View from Mt Doom, Tongariro Crossing, NZ
View from Mt Doom, Tongariro Crossing, NZ
  • Samoa! - blog catch up...
    • 27/04/2012
just heard an American woman ask for a Hawaiin pizza without pineapple
every vehicle in Fiji has after market stereo, even if missing 2nd and 3rd gear and windows
and the speakers are always hifi speakers or large home made wooden boxes, stuck awkwardly
also amazing industry in car upholstery, seats, dash, walls, even ceiling wallpapered
and seats usually covered in protective plastic (fair enough) but funny like old folks, buying nice furniture but never daring to sit on it

Samoa
fales fales fales. and lots of imposing churches in contrast.
so fales all different shapes sizes. basically a hut or house with no walls.
you can see right in, right through. often no furniture, maybe a fridge and a tv.
outside toilets and showers away from fale
evidently its pretty consistently warm and doesn't rain much

incredible neatness. like the whole island is a best kept village competition
immaculately mowed lawns and verges, ornamental hedges, strategically planted colourful shrubs and flowers along the roadsides

fautau beach fales lalomanu beach
all dead coral due to 2009 tsunami. saw a turtle though!
massive shame cos awesome beach and perfect lagoon for swimming at any tide
never mind destroying villages etc, they've already rebuilt. the coral will take forever


locals shocked at my plans to walk 10k. hate to brand them lazy but wtf.
I guess normally they don't need to go anywhere further than the next village unless they're going all the way to apia
bus that stops for driver to top up radiator and for people to get stuff from their house
bus is cheap, taxis relatively expensive unless shared between five
buses run when needed- to work, home from work. end of. nothing Sundays or holidays, like this Fri good Friday
tourists ripped at every turn
they love rugby! and sometimes volleyball. its the south pacific thing
lava blow hole - seawater forces air and spray up. I guess the principle applied in wave elec generators
chickens crossing the road. why, why
lots of kids and people waving and saying hello
lots of people work in fields with machetes
outdoor naked showering large lady
kids playing sticks and hoops
did that old woman spit in disgust ?
gets dark like THAT. quick
hitch from afon barca shirt. has usb stick mp3 sound system. same shitty music. all buses pump music loud, can hear them a mile off
they changed from driving right to driving left side last year. now all cars wrong side steering wheel.
i guess its to align more with nz and oz trading partners like the dateline change

woven leaf baskets awesome
drunk nz mum Susie theory on usa backwardness -
that country settled before age of enlightenment 1800s (whereas nz and oz after so more civilised)
recommends another Socrates about nature and environment and how we fit

as sea levels rise, the surface of earth will become closer to a uniform sphere
any implications? aerodynamics?
how is sea level so level anyway, within the few feet of tides. is one side of pacific really same distance from.centre of earth as the other?
a circle or sphere is the ultimate shape to tend towards. yet also infinitely divisible
its fia fai island night with the usual grass skirts and drumming

but with terrible samoan pop music
why do Polynesians only make music with drum machines and yamaha keyboards that sounds like primary school disco
or listen to shitty American rap

so I made a cunning escape before the audience participation bit and am now sat on beach with waves, cloudy sky, some sand crabs
the resort is mainly full with 2 week holiday makers from nz. and Swedish bizarrely. and today some English. annoying!
nz kids and their trendy 80's haircuts. wait no I'm gonna say they ate stylish, we're the boring idiots in western 2010's for all looking the same
express yourself (its one on one)

rumours are that Fiji is getting an actual cyclone.
so I got out just in time. near missing another natural disaster
feel bad for the locals and friends still there but also jealous I miss another experience. for what, nothing, just sat on a different beach

craziest bus journey ever, squeezing extra people on like the tube in rush hour
stories of people sitting on strangers laps, true. four men in the stair well
meanwhile the driver steers one handed whilst changing to a new ear splitting dj crazy cd

passing some dwellings it appears the people have almost no possessions. but what do they need? they have adequate shelter and abundant food, everyone is healthy and fed.

tombs in gardens - but in use as beds, drying clothes etc, not exactly revered in respect!

cars have extravagant home made hood ornaments, like rolls royce but with half a barbie

talking to a guy who settled here;
1. feudal system, villagers have to give stuff to chief. pigs, daughters, it discourages entrepreneurialness!
2. church power. churches demand large donations which are then publicly read out - from people with no income in subsistence lifestyle!
education is prohibitively expensive, partly because no jobs available for educated people. and farmers don't need it

but the fact remains that samoan culture is sleep all day, do nothing, and still comfortably stay alive due to abundant free food
  • Somea Samoa Photos
    • 11/04/2012
bus funiconic clockme at waterfallanother sunsethouse


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