A birthday surprise, flowers and music in Samoa

By Deidre Tautua-Fanene 08 July 2017, 12:00AM

Retired secondary school teachers Robin and Shirley Brown, from Christchurch, New Zealand are embracing the warmth of Samoa.

Here for two weeks holiday, the couple who are in their 80’s are staying at the Sinalei Reef Resort.

Mr. Brown said they chose Samoa because it is the only Pacific island they hadn’t been to.

“We have been here for about a week now,” said Mr. Brown.

“So far it has been worth the trip. The people are just beautiful, my wife loves the flowers and especially the mixture of the music when we go to local bars.

“We are also amazed at how relaxed the people are, especially the people who sing around some corners strumming their guitars, that’s beautiful.

“It’s so different from home because we don’t get to see this every day.”

Mrs. Brown said the other reason why she is here is to celebrate her 80th birthday.

“My husband had arranged for everything and I had no idea about it,” she said.

“It wasn’t until ten days before we came on this trip that he told me we were coming to Samoa. I was thankful and excited to come and to be able to experience the beautiful shores of Samoa.

“I love the palusami, roast pork and island barbeque. It’s very unique how you make your umu and we don’t get to see that in New Zealand but I guess this is the purpose of the trip –  to experience new things and ideas.”

Mr. Brown said, he wanted to surprise his wife with the trip and so he did

Meanwhile, they are both enjoying themselves walking around in the beautiful sun and cooling off with the local beer from time to time.

“I love the Vailima, it’s very pure and it tastes so fine,” he said.

“My wife has cocktails and we can’t believe it took us this long to come here for holiday.

“We will definitely recommend Samoa to our children, grandchildren as well as our friends and hopefully we can come back.

“Samoa is the place to relax, enjoy the drinks and the weather.

“It is a place where we can escape to from all the stress and the business and the freezing weather of New Zealand.

“Thank you to the people of Samoa for the wonderful memories and I believe that one day we will come back and stay a bit longer so we can understand more about the culture and especially the people.”

By Deidre Tautua-Fanene 08 July 2017, 12:00AM
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