TRAVEL EXTRA

By Mark Fuller

A search for the postcard version of paradise will end successfully in Samoa. These lush, volcanic islands are ringed by seductive, clear-blue waters kissing white-sand beaches and palm trees jutting out at the requisite angle. The surf crashes in at plenty of isolated beaches, while elsewhere the ocean is quelled and filtered by reefs hundreds of meters off shore, forming lagoons of pale blue crystal.

Most Samoan villagers still live in open-walled fales and sleep on mats woven by the women from pandanus palm leaves. The fales are often brightly painted, particularly the larger ceremonial ones, and are immaculately maintained. Once a month, the women's committee of the village inspects the home and grounds of every family for cleanliness and presentation. These women mean business. Fail the rigors and expect to be punished, and that can mean anything from social ridicule to the loss of a valuable bunch of pigs.

It is this discipline, this enforcement of and adherence to social rules, that has preserved Samoan life. Fua Meki Hazelman, head of the Samoa Visitors Bureau, sums it up: "In the west, you have museums to remember what your were," she says. "We don't have to do that. We don't have a museum, we are a museum."

Where to stay? We wanted the postcard thing. Hit the road across the island and in 30 minutes you're there. It came to us in the form of Coconuts Beach Club and Resort. At Coconuts, the beach fales sit just meters from the shoreline. And, there's something so special about lifting your head off the pillow and getting a view of the ocean or showering in a private open air bathroom . . .

Useful Information: Coconuts Beach Club - Tel. (685) 24849;
Fax (685) 20071, E-Mail: reservations@coconuts.ws Room rates: US$99-$299; website: www.coconutsbeachclubsamoa.com

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