Samoa is a growing tourism destination. 

So says Terry Gainey and his wife, Susan Bellamy, from Sydney, Australia. 

The couple admitted that Samoa is quite a beautiful place to enjoy life.

They came to Samoa for a holiday and to get away from the winter back at home.

They came together with a group of 12 friends, who are mainly school teachers back in Australia.  

 “It is a very beautiful place,” Terry said. 

Their shared passion for snorkelling attracts them to the Pacific and they have been to New Zealand, Hawaii and New Caledonia.

They arrived on Sunday and depart the island tomorrow. 

During their stay, they took the chance to organise different trips to explore the island and all its hidden charms.

“We went on a day tour yesterday (Wednesday) across the other side of the island and the beaches, to the waterfalls and the To Sua Trench,” Terry said.

Compared to his experience in New Caledonia, he said: “Samoa is much better, nicer. The people are friendlier and they go out of their way to be nice to tourists, very nice.

“The scenery is beautiful. It is greener and I think the beaches are nicer. The beaches here in front of the resort are beautiful too. We had some swimming here. It is easier going, which I personally prefer.

“It is probably quieter because it is less developed. This is the only resort that we have seen whereas all the rest of the places are kind of old with the open windows and the chicks and dogs on the street.

“I love all the buses. All the kids look terrific with their uniforms and the people, who were going to church on Sunday looked beautiful, lovely.”

Terry also highlighted his opinion of the importance of religion in Samoa. 

“It is interesting here too because everybody seems to be very religious, they love the church. We went up to Robert Louis Stevenson house, which was terrific, there was a girl who sang a song at the end of the tour, which has been very good,” he said. 

In New Caledonia, Terry said he hardly noticed the presence of churches. “It was just a little bit dirtier and here it seems everything is clean and just nice. People are always picking up papers,” he said.

“It is very easy to get around. We are happy with the offers we got here from the resort in terms of activities.”

“The people here are on Samoan time, because we are tourists we want to be faster, they back up. This is another country and they haven’t had tourism here for a very long and it is just growing slowly,” Terry said. 

“I hope not too fast, I like it the way it is,” Susan added. “Only the organisation staff could be a bit more developed, it is just about little things.”

Terry added: “We would think of coming back again, but we have a lot of other places we want to go to, maybe Fiji and Tahiti. 

“I would say the best parts of my stay have been the people and the sceneries.”