Gordon and Yvette Cabral, a couple in their 50s from Melbourne, Australia, are not your average tourists.

It’s not that they don’t love Samoa, but their liking of the destination is deep. They want to make a difference.

 “The other thing that we did do apart from the tourist experience is we bought some gifts for children and we went and donated that to victims of crime so we did that too, which was beautiful,” Yvette said.

“The children – we couldn’t take photos but they were just beautiful, they sang to us and they were just beautiful.”

The first time visitors spoke to the Dear Tourist team about their adventures in Samoa, from hotel-hopping to enjoying a Sunday lunch from the umu in the villages.

 “We went visiting resorts on the other end of the island – we’re staying here at Taumeasina and then we were also on the other side of the island enjoying Saletoga Beach Resorts; it was just magic over there,” said Gordon.

“It was nice; the people there were lovely and the service and the views, greenery and everything amazing about the country, but even everywhere it’s always beautiful, including just driving through the country side and the market which was a beautiful experience.”

“We also stayed at Samoana Hotel and everyone is just so friendly with the smiles and the welcoming is beautiful.”

Yvette also overcame her fear of the water by climbing down the To Sua Ocean trench ladder.

“We went to the trench and I’m actually scared of the water but I did it so that was really exciting and beautiful.

“We also visited and stayed there while they had lunch with the families, so we experienced family life coming in from church and culture and everyone has been beautiful with smiling faces and language,” told Yvette.

She also spoke about witnessing the way of traditional cooking in the outside open kitchen.

“We definitely got the experience, with the animals running around. We love the food; the taro leaves with coconut cream as well as the fish in coconut dish – I love coconut in anything,” said Yvette.

The Australian couple claimed they wanted to try as much as they can before they return.

Yvette said they enjoyed the fire knife dancing shows within the hotel and the Ladies Night at Taumeasina held on Wednesday night.

“We’ve been to The Edge Marina and I enjoyed all the cocktails,” giggled Yvette.

“She tried so many, different ones every time,” laughed Gordon.

“We also tried the niu and so she also had a massage in the hotel and took a heck of a lot of photos.”

The Australian couple said although it has been hot, they enjoyed every single bit of it, including the rain.

“We also enjoy the rain, that just comes down and cools you down especially when we’re sweating,” told Yvette. “We will definitely be back and we’d definitely recommend it to anybody.”