You know that holiday I mentioned? We arrived back from our sojourn in Samoa, slightly tanned, refreshed and weighing a bit more …

That’s one of the downsides of holidaying.

For a few days the weather was reminiscent of Auckland and we needed an umbrella to get about.  But on Tuesday we hauled the curtains back to a bright blue sky and a sunny morning. Perfect!

Samoa is warm too sitting around 30 degrees + in the day with night temps in the early to mid 20s,  I won’t talk about the humidity. Ideally you need an air conditioner to sleep, ensure that you turn on the ceiling fan and most importantly exterior doors need to be shut early  .. the mossies are prolific and they find me very tasty!

I’m a cat person .. I have that special ‘meow’ speak that we cat people develop. So joined at breakfast and dinner time by hungry kitties, means I’m in heaven sharing what’s on my plate. The felines were thoroughly enjoying my honeyed bacon, sausage and to my surprise omelette and toast with vegemite, all washed down with water from floral arrangements. Smart cats!

Samoa is such a beautiful place and only a 3.5 hour plane journey from NZ, located in the South Pacific and forming part of Polynesia. We stayed on the island of Upolu which has the capital of Apia and is the most popular island in the group. It is such an unspoilt place  … and hopefully will remain so.

The Robert Louis Stevenson museum is located on Samoa. It is called Villa Vailima and is about 5 kms from Apia next to the Vailima National Reserve. Robert Louis was a sick man and had tuberculosis. In 1890 he moved his family to Samoa believing that a warmer climate would help him and his illness, sadly this wasn’t to be and he passed away in 1894.

Hubby and I visited his home on the Saturday leaving our footwear at the door.  I was in awe and felt most humbled to be there. I would love to tell his story as our guide did that day, finishing the tour in song with her beautiful melodic voice paying tribute to this great man.

I knew too that Mr Stevenson was there with us that day, I just couldn’t see him … if the piano had started playing I would not have been surprised.

I couldn’t resist this wedding photo …

Ah Samoa, what an ideal paradise, we loved our few days there. Thanks to everyone that made our stay such a special one.

Oh and for the gardening friends … please don’t ask me about my garlic.

Happy gardening!