Author: richwest3

September 11, 2012

Sunken waterholes are not the only attraction at the To Sua Trench area. There are beautifully manicured grounds with small fales, a dramatic rocky shoreline, and an area with lava pools you can walk to if the tide is low. Looking at the expanse of lava rock that has been pounded flat by powerful surf made us think we should be content to get pictures from above. -Cyndi

September 11, 2012

The highlight of the day, and of our trip to Samoa, was the To Sua Ocean Trench. We had seen beautiful beaches and waterfalls, but these are things you can see all over the world. I have never seen anything like this sinkhole/grotto! What made it even better was being able to swim in it! It actually has an opening to the ocean at the base of a cave; so it is salt water and a very pleasant temperature. To be able to cool off and swim for an hour or so after the heat of Apia was heaven.

Rich has already done a post of the To Sua Trench, but I’m adding my own post here, with my own favorite pictures in proper chronological order. Next, I’d better get to work on alphabetizing and arranging our books by color, size, font, paper type and subject (or whatever Rich said it is I do). -Cyndi

September 11, 2012

First of all, who ever heard of a dog house on a boat – at least one big enough to be sleep in? That’s why I’ll be sent to live in the dinghy for posting this.

Why the banishment and what does it have to do with astrology? Cyndi is Legacy’s resident Capricorn and as such, she wants everything done in perfect order. Books must be organized on the shelf by size first, color second, then subject. Each blog post must in exact chronological order.

(Note from Cyndi: When Rich did this post he was way ahead of me as I was still posting about Bora Bora. It is only much later that I am putting it into its correct chronological order.)

I am Legacy’s official Aries. Chaos is my friend, order and rules, not so much. Those things that happened last week might as well have happened in Roman times. (Also a symptom of my short memory and attention span.) I want to post what I’m excited about now and that’s the To Sua Trench on Western Samoa.

No, not the sewer trench. That’s a different post, but it’s what most people hear when we talk about how wonderful the Sua Trench was.

The To Sua Trench is on Western Samoa and is a deep hole near the ocean. Water flows into the hole from the ocean through a lava tube. The trench is about 100 feet deep and the bottom is covered with about six feet of seawater. The trench is about 200 feet in diameter. There’s a death-defying ladder from ground level down into the trench. On one end there’s a covered grotto you can swim into. On the other, a narrow lava tube passage to the ocean (if you’re certifiable, you can swim through it). -Rich

P.S.  Cyndi says I’m exaggerating about the books and their requisite order.

September 11, 2012

We planned to stop at a little place called the Seabreeze Resort for lunch. We barely saw the sign for the turnoff, and we found this was to be an ongoing challenge during our car tour. The signs here are very small, old and faded. I would study the map and keep a sharp eye out, yet more than once we’d wonder: could that have been the sign back there? We’d turn around to check and find out that we had passed yet another almost-invisible sign.

I was a little worried when we turned off and headed down a heavily-rutted, steep and unpaved road to the Seabreeze Resort: were we heading to an abandoned lot? But we arrived at magical little place with its own little white sand beach and small motus right off shore. I could write a book about lovely small hotels in the South Pacific that you might never hear about, and this would be in my top five. -Cyndi

September 11, 2012

Even between our destination sites, the scenery was lovely.