American Samoa

Hello again from the Queen Victoria!

We were in the Kingdom of Tonga on March 17th and then spent another day at sea en route to our next port of call. Speaking of March 17^th by the way, here’s a first for us. We just so happen to have had two St. Patrick’s Days. Yes indeed Wendy Johnson-Lapp we did in fact have two opportunities to celebrate your birthday two days in a row, so a very happy belated birthday to you. Wee Shaemus was only too happy to do that…..

Why? Well during the night of the first one we crossed over the international dateline and therefore woke up to another Monday, March 17th the next day. I’ll bet that doesn’t happen more than once in a lifetime eh? Oh and by the way we are no longer one day ahead of North America, and are now actually 7 hour behind you.

Today is March 18^th as I type this and I’m sitting on our cabin balcony docked in Pago Pago American Samoa enjoying a glass of wine. My view at the present moment is a combination of the hustle and bustle of a busy portside pier along with a gorgeous backdrop volcanic mountains covered with lush vegetation which are dotted with many tiny rural houses.

We took a shore excursion around the eastern side of the island where we took in some of the island delights and some of its culture. It was a very interesting day as life is very different in this part of the world. The island itself is a lot more developed and scenic than Tonga was. I believe that is solely due to the influx of American dollars, hence the name “American” Samoa, otherwise it might look a lot more remote like Tonga I’m sure.

Pago Pago is a mixture of semi-urban communities, a small town, tuna canneries, which provide employment for at least one third of the population. The harbor is surrounded by dramatic cliffs, which plunge straight down to the sea. An earthquake struck off its coast in 2009 triggering a tsunami that hit the island which caused moderate to severe damage and an unknown number of deaths. You would never know that today.

When we leave here today we will be making our way to Hilo Hawaii, which is about 2250 nautical miles and will amount to 5 days at sea. We will be spending much of that time socializing and participating in events around the ship. Rick has already taken a couple of fencing classes to date, oh and let’s not forget swimming and/or walking around the open deck to help keep our waistlines in check.

So stay tuned for some ship photos to follow soon. Here are some pictures of our day in Pago Pago.

Love to all, Rick, Sandra, Wee Shaemus xoxo

The Wee Lad Getting In On The Action

We Had Lots Of St. Patricks Day Action Since We

Went to Bed On March 17 And Woke Up The Next Day On March 17 Having Crossed The International

Date Line That Evening.

Cheers

Our View Waking Up During Docking

Pago Pago, American Samoa

7:30 am 28c 82f

Our Touring Coach

For The First 3 Hours Of American Samoa

Beautiful Coastline Around American Samoa

Enjoying Fresh Coconut During A Samoan

Cultural Dance Ritual

Yes Sir Even In The Middle Of No Where

A Couple Of Mickey Dee’s

Some Much Needed R&R

On The Beach

Yes Even In The South Pacific

Common Sense Is In Short Supply

This Fellow Had No Life Jacket In Large Sea Swells

And Of Course One Must Kayak

In The Main Channel In Front Of

One Rather Large Ship

 

Hope all is well more to come.

 

Rick, Sandra and wee Sheamus