16/2/2026 last full day in Upolo Samoa

I dragged myself to breakfast this morning via the scenic route taking photos as I went of the beautiful surroundings.

I checked out the activities list, not much for me today except for a snorkel tour. Depending on my level of tired, i may or may not make it.

I had a very quiet day just trying to recover from the adventures of last week and the emotional drain of the weekend. Mostly sitting in the decking. One of those little birds with the red under tail feathers came to visit while I was sat there and landed on the washing line chattering away at me, hello Si.

The wifi has been frying my brain, it's pretty good but for whatever reason it's taking forever to load photographs onto the blog and that's not remotely annoying!  There's a huge conference going on at the resort which is making me wonder if that's the cause of the slow wifi although it hasn’t been brilliant for uploads for the duration..  The prime minister of Samoa has been here today. I obviously haven't been to the conference, not invited, but  I did see the dignitaries leaving the resort from my room. I figured them out for someone important as there were police motorcycles out in front,  police cars, then a convoy of industrial vehicles followed by more police cars. I did try and get a photo of the bikes for Si, unfortunately because I was in the room I managed to get the blurry bit of plastic that's stuck to the sliding door to stop idiots like me walking into them when they're closed. Right in the middle of the photo which has quite spoiled the pic. By the time I realised my error in the photo they'd nearly gone, well the bikes had anyway, and I was only really interested in them. I got half a photo of them .

Housekeeping came in to do the room, and she was the one who told me the prime minister of  Samoa had been at the conference, which I suppose explained the extra security around the place. I’d noticed a small unmarked boat patrolling the water around the resort and mentioned it to housekeeping and she confirmed it as plain clothes police. The resort is a brilliant location for such things as there is only one road into it, and it's small enough to protect from the water. I Can see why it was deemed safe enough for the queen.  

Whilst doom scrolling in the book of face I came across this little nugget. I join Facebook groups of the places I’m going so I can find out important things …. Like this!

I decided I would go on the snorkel tour, but because the walking is a tad problematic it took me significantly  longer than I anticipated to get there and they were already miles out in the ocean. Ok so miles was an exaggeration but further than I was comfortable to swim as the ocean was pretty choppy and I'm feeling a bit feeble. Instead I paddled around in the shallower waters and contented myself with that. The group had come back ,and the guide said that i should have gone with them, had i been able to walk quicker then i bloody would have sunshine. 

He did tell me to swim out to the end of the rocks in front of the chapel and that there was coral and fish there. I eyed it up dubiously  and decided that I would risk it for a biscuit, and I could probably manage it, so off I went. The coral was disappointing, not that colourful, but very much alive. The visibility wasn't great but I did see some lovely colorful fish. More practice is definitely needed using the phone underwater for photos,  they are still very much hit and miss. Which is a tad annoying. Nevertheless I saw loads of fish and they were ok and I didn't drown so I suppose some might think that's something of a bonus. 

Tonight was another manager's welcome meeting in the bar. After last week's experience that was an absolute hell no from me although I did think that some raw fish and other delicacies might be nice. I weighed it up and decided I didn't want the food badly enough to put myself through that particular brand of hell again, so I put the kettle on and had a cup of tea instead. Proper Rock and roll me. 

I'd allowed several hours for my packing which is ridiculous because the amount of stuff I have with me took me less than 5 minutes to throw in. I didn't zip it up because I need to put the toilet bag in after breakfast in the morning. 

I had hung my wet swimmers on the line outside the room in an attempt to dry them off a bit before packing them in the morning. Unfortunately torrential rain came in and they are wetter now than they were when i put them on the damn line. Grrrr. 

When I was doing the Si sweep, I located a plastic laundry bag that I can put the wet swimmers in in the morning. I'm hopeful they will dry off slightly if the rain ever stops, but it's not the end of the world now if it doesn't. 

So that's the sum of my last  full day in Samoa. I'm ready for the next part of this rather lonely journey, after flying back to Auckland for the night before flying on to Tonga, frustrating that I cannot find a direct fight between the islands but there we are, it is what it is.  

Much Love 

Mrs Leonard

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