When Samoans gathered to celebrate 54 years of freedom on Wednesday, among the crowds were many tourists who happened to be in Samoa at the right time.

Being awe-stricken by the uniqueness of the celebration, visitors were left impressed by the colour and culture on display.

Philip Forsyth who is a retired farmer from Australia is one of those lucky visitors.

Being in the country to take part in the first ever Pacific Championship League, he took the initiative to parade with his fellow Aussies in their full cricket attire.

For Mr. Forsyth the celebration left him speechless.

“It’s terrific,” he said during an interview with Samoa Observer.

“Every cricketer that has come here to play in the senior’s league is absolutely awed and excited by the fact that we have come at the right time and to be part of this march, it’s simply special.

“I have never seen the way Samoa celebrates independence but from what I have seen, it is absolutely sensational.

“All the schools and different organization that came and took part in the parade is amazing.”

With this being his first trip to Samoa, Mr. Forsyth believes he was lucky to come at such a time.

“This is actually my first time in Samoa,” he said.

“I can say that it is a different culture to what we’re used to in Australia; everyone here is always all smiles and where ever they are they look after you, Samoa is a terrific country.”

“On my word, my wife and I will come back for a holiday in the near future.

“I have only been here for three days and there is nothing I can be critical of, the people of Samoa are wonderful, such happy people with smiles on their faces.”

For Daniel Wagner-hall and Cat Jones who are visiting from England, they too are happy with the timing of their trip.

“We only found out that Samoa is celebrating her 54th Independence on the plane heading to Samoa,” they said.

“We are on holiday across the Pacific and Samoa is one of our stops and we are spending three days here in Samoa.

“This is just perfect for us, because we witnessed the whole country come together and have the parade which was very amazing and beautiful.”

The couple is also happy with the fact that they have access to almost all of Samoa in one place.

“We are quite lucky because we can stay here all day and watch the different entertainments and experience the Samoan culture here,” they said.

“The people have been so friendly and we are happy and excited to be here for this celebration.

“We did some research on Samoa and we were excited to come and now that we are here, it’s a marvelous feeling to be here; the environment is very beautiful with such friendly people and we love our trip so far.”