Apia, Samoa Western – April 20, 2016
Roughly translated, talofa lava means hello in Samoan.
I arrived in Apia at about 20:15. When I finally retrieved my bags, I went to customs. Since my bags took so long to make it onto the belt, the line was quite lengthy. I did have some drama with customs because I brought two oil filters for a generator. Regardless, I finally made it through and to my transfer vehicle.
As is typical, it took nearly an hour to drive from the airport to the hotel.While I was in town, it was very cloudy and rainy. On Thursday, much to my surprise, I discovered the reason for the lousy weather…a cyclone! Cyclone Amos was on track to Fiji, but it turned and headed toward Samoa. As soon as I discovered that, I began to worry about my flight back to New Zealand.
Luckily, as I headed to the airport, Cyclone Amos appeared to have slowed. Once at the airport, there were even some breaks in the clouds, allowing one to see some blue sky.
I was pleased to lift off the ground, knowing I was heading home as opposed to being stuck in a dangerous cyclone for an unknown amount of time.
The flight to Auckland was uneventful.
