Greetings blogspotters! Talofa from Samoa!

Well, following Tonga, we were keen to get to Samoa for more of the same please!

We'd had a bit of a dull day hanging around for our late flight out, so we were all the more eager to get on with our holidays! As usual for international flights we arrived at the airport with two hours for check-in and immigration etc but it wasn't really needed in the tiny terminal and we were soon sat in the departure lounge with well over an hour to wait.

*bing bong* "Air New Zealand flight to Samoa and LA will be delayed as the runway lights aren't working."

'Great!' We thought...we settled in the little cafe and got some little goodies to tide us over while we waited. Soon after this announcement we spotted a few airline staff going round the other passengers...this didn't look good...

*bing bong* "Air New Zealand flight to Samoa and LA has been cancelled."

We looked around in disbelief...we weren't the only ones! We joined a disenchanted bunch questioning the airport staff. With no apology or alternative we were simply told that we would not fly tonight and that Air New Zealand were not responsible and therefore we'd not be reimbursed or compensated for the extra costs involved with taxis and accommodation etc

We were lucky though, we spoke to a couple of girls who were heading all the way back to Heathrow and would definitely miss their connecting flight. I also overheard a couple heading to Amsterdam, who'd miss both their connections. Our biggest gripe though was that we'd have two days less in Samoa and we'd still have to pay for accommodation there!

We were informed that we'd need to visit the Air New Zealand office in Nuku'alofa in the morning and that our checked baggage was waiting for us in the arrivals hall. So, annoyed, we headed back into the capital in search of accommodation where we might be able to check-in at this late hour. The girls who'd been intending to get all the way back to London mentioned a guesthouse that some friends of theirs were staying at and we were grateful for the suggestion! "Winnie's" was a charming, chintzy little place and fortunately the hosts were welcoming and sympathetic for our situation.

After a quick breakfast of fresh fruit (a standard in the South Pacific) we mooched into town to see what Air New Zealand would come up with to get us off Tongatapu. We were disappointed to learn that while LA-bound passengers had been flown off that day, we would have to wait overnight yet again to get to Samoa. Worst still, we'd be getting there via Auckland, three hours in the wrong direction! Instead of arriving a mere hour after take-off, we'd have to make a day of it, leaving at half nine in the morning and touching down in Apia at 6pm.

Fortunately we'd cross the International Date Line, not, as I suspected, some global telephone dating service, but where you either lose or gain a day depending whether you're travelling east or west. In our case, we'd gain a day. Magically, we'd leave Tonga on Thursday 29th October and arrive in Samoa a day earlier on Wednesday 28th October!

With this news and after the initial annoyance wore off, we booked into Winnie's for one more night and returned to town for lunch. We felt a bit stuck...not really sure how to spend our new found time in Tonga. Cooper spotted the solution - dinner and a show at Ohelei Beach. This sounded fun, and the lady who sold us the ticket informed us that there's no better cultural evening on Nuku'alofa. Suddenly the disappointment of not already being in Samoa begun evaporating as we anticipated our evening to come.

We had a quite eventful journey to the night's entertainment, that took forever, and I fear so would the telling, so that will have to wait for another time. Finally there, we felt like we must be late as the band was in full swing and as we weren't really sure what we'd booked ourselves into, wondered whether this was the 'show' part of the evening?!

The band was a far cry from the Kings band we'd listened to in Vava'u and we knew which we preferred, I'm not really sure how typically Tongan the works of Elvis Presley are (there are signs dedicated to the King everywhere...but that's usually the Tongan King we assumed) , but we were treated to some and it was painful! The locals who'd come along for the evening were enjoying it though, and that was entertainment enough for us!

The buffet dinner was announced to be served and we were guided through to a kind of half cave where we were greeted by mountains of food. The centrepiece of the buffet - a hogroast! We now see why typical bodies in the South Pacific are...ahem...weighty. There was tonnes of food, and before you knew what had happened, it was all gone! All that was left was the skeleton of the pig, literally!

After stuffing our faces, we were all herded through into a 'proper' cave where it turned out the 'show' would be performed. The band started up again briefly, but before they could break into 'Heartbreak Hotel' the performers arrived. In fact, those who'd been plattering up roast pig and various Tonga veg just minutes before, were to be our entertainment for the night! That's great staffing to our minds, really getting your money's worth from them!

A series of traditional dances ensued, the highlight and finale was fire dancing/juggling! We'd not seen anything of this nature since Thailand and it was no less fabulous here. We were a smidge worried, sat on the front row, that if by chance one of the firey batons would be accidentally released, it would undoubtedly fly into our laps and seriously ruin our fun night out. By happy coincidence, this did not occur and we left as intact as we'd arrived.

Of note during the pre-fire dancing of the evening, it seemed that 'joining in' is far more welcome in Tonga, than say, the West End! A number of questionably inebriated Tongans found themselves on stage, much to the admiration of their friends and family. It was a bit surreal but once again, a clear indicator of the fabulous attitudes of the Friendly Islanders.

We finally left Tonga on Thursday and after some seven hours in the air, we arrived in Samoa. Here, the law has recently been passed to switch cars driving on the right hand side, to the left. This must've been a tad confusing at the time, and probably still, especially as the majority of cars remain left-hand drive...our taxi driver from the airport showed not one ounce of concern though as we almost flew to our hotel, overtaking on both sides whether there was road to do so or not! Finally, we made it to the Outrigger Hotel, our home in Samoa.

We decided for our first day to explore the city of Apia. Fifteen dusty minutes later we were wandering around shops and stalls that reminded us far more of Asia than of Tonga. We thought we'd stop in town for a bite to eat...alas we could only find McDonalds! This couldn't be right, even in Nuku'alofa there were a smattering of eateries...surely this slightly larger capital would too?? We went round in a big circle for nearly an hour in search of somewhere else to eat, in vain! We settled for McDonalds in the end and would make sure we found somewhere else to eat for the remainder of our time in Samoa. (Samoa makes the total tally of countries we've visited McDonalds in, eight...we reckon we might spot one or two in the States too!)

In the heat and humidity we decided the best place for us really would be the pool back at the hotel, so we walked off our burgers and took a dip. We got chatting to some New Zealanders and discovered that we should be able to find a decent Italian restaurant if we ventured up away from town, and since that point their menu has become our staple diet.

On our second day it rained all day, but to be honest, we didn't mind that much. We used it as an excuse not to go out and we had a very pleasant day reading our books and swimming in the pool - well, we were going to get wet one way or another! Since then the weather has picked up, and it is hot! Good for topping up the tan, not so good for trying to walk anywhere, so we've mainly just stuck by the pool with the odd trip into town.

Last night we visited a hotel in town, Aggie Grey's, that is a bit of an institution, for their barbecue buffet meal - very tasty and best of all, they had about a dozen different deserts to choose from, yum! So, well fed and entertained by some rather nice Samoan guitar music from a local group, we headed back to the Outrigger for our last night. Unfortunately we had an extra guest wanting to share our room, a big horrible cockroach, yuk! 'Charles' as we named him seemed quite intent on staying the night despite our attempts to dissuade him, but was heard scuttling off in the wee small hours....gross.

Thankfully the rest of our time in Samoa has been relatively bug free, asides from the resident mosquitos who have enjoyed feasting on our legs and feet, blood sucking little monsters. Today we are enjoying the last of the sun as we await our flight to LA tonight, and fingers crossed everything goes to plan this time!

We are both excited and dumbfounded that we are heading to our final country on what once seemed an incredibly long list...the final stamp in the passport! For this trip anyway...

So blogfans...we will sign off from the South Pacific, and speak to you again very soon from the big ol' US of A...

Nick and Katie xxx