Samoa

Hello everyone,
My first entry for what promises to be a fascinating, exciting, and emotional journey, that involves warmth of the climatic and human kind. It's been a long, cold winter in Tasmania. Mornings of thick, harsh frosts have greeted days short of sunshine but generous with cold winds, driving rain and single-figure top temperatures. A week spent on a tropical island in the mid-Pacific Ocean has had us salivating for months, particularly as it will be my first taste of the tropics Anne has been to Fiji many many years ago).
The reason why we chose Samoa has significant meaning, which I shall reveal later. Enough said for now that we wanted to avoid the big-time tourist destinations, wanting to contribute our tourist dollars to a community that needs a boost while still experiencing a tropical paradise.
Sitting in Sydney International Airport for the six-hour flight to Samoa, I realise that this is our first overseas trip since that fateful holiday to Turkey three years ago, that ended with a sudden change of itinerary and a very late arrival back home. I've promised everyone that there will be no motorbikes this time, but I cannot guarantee a week of lying around a pool deck reading a book.