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!
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