16/09/2013
My days following the intrepid bus ride were spent exploring some more of Apia and a nice quiet two days at the Lodge. During this time I really started to miss "home" and my family in New Zealand and booked a flight back to NZ for Wednesday 14th of August.
To busy myself at the Lodge I went for another round of cycling, this time I ate breakfast and drank plenty of water prior my departure, I've had no intension of feeling like "I'm about to die" again. I cycled down the driveway, again picking the "chicken shit" way down as that steep steep driveway was still as intimidating as the first time I saw it.
I made good progress, everything going smoothly (or as smoothly as a gravel road can go anyway) no dogs chased me and before I knew it I was already back at the main road. Like my first cycling trip I decided to cycle to the left and further up the mountain first. My main purpose was to see whether I've become more fit or whether I'm about the same. -Lets just say it was very tiring and very very hot, lol.
Well, I did notice something though, I did seem a little bit more fit as it was not as hard to cycle up there as it was the first time, however after that I decided to just go back to the lodge... no cycling to Apia again... no thank you.
Back at the lodge I was actually starting to feel really lonely, I noticed now that I did not have Saya's company nor the "noise" of village life, I missed Saya, the village, the beach, the sound of the waves and the environment at Sanaapu.
I was really lucky though, as if sent by magic or set up by earlier coincidence, way earlier I agreed to meet a friend of Saya's on Monday 12th to look at some solar panel and battery issues he's had. With his visit to the lodge Saya visited the lodge to introduce me to her friend and was so kind to buy us a really good lunch.
-That was not the lucky part though, the "lucky" part was that during the Monday morning while waiting for Saya's friend, Saya invited me back to the village for my last two days, and offered to give me, my bags and my bike a lift not only to the village, but also to the airport on Wednesday.
-So back to the village I went :-)
My last two day was just pure magic, totally making me doubt my decision to book my flight back... but it now being too late, and I felt like I "had" to go back to NZ.
My flight back to NZ felt like it took forever, how a 4 hour flight could feel that long I do not know... Even with an "extra" leg room seat AND an open seat next to me I could not find any comfortable way for sitting.
-I was really glad to get out of the plane, but strangely not too sure how glad I was being back in NZ.
Four days of being in NZ and I was already planning my return trip to Samoa... I booked my flight back for 3 September, giving me about two and a half weeks to tidy things up in NZ and get my fix of family time.
My 3 September flight was a bit blown out of the water on 28 of August though. While cleaning the garden a little bit I lifted some already chopped vines with the machete, then in an instant the machete came loose from the vines I was lifting and hit on the back of my left thumb causing a bit of a cut.
-This cut ultimately landed me in the hospital for hand surgery, to re-attach the severed tendons on the back of my thumb... not only that, I also got told that I'll be looking at an 8-10 week rehabilitation time for the tendon... wow, how annoying!
I've had no intension of staying out of Samoa for that long, so after doing some research I've decided to fly back to Samoa on 17 September, 2 weeks and 5 days into my 8-10 week rehabilitation time.
I now have some pretty strict guidelines to follow for my thumb, this includes wearing a soft cast, not using my thumb at all and no swimming without my cast for at least 8 weeks...
Oh, did I mention the cast is not allowed to get wet? Yea... so swimming with one hand in the air... good luck!!
