Highlights from Samoa

Our vacation from the vacation: March 8th - 17th.

• We visited 2 islands in Western Samoa: Savaii and Upolu.
• Our accommodation consisted of beach huts, called fales, over the water or beachside.
• We swam and snorkeled in the warm turquoise waters.
• We rented a car (with another couple we met along the way) and drove around Savaii and saw how the locals live, explored the lava fields, and saw the blow holes at high tide.
  
• Spent a lot of hours in the hammock, reading and enjoying the beautiful scenery.
• It took a 4 hour bus ride, where we were crammed in with the locals (typically 4 people per bus bench) to the south side of Upolo where we enjoyed 2 wonderful days on a sand beach.

So long to New Zealand

Well our final day has arrived. We're mixed emotions of course, sad to leave our new friends and fantastic country, unsure about how our week in remote Samoa will fare, and excited to see our family and friends again.

So here's a smattering of last weeks pictures in Auckland and Northland as well as some final thoughts on our trip:

Here's Janwyn excited to be on Rawawa Beach on the East side of Cape Reinga, the northernmost point on the North Island.


Heading home on our overnight cruise. We had a fantastic time in the Bay of Islands snorkeling, kayaking, fishing, and drinking Tui Beer.


While staying with Giselle in Auckland, we helped Graham with his unveiling of Marama Organic Meats to the customers of Farro Fresh Foods. Here we are in front of Graham's new sign honoring the occasion.

And here are our two time hosts themselves, Graham, proud South Otago Farmer, and Giselle, who's home we graciously visited in lovely Parnell, Auckland.

Here I am, offering some freshly grilled organic meat. There were plenty of takers during the two weekends we visited Farro Fresh.

And with that, the top five things we're looking forward to back in The States:

5. Spoons that are conveniently mouth size!
4. Finding a job, making our new home, and creating a new garden
3. Having a coffee from Muddy Waters on Belmont in Portland
2. Screens on windows
1. Seeing Yin.

Hope to see everyone when we return from Samoa!

Trusty's Sold!

Well it took about a week - including 3 fruitless days in the dismal Auckland Backpackers Car Market - but Trusty has found a new owner. It's destined for a high-mileage life of toting Caden, a Buzz Lightyear carrying precocious four-year-old we met yesterday, back and forth to pre-school. The best part is we'll keep the car through Friday 6 March so we can take it on our trip to Northland this weekend. First stop there: an overnight cruise on the Bay of Islands aboard the Rock: Check it out here: http://www.rocktheboat.co.nz/.