Fiji
Solomon Islands
Vanuatu

Samoa
New Zealand

We were picked up by a small bus at 9:00am and driven several miles the other side of Port Vila to a bay that contained Hideaway Island. We caught a ferry that continuously traverses the couple of hundred yards to the island. As soon as we had put on our face masks and snorkels and within a yard of the shore, we were surrounded by scores of brightly coloured tropical fish, and this was in water that was only a foot or so deep. Moving further out the fish were just as numerous. Within 20 yards of the shore and in water that was no more than 4 or 5 metres deep there were are large number of coral encrusted rocks which were home to a large number of different fish. Of all the places we went snorkelling in the Pacific none came anywhere near this spot for either numbers or variety. Visibilty was superb, the water being crystal clear to a depth of at least 15 metres.

We were picked up by the bus at 1:00pm and taken back to Port Vila. Our flight out of Port Vila left at 5:00pm and it took us an hour and twenty minutes to get to Fiji. We had a 7 hour wait for our flight to Apia so we left the airport and went to the pool bar at the Mocambo. We though there would be a band playing, but we were mistaken, and the only other two people in the karoke bar were singing so badly we only stayed to hear a couple of bars before we realised that we would leave minus either our hearing or our sanity.

We got back to the airport at about midnight and checked in. There were only 15 other passengers on the flight to Apia which took 2 hours and twenty minutes.

Surely some mistake, you are thinking, yesterday's entry was for Thursday as well. Such is the awe and mystery of the date line zone. Yes we did get the same day twice, but this was no Groundhog Day, we travelled west over the international dateline back into yesterday.

We arrived in Samoa to the sounds of a guitarist, laid on by the Samoan Visitors Board and this was at 4:00am. After clearing customs and passport control we caught a taxi to the Kitano Tusitala in Apia, which cost 40 tala. I think we were overcharged but at that time of day who's in any fit state to pick these things up. At the hotel we had to pay for an extra nights accomodation because we were checking in too early (about 5:00 am). This is just a excuse for making money, because most of the flights into Samoa, are either very late at night or early in the morning. What made it even more galling was the fact that we had phoned from the UK to check what arrangements we needed to make for an early check-in and were told that it would cost just half the normal room rate.

We slept for about four hours before getting up and going around Apia. Our first stop was the old market, where we picked up a couple of ili, and we then headed for the visitors bureau, where we raided the shelves for anything of interest. We had lunch at Gourmet Seafood, which seems to be very popular with both Samoans and visitors alike. The food is plain but filling and reasonably priced, but perhaps the main attraction is the constant breeze that blows through it. The rest of the day was spent wandering around Apia.