The whole AustraLearn Crew at Orientation in Rotorua
"I can tell by your tears that you will remember it all."
Sarah and me comparing tongue lengths
"It is the end of something simple and the beginning of everything else"
Sarah, Me, Elza, and Beth in a tree in Albert Park
"Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes."Elza - our golden Latvian friend
"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so
hard."
Elza, Sarah, Bri, Ianna, Frances: just another night with the girls
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."
photo shoot with Hannah after karaoke
“You and I will meet again, When we're least expecting it, One day in some far off place, I will recognize your face, I won't say goodbye my friend, For you and I will meet again”
The gang one last time in Wellington
Thank you to everyone who was along for the ride...sweet as.
Our host, Shirley (?) was a tall older woman vaguely reminiscent of a homely Meryl Streep. She provided us with our own little cottage and a well stocked refrigerator. However, let me just say here that central heating and insulated houses are about as hard to find in New Zealand as a nun with a nose ring...and it is cold here now. In a cottage with three beds, Ianna and I shared one and turned on three oil heaters in order to survive.
Despite the cold we had a good night's sleep and woke to pretty heavy frost. Had tea and crumpets for breakfast and then out to work around nine. First chore: walk the sheep to the beach (yes, you read correctly). Unfortunately Woolly was the biggest, strongest sheep ever and managed to knock me off my feet at least three times before I got him under control enough to walk him down the road (on a leash) to a nearby beach-side hotel where he likes to spend the days. I'm pretty sure it was a comical sight to see...for the record, sheep are NOT docile. Picture this: I'm on icy grass holding a long rope with an incredibly large sheep at the other end. The said sheep is pelting full speed around the yard, dragging me behind it, and running in circles so that the rope wraps around my legs and sweeps me right off my feet...thrice. That's pretty much the idea. Only in New Zealand can you go and have a sheep sweep you off your feet. 
Anyway, we got rid of Woolly and then took the dog (Jude) down to the beach. Just your average beautiful New Zealand beach with pristine sand, beautiful blue water, and about two people for every 3 kms. Could even see the tippy top of the South Island in the distance as well as some big island I don't remember the name of but is apparently a bird sanctuary (like basically every other island here).
Back to Shirley's and we began the gardening. Ianna and I decided that we've definitely offset the carbon whatever we've used in our travels with all the gardening we've done. I may not have learned anything at Uni but I'm a darn good weed-puller/plant-planter. Of course, we had to stop for morning tea and crumpets because that's just the way things go in New Zealand. That lasted a good hour and a half and Shirley regaled us with all sorts of interesting stories about her animals and various ailments. You definitely meet some unique folk during farmstays...but that's the most charming part, I suppose. Also, I gave vegemite (or marmite?) another try...I think I might maybe see the attraction. It tastes a lot better when you're not expecting cinnamon toast.
Continued weeding for a while...until we were just about to mutiny, really...and then went to go get Woolly back from the beach. I made Ianna walk him back this time...sheep walking loses it's charm rather quickly.
Back to our wee little cottage where Ianna and I prepared dinner for the three of us. Had to use our imaginations and ended up with an oddly delicious concoction: Spinach and cheese tortellini with a mushroom, onion, and tofu tomato sauce paired with honey carrots. Oddly cohesive. Also managed to bake passable desserts with very little idea how to do so without recipes. Ianna's cookies somehow turned into honey cakes and my cookies were a random vegan cookie concoction consisting of Weetbix, peanut butter, and chocolate (personally I thought they were delightful). Anyway, I think Shirley really enjoyed that we cooked for her.
After dinner we went through her photo album of her entire trip to Europe six years ago. It took a while and, as interesting as it was, I think if I ever see another picture of Europe I might shoot myself in the face...and I say that meaning no offense to all of you who have shown me European pictures in the past. However, it was a really lovely evening and, after I booby trapped the door and put a giant knife by our bed so the apparently crazy neighbors couldn't come in a kill us in our sleep, we went to bed with the heaters a'blazin'.
It rained all night so no frost the next morning but luckily not much rain the next morning either. More weeding and planting in a light drizzle but only for a few hours. Stopped for tea and then went inside to work on her computer. We cleaned up some files, updated some stuff, and I fixed up her blog a little. Then, Shirley drove us to a bird sanctuary (although we didn't go in because it cost 12 dollars) and then dropped us off at the bus stop. Bus-train back to Wellington surrounded by All-Black's fans and got off at the stadium stop. Now for the moment we've all been waiting for!!!
Why are the All Black's called the All Black's?
Ianna and I got off the train and, following the various people with silver ferns and French flags painted on their faces, made our way in the general direction of the stadium. Got waylaid by a grocery store and then decided to do some pre-game pub crawling. First stop was and Irish pub recommended to us by some understandably biased Irishmen. It was quite warm and blocked from the infamous Wellington wind. Ianna and I decided to show our spirit and draw All-Black's things on our faces with her brown eye-liner. I gave her a Maori chin tatoo...pretty legit.
We also decided we needed to ask someone why the All Black's are called the All Black's, so Ianna tapped a random guy on the shoulder and asked him. His response?
"Are you serious? Because they wear all black."
So that's the long awaited answer. And apparently the cricket team is called the All White's for a similar reason. Way to go, New Zealand...really imaginative.
So that was a letdown but, not easily deterred, we stopped at another pub (the Irish one was better) and then headed to the stadium. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing, but walking up to the stadium I was probably more excited than I have been at any other point in New Zealand. I was literally squealing.
The game was really fun (even despite the rain) and I think I pretty much have the sport figured out...minus the finer details (like the vocab...and the scoring). Hands down the most epic hit was when a woman ran out on the middle of the field and, stopping for a wee dance and a wave, was full-on spear tackled by a security guard. I mean, he didn't even stutter step. The French chicken escaping onto the field was pretty funny, too. The security guard chasing the chicken reminded me of Woolly.
Probably the best part about rugby is that it's 40 minutes a half and it literally never stops. It was the fastest sporting event I have ever watched and it was perfect. Rain and all I was into it the whole time. The All Black's won 13 to 10 (I think) and it was really quite an exciting experience overall. Afterwards we all headed to a place called Occidental (with some of the Wellington Australearners we had met in Rotorua way back in the day) and dried off by the fire before Sarah, Elza, Frances, and I were picked up by Sarah's aunt for a warm, dry bed.
Apparently Santa binge drinks in New Zealand
Sarah's aunt and uncle were very kind in letting us stay in their beautiful house. We all got our own beds and they fed us and we didn't even have to garden. They even drove us back and forth from the town center...really really nice. Anyway, Sunday we met up at a cafe with a portion of the group to have brunch for Bri's 22nd birthday. Afterwards we went our separate ways. Sarah, Elza, Frances, and I spent the afternoon browsing the shops and basically going from coffee shop to coffee shop to escape the cold winds.
In the afternoon we went to the Mac's brewery to meet up with everyone for Bri's birthday and a sort of final get together. Amazingly and totally unexpectedly, everyone made it. The brewery was lovely with big booths and big tables and lots of Cajun wedges...a great place for a group. We just hung out for about four hours chatting and, eventually, passing around birthday cake. Just sitting around the table and looking around at everyone I've become friends with the past four months, and seeing all of us together at the same time gave me just a really happy feeling. For the most part, it was all the same people who met back in February in Rotorua and, although, we've seen so much in the interim, we've still remained friends and that's the most important experience of all. Just looking around the table with this realization was definitely one of those treasured moments that comes unlooked for and will long be remembered. A moment of infinite warmth on the darkest evening of the year.
Afterwards, Sarah's aunt picked us up and we had a lovely dinner (they even kindly catered to my veganism). Sarah's uncle then showed Elza and I about a million pictures of Antarctica, Patagonia, Southern Spain, and Cornwall. I am definitely going to Chile and Antarctica and I am definitely going to look into Highway 3...a truly truly epic adventure. Anyway, it was a lovely evening and it's good to know I still have a hunger for travel even though I feel pretty exhausted by it right now.
Next day was another wander around Wellington day. Breakfast with Tami and Anna (Sarah had to say goodbye for them for good!) and then we wandered around shops and cafes. Probably one of the most homesick days I've had for a myriad of reasons. 1) everyone's getting ready to go home and I still have an entire continent to explore, 2) it was father's day and I didn't have any way to talk to my father let alone hug him, and 3) it was so bizarre being in cold weather and going shopping and going into cafes and having it not be Christmas time. I never shop and I never drink coffees except around Christmas and it just made me feel really homesick. I wanted worn-out carols and the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg. I wanted pine wreathes and ice skating rinks and I wanted to go home to a fireplace and Raisin. The only problem? It's the middle of June. So, as lovely as Wellington was (and I really think I would have fallen in love with it in any other season)...I was just ready to go back to Auckland where it is warm enough to feel almost spring-like.
However, back to those unexpected random moments, we ended up going back to Sarah's aunt's house and playing with legos and the world's coolest dollhouse...and I mean really playing. We were enthralled for a good hour and a half and I don't even know what Sarah's uncle must have thought of us but it really was just the most therapeutic thing ever. I think all adults should have an hour of playtime every afternoon in order to relax and put things into perspective.
In addition to the toys, we were reading the children's books there and there was one "The Kiwi Night Before Christmas" that really cracked me up. It was a spoof on "The Night Before Christmas" and it was altered for NZ's summer Christmas. Santa had gumboots (rainboots), stubbies (really short shorts that guys here for some reason find attractive), and an All Black's singlet. And instead of leaving out milk and cookies, they left out a meat pie and beer. I asked Frances (a Kiwi) if this was true and she said "I left out mince pie and Brandy". So apparently, Santa takes after the New Zealander's and binge drinks in the southern hemisphere. I guess that explains the "Grandma got Run Over by a Reindeer" song. It sort of took the whole Christmas-in-June-gloom feeling we were having and turned it on its head with a twisted laugh--true Kiwi style.
Time came to hop on a plane back to Auckland for our very last homecoming. Weird to think I'll never fly into Auckland again after doing it so many times. Coming back from Wellington was a feeling of homecoming but, as hard as it is to get my head around it, that won't be the case much longer. It's been a lifetime since I first saw that Sky Tower rising from the cityscape. First group heads back home tomorrow morning...and so begins the end of a saga.
You’re searching, Joe,
For things that don’t exist; I mean beginnings.
Ends and beginnings—there are no such things.
There are only middles.”
-Robert Frost, In the Home Stretch
(ABOVE) A slideshow from Katie and Jeff's visit to New Zealand.
Ain't No River Wide Enough
The second half of May and beginning of June was a month full of visitors for me. First, Molly came for a weekend. We basically ate a lot, sang disney songs, had deep philosophical discussions, and laughed a lot. We walked around Auckland, had a night on the town, and visited Waiheke Island.
The next weekend Katie and Jeff arrived for an intense week-long adventure. First I took them down to Lake Taupo where it was TOO COLD but quite beautiful none-the-less. Hiking plans were upset by bad weather so we headed up north to Rotorua instead, stopping at the geothermal wonderland. Continued back to Auckland and then up to the Northland for the Bay of Islands and Ahipara. (Pictures in slideshow above)
Two weekends later, Chris Lin-Brande and his friend Brian arrived for a weekend. I showed them around Auckland a bit and then they drove themselves south for a glimpse of Taupo and Rotorua.
It is nice to show people around New Zealand, but it is impossible to get someone to appreciated in three days what you have come to appreciate in three months. However, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that just when you start doubting New Zealand, it never fails to amaze you once again.
The beach was beautiful (of course) and rather anticlimactically, it was fully of people of all ages. Granted, there were A LOT of life guards but as Meredith so succinctly put it..."I think it's probably safe over there by the babies." 
Despite my inability to stand up...at all...it was great just to be out battling the waves, laughing with Elza, surrounded by yet another beautiful New Zealand beach. Of course, when a nearby surf instructor warned us we were about to be sucked up by a rip tide that would carry us into the nearby rocks we were reminded that Piha's beauty is dangerous.
So, needless to say, I was asleep in a very short time. I woke up warm, happy, sandy and with my arm covered in drool...perfect. Time for another surf. 
The author, Kalafi Moala, is a renowned Journalist and publisher who has spent more than his fare share of time either behind bars or banned from his home country due to his courageous attempts to shake the tyrannous status quo. 
One of the most amazing things about Auckland is the incredible number of parks (or domains) that exist there. One can hardly walk ten minutes without discovering a new park, usually filled on Saturdays with white-clad cricket-players. I must have seen eight different parks on this one walk and, although I stopped on numerous occasions to watch the cricket games, I could not make heads nor tails of it.
These pictures are from the flight and our first full day in Australia exploring Sydney Harbour.
These pictures are from days January 30th to February 2nd: The Blue Mountains and Port Macquarie.