Manono Island

This weekend we were lucky enough to enjoy a couple of days at another tropical island.

We hadn’t planned to go away this weekend and spent Friday night watching the rugby (what happened to the Lions?) the rugby league (we got interested when it looked like PNG might upset England) and a movie while Angela was sewing. So it ended up being a late one on Friday night (2.00am) and I had planned on a nice lie-in on Saturday morning. When the phone rung at 7.30 on Saturday morning I assumed it was a wrong number and wasn’t going to get up and answer it (no phone by the bed here!) but Angela got up and found that it was Moira from the netball team inviting us to her family’s place at Manono Island. The only problem was that the boat to the island was departing at 9.00 and we were still in bed and hadn’t packed. After a few more phone calls a new plan was in place – we would get a boat a bit later in the day with some others that were coming around lunchtime.

That gave us time to get up, have breakfast, buy some supplies and get packed. We also had time to have a quick look at our Lonely Planet and we learnt that Manono Island is about 2 km off the western end of the main island Upolo. There are no cars, no roads and no dogs and apparently the pace of life is even slower than the rest of Samoa!!

After a slightly bumpy boat rode we arrived at Manono and found that it is as idyllic as it sounded. We settled into our fale and were then straight into the water. The water was so warm and clear with more excellent snorkelling right off the beach. After a quick Vailima / Jack Daniels we decided to go exploring. We were guided by Raymond and Austin (Mary and Moira’s children!) As we worked our way around the island we found more nice beaches, villages plantations of bananas, pineapples coconuts and papaya, and of course a couple of churches. We ended up walking all the way around the island in about 1 ½ hours (including photo stops). I think Raymond was a bit shocked at being made to walk so far, but he survived. There is also a walk up to the top of the island, but we told him that we would save that for next time.

We got back just in time for dinner – a feast that included curry, fish, taro, bananas, clams and some good old sausages. Delicious. Although the island now has power (a cable was brought across from the mainland a few years ago) we did not have a TV so we didn’t have to endure the Kiwis losing to the Aussies.

Our fale was right on the waters edge and we woke up on Sunday morning to the sound of waves on the rocks right under us. Another fine morning and sparkling seas. Thanks to the boys (Ray and Tate) we enjoyed a hearty breakfast – bacon, eggs and koko-rice (a sort of rice porridge with Koko Samoa, the local cocoa). After letting breakfast settle we were back in the water. This time we decided to snorkel out to a small rock island that was off our beach. Angela took the camera and snapped a few more photos. We found a lion fish and tried to photograph it, but it was a bit deep and I don’t think the camera liked being taken that far under water. We must have been in the water for a couple of hours and arrived back in time for lunch. We were treated to another feast, this time from the umu. A tasty selection of mutton flaps, fish, taro, coconut cream and some of the previous nights curry. As we ate lunch a bit of a storm blew in and pelted us with rain but this was short lived. The fale was built traditionally with a thatched roof and woven panels and it stood up quite well to the “storm”. The rain sounds great on the roof.

Then it was time to pack up and head for home. We had a great impromptu weekend away full of excellent snorkelling, delicious food and good company all in a beautiful setting. We owe a big thanks to Moira and her family for welcoming us all to their part of Manono Island.