Our Samoa 2015 Trip

Taxis were very cheap with a trip into main town being around 3-5 tala. There is no where in Melbourne that you could have a $1.50-$2.50 taxi ride. The base price starts at $3 before you even start your journey. A half hour to 45 min journey from main city Apia to my families village - Lufilufi was a 40 tala fare ($20 aud dollars).

Buses are an experience to be had over in Samoa, certainly not like Australia. 

Most town village buses will be colorful, windowless and have wooden benches for you to sit on whilst they pump the Samoan pop tunes through the bus. 

Buses can become over crowded and that's when it starts to become a courtesy to offer your lap to other bus users. 

Samoa is very big on seat belts unless you are in the front two seats, the rest well you can ride without. Car seats weren't a big thing over in Samoa so our time in Samoa was spent with Niah on my knee. If you had a ute then you could fill your tray with people and this was acceptable. 

View from out the front of my uncles house in Lufilufi, Samoa

The weather in Samoa is really humidly hot. Days would be at their 30s but it was just thick humidity that would really get you. For the first few days we found it really hard to be in the country and just wanted to stay in our air conditioned hotel room but it does get a little easier being outdoors. 

Samoa is a country that makes you want to be outdoors. You want to explore and take in your beautiful surroundings. 

Where the appropriate footwear for thongs is everywhere - even work! What a life hey.
If it's not thongs then it's bare feet. Let's just say a pedicure wouldn't last long in Samoa. 

In Samoa you won't see anyone walking around with short shorts or skimpy clothing, neither at the beaches no women are wearing bikinis as this is not respectful wear. 

Samoa traditional clothing will see most of the women in lava lavas (sarongs) and a t-shirt. Men will be in the same if not shirtless.

A place where the definition of hard workers come from. Most wash their own clothes by hand without washing machines and driers. They have few kitchen appliances like us and will make their own oven from hot coals and wood. You know when it's meal times as the village will fill up with smoke clouds from the umus.

Lady Samoa ferry from Savaii to Upolu

Samoa is split into two (2) islands - Upolu & Savai'i. Savai'i said to be the more beautiful island and I would definitely have to agree as they have stunning beaches. Although we didn't get around to taking part in what savai'i have to offer attraction wise the brief couple of hours visit was nice.
Upolu is the main island with the airport being on this one. A short ride from the airport down to the port where you can catch the ferry across to Savai'i for 12 tala - adult, 6 tala - child and take your car over for 95 tala (one way). 

To get around Upolu there is one road that goes around the whole island and you can tour the island within around 2.5 hours drive, which is what we did on the last Saturday before we left.

Niah taking in the views on the ferry

Sunday is rest day. Where the town centres will be bare and everyone will be at loku (church). Shops will be shut and the town is basically a ghost town until you enter the villages where streets are filled with people in their nice Sunday clothes making their way by foot to church.
It is a day marked for slow travel if in vehicles and for all noise to be kept to a minimum. 

There is different church sessions throughout the day, some even attending church twice - once in the morning and once at night. 

Each village usually has their own church and you will see many of them as you drive through the villages. Going to church for the Samoan people is a routine habit where you will find nearly everyone goes to church.

As well as having their own church in the villages, they have their own village pool which comes at no cost to swim in. 

Kids will keep occupied by free roaming on their families land or close by running around with their siblings, cousins or other village kids, swimming, playing sports like volleyball, rugby, cricket etc.

Saying goodbye is always the hard part. We became so close with family we never even known and met before and had a tearful goodbye. It was really sad to leave, we became so accustomed to the way of living in Samoa that it became normal and didn't seem right that we were leaving.

The flight home with Niah was a pretty cruisy one as well that had us giving Niah milk most of the time and she would sleep through. Niah came back sick with the flu and a fever which is now finally making an exit from her. Upon getting back we went to the doctors who said Niah had a really bad ear infection with redness and fluid, which she then questioned me as to how Niah was on the flight as it would have been really painful. Niah barely showed any signs of an ear infection which shocked us both; such a little trooper she is.

I think with having young kids you need the stop over flights like we did so it wouldn't be around an 8 hour direct flight. The lay over lengths were long but it gave Niah and us time to stretch our legs, have a proper meal and spread out a bit from the plane.
I wouldn't recommend flying with Virgin Australia/Virgin Samoa as I think there planes are terrible for room in the seats. Air New Zealand was fantastic though which unfortunately we only had going from Melbourne to New Zealand.

Going to Samoa was one of the best things I could have done. We are missing the island so much now and are looking at flights to go back already. The way of life in Samoa is a good one, their is so much happiness even when they don't have all this first world country problems like us.