A Samoan Wedding and another Tsunami Evacuation

In March we were pleased to receive our second visitors for the year not only for a holiday but also for their wedding! We really enjoyed showing friends from Palmerston North around Upolu starting with a swim at the Piula Cave pools on the north coast and moving on to Lalomanu beach were we stayed for the first time since the tsunami. At the Taufua Beach Fales we enjoyed a great Fia Fia night put on by their staff. It was a bit freaky hearing the waves break during the night from our fale on the sand however Taufua has recovered well and now has an escape route up the hill in case another evacuation is necessary. We stopped again at the Togitogiga waterfalls which were looking a lot more normal than the previous raging torrent so managed to have a very refreshing swim in the cool fresh water. We also stopped at the To Sua ocean trenches and admired their garden (several flower photos and plenty of ribbings later!!) as well as the blow holes.

It was an eventful wedding eve night at Samoana as this coincided with the massive earthquake in Japan which triggered a tsunami warning in Samoa. A knock on the door at 11.00pm warned us we might be evacuating which was something we didn’t need to be told twice. With hearts thumping and a bit more time to hand than in 2009 we bundled everything including bedspreads and pillows into the car and made our way inland and uphill to where the guests were allowed to stay the night in the church fale. This was our first experience of the concrete fale floor and I somehow managed a little sleep on a mat woven from coconut leaves with the bedspread keeping away the mosquito’s which were still buzzing around my head. For our friends however this was a bit much and they took refuge in the car!!

We were able to carry on to the wedding destination the next day, Le Vasa resort, having survived our tsunami evacuation experience and coming to no harm. Well what is a wedding without a little drama?!! Here we were greeted by friendly staff who were ready and waiting to set up the wedding arch where requested and who got busy with decorating things in flowers, weaving fronds around the coconut palms, making the bouquet and a cake. With the “wedding aisle” of palm trees selected we were ready for the day to dawn.

And dawn it did in beautiful sun shine. This was however to be short lived as the clouds rolled in and tropical rain began to fall. Despite this however we managed a break in the clouds and got through the ceremony before dashing inside for a drink and out again for some photos. The ceremony included a Samoan Warrior and traditional songs from the local resort staff. It all turned out beautifully well in the end and it was so fantastic to see our friends very happy with the day they have waited many years for. Congratulations Mr & Mrs!

Nicola Leaves USP

Sadly my good friend Nicola, our Accountant, has now moved on from USP and the place is just not the same without her. However, she is still “on the rock” and now working for Aliki’s so is not too far away. We couldn't let her go without a bit of a bash so it was to the local Thirsty Gecko’s we went!

USP Alafua Library Renovations

With one week to go until the start of semester 1, funding was approved to undergo renovations of the library at Alafua so we flew into action and got the builders, electricians and IT team on the job. At times like this it pays to have someone in the know and many thanks to Adam for his planning and demolishing skills and knowledge of engaging contractors. He even turned his hand to Auto CAD and produced some professional looking plans of the library and what needed to happen! Most impressive. He could not wait to get out the crow bar and sledge hammer and see what damage could be done to a partition wall that needed to come out however I drew the line at being the one to stand there and catch it as it fell. Fortunately for us the on campus Student Welfare Officer offered his hand and muscles for this job.

After creating a huge big mess of demolition and sawdust the walls and existing computer bank and library counter were removed and the builder began constructing new furniture from old. The results were fantastic and we managed to have the library ready for the new University year. The students have taken to the new layout and facilities as if they were always there and are using the computer bank (new computers to follow), DVD watching area, quiet study carrels and group study areas as intended. We have added a library catalogue computer which has been adopted without the need for training and a wireless router giving the students a better connection to the internet. More power points are also providing for students who wish to use their own laptops.

Garden Update

We have a guava tree in our back yard and despite being chopped back a couple of times by the people doing the garden it is still trying to bear fruit. We recently managed a bowl of tropical fruit with produce from the backyard and a little help from the market. See below for the guava (pink), abiu (white), papaya (orange) and vi (yellow). Very delicious.

We also have corn growing which looks fab but despite much TLC and plenty of watering is still producing cobs that are a bit shrivelled and dry. Hmmmmm need a bit more investigation into why, or does all Samoan corn come out like this?

Bird Brains

We have been having a few problems recently with birds of the feathered variety. Not only do they dare to come into our section they also dare to nest in our roof. Yes baby pigeons are chirping away up there as we speak!!

These birds however underestimate the laziness of our Samoan dogs who can spring to life in an instant. One day a mother chicken with her chicks in tow dared to come in the gate. Before we knew it there was much squawking from outside and a flapping of feathers. This resulted in us flying out of the house and me running around the backyard yelling at the dogs like a fish wife. Not sure the neighbours have even seen a palagi fish wife before as they looked quite startled to see this!! Don’t worry I gave them my best Cheshire cat grin J Adam had to grab a dog and then rescue said chicken and toss it over the fence while the chicks managed to escape through the wire fence. Phew, job done for one day.

Sad to say though that one of the parent pigeons was not so lucky. It in fact got caught by “Lucky” and met a dead end. RIP pigeon. I think I’ll stop encouraging the dogs to “get em” pesky birds as I’m not so sure I like the consequences or dealing with the aftermath!

Samoan Bus

This is the life, Vailima on the beach. This is what Samoa is all about right?!! Check out this graphic on the back of one of the new Samoan busses and remember to “enjoy responsibly” as it says!

Focaccia Bread

Inspired by the recipe in the NZ Gardner magazine we received at Christmas we made this focaccia bread.Yummy. Bagels – bread, what will we try our hand at next?!!!