November 4 to 11: Savaii, the other big island of Samoa

Took the 1 hour ferryboat ride over to Savaii. We stayed in beach fales at Lauiula Resort. Nice people here. Very relaxed and quiet...except for the university students that should have been booked in down the beach at Manese. Very beautiful beach to ourselves with lots of coral and pretty little fish just off the shore!

Met some nice people from New Zealand! Clare and Kerry. (We later stay with them in Auckland.) Also a nice man from the Toronto area. Micheal.

We toured around with Micheal for a couple days in his rental car....very nice of him to invite us. He is on his way to Auckland to visit his son who is living there.

We visited lava fields....very hot and black. There are even villages with houses built on these hot, black platforms!

We happened upon a village with all the women having a weaving day. The picture is Micheal dancing with one of the women...the others were singing and laughing. It was really fun! Rob got dragged in and had a turn also but my camera battery died.

We also had a couple of cave visits and swam in a beautiful waterfall! We also hiked to an ancient tomb made of many many lava rocks that must have been carried up by hand a few thousand years ago.

Then saw these 'blowholes' on the shore. Water comes into underground channels and builds up until it 'blows!' The locals put coconuts on and they fly into the air at least 100 feet!

There is Sarah with a lady weaver.

We also tried out a traditional Outrigger Canoe...we saw them out everyday fishing with this boat.

The owners of Lauiula gave us a cooking demonstration using a traditional Samoan "Umu." Complete with dressing the pig, squeezing coconut to get yummy coconut cream...Rob tried his hand at husking a coconut...not as easy as it looks! The result was a traditional feast and we were very full!

Talofa From Samoa!

Talofa from Samoa! We arrived in Samoa at about 5:00 a.m. local time on October 21. The Air New Zealand flight was very comfortable. Every seat had lots of choice for movies, television shows, video games, music,whatever you felt like. (I watched a really cool documentary called Around the World in 80 Trades. A guy from the UK travelled around the world buying and selling anything he thought he could make money on.) The airline fed us supper at midnight, real food with wine and tea then they had quiet time for about four hours and then fed us a hot breakfast!

We were pretty tired that day but our hosts at Livingstone’s Accommodations got us into our room as soon as we got there. The people in Samoa are really very nice and friendly. Most speak English but the ones who speak it best are either university students or people who have lived elsewhere. Older people and very young children don’t seem to speak English. One of the nieces (named Eta) told me it is mandatory in school. The owner of Livinstone’s, Filifilia (Filia) lived in Australia for 20 years before returning to Samoa so her accent is Australian. Her husband, Poi, is in Australia this week and will be back Thursday. Filia told me that she met Poi while living in Australia. Everyone at the motel is related to the owners (brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, etc.) They call us for breakfast every morning at about 7:00 a.m. (the kids don’t have too much trouble with that since we go to bed by 9:00 or so because it’s dark by 6:30.) It’s very quiet here. The only noises we hear at the motel are roosters (starts at about 3 a.m. and goes all day), muffled music sounds coming from other guest rooms or other homes in the neighbourhood, and the odd car driving by or into the gravel driveway. During the night we also hear dogs barking. There are quite a few dogs roaming around here. During the day they hang around their yards but at night they seem to roam around scavenging and barking at each other. Sarah wonders why they don’t eat the chickens that are wandering around every yard.

We are staying right in the main city of Apia for our first two weeks. It is small enough to walk around but in the heat of the day that isn’t always fun. A taxi ride from the hotel to downtown is $5WST or Tala (around$2.50 CDN). Taxis are everywhere and the locals use them a great deal. The cost of living here seems quite high – I passed up a box of Oreos because they were $19WST. We are close to the harbour so can walk to the ocean but there is no good swimming beach here. Our beach week will be when we get to the other island of Savaii.
So far we have toured around the island a bit with one of Livingstone’s drivers (Pio – not sure if I’m spelling it right, pronounced Pee-oh.) We saw the damage from September’s tsunami on the south side of the island, swam in a cave pool, went snorkelling and have walked several places such as the flea market, and yes even McDonalds which looks out of place in the middle of downtown.
Cheers for now. Time to go to the “sliding rock” – a natural water slide the tumbles into a natural spring.

Sarah: Talofa From Samoa!

We are in Apia, Samoa now. It is on the island of Upolu. So far, we have taken a tour around the island, swam in a cave pool with lots of fish, and went to a beach were we saw lots of colourful fish and coral. On the tour, we saw the damage of the tsunami on the other side of the island. There were lots of torn down houses and stuff scattered everywhere.

Matthew: Talofa From Samoa!

Samoa is great! The roosters wake us up. They go up to our window and cock-a-doodle-doo .

The people are kind here. They give us breakfast at a place across our place.

Our place is like a tiny house, it has a bathroom a bedroom and a living room.
I went swimming in a cave pool with fish.

There was a Tsunami a couple months ago here in Samoa.

There used to be a house in the picture above

I also went to a beach and got a deep cut by coral the cut just won’t heal.

Diane: San Diego in Eight Days

Here we are on our last night in San Diego. I was so concerned about blogging too often for the first part of our trip and boring everyone that I didn't think about how much we would have to report after eight wonderful, fun-filled days! We did more than we planned here in San Diego. What a nice city. Since it's already getting late in the evening I'm going to ask forgiveness for spelling or grammer upfront!

>>>>First, how about those last few days before a family of four depart on a trip around the world? They are just a bit of a blur now. Last minute insurance details, banking, blah blah blah... never did hear back from the Learning at Home Centre regarding the kids schooling plans....we can discuss that later.... Then packing our belongings into the basement and garage of the house and car. We tried to make the basement look like a semi-normal dwelling for Dylan to live in....For a student he sure has a lot of sofa's and chairs to sit on! And how about that nice big bed to sleep on? <<<<

Myself being a list addict - I couldn't believe that I did NOT put a list together for trip packing. The reason....well, when you pack for a two week vacation you really need to have everything so you don't waste time doing without or getting things you forgot....When you pack for an extended trip, you consider the first destinations and pick up everything else along the way. So, honestly, in general we did okay. Tent, sleeping bags (lots of camping in New Zealand), sleeping bag liners (more for questionable sleeping accomodations and for hot weather), two pair of socks each, underwear, toques, two pairs of durable hiking type pants, two shirts or so, flip flops, swim suits, goggles, rain jackets, camping stove and dishes, first aid supplies, anti-histamines, tylenol, asthma inhalers, immodium, malaria pills, antibiotics for traveller's diarrhea, reading books, note books, drawing pads, tooth brushes, shampoo and stuff...more and more..... Well, we made it to the airport Monday, Oct 12 on time a little bleary-eyed from staying up too late doing a combination of last minute packing, cleaning, and visiting with Laura and Cam upstairs at the house.

So San Diego....

The first day we spent at the pool...well actually, the neighboring hotel's pool since ours was closed for repairs. Good thing we stayed on Hotel Circle with endless hotel choices! Oh ya, we had the pool to ourselves....Canadians you know...

The weather was great all week. 20C everyday with partial cloudiness to help us break into the tropical conditions we'll be seeing.

Second day...Matthew's 11th birthday (yes, those are Twinkies with candles). The San Diego Zoo was the choice of the day! Our hotel shuttle got us safely there and back. What a great zoo. Their animal enclosures are layed out to maximize viewing. Many rescues and stories come out of this place. At first I was suprised by some of the smaller sized enclosures but the animals are treated very well and seem content. Of course, I am no expert.

Matthew loved his 'traveller' Swiss Army Knife birthday gift. He says it's the best gift ever!

We spent days at the local "FashionValley" mall - woo hoo....since none of us like shopping or can buy anything we had coffee, food, and saw a movie (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs), and generally just hung out. Very fun.

Old Town San Diego was interesting. First, we got on the "Trolley" (San Diego's version of the CTrain or LRT) then spent time in Old Town. A really neat place with many separate heritage buildings/museums and most of it is FREE. We attempted to leave the kids at the school to catch up but they forgot their books. Matthew found a book he just couldn't help but pick up. It was in a whole shelf full of ghost story books but this one stood out.....Ghost Stories of Alberta!

We could have stayed for a Ghost Tour but wanted to see the harbour so got back on the Trolley and headed downtown. Lot's of fun and ships to see.

Sea World was by far the favorite. They have a special on - adults at the cost of child admission and two days for the price of one.....we obviously had to go for two days. Taking two days for an experience like this is great. It helps you slow down and enjoy. We saw the killer whale show. "Shamu" is the main killer whale. What a spectacular show! Of course Matthew took all the best pictures with the new camera Dylan sent along for his birthday and for the trip. http://www.seaworld.com/sitepage.aspx?PageID=375

The trainers get in the water and ride out with the whales. They are so well behaved and seem to be enjoying their act - both the trainers and the whales! These were Sarah's favorites along with the special black and white Commerson's Dolphins. These little guys were really cute.

Well, the days were filled with getting wet everytime we turned around, feeding sea lions, petting dolphins and bat rays, going on rides, watching Elmo's 4D movie....we all felt very spoiled. This was a planned splurge for the trip...hope we didn't spoil ourselves too much.

We hope to learn much from many cultures around the world and will be reminding ourselves how fortunate we are to be on such and journey and to have the amazing wonderful lives that we do.

Tomorrow we check out of our hotel, go buy more toothpaste and catch a flight to L.A. where we get on our Air New Zealand flight to Samoa. Our Samoan destinations were not hit by the recent tsunami. Hopefully the internet at our first motel is available enough to blog. My plan.....more frequent updates!

Diane: Eight More Days Until We Leave

The past week is just a blur now. We moved most of our worldly contents into the garage and basement of our house. Said goodbye (for now) to the acreage and country living. For the next week we will live in the basement of our house in Okotoks until we go on the trip. Laura (my sister), Cam, and Alyssa live in the rest of the house. My poor lost son, Dylan, will live here for the rest of the year while going to U of C but for this week he is staying lots at Carolyn's house. So nice of him to help make more room while we try and organize chaos! The kids are snoring now on the sofa's in the rec room...all is just as we expected it...except for this darn cold I have now....well, may as well get it over before we go. We are slowly adjusting to a life of transient living!
During the last blurry week we also fit in our final Hepatitis and Japanese Encephilitis shots, many visits and meals shared with good friends and family. Rob's brother, Kevin came out to visit and we managed to get a turkey dinner at his dad's....early Thanksgiving. I was only a little sorry that I snuck downstairs and slept for two hours after supper...the brain wasn't firing completely and I was definitely not good company.
The next week may be a blur also but we'll be too excited to care. We still have organizing at the house which includes setting up Dylan so he can live in the nicely-finished-but-lacking-kitchen-facilities basement. We have trip shopping and packing to do yet. Unlock my phone...get portable power for the laptop...maybe....lot's and lot's.....hmmm, is it time for a nap yet?

Diane: Getting Ready for Our Trip

Well today was the first official day off of work for me. It's hard to believe that I get a whole year off to be with my family! I'm also new to blogging so this will be a great test.

We have exactly two weeks to get moved, finish collecting high-tech clothing articles that we can spend days on end in, pack everything into our backpacks and get on an airplane to leave this place for a while.

First. The Move.