Apia, Samoa
Ok, obviously we have “skipped” a day. Went to bed late on the 15th, woke up early on the 17th tired. Last night we crossed the international dateline. The result of which is we never had the experience of February 16th, 2024. This only happens once on the trip, which is good news.
Waking up on the 17th was also timed with our arrival in Apia, Samoa. Our excursion this morning is Famous Homesteads and Market. Never sure exactly what that means. We are in “normal” buses this. Not full sized Greyhound buses, boy-oh-boy is that showing your age, but thirty or so passanger buses. Not “normal” because they were right-hand drive. I.e. the driver is on the wrong side of the bus. So is the door. However this is only from and American point of view.
The Samoan Islands were first settled some 3,500 years ago. Historically, from a linguistics perspective, Samoa was part of the Austronesian expansion. Samoa’s early history and probably is more recent history is strongly tied to that os Fiji and Tonga which were part of the same expansion but only a few hundred years earlier. In addition to the linguistical links there is also a strong genealogical link and anthropological link.
The Europeans didn’t come into the mix until the early to mid 18th century. And then it was a mess. The United State, Great Britain and Germany tussled over the Samoan archipelago. Their struggle lead to civil wars in Samoa. The second one of which was resolved by the Tripartite Convention in 1899. The Europeans didn’t invite the Samoans to participate in. Shocking!
The archipelago was divided between the German Empire and the American Empire. Remember this is the end of the age of sail and the beginning of coal fired ships. There was a great need for good ports to resupply the ships with water, food and fuel. World War I brought an end to the German Empire and New Zealand took over the administration of what had been German Samoaand it was renamed the Western Samoa Trust Territory. American Samoa remained American Samoa.
Western Samoa became independent in 1962 and became Samoa. American Samoa remains an unincorporated territory of the United States. The people living in American Samoa are American citizens, although they don’t get to vote in the American Presidential election.
Boarding bus was followed by the announcement that we would visit two famous homes. One of Aggie Grey and the other of Robert Louis Stevenson. Robert Louis Stevenson was written about before. However, Aggie Grey is a new character to most.
Aggie Grey was born Agnes Genevieve Swann, the daughter of William Swann an English chemist and his Samoan wife Pele. In 1903 her mother died and she was raised by her father and later by him and her stepmother. Aggie Grey is the subject of two biographies by Nelson Eustis and Fay Alailima, if you want more information, and was on several postage stamps of Western Samoa, and was a pioneering figure of the Samoan hotel industry. Aggie Grey died in 1988.
In her adult life she became popular on the Samoan social scene. She founded her hotel in 1933, and became one of Samoa's most popular and well-known figures. It all started with a $200 loan to build a bar. She did so at the right place and the right time. Samoa was an important port of the American navy. The bar was supplied customers in the form of thirty sailors. The bar expanded into a hotel. It is all about timing and location.
She hosted many notable actors, including Dorothy Lamour, Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, William Holden, Raymond Burr and Robert Morley who stayed at her hotel. Her hotel was involved with the production and housing of the crew on the American film production of Return to Paradise (1953) starring Gary Cooper.
She was friends with American writer James Michener and she and her sister Mary Croudace (Aunty Mary) were widely believed to be possible models for his character Bloody Mary that he created in Tales of the South Pacific (1946). The book was adapted into Broadway's musical blockbuster South Pacific (1949) by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and subsequently the 1958 film South Pacific.
Aggie Gray's sister Mary Croudace ran "The Casino" a boarding-house in Apia and was reputed to have been the lover of a Marine general in the war. Mr Croudace, reputed to have been a New Zealand official, was long gone.
The Aggie Grey Hotel is now three resorts, two on Upolu island in Samoa, in Apia and Aggie's Lagoon, and one resort, Le Méredien in Tahiti.The hotel is now part of the Sheraton family of hotels.
The first sight as we left the port was of Aggie Grey’s hotel in Apia. It was boarded up and looked completely deserted. We were told a complete renovation was now taking place. The first stop was Aggie Grey’s home high in the hills above Apia. Apparently, she grew all the food served and flowers used in the hotel. She granddaughter gave us a little speech about Aggie and there were lots of photos on display showing the history of Aggie’s life.
Its as drizzling a little so we opted not to walk through the apparently vast gardens. As we were leaving, I lent one of the small towels I am always carrying, to one of our fellow passengers who had fallen down on the slippery wet trail in the garden. Another smart move on our part. This was confirmed by the walk through the wet, muddy and slippery driveway back to the bus.
The bus then headed down the hill to the Robert Louis Stevenson house or villa. The former home now houses the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum. It was be restored back to its glory days and contains some of the author’s work and family memorabilia. He was a friend of the Samoans for his positive interactions with the community. The Samoans called his “the man with great manas.” His is buried on the top of Mount Vaea within the compound. The most interesting part was that his wife was from California. That is interesting because she wanted to feel at home so in the late 1800’s she imported redwood to decorate her room in the villa. Which brings up the question of whose redwood. Could it have come from Falk? Possible because as we know there was a connection between the South Pacific and Falk.
After to RLS Home and Museum, we headed to the local market. Same layout as American Samoa but probably two or three times the size. Interesting to walk through. Then we rode the bus back to the ship, and more importantly its air-conditioning. Lunch in La Veranda.
Then there was the nap, which was important after being out in the heat and sun. We put on our fancy feed and duds and headed to the Compass Rose to have dinner with Stewart and Chrissy. They are from Tampa. We had a lovely dinner then Stewart and I went to the cigar lounge.
Tonight, we lose another hour on our way to Figi. Tomorrow is a day at sea. However, we do have dinning reservations as Prime 7. Looking forward to that. Hopefully the sea and winds will be calm.
Buonanotte e Ciao, Enrico
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