Driving Miss Karen

A blog about our travel

First Steps Home: Fiji and Samoa

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We are really missing home as we start the long island hopping portion of our trip home across the Pacific. We flew from NZ to Fiji and spent the night but still haven’t really seen much of the country. We then flew to Samoa simply because that was the best connection to American Samoa which has the most remote national park in the U.S. national park system. It’s funny how small events can lead you on a path. In 2010 we talked to a couple during a picture stop in Glacier NP. They had quit their jobs for a year and were seeing all the parks in the continental U.S. Both Karen and I were hooked on the idea and decided to make that a goal (which soon expanded to all the parks). One five minute chat has lead us 9000 miles from home to a tiny dot in the Pacific. So glad we stopped for that picture!

We’ve seen the Nadi airport in Fiji four times now and still can’t say we’ve explored this small island nature
I expect all tropical islands to have beautiful waters but in Fiji, only islands with surrounding reefs have clear water
Some of the mountains in Fiji. They do make some good water do to the volcanic rock
This is our main perspective of Fiji even though we’ve spent the night and been the Nadi airport 4 times. Nothing against it, just the way it’s worked out

We moved on to Samoa (used to be called Western Samoa) for a short two night visit just to get a feel for the place

My impressions of Samoa are a little disjointed. The beautiful coral atolls mixed with a sense of distance and isolation
Canoe at the Samoan Cultural Center. It seemed deserted at 9:45 AM even though opening time is 9:00 AM
The biggest and often nicest buildings are churches. I’m just thinking that money could be better spent
Typical transport options are locally owned buses or feet. We as tourists used taxis and walking.
Samoans probably came from Tonga thousands of years ago. The Samoans themselves are such a contradiction to me with their super-Christianity, island-time culture, and souped-up buses. There was a lot of poverty, with children regularly begging or selling things. It’s hard for me to be in a place so desperate for money, that children have to do this. I felt the Samoan people were very kind and easygoing which can be good or bad depending on the situation

Jose

AKA Alfred

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