Wednesday 18th March
Pago Pago, American Samoa
After leaving New Zealand we had to alter course and miss out a port to avoid Cyclone Pamela. We caught the tail end of it with some wet and windy weather and some rough seas. We have just crossed back over the International Dateline and have gained a day. Yesterday was Wednesday 18th March and today is also Wednesday 18th March!
This morning we are on the small island of Tutila which is part of American Samoa. We are in the tropics here and it is very, very hot. It is a cloudy morning and as we had breakfast it rained -a heavy shower but soon over. We have stopped at the capital Pago Pago which is a very small town. It is situated in a beautiful harbour on the south side of the island. The northern part of the island is mountains. There is a coastal road that goes around about two thirds of the island. We walked along this and followed it around the beautiful natural harbour. There were a some houses dotted about on the hillside and quite a few churches. We heard lots of chickens and saw lots of dogs either asleep or roaming around. It was a lovely walk right by the water. On the way back we stopped at Sadie Thompson Inn for a drink. The hotel is named after a character in Somerset Maugham's book called Rain. I haven't read this but it is set in Pago Pago. We returned to the ship for lunch and then decided to walk in the other direction towards the entrance to the harbour. We passed some small beaches and the building in the picture. This is a fale which is a Samoan meeting house. We saw lots of different ones around the harbour but this is the main one. It was not only the largest with a lovely domed roof but many of the wooden columns were beautifully carved. In the picture Russ has just stopped to take a stone out of his shoe! When we got to the harbour entrance we walk a bit more to see a rock just off of the shore called Flowerpot Rock because on the top of the rock there are lots of trees and bushes. The people here in Pago Pago have been very friendly, waving to us and saying hello. We have had a really great day here.