7 am wake-up to go hike the mountain trail up to Robert Louis Stevenson’s tomb. 11 am departure. Island time. With no luggage in hand yet, I asked Pauline if there were any gym shorts I could borrow. Although I get so much affection and care staying in their house, the downside of living with four women is that clothes tend not to be in my typical size and style. (insert picture of short shorts). Eventually though, Cherelle was able to get a more…comfortable pair for me from her uncle.

The hike up to Stevenson’s tomb (in flip-flops) with Pauline was just under a kilometer of steep off-road hiking. Named the ‘Road of Loving Hearts,’ it featured beautiful views along the way up, from vistas to vegetation to 8-inch long black and green lizards named ‘billy’s.’ A pure white tomb appeared as I crested the last ridge. He picked a truly magnificent spot.

During his life and at his death, Robert Louis Stevenson was greatly revered by the Samoan people, who often called him Tusitala, or Story Teller. He had asked to be buried at this spot before his sudden death at the age of 44. Samoa honored him with a great funeral, and countless people cut their way through the jungle to bring his body to rest up above the ocean, trees, and rolling hills.

His tomb bore an epitaph he had written many years before he died, during a near-death moment:

“Under the wide and starry sky, Dig the grave and let me lie. Glad did I live and gladly die, And I laid me down with a will. This be the verse you grave for me, Here he lies where he longed to be. Home is the sailor home from the sea, And the hunter home from the hill.”

Along with a landscaping detail, the tomb was being given a fresh coat of paint in advance of UNSIDS (beautification for the conference is visible throughout the island, and the Samoan people should be given immense credit for their passion and heart work to show off their country). I chatted with the crew chief, who turned out to be a senior Samoan manager for conservation projects ranging from forestry to marine ecosystems here. As if this place could be any more special.

When we got back to Pauline’s, I finally got the good news: my duffel was in Apia. No more short shorts! Many thanks to Pauline for helping expedite that process. Always good to make friends with kind-hearted locals. After grabbing my gear, we met with representatives from the islands of Tokelau. I had never heard of this place, but will certainly not forget it. Composed of three small islands, this territory of New Zealand is only accessible via a daylong boat ride heading northeast from Samoa. In recent years, it completed that incredible initiative to become 100% solar renewable. Beyond impressive. Leatigaga Mark Bonin, a sarcastic and good-natured American assisting Tokelau, made many jokes at Kate’s expense as I arranged a meeting with Tokelau’s leaders and Ambassador Jumeau for later this week.