Apia - Samoa

The main town of Apia on Upolu, the most populated of Samoa's nine islands, is not so large. Like recently visited Kobe, it spreads back from the shore towards hills and stops as soon as they get too steep to build on. There the similarity ends.


Apia is in no hurry, which I find typical of the tropics. There are a couple of department stores of the old style but most shopping seems to be done in markets. Malls are an alien concept (long may they remain so).


We are staying at the famous Aggie Grey’s Hotel (not to be mistaken for the resort of the same name, which is a self-contained tourist enclave out of town beside the airport). An enterprising Samoan woman whose English husband managed to drink away their collective fortune apparently started this business selling coffee and hamburgers to US airmen during WW11. She obviously did something right as the hotel, now run by her grand daughter, is world famous, a legend in the South Pacific and belies is humble roots. A huge ornate Fale beside the swimming pool is the main dining and entertainment venue. There is also an Aggie Grey’s farm nestled in the relative cool of the highlands to supply the accommodations. Must be one of the biggest employers on the island (Upolu).


A grand weatherboard building houses the main hotel with blocks of very decent garden rooms and small fales gracing landscaped tropical gardens out back. The rooms are decked with flowers and there seem to be three waiters for every guest and we can send someone out to buy tonic water if we want to. Wandering out to explore the area is more appealing than being waited on, so we park up the luggage and go for a stroll. Its still over 30C and someone said welcome to paradise. Fair comment!

The island is a mix of old and new with more churches than there are pubs in Scotland. Contemporary Christian religion has spread like a vine in this seemingly fertile climate. The religious tradition is strong, tithing http://www.tithingdebate.com/ is still practiced and everyone except the cook is expected at church on Sunday. Whatever the leaning, they make great photo opportunities for those of lesser faith.



The clock tower in the town centre says its always twenty past one. I wonder if that is morning or afternoon?

The town hall is a modern building with hints of traditional design.

The police band marches to raise the flag in front of the town hall at 8.45 every morning, though not if it rains. Check the lava lava uniforms.


Old and new parliament houses follow the traditional meeting fale design.

Just around the corner from Aggie’s, a marine reserve offers snorkeling gear for hire to view coral and tropical fish, all withing spitting distance of the shore. Entrance is 3 Tala (about NZ$2). The tide is low when I visit early one morning. A careful slither across coral in shallow water is rewarded by the sudden descent of a steep shelf about fifty metres offshore. A few massive brain corals break up the irregular lines of fluorescence purples tipped tree like structures. The water is like a warm bath, and a few big slug like sea cucumbers are in deep enough water not to bother a squeamish swimmer. I never had the courage to touch one of these things to find out if they are as slimy as they look.


Next stop the Mt Veia former home and grave site of Robert Louis Stevenson, the famous Scottish author of Treasure Island and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde among many personally preferred titles.