Fiji
Solomon Islands
Vanuatu

Samoa
New Zealand

We drove back past the wharf and first stopped at the Afu Aau Waterfalls, just off the track to the Pulemelei Ancient Mound. As we drove past the only house on the track we were accosted by two children, who wanted us to pay a custom fee of 10 tala. Since on our previous journey along this track we had not been stopped Lucy thought they might be trying it on and so told them to go and fetch their father. We he arrived he said that access along the road was just 5 tala. I think the moral to be learned from this story is that you should never pay a custom fee to a child, and always ask them to fetch an adult. Afu Aau is a secluded waterfall and pool which is accessed via a short but steep climb down a muddy bank. It is surrounded by low cliffs and there is no sound but the rushing of water and occaisional bird song. It was one of the most tranquil spots we came across on our holiday.

I had read somewhere about the black sand beach of Aganoa and seeing it marked on the map not to far from the waterfall we decided to take a look. Once we had paid the custom fee of 5 tala we had a bumpy 10 minute drive to the beach. We were both somewhat perplexed because every now and again we would catch sight of the and see beautiful white sand, and this was indeed what we found when reached the small bay of Aganoa Beach. It turns out that there are two Aganoas, one on Upolu and the one we were visiting on Savai'i. It is the one on Upolu that is a black sand beach, and supposedly one of the best places to surf in Samoa.

Since it was just another beautiful white beach, we decided to look for something more unusual. Further to the west is the Mu Pagoa Waterfall. A river flows down from the mountains in the centre of Savai'i and across a lava field. Where the lava field meets the sea lowish black cliffs have formed. At Mu Pagoa the river flows over the cliff and straight into the sea, or at low tide onto a black sand beach. The river is very popular with the local villagers as a place to bath, wash clothes or just chat.

We had to get back to the wharf for 1:00pm so that we could catch the 2:00pm ferry to Upolu. We were lucky because they run the large ferry for this sailing, but even so no all the vehicles waiting managed to get on and once we were on the passenger deck we were unable to find anywhere to sit. One strange observation; when the Samoans travel by bus it is very common to see people sitting on complete strangers when there are no more seats available, we didnt see any of this on the ferry even though all the seats were taken and there we probably more than a hundred people standing.