Goosebumps in Samoa

Last Saturday we decided it was time to get out of Apia and have an adventure day. Enough of sorting out the house and doing domestics so we packed the inflatable kayak and a picnic lunch into the car and headed off. We thought we might go over Cross Island Road (guess where that goes?!) to check out some of the beaches on the Southern side of Upolo.

First port of call though was the port in Apia. A massive P&O liner had arrived at 7.00am that morning (Adam heard it toot!) and it sure was making a statement in the harbour. It was huge. It had been 3 years (around about the time my ex-neighbour Kaye from Palmerston North was on her cruise) since the last liner had called in at Western Samoa. There were several thousand passengers and 700 crew on board. This meant that there were heaps of palagi tourists in town wearing their shorts, sandals and with camera’s around their necks. Everything in Apia usually closes at lunch time on a Saturday but businesses were being advised to try and stay open a bit longer to make the most of the tourist dollar.

Anyway after checking out the boat and taking a few compulsory photos (for you of course but I’m no tourist!) we headed off. Last time we came across Cross Island Road it had been dark so it was a nice surprise for us to see the view as we headed up the hill. Looking back into Apia and out to the sparkling blue sea. We passed the Robert Louis Stevenson museum (his old house – must explore that one day), a monastry, the 3 hearts church (with only 2 hearts on it – doh!) and the best view in town, the Baha’I house of worship and past the road to the inland lake with lots of goldfish (must also investigate that).

We reached the top of the hill and were just starting to head down the other side when we were stopped. There was a traffic jam in Samoa. Just like everyone else we parked up and got out of the car to go find out what the problem was. Unfortunately it was a problem we would rather not have seen. One of the Samoan buses was upside down and shattered into pieces blocking both lanes of the road ahead. We must have been only 5-10 minutes behind the accident (makes you wonder what might have happened if we hadn’t stopped to see the liner?) There were sirens blaring as the Police, Ambulance and Fire brigade arrived at the scene. One girl came puffing her way back up the hill and so I asked her if people were alright. She looked distraught and said no an elderly lady and a young boy were very hurt. Humbled we went back to our car and made the decision to turn around and head back to Apia. This was a scene best left to the experts. The next day we read the article in the paper and found that 3 people had died during that accident. Goosebumps in Samoa. We were too close for my liking. I have scanned the article and put it up on Flickr if you would like to see. To be continued ….