Saturday, June 09, 2007

Return to Ainu'u

I would call it "Back to Ainu'u," but my blog entry titles are getting old ("Back to Sailele was the last one). "Return to Ainu'u" sounds more like a movie, though. Whatever.

Why I didn't check the weather and tide calendar before we left I'll never know. It didn't rain or anything, but the wind was strong and the tide was high. That means that the beautiful Ainu'u beaches were off limits.

So, we swam in the boat dock again. Sounds boring, but it is actually not that bad. The water is really green-blue and see-through. It's a great, safe place to snorkel and swim, with a good view of the island we call home (for two more months).

To snorkel here, you either have to climb down the rocks or jump in off the dock.

No fear.


We thoroughly enjoyed being taunted by Ainu'u kids who told us we're "chickens" that "can't swim" and "look funny." I especially enjoyed being challenged to a swim race back to Tutuila. "And when I win, you give me fifty bucks." Yeah, right.

But I could've done without their blasting rendition of Akon's "Don't Matter": "NOBODY WANNA SEE US TOGETHER BUT IT DON'T MATTER NO . . . ." I guess it struck me as odd that 6 to 10-year-olds on the small island of Ainu'u would be jammin' out to Akon. Go figure.

I did, however, enjoy their antics on the boat ramp. The thing is slippery as heck, and they just slid right down it on their feet. I was ready to see some heads splat open on the cement, but they were pretty good.


We spent a lot of time practicing our dives off the dock. I only got pictures of Jessi's dives, but she insisted I keep them off the blog. Jaydn is a great diver, but for some reason I only could catch a picture once he was submerged. I, on the other hand, dive kind of weird (either my legs curled in towards my stomach, or bent back towards my rear). I couldn't get my blasted legs to stick out straight. So, no pics of my dives (only gut-busting laughs from Jessi).

But, here is the "Herbie" boat, in all it's glory (one of the boats to and from Tutuila). Sometimes it's literally "standing room only" across the rough waves.

Jaydn found this long reed with string attached to the end of it. With his ingenuity, he figured he could find a crab leg sitting on the ground, tie it to the string, and go fishing. And that's just what he did.I wasn't sure if fish ate crab legs (at least, not like I do), but I enjoyed watching Jaydn's mind at work. Maybe sometime I should tell you about the robot he intends to build when he gets back to Idaho. The only thing he's not entirely sure of is how to get "electric." Knowing Jaydn, I'm sure he'll figure it out.

2 comments:

Valeen said...

Hi there, I hope your get this comment.

Our family is planning on visiting Tutuila in May 2017. One of the things I really want to do is take the boat from Tutuila to Aunu'u Island on Sunday morning, to attend church services there, as the first ward in Samoa was created on Aunu'u in the 1800s. I am worried that there will be no boats to take us across, since it is the sabbath. Do you know if we will be able to hire a boat on Sunday morning? Can we set up arrangements in advance?

Sean, Jessi and Jaydn Coletti said...

We loved Aunu'u! We went there several times, but never on a Sunday. I don't know for sure whether you can get a boat on Sunday, but I wouldn't be surprised if you could. The person I would ask is Mark Ude, and you can reach him at invernesscastle@yahoo.com.