Goosebumps and Kayaking

Back in Apia we went for plan B which was to find another place to launch our Kayak. There is a public beach just next to the marine reserve and so this we decided was the place to go. The beach is not the best on the island but nevertheless it was a place with access to the water! As we (or should I say Adam) was pumping up the kayak we got talking to some of the tourists off the liner who were looking for a place to swim. They were from Tasmania and could not believe that you have to pay to go to the beach in Samoa! I tried to gently remind them this money is one of the few ways the Samoan villages have to earn some revenue for the village. After surveiling the rubbish on the banks (an unusual sight as Samoa is pretty clean) and the look of the beach (not golden sands as probably expected) they decided this was not the place for them to swim.

Anyway we donned our hats and life jackets, put the seats in the kayak and launched our boat for its inaugural christening. We were pleasantly surprised that the kayak motored through the water quite well (even with just 1 person aka Adam, paddling!) I found sitting bobbing in the rougher water was not so much fun so we kept moving. In the shallower, and calmer, water we could see the coral and some fish below. This was a chance to test out the underwater case for the camera hence the photo of the blue starfish. The most exciting thing though was that we saw a turtle swimming along just in front of the boat. He stuck his head up and looked at us with one beady eye before an almighty splash as he dived under the water. You have to keep an eye of the water level we found (and try not to get distracted by the wildlife below) as it can get shallow very quickly. We just about ran aground of some hard coral – not so good for an inflatable kayak! Had to do some swift back paddling. After about an hour and a half we paddled back in. Lots of fun.

That night we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner out so headed for the yacht club (the only yacht club with no yachts!) as we had heard it was nice. It was hot so we sat outside under the stars looking at the water. We could see the liner in the port all lit up and getting ready to depart. At around 7.30pm it tooted its horn and we watched as it sailed away, right past us, on its way to Fiji. As soon as the liner had departed the wind picked up and before we knew it we could feel spots of rain in the air. You never can tell when it’s going to suddenly pour down in Samoa! We had to make a swift dash for cover along with other diners. Our meals were lovely. Adam tried some of the local Oka – the Samoan equivalent to cocoda or raw fish ‘cooked’ in lemon and lime juice. We then both had fish for a main and finished off with icecream and chocolate cake with traditional Samoan cocoa bean sauce for dessert. By this time though I was finding it quite chilly, due to the wind and rain, and so with my second lot of goosebumps for the day we headed home.