Forest and sunshine woos tourists

By Nefertiti Matatia 14 July 2018, 12:00AM

Samoa’s luscious rainforest and sunshine is proving to be a winner with tourists flying in from nations in the middle of a winter chill.

Australians Kate and Peter King have only been on the island for a week and they are mesmerised by a rainbow of colors on private homes, public buses and residential gardens.

The Dear Tourist team found them at the Samoa Tourism Authority office watching cultural performances. 

“We loved the experience here today, it was fantastic. It needs to be advertised a little bit more because we only heard from  word of mouth. There wasn’t a lot of information about it. This is our first time here and it has been good because it is very cold where we are at the moment, it was a place where we would come and have some sun thought it was lovely,” said Peter.

In just a few days here, they were able to see the south side of the island which to them was an eye opener.

“We have been to the ocean trench and also had a tour all over the island. It was great seeing the country island side. I was impressed with the way the people maintain their gardens and their houses which was very nice. Something that we really enjoyed was seeing the other side of the island went to the beaches and had a swim then came back,” added Peter.

Kate has a soft spot for flowers and garden, which compelled her to describe her experience as a ‘novelty’ as Australia is not always green.

 “I love the gardens and the flowers, it makes such a beautiful combination altogether. It is always green and that is a novelty to us because where we are from is not always green,” she added.

The Samoa Cultural Show and a visit to the Robert Louis Stevenson museum were highlights for Kate.

“For me it would be the Samoan Cultural show together with the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum was fantastic. The guide there was great because he explained everything in details and I did not know a lot about Robert Louis Stevenson.”

The couple fly out of Samoa tomorrow but their visit has had big impact on them.

“We will definitely be coming back and it has been such a good trip. There is only one challenge that we are facing, which is there is only one direct flight to Australia and it makes it very hard.”

By Nefertiti Matatia 14 July 2018, 12:00AM
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