Arrived in Fiji Oct. 28, a 13:20 flight from Cairns Aus. We enjoyed our stay and the hospitality of Norty and Meg Gill. Norty drove us to the airport 3:00 AM — a real good friend.
It was too late to re-fuel on our arrival at Fiji, so we refueled this AM before our departure to Pago Pago, Samoa. This is a reasonably short leg — about 4:45 enroute.
Yesterday we drove the entire south shore of Fiji from Nadi to Suva — about 7hrs. round trip. At dinner, we met 3 people from Edison, NJ. They flew to Sydney for the cricket matches, then visited New Zealand.
We found Fiji to be all green — lots of palm trees, etc. They are very friendly and like American tourism. No beautiful flowers like Hawaii, though.
We have 4 50 gal. drums of avgas at Pago Pago that I pre-shipped from New Zealand months ago.
We are now 8 min. from the 180 degree east. longitude, the international date line, and will gain 1 day. Just crossed date line — that means we land the day before we departed Fiji. Almost home.
My last trip to Pago Pago was in 1986.
We still are pushing hard for Alzheimer’s. Even if you have already donated, you still can donate a second time. Every dollar is important in finding the cure and in research for new meds to slow the progression of the disease.
Our navigators took a comparatively short flight from Fiji to the American Samoan city of Pago Pago on Sunday crossing the international date line and reverting back to Saturday Oct 29…
Each leg of this trip offers enlightenment and knowledge about global places and this stop is no exception.
The Samoan islands were settled by Polynesians from Tonga about 1000 BCE. Samoa had become the point of origin for voyagers who settled much of eastern Polynesia.The Dutch navigators sighted Samoa in 1722, and other European explorers, beachcombers, and traders followed.
In 1878 the United States signed a treaty for the establishment of a naval station in Pago Pago Harbor. In 1899, Germany gained control of the western islands, and the United States took the eastern islands. Under the administration of the U.S. Navy (1900–51), American Samoa became a strategic naval base. In 1951 control of the territory was transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The Samoans agitated for control of their country’s affairs, and in 1977 Peter Coleman, a Samoan, became the territory’s first elected governor. Since then all members of the territory’s Fono have been elected by the citizens. In 1981 American Samoans for the first time elected a nonvoting delegate to serve a two-year term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
On September 29, 2009, the Samoan archipelago was shaken by an undersea earthquake of magnitude 8.3, centered some 120 miles to the south in the Pacific Ocean. The quake generated a tsunami that flooded the islands of American Samoa in several waves and caused extensive damage to Tutuila; Pago Pago was inundated, and villages throughout the islands were flattened, killing scores of people.
Next up is the long equator crossing to the big island, Hilo, Hawaii. So far the weather enroute looks good, with no major areas of bad weather in the picture …. Let’s hope for favorable winds aloft!