A Half Day in Somoa

 It is the rainy season in Somoa, so it is hot and raining.Our choice for what to do was to stay at the hotel or take an excursion to Robert Louis Stevenson’s house.  So off we went to Robert Louis Stevenson’s house!  We ate breakfast, packed up, and checked out of the hotel.

We took a tour bus to the RLS museum and house.  


The house is built on the side of the tallest mountain on the island.  Apparently, Stevenson suffered from ill health and found that the humidity and temperature of Samoa helped.  So he moved here and built this house.  He was a minor celebrity because of his books.  After his death, they eventually turned his house into a museum for him.


His house was quite different from normal Samoan houses. Because of the climate, you don’t need heating or cooling, but it helps to get a breeze.  So Samoan houses consisted of a platform with a roof, help up by a set of posts on all sides.  You can sleep on the floor, on mats and the roof keeps the rain off.  The lack of solid walls allows a cooling breeze.


Then it was back to the plane for a 6 hour flight to Australia.  During the flight, we had a lecture on Magellan’s trip around the global, and a second lecture on some ideas on taking artful photographs.

Once we landed in Cairns, Australia, there was an hour and a half long bus ride up to Port Douglas.  The tour guide on the bus gave an excellent presentation on some of the biology of the Australian rain forest and the reefs.


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