our fales on the beach at Lano for the night, these were only a few metres from the waves. After settling in some of the group headed out for a snorkel. The water was super warm and very clear with numerous fish to be seen. Showering was an experience to remember with only cold water and no shower head just a pipe, this made for a quick shower. Dinner was a selection of traditional Samoan foods which were so delicious to try. A fresh breeze was blowing so we were free from and mosquitoes; however, it was still extremely warm. During the night the wind dropped and the rain followed. It was so nice lying in the fales listening to the waves crashing on the beach and the rain on the roof. The ride was 23 kms altogether and the temperature was 29 degrees.

Saturday 31 August -Lano to Manase. Breakfast was at 7.30 am but they served this earlier and it was extremely tasty. By the time we had eaten breakfast the van had arrived to pick up our bags and tell us the day’s itinerary. We headed off at 7.45 am for Manase. The route initially winds alongside the lagoon before heading inland with gentle undulations through regenerating forest. We checked out the village of Mauga that was built around a crater and we rode around it. Our next stop was Saleaula Lava Field, the LMS Church and the Virgin Grave. The Saleaula Lava Field was formed by the 1905-11 eruption of Mount Matavanu. It covered 76 square kms of north-eastern Savai’i and was one of the biggest eruptions of the 20 th Century. After spending some time at the lava field we continued on a further 8 km to Manase Vacation Beach Fales. These were a bit nicer than our last ones and the hosts were far more accommodating towards us. After settling into our fales everyone had lunch followed by most partaking in an afternoon siesta as the tide was out too far for snorkeling and a bit rough. Once those who required a siesta were up again we all went our separate ways, either snorkeling, walking, reading or biking. It was not long before we had a shower of rain so the walkers took shelter until it stopped then we proceeded to a local resort for a few beverages. One of the snorkelers was lucky enough to see a turtle out by the reef. Once more for dinner we enjoyed a scrumptious meal - this was our first smorgasbord of traditional Samoan foods. The ride was 33 km altogether and the temperature was 27 degrees.

Sunday 1 September– Lano to Vai- Moana Seaside lodge. Eight e-bikes ready and fully charged, 2 pedal bikes ready, a big breakfast under the belt. After the morning briefing from our driver, Essie, we headed off. It was a Sunday so the roads were quiet as most people were in church. A few of us stopped to listen to the singing, beautiful and in tune, only to be disturbed by the sound of an e-bike motor on full power whizzing past. We started at 8.00 am so we could get some of the hill riding done before the heat of the day. Stopping at the halfway point, with a donation of some tala, we visited the Peopeo caves with our guide. The cave was formed by lava running over a stream. After the caves we had a very steady uphill grind in 30 plus degrees, and both bottles of water went down the hatch. After a break near the top the pedal bikers descended at speed to join the e-crew at the fresh water pool. A lovely cool swim to end the cycling for the day, as it was a very short distance to the lodge.

Monday 2 September– Rest day at Via-Moana. The day started very early for three of the team, as they set off on the back of a ute to a possible journey inland. After a couple of stops for directions enroute, team Mt Matavanu made it to the walking track and views into the crater. The promised walk turned into a very short stroll but with lots of lovely flowers. Meanwhile the rest of us slumbered on, then with a leisurely breakfast decided it was time to head off on our bikes in search of some snorkeling, with the goal of turtle spotting. The tides weren’t really helping us and after deciding on spot one, with a bit of a paddle around we came to the conclusion this wasn’t the best spot. Dispatching Smurf and David in search of a better location, we adjourned to Vaisala Hotel. After negotiating a donation of a few more tala, with the bikes stashed we headed down to the beach. What a snorkeling spot this was! Crystal clear, deep water and lots of coral and fish. Plus the odd turtle. After this action-packed morning, we retired back to the lodge and bumped into the intrepid mountain crew, back from their adventures. Some more fine food and drink was required and a bit of an afternoon sleep, such a busy day!

Tuesday 3 September– Via-Moana to Falealupo. Yet another beautiful day on the easy 20 km ride from Vai- Moana to Falealupo. The ride was stunning through forest and our biggest hill climb, lots of admiration for the non e-bikers! We travelled inland at a leisurely pace with numerous stops in the shade of big trees. More friendly kids, beautiful gardens and brightly painted houses but very few churches, a sign we were moving into a less populated part of the island. We had an exhilarating downhill ride (go Graeme!) avoiding the potholes. The next section of the ride was through the Falealupo Conservation Area, beautiful huge trees and largely untouched vegetation. The road became gravel followed by a sandy section and then we came upon the remains of a Catholic Church which was destroyed by Hurricane Ofa in February 1990. There were also lots of concrete pads along the road which were houses also destroyed by Ofa. Falealupo is the western most village on Savaii and there are not a lot of people around. It’s a slice of heaven, another beautiful beach and the trademark open fales a few metres from the golden sandy beach. We relaxed for a few hours while the tide went out before another snorkel with lots of coral and brightly coloured fish. Another lovely home cooked meal with leftovers being surreptitiously fed to a local dog who was thin and obviously feeding pups. We ended the day with a Paul Michl and ukelele led sing along. For the locals’ sake, I hope we sounded as good as we thought we did!

Wednesday 4 September- Falealupo to Satuiatua. We awoke to another sunny day in Samoa. After a lovely local breakfast, we initially set off along a sandy pathway on our 39 kms journey with a beautiful coastline on our right side. We arrived at a pool, known as Fafa o Sauali’I where is it said that the spirits of Samoa depart to the afterlife. Paul and Dave stopped by a sacred site near the road known as Ava o Vaatause. Here they found a well of blood red water with a plant growing up from within the well. From this point it was an uphill climb stopping at a Sea Arch where oodles of photos were taken by all. Moving onward and upward we cycled to Lovers Leap where legend says that a mother and her daughter leapt of the cliff to be transformed into a turtle and a shark. Next was a shop stop for yummy ice cream along with a speedy repair to Paula’s bike tube. Filled with melon ice cream we headed off to Satuiatua Beach Resort, our stop for the night. Here we were dispatched to our lovely fale by the sea and were served real coffee by the staff. Susan, an avid coffee connoisseur had found heaven. Snorkeling that afternoon was interesting with little clearance between the coral and the surface.

Thursday 5 September– Satuiatua to Florences. We left Satuiatua at 8 00 am as usual on another beautiful sunny Savai’i morning. It was lovely riding and the road was quiet. Our first stop today was the Alofaaga Blowholes. These awe-inspiring blowholes are mesmerising to watch and definitely a must-see attraction in Savai’i. Our next stop was the Afu Aau waterfall, this is a beautiful spot and just what we needed to cool off after quite a long morning biking. Back on our bikes and off to Florence’s! Florence’s is a homestay in Fa’a ala Palauli. This was quite different to all the other places we had stayed in Savai’i as it was not on the beachfront so there was no swimming and snorkeling and we were all staying in the one home, instead of the individual fales we had become used to! However, our hosts, Ruth and Kelvin, more than made up for this with their wonderful hospitality and insights into Island life. A highlight for many of us was the ride up to their farm and orchard on the back of Kelvin’s truck! Such fun! Kelvin gave us a really interesting tour around the farm and orchard, and told us about Country Calendar coming to film the farm. I think we will all be watching that episode which shows on 10 October. Back at the homestay and Ruth served us a lovely roast beef dinner, Ruth and Kelvin joined us for dinner and afterwards chatted with us about their lives, they were both so interesting to listen to. We had our “last night on Savai’i” sing along with Paul on the ukulele, always fun. Paul gave Ruth the ukulele he had brought along for the trip, she was so pleased, it was lovely to see.

Friday 6 September – Florences to Outdoor Samoa. After a lovely breakfast we said goodbye to Ruth and Kelvin and then had only a short ride in busier traffic to the Salelologa market. We had time to browse, buy a few souvenirs, and have morning tea before the ferry back to Upolu. On arrival back on Upolu it was a quick 3 kms ride back to the Outdoor Samoa depot to hand back the bikes, end the trip, and say goodbye to Lulu. Most people then headed back to Apia for a couple of nights while two of us headed for some relaxation on the south coast.

Those on the trip were:

Anita Benbrook, Dave Cox, Graeme Richardson, Julie James, Paul Michl, Paula Richardson, Rex Benbrook, Sue Sparkes, Susan Robertson, Wayne James

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.