I have finally gotten around to uploading some photos.

These include a shot of the pool area at our accommodation with our unit in the background, a shot of us working down our road with the ocean in the background, and also our beer fridge (samoa style) with drinking coconuts. Note the plastic covered lounges. There are plenty more to come!!

In other news, we have finally got ourselves some wheels, having hired a little Daihatsu Terios for the duration of our stay. Not the cheapest way to go but significantly more cost effective and worry free than buying. This means we can get out and about the island. While it has been lovely hanging out in the pool and playing tennis, the boys and I have been a bit housebound through attempting to manage our taxi budget.

First stop today was the town area which was absolutely bedlam with the markets bringing a surge of people into a one block area. We skirted around the edge of the chaos and hit up the Police headquarters to get our licenses validated at the direction of the people who hired us the vehicle (also the owners of the place where we are staying) to find that in fact we need to go to the Transport Bureau less than a km from our house. We are learning this is a very typical samoan experience. We ended up at an ice cream parlour across the road from the markets. The street sellers were out in earnest and we bought some lavalavas from a kid wandering around who looked no more than ten.

Sunday saw us attempting to circle the island to find a spot for snorkelling. We ended up well and truly lost on an inland road somewhere that just kept going, driving through pretty (as well as some pretty basic) villages in the hills. Eventually we picked up a hitchhiker who confirmed we were heading back towards the coast. A stop at a pool in front of a church to feed captive sea turtles finished off our day.

To wrap up, I also have a new addition to the list of creative samoan names. Paul saw a referral on a patient's chart to a Doctor with the first name Rexona. I think we have a winner!