On Holiday - Virgin Cove

First, we must apologise for taking so long to share our holiday stories. While we were enjoying ourselves at the beach we were not updating the blog, and now that we are back to the 'real world' we seem to be to busy with boring things like work.

Anyway, as Angela is the one with the real job I thought I will have a go at the next stage of our holiday.

So, after spending 2 relaxing days at Lalomanu we pack up and headed west along the south coast heading for Virgin Cove. First stop was To Sua Ocean trench. (The place is called 'To Sua', which translates as 'big hole' from Samoan - originally I wasn't sure if the name was just Sua Ocean Trench, with the sign pointing the way to Sua Ocean Trench, but my Samoan friends have told me otherwise). This is where there are 2 large holes in the the ground, one of which is connected to the sea forming a saltwater swimming hole. As you can see from the photos it is a long way down (maybe 15m?) We had heard that a rather precarious rope ladder was the only way in and out, but we were pleased to see that there is a much more sturdy ladder now. Hedley does not have a head for heights, so he watched as we climbed the 26(? - Hedley was counting!) steps down to the water. It was a neat experience to be swimming so far down below ground level. We can confirm that the hole is connected to the sea - the water was salty and we could feel the surges as the waves washed in and out at the shore. We did not attempt to swim through the tunnel out to the ocean!



The site also has some nice gardens and access to the beach, and there are signs pointing to a blow-hole. We followed the signs and think we found the elusive blow-hole, but there wasn't much to get excited about while we were there.

After our salt water swim the plan was to head off to one of our favourite swimming holes - the Togitogiga Falls - for a refreshing freshwater swim. Unfortunately this is dry season and what we have only ever seen as a fast flowing river was completely dry, so no swimming!!

We carried on around the coast and found our way to the Virgin Cove Resort. After the fun we had trying to check in a Lalomanu it was a relief to see that we were expected and our fales were ready for us. The resort is on another lovely white sand beach, but this time we found that the fales are in more of a forest setting, and further apart that the wall to wall style at Lalomanu. We were all really impressed with the setting, facilities and service - the only disappointment: NO HAPPY HOUR!! We had a bit of time for some exploring and snorkelling before another delicious meal.

Our fales were great - nice and big with woven panels for walls that you can lift up during the day to let the breeze through. No blue tarpaulins here! But we did find that we had a few unexpected visitors at night - hermit crabs! The hermit crabs live on land and come out at night. Some of them get quite big and we could hear them walking across our floor and up our walls during the night! Fortunately the mosquito nets seem to be crab proof too!

Somewhere along the way we decided that a pre-breakfast snorkelling session was a good idea, so we were all up and in the water first thing in the morning. Actually, it was the best time for the tide and the wind usually picks up later in the day so in the morning the water is the calmest. We managed to get to breakfast just in time then decided to attend the mornings activities of 'making fire with two stick' and 'roasting Samoan peanut'. Tupu showed us how to make fire, then used the fire to roast the Samoan peanuts. Angela and Hedley tried very hard to make fire using the same sticks, and after a lot of effort they claimed that they had made some smoke but we didn't have to call the fire brigade! After we ate our Samoan peanuts Tupu showed us the trees that the peanuts grow on and the tree that the fire sticks come from.

Angela was keen to learn how to weave a basket out of coconut leaves, so we arranged a lesson with Tupu after lunch. First he picked a few leaves and then he started making a basket. Once he was underway he handed it over to Angela and she carried on. It looked like she got the hang of it quite quickly, but there were a few tricky bits. By the time we were finished we ended up with 2 baskets, a hat and had a demonstration of how to make a plate from coconut leaves and how to make a fan. We still have the hat and baskets at home, and have even used the baskets to do our shopping at the market!

The next day was our last at Virgin Cove, so there was time for another pre-breakfast snorkel before we packed up and headed back to Apia.