How to catch a Samoan Bus

We've been back in Portland for awhile now, but I can't get out of my head the experience of riding a Samoan bus to our Fale in Lalomanu. I knew we were in trouble when the brochure claimed "Samoan buses come in a variety of colours!" Nothing about timeliness, comfort or style. Oh well...
So here's a time-line of how it went on March 14th on our way across 'Upolu:

9:00 AM - Check bus schedule at our hotel - buses to Lalomanu depart the Fish Market in Apia at 10:30, 11:00, and 11:30 - awesome. Catch taxi to the craft market/fish market for the morning.

10:00 AM - Enjoy a fine lunch of fried chicken at the craft market.

10:40 AM - A little bored, head over to catch the 11:00 bus to Lalomanu - beach here we come!

10:45 AM - Ask the teenage "bus driver's assistant" what time we're leaving. 11? No, 11:15? No. Noon, he says. Try to keep wife from kicking the kid.

11:00 AM - Decide he's actually right. Send Janwyn back into the market to pick up a few other crafts. Notice an amazing amount of people boarding the bus. Maybe we're leaving early?

11:20 AM - Board bus. Wait.

11:40 AM - Wait. More people board the bus.

12 noon - Waiting, folks sitting in laps as well as standing. Notice that I'm the only "White" person on the bus and my wife is the only Asian. Huh.

12:15 PM - We pull out of the bus corral! Yay, we're on our way!

12:20 PM - Notice we're pulling into the vegetable market 3 blocks away. What?

12:30 PM - We spin through, apparently, the bus driver didn't see anyone he recognized, so we're BACK to the Bus corral. We've been on the bus over an hour and have gone in a giant circle. But at least we have seats.

12:40 PM - FINALLY leave the bus corral FOR REAL this time. We're headed East out of Town.

12:45 PM - Uh oh, spoke to soon. We stop for gas and EVERYONE gets off the bus! This is like doing your grocery shopping at Super America. We're we not just at the Market? What gives? Janwyn and I are beside ourselves.

12:46 PM - Notice a gal selling ice cream outside the store (mmmmm, ice cream). Decide to sign up for a cone for 4 Tala (that's $1.30 to you Americans). This is going to be awesome!

12:47 PM - Watch the bus creep ahead with my wife frantically waving on-board. All the sudden ice cream doesn't sound so good. Jump back on the bus.

12:50 PM - JUST KIDDING! The bus driver wanted to make sure the gas works, so pulled ahead 10 feet. WE'RE STILL WAITING!

1:15 PM - Everybody back on the bus. Fun Times in 100% humidity. We're on the road again.

1:30 PM - We're rolling now! Yee-haw!

2:00 PM - Hope the transmission holds out as we creep up the hill. 10 kms per hour. Feel that breeze!

2:30 PM - We start dropping folks off. At the end of their driveways.

2:32 PM - Another stop.

2:33 PM - 5 meters down the road, another stop.

2:34 PM - 10 meters down the road, another stop. It occurs to me a fantastic idea hasn't hit Samoans yet - a bus stop!

2:35 PM, 2:37 PM, 2:41 PM, and on and on until 3:30 - you get the idea. I should have ridden a turtle across the island.

3:45 PM - We see the sign saying we're in Lalomanu! Huzzah! We keep an eye out for Litia Sini, and our Fales.

3:50 PM - Take a turn off the road towards Lalomanu school. Are we on a side trip?

3:55 PM - We c-r-e-e-p past a Saturday afternoon Rugby game. Everyone leans out the window to watch.

4:00 PM - Pull a U-Turn at the end of the road. I don't recall anyone getting off the bus on this side trip...

4:05 PM - We STOP, engines off, as EVERYONE watches the Rugby game intently. Wow, we're never going to get there!

4:08 PM - We on the move - Oh wait, the bus driver just realized he could sit in the shade if he pulled ahead 10 feet - we're still watching the game.

4:15 PM - On the move again. Tired, sweaty, and ready to get off the bus.

4:25 PM - Yell out as we pass Litia Sini - That's our resort, jump off, pay 16 Tala for the pleasure, and get set to enjoy the fantastic views of the surf.

Total Distance: 35 kms --- Travel Time: 4 hours, 5 minutes.

Half Dome

Here is my favorite picture of Half Dome.

Yosemite

Before making our way back up to Portland, we had a chance to visit Yosemite National Park. We only had a day to see the sights, so we planned to do the typical tourist visit. When we got there, it was a bit colder than both of us anticipated. Of course coming from the southern hemisphere and Bay Area where it was pleasantly warm did not prepare us for the cold and snow of the mountains. But we had a wonderful day; please enjoy some photos I took while I was there!

5 things we're surprised by, now that we're back in the States:

So, you've decided to reacclimate to American society! Good for you!

Though it looks largely like you might remember, there are a few key changes. Here are some of the things that really struck Janwyn and I as we've travelled around California this past two weeks:

1. Cars here are ... wait for it ... GIGANTIC!

We had the thought as soon as we got on the highway in San Fran. Wow, you get like, 3.5 kilometers to the litre in that thing or what? 95% of cars in NZ were the size of our Nissan Sunny or smaller - the other 5% were work vehicles. Very remarkable.

2. Who the heck is Octomom?

I spent 5 months looking at tabloids where I had no idea who was on the cover, only to come back and be confronted with this phenomenon. Man, I find it really challenging to see any redeeming value here. Probably because there really is none.

3. Taxes are too high - getting higher and tipping is a really odd tradition.

(At the risk of sounding like Mr. Pink, "It's not my fault their employers don't pay them enough, it's a screwed up system, I just choose not to play ball.") In New Zealand, there is NO tipping (though the cafe culture is changing that, thanks Starbucks, and the price you see is the price you pay, everywhere. WHERE IS ALL THIS $$$ GOING??? And while we're on it,

3A. Thanks for taking care of the economy while we were away ... appreciate it ...

4. When did everyone pick up an iPhone?

I remember the first friend of mine who jumped on an iPhone last summer, but when did everyone find the time to plunk down $300 on a touch screen phone. I admit, I'm enthralled as much as the next person with what it can do, and it's a matter of time before I join the crowd. But the pace of price of "handheld items" has gone from: $2 bottle of pop to $4.50 cup of Starbucks to $100 cell phone to $300 iPhone. I'm confused, isn't there a recession going on?

And finally:

5. I wouldn't trade the Southern Alps views for extra pavement, but the US Interstate system is a thing of beauty!

See my coming article on getting to Lalomanu from Apia in Samoa and you'll truly appreciate the distance we've come in testing out road infrastructures! Sounds silly, but being able to drive from Fresno to LA in 5 hours is an amazing feat after that.

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/.