The flights ...

We flew to Samoa with Air New Zealand, which was awesome. Well, except for the food. But you get that, right?

Chicken pie (erm, looked and tasted nothing like it) and couscous salad. The salad was okay. Unfortunately, the ice-cream dessert had nuts in, so the kids couldn't eat it. Honestly, is it too hard to arrange a nut-free meal? They do halal and vegan ... (And yes, I did try to organise it but was told it couldn't be done, and to take snacks myself, which I obviously did. But still, grumpy kids like to be 'treated' like everyone else.)

Salmon pie - apparently

Miss 6 enjoys the inflight entertainment.

You know you're back in New Zealand territory when A. the greeting is Kia Ora, and B. You can catch up on the Shortie Street episodes you've missed ...

Duty free shopping, Samoan style.

Our first Christmas Tree of the Season - at Apia Airport

Miss 6 took her Lolly Girl Status seriously, even waking up passengers to check if they needed a sweet ...

The food

So, while in Samoa, we chose to do an all-inclusive meal deal.
In my single, child-free travelling days, I would have choked at the thought; preferring to eat locally (and probably vicariously).
But when you have kids, you need good, reliable food, and often.
The all-inclusive deal for Aggie Grey's Lagoon Beach Resort and Spa at Apia was amazing. I think Kyle and I paid a bit over $100 each extra for it, and the kids were free. That was for the duration of our stay.
To be honest, I do wish the kid's menu changed occasionally. But there was so much food, that we could never hope to eat, that I sometimes ordered one of my meals for them, to spice things up a bit, and just had an entree. (Okay, once I had a dessert too. Just once though. In nearly 2 weeks. And it was banofee pie with bananas in it, so was almost healthy ... so there!)
C. was such a favourite with the breakfast chef, that he was invited up to help cook. Check out the cap!

Another omelette, you say? Certainly!
He loved the food. Tucking into mac and cheese for lunch.

The after shot of our Umo lunch ...

And before. Truly, the most divine-tasting food. Especially the palusami - coconut milk and taro leaves.

coconut milk and onion baked on the umo


Hmm...deciding what to order from the kids' menu

A traditional Samoan feast is on the way



Scraping the taro, breadfruit, bananas and coconut

The Kitty Whisperer

Mango ice-cream and fruit salad for dessert

Mmm... mango ice-cream...

A prawn curry from the Asian restaurant. There was a choice of 3 or 4 restaurants for dinner. This was one of our faves.

Nasi Goreng

Spring rolls, a lunch-time staple
A lunch-time kiddy burger

And ever-popular pizza!

I'll drink to that ... drinks in Samoa!

While in Samoa, we enjoyed a few cocktails, and of course the local beer, Vailima. Wine was expensive, although on a few occasions I splashed out on the 'house white' - Dan Murphy's cleanskin chardy. Usually purchased by the truckload for as little as (AUS) $1.99 back home, it was always amusing to have it served with a flourish and offered for tasting. (And it cost about $18 at the resort, so was still reasonably affordable).
Meanwhile, the kids loved Shasta soda drinks. Apparently a US soda chain, Shasta Cola was often substituted without explanation for the more expensive Coca Cola, and was also often the only diet cola available. (Diet drinks a hit with hubby, because he is diabetic.)
But they had other yummy ranges too (according to the kids - they were too sweet for me!)
Unfortunately, they were also full of nasty colours and flavours, which had the ability to turn the ruggies into monsters. So the drinks had to be limited - or used as rewards (or taken away as consequences). Unfortunately, Miss 6 qualified for a few more rewards than Mr 8.
They must be evil, as the kids still miss their Shasta treats, and I miss them as a parenting aid!
Shasta strawberry. At least they are honest about it being artificially flavoured!

Cheers!
Shasta and snacks at cocktail hour.
Soda with other Natural Flavour. Nice ...

C. has a mocktail, Daddy has the real thing. I think C's non-alcoholic version was more potent, thanks to the colours and preservatives!

Can I have what he's having?

Shopping - Samoan style!

Let's face it: You don't go to Samoa to shop. Or to use the Internet. Or check emails. Which is just as well, because apart from a zillion different lava lavas, there isn't a lot to buy. And the internet doesn't appear to work for most of the time.
Which is actually great, because with the time and money you save, you can enjoy a few cocktails.
Anyway, I still did my bit to support the local economy, and couldn't resist a little retail therapy.
A bar in Apia
One of the markets ... The stalls basically all sold the same things for about the same prices. Die-hard bargain-hunters can bargain a little, but not too much, as everything is cheap to start with. Usually, they will give a discount if you buy a few things from them, but I couldn't bring myself to try it on. It must be a hard way to make a dollar. Or Tala. (We are in Samoa after all). One local, a tour guide, told us his weekly wage was 100 Tala, and a decent bag of rice costs about the same - so you can work out how hard many Samoans have to work to support their families.

Some interesting flavours of crisps/chips.

In the deodorant aisle of a supermarket

More chippies (Octopus and cuttlefish flavour. Yummy)

Or perhaps you'd prefer to snack on Mr Bean?

Missy searching for an elusive, child-sized lava-lava. (We didn't find one. Sizes and styles of everything were limited. At one supermarket, they sold not one diet softdrink in the entire store. Husband must have diet, since he's diabetic.)

Market shopping. The in-season fruits were divine! And cheap!

Local transport. Jump in the back of a mate's car ...

Or grab a bus. Open-air (air-conditioned, and the locals sit on each other's laps to make room for spoiled tourists. Though one man told us he preferred the busy buses, so he could get pretty girls to sit on his lap!)

A must-purchase - Vailima beer. $5.80 tala for 750 ml in the supermarket; $12 in the resort.

Paradise found!

I was amazed at how well I coped without social media in Samoa.
Okay, so the internet was slow and unreliable at best ... we had to go into Apia at one stage to get an emailed document printed out because we couldn't do it at our hotel!
Honestly, I thought I'd get twitchy fingers not being to update regularly. Instead, I found it easy to chill out - reading books by the pool, treating myself to a massage, walking the beach, feeding fish with the kids, and just being in the moment.

Rush hour at Aggie Grey's Lagoon Beach Resort and Spa ... we're off for drinks and the evening torch ceremony, then dinner.

Catching crabs. No really!

Miss 6 loved the tropical attire

Male bonding

Chilling out and wondering what to do next. Pool? Kid's Club? Feeding the fish? It's a tough life!

Aussies in ... Samoa

If I've been a bit slack about blogging lately, it's because, well, I've been slack. In holiday in fact, in beautiful Samoa!
We had an awesome holiday, and created loads of amazing family memories. The people were so friendly and gracious, and I've become rather used to being treated like a Princess, I must say.
Who is going to bring me cocktails, and give me coconut milk massages now?
It was an unwelcome return to reality this morning, when Husband and ruggies both forgot my birthday. Hmm ... I'll let them off this time, but only because we only arrived home last night and after all, I have enjoyed plenty of treats over the past couple of weeks.
More posts and details to come ... and I warn you, I will bore you to tears with happy holiday snaps.
But in the meantime, here are a few images to get you started...

Just another morning in paradise...

Mmm ... young coconut milk. Freshly husked and opened with the bare hands of a handsome young warrior, Samoa Joe

The water was deliciously warm - and full of fish and other marine life. Plus a few humans!

Missy relaxing after a hard day, er, relaxing