Chasing New Year's Eve across Samoa, one of the first countries to ring it in

Samoa is one of the first countries on earth to reach the New Year. We loved
the idea of ringing it in while friends back home were still sitting down to
lunch, and we assumed the celebration would match the billing. It did not, at
least not to begin with.

Our hotel barely acknowledged the date. There was a small, gentle show of local
dances and traditions, lovely in itself, but nothing like the countdown we had
pictured, and the locals working there did not seem to think the evening was
much of an occasion at all. So we
drove into the capital, Apia, expecting fireworks over the harbour. The city
was deserted. No fireworks this year, we were told, no budget. On to plan C: we
picked the hotel with the best reviews, Taumeasina, walked in, and found the
whole place finally in full swing – live band, locals dancing, the countdown we
had been chasing all night.

And then, almost the instant midnight passed and the cheering faded, so did the
party. One minute it was roaring, the next it was simply over, everyone
drifting home. We stood there half-laughing, among the first people on the
planet into the new year, with nowhere left to celebrate it.

The next morning showed us where the island actually was. The Piula cave pool
was so packed with families grilling and playing music that there was no room
for us, and the fales at Lalomanu beach were booked out weeks ahead by families
settling in for the holidays.

Worth chasing anyway. How often do you get to be first.