It was Jessica’s last day in Samoa.

She got up early for a final walk along the seawall. When Dear Tourist met her, she had finished and was back, with a strong coffee, inside the Sheraton lobby.

Although Jessica was here for work, these last three days, she took advantage of the facilities at the Sheraton and got as much sun as she could manage.

 “The weather is horrendous at the moment in Auckland with the rain, the wind and the cold -- you’d never know that spring was meant to have started,” she said. 

“It’s been freezing back home so it’s really nice to actually see the sun and to feel the warm again, I love it.

“It’s been beautiful, I absolutely love it. I even had the chance, in between work, to get a few swims in yesterday. 

“We had dinner at Paddles last night, the service was fantastic which was really good -- I would highly recommend the seafood marinara. It’s been really, really lovely.”

Jessica had made sure to walk around Apia town as much as possible, saying that what she had seen was great.

 “I’ve done a few walks around town. I actually went down to the Mulivai Cathedral, it’s absolutely stunning. There are so many seats you wonder if the whole population could fit in there. 

“I popped in there this morning when I went for a morning walk -- it was beautiful, absolutely beautiful.”

Having travelled to Rarotonga and Fiji, Jessica had some kind of inkling of what to expect, but even in her short time here. she was really impressed with what she saw.

 “To be honest, Samoa has actually exceeded my expectations, so that’s very nice,” she said.

“It’s very clean, people are very friendly and also very helpful. It’s really neat, it’s just fantastic, I feel very safe here which is nice for tourists like us. 

“I find Samoa more similar -- but larger -- than the Cook Islands; I really love the Cook Islands and Samoa has the same feel as it but is a lot larger. 

“There’s a really good feel here, it’s a place you could come and relax quite easily.”

Would Jessica return to explore Samoa a little further? 

 “I would absolutely like to come back. I would like to come back with my family and do as much as we could because there is obviously a lot more to see and do here.”