Lyric Waiwiri-Smith recalls a serene week eating raw fish and swimming in Samoa.
In June 2023, I travelled from Tāmaki Makaurau to Samoa with my (now) ex-boyfriend’s family (love (most of) you guys). We spent a beautiful nearly two weeks with sand stuck to our skin and salt water dripping from our hair, swims polished off with seafood and the serene sense that everyone back home in Auckland were probably still wet and miserable while we let our worries be swept away in the ocean. Three of my half-siblings are Samoan, so the culture had always been a part of my life – it felt like a full circle moment to be on their tūrangawaewae for the first time.
Where did you go, and for how long?
We travelled to Samoa’s main island Upolu and stayed at the Sinalei Reef Resort and Spa in the Siumu Village, which hosted the King and Queen of England late last year. Let me say this straight off the bat: I did not pay for my own accommodation.
What was the reason for your trip? Adventure, an event, some pampering, a family holiday, or something else?
My ex-boyfriend’s mother retired early after a few backbreaking years, and I was lucky enough to be invited to join my honorary mother-in-law’s holiday post-working life, with the majority of expenses paid for.
Did you visit any famous spots? What’s your honest review?
The best thing about Samoa is that if you rent a car and remain really brave on the roads, you can see just about every tourist destination on the island within a week-long stay. One of the first spots we hit was the old Apia market, where I scored an incredibly beautiful handwoven bag for NZ$95 and some coconut oil (it really ain’t the same back home in Aotearoa).
We also visited the To Sua Ocean Trench (I was too much of a wimp to jump in), the Immaculate Conception Cathedral (incredibly gorgeous, though very stark compared to the vast swathes of unstable housing nearby), the Papase’ea Sliding Rocks (I was too ill to jump in) and the Robert Louis Stevenson museum (surprisingly illuminating – did you know he introduced pineapples to Samoa?). But the best thing to do in Samoa is to head to a beach, find a local eatery and just kick back, or hop on a kayak and get paddling – I swear I saw a turtle swimming in the Sinalei shore.
What items did you pack that you really needed? And what did you pack that you definitely didn’t?
Needed: Swimsuit, sunscreen, sunglasses, shirts and skirts. Didn’t need, but definitely nice to have: a yoga mat, for impromptu 5am yin stretches on the beach.
How much did it cost for a coffee or a beer?
The price of a can of Taula at most diners was about SD$7, or NZ$4.43.
What was the best meal or snack you had?
It’s impossible to pick a singular best meal, so I’ll run through all the food I had that blew me away: oka, chop suey (absolute classic 10/10 dish, no notes), crab, marlin, crayfish, assortments of fresh fruit and fried chicken. All you need to enjoy Samoan cuisine is a taste for coconut, kaimoana and fried chicken, straight up.
What was the highlight?
On a very personal level, being in a country where Polynesian people are the majority was beautiful for me to experience as a wāhine Māori travelling from Aotearoa. I don’t know how else to explain the feeling other than the sense that seeing moana nui kaihana living wholeheartedly in their mana really informed my own. It felt especially good when a local called my ex-boyfriend a “bloody pālagi” and I missed out on catching a stray.
Otherwise, using gear on loan from the resort, I went snorkelling for the first time along the ocean front of the Sinalei, between the reefs and rainbow-scaled fishes. I remember lifting my head above the water and seeing the sky turn pink as the sun set, and little patters of rain breaking up the ocean surface. I don’t think life had ever felt so serene up until that point and never again since.
And the lowlight?
Between thinking I was going to die after being caught in a rip and thinking I was going to die after contracting food poisoning, it’s hard to pick the ultimate lowlight. But other than that, it was pretty smooth sailing.
What travel/holiday reads would you recommend for this destination?
I read Edward Slingerland’s Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced and Stumbled Our Way to Civilisation because, being about drinking, it seemed like an appropriate holiday beach read. I also picked up a copy of Treasure Island from the Robert Louis Stevenson museum, but I reckon if I were to go back, I’d pack something like Baba Ram Dass’ Be Here Now and have some kind of total spiritual awakening in the sand where I align all my chakras and decide to live life like that rich kid at the end of The White Lotus season one.
Would you go back?
1000%, without a shadow of a doubt – I would love to go back and stay on Savai’i next time. If any wealthy Gen Xers have an early retirement plan and a son who is single, hit my line.
