To Sua Ocean Trench

Samoa is very Christian but perhaps not as much as Tonga. I was surprised to learn that dive shops are open as in Tonga, all activities come to a halt. As I had been to church before (in the islands), I didn’t go here. The singing is supposed to be very good.

After breakfast, I relaxed while Mark planned the remainder of his stay. I went down to a spare fale and did a 1 hour yoga session. I managed to get up into my full bridge pose completely unassisted for the first time ever! Must be the relaxed state!

Our hosts put on a free Sunday lunch for us, consisting of taro, palusami (mashed taro leaves in coconut milk) and marinated raw fish (in coconut milk). It was filling and delicious.

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Mark, Hans (Swiss) and I got a ride with our hosts to To Sua Ocean Trench. It would have been an extremely long walk as our hosts had no bikes for rent (contrary to their listing at hostelbookers.com).

Over lunch, one of the guests had said that he would put money on it that I couldn’t make it down the ladder at To Sua.  How rude!  While I’m not the competitive type, it didn’t scare me at all.

We had a walkaround before a long swim. My feet couldn’t touch the floor and we could feel the push and pull of the sea even though there was no apparent link to the outside (it is only visible and swimable at low tide).

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Afterwards, we hitched a ride home from an old English couple from Oxford. Strangely, they were quite critical about their hometown, especially regarding graffiti and vandalism. I said, “I might just go to Cambridge instead!”.We had a few beers by the beach before dinner and bed. The day went very quickly doing very little.