Well, what can we tell you all about Samoa? In brief it is a beautiful country with lovely people and stunning scenery.
We arrived early in the morning on our flight from Honolulu and were met by Michael, a member of staff from The Seabreeze Resort, our first stop in Samoa, he had a car waiting complete with iced water and cold towels to refresh us after our journey – great start.
For our stay in Maui we were booked in to the Inn at Mama’s Fish House; a group of holiday cottages clustered around a famous fish restaurant. When we checked in we were upgraded to a two-bedroom garden cottage, it was beautiful, really spacious, tastefully furnished and recently fully refurbished at great expense. We discovered a welcome tray in the kitchen with the usual tea and coffee but also a loaf of homemade banana cake, a huge fresh papaya and a fresh lime – that was breakfast sorted for one morning. Having had an early start we didn’t stray far that afternoon, but we did walk through the restaurant to see the beach. The setting was idyllic, a beautiful tropical garden opened on to a grove of palm trees and a virtually private beach, technically all the beaches in Hawaii are open to the public but this was as private as could be. The beach was steep and there was a reef off shore which protected it from the surf, in between was an area of rock pools. Not really a swimming beach but great to sit and gaze at.
Well we have gone and done it and we are now on our way to New York. We decided not to buy the on-board internet package as we thought a week without emails and text messages would be more relaxing; so we are writing a bit each day and then we will post this on arrival in New York.
Our thoughts on crossing the Atlantic on Queen Mary 2, what a wonderful way to travel! Comfortable, civilised, no jet lag, what is not to like? We have seen pods of dolphins swimming alongside the ship, Mark spotted a whale (sorry Mia it disappeared to quickly to take a photograph) and we have marvelled at the mesmerizing ocean views which are truly breath-taking. What a fantastic way to start our trip.
(By the way, bonjour Gerard et Marie-Claude, ca va?) Continue reading All at Sea …
We have had two more great days before we all head home tomorrow.
Thursday Margaret and Carl stayed at the cottage while we others went out. We headed to Truro where Yvette had her hair done and spent some time doing her own thing and exploring Truro by herself. Kim and I went off to see Sean, a very good friend who was running an open day at his studio. We spent a couple of hours with him and then headed back. One of the highlights of going to see Sean (apart from seeing Sean himself and looking at his most recent paintings of course!) was crossing the River Fowey on the chain ferry! Back in Truro we met up with Yetti who was enjoying a lobster lunch and looking glamorous with her new hair do.
Today, we all had a bit of a lie-in and after breakfast went off to Penzance. We had a good look around and then headed to Marazion for a spot of lunch at the Godolphin Arms hotel. The food was fantastic and the views from the restaurant were spectacular. After lunch we headed back to the cottage for a bit of r and r!
We have had a busy couple of days in the west of Cornwall.
Tuesday we went as far south as we could on the mainland UK, Lizard Point. We parked the car at the Lizard and walked down to the point. As you can see from the photo’s the weather was fantastic and we had a brilliant visit. We then went for some fish and chips at Praa Sands and that was also lovely!
Yesterday, we all split up and did different things. Carl and Margaret stayed at the cottage. Yetti, Kim and I went to Loe Bar; yeti to have a couple of hours on the beach while Kim and I walked around the fresh water lake formed by the bar. This took us a couple of hours and we stopped for a coffee at Penrose House on the way around. We all met up again back at the cottage and went for a cream tea at Godolphin House, a National Trust property. The house looked quite unusual, sadly it was closed so we couldn’t explore but the café served great scones.
It was then back to the cottage for some down time, a nice meal and off to bed. Two full days but really nice ones!
Mark And Kim's Adventures 