Pago Pago / Sun Jan 27

Today we're in Pago Pago, American Samoa. It's located 1600 miles northeast of New Zealand and 2,200 miles southwest of Hawaii.

Pago Pago is pronounced 'Pango Pango.' It's the only urban center in American Samoa and it sits on Tutuila Island which is 52 square miles in size. The island is one of 5 volcanic islands and 2 atolls that make up American Samoa.

American Samoa is a U.S. territory considered to be an 'overseas possession.' People born in American Samoa are American Nationals with the right to live in the US but they're not American citizens unless one of their parents is.

Pago Pago's harbor is one of the world's largest natural harbors and it has the highest annual rainfall of any harbor in the world. There was a rain shower as we sailed into the harbor so we were greeted with a rainbow!

Then the sun came out.

We took a private tour of the island. Beautiful scenery! On the dock, we were greeted by Miss American Samoa (sorry didn't get a photo of her). Our tour bus was one of many highly decorated buses that families on the island use.

The people on the island are very religious and on Sundays they traditionally pray and sleep. Since we were there on a Sunday all businesses were closed. On our tour we stopped at a number of scenic spots and drove through several villages. Each village has a bell they ring at 6pm each day to announce prayer time. It also rings at 10pm as a curfew for those under age 18.

One of the main employers here is the Starkist Tuna cannery. About 3000 people work there.

We visited the office of the National Park of American Samoa. We were lucky the government shut down was over so it was open. It's the only National Park Service site south of the equator.

And yes, there is a McDonald's on the island!
Below are photos from our tour ....

Flower Pot Rock

Two of our tour guides telling us the story of Flower Pot Rock

The other day we received our certificates confirming that we crossed the equator. This is mine:

Now that we've left Pago Pago we have two days at sea before we arrive in Fiji. Tomorrow we cross the International Date Line so Mon Jan 28th just disappears!

Comments

Hobart / Mon & Tue Feb 12 & 13

We're docked in Hobart for a day and a half. Hobart is the capitol and largest city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. It's also the second oldest capitol in Australia. Yesterday we went on a private tour with Karin and Joe - a couple from Georgia that we've gotten to know. We took a hike in beautiful Mt. Field National Park, went to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary and saw a number of other scenic and historical sites. To get to Mount Field National Park we drove along the Derwent River. The National Park was quite scenic. We took a long walk and saw some beautiful waterfalls, huge trees and the random wallaby (small kangaroo). Russell Falls After Mount Field we had lunch at a cute local restaurant located on the river. Our waitress had an interesting story to tell us about a Zombie Run she'd taken recently in Auckland. Crazy! After lunch we spent a bit of time looking for a platypus. Our tour guide found one in the river n...

Busselton / Tue Feb 19

We tendered in Busselton, Australia today. Busselton is best known for the the Busselton Jetty which was built in 1865. It's more than a mile long and is the longest timber piled jetty in the southern hemisphere. At the end of the jetty is an underwater observatory. You can get to it by walking the length of the jetty or by taking the Jetty Train which looks like a Victorian locomotive but is powered by solar panels. We spent the day in Busselton with two other couples. We sat on the beach for a couple of hours then walked into town to explore. We met Walter who was quite the character. After that we had a snack at a local restaurant then took the train to the end of the jetty and toured the underwater observatory before walking back to the tender. Fun day!

Travel Clinic

It's Thanksgiving week and we've traveled from sunny, warm Florida to cold and snowy New England to spend the holiday with family. On Monday we flew to Connecticut & then drove to our condo in Vermont where we arrived after dark. It snowed all day Tuesday - very pretty but very cold. On Tuesday we had an appointment at the Travel Clinic at Dartmouth Medical Center. The purpose of the visit was to find out what shots and medications we'd need for our upcoming trip. We anticipated a relatively short visit but two hours later we left with our heads spinning from everything they told us about how to stay safe and not get sick. We were give a large folder full of information with promises of even more that would be mailed to us in the near future. We also expected to get some shots during the visit. Larry had 2 and I ended up with 4! You can see them all lined up in the photo below. They included Hepatitis A, Typhoid and Tdap ( a combination vaccine that protects ag...

Opals and Romeos

Search This Blog