The APTC Samoa Campus office was draped with Australian flags and green and gold decorations to celebrate Australia Day.

"It was not a public holiday here of course, so it was business as usual," said Mrs Francis Howes, APTC Eastern Division Manager for the School of Automotive, Construction and Electrical, and Manufacturing (ACEM). "But during the day, visitors and students treated us to congratulatory songs and chants."

A late afternoon barbeque for the APTC staff and their families took place to celebrate the day, "…at which time lots of Australian decorations and funny hats emerged," said Mrs Howes.

Teams of women versus men, and ACEM staff versus the School of Tourism and Hospitality (STH) staff participated in fun-filled games of 'blind volley ball'. Competitors had to maintain sitting positions on opposite sides of a mat that they could neither see through nor over. The men's and ACEM teams were victorious in this event.

Mrs Howes said that STH were successful in the table tennis tournament last year and they won the perpetual trophy. However this year ACEM won the trophy back in blind volley ball. "It seems the sport changes each year but the fun continues."