It was a wet, but balmy night in Auckland tonight. Having spent the last few months in the crisp, cold alpine environment of the South Island, it was a reminder that Spring has arrived bringing warmth and new life to the rolling hills of Aoteroa.
By sheer luck and the fact that New Zealand really is a small country, we ran into our Aussie ski patrol friend Joel as we were perusing the busy main drag of Auckland today. We decided to grab dinner and a drink this evening--a much better send off than spending it alone in our little hostel dorm room.
As we walked down to the harbor we were trying to recall our last memory of the place--a bit difficult as it was almost a year ago when we were last here. How much we have done and seen to fill that year in-between is almost too much to fathom at once. A full year of memories, and places, and experiences, and people.
I can hardly believe how the time has flown by. I still remember that feeling of trepidation and excitement when we first landed that October morning--gathering up our belongings from the airport and starting our life here. It would be filled with the multitude of events and encounters that make life so exciting. It would test and elate us the way only travel and adventure can--taking us from a place of comfort to one of uncertainty--but then once again reminding us, when once again everything worked out--that we would be okay. That we could find comfort even in a place so foreign from our own experiences. That even thousands of miles away from everything we knew, a place at first so different could come to feel like home. And it did.
Leaving now feels like leaving an old friend. One whom we get to know so well and spent so much time with; one that we are sad to leave so soon. But alas, as much as we would like to stay, that temptress adventure calls us to somewhere new. To continue our discovery of the world.
Leaving, as always, is bittersweet as there are so many things and places and people we will miss.
As a reflection of this year, I would like to share a few things I am sad to leave behind.
I will miss New Zealand's capacity to reveal stunning landscape by simply driving from one place to the other. Rolling green hills interspersed with mountain ranges and lush forest, separated by flat grassland and rivers and lakes, bordered by beaches with neighboring rocky cliffs. It truly is one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
(I won't however, miss those roads that wound and rose steeply between said stunning landscapes--detracting from the beauty due to the fact that you weren't concentrating on the outside but trying hard not to vomit).
I will miss the feeling of disappearing into the little remote pockets of the country, of surrounding yourself in nature and feeling like you could be the only person in the world. The pristine beauty of New Zealand's most remote places is truly special.
I will miss the people. The wonderful, kind-hearted, genuine Kiwi people whose hospitality is unrivaled so far and whose dry humor and ability to laugh at themselves is so wonderfully refreshing. There are not many places in the world where you meet someone and on that same day or hour they invite you to their house for a barbeque. Or they give you their address and tell you to come stay with them if you ever pass through. Or they let you, a complete stranger, sleep on their floor when your car has broken down on their front lawn. Just how much the people we've met here have enriched our experience is beyond measure.
I will miss the spirit of New Zealand. A small island nation, yet proud and determined to be self-sufficient. Aware of the world beyond, but happy just to occupy their small corner. Wonderfully resilient and supportive and optimistic--even in the face of crisis. A nation that strives to retain it's important cultural heritage and incorporate it into modern culture and everyday life. That strives to strike a peaceful balance between the ones who were here before and those who are here now. Watching the All Blacks perform the Haka--the pride and reverence for New Zealand history that it evokes.
Also, I will miss the pizza. Yes, not simply the food--which was also pretty good--but more specifically the pizza. The US has not yet caught onto the fact that venison, barbeque sauce and onions; or garlic, feta, lamb, and cranberry sauce; or chicken, potato, caramelized onion, and plum sauce are all DELICIOUS on a pizza. Seriously, they are amazing.
Oh and L&P. . . . . . .. I'm REALLY going to miss L&P.
Although I won't miss the exchange rate, or the petrol prices, or the very limited internet. Though in a way it was a good thing, not being SO connected to the outside world but rather enjoying what was there--the company of good friends, the calming presence of a beautiful view.
But, for all the cons and complaints peppered through my relay of our time here, it's not something I would ever give up or exchange for something different.
As a favorite saying of mine goes, "If it's good, it's great, if it's bad it's experience." Overall, it was a fantastic experience and it was exactly what it was meant to be.
After all, the more you travel the more you learn, the more you discover. And that's really the whole point. You get to experience something new--good or bad it doesn't matter--in a way you have to have both to make it complete.
And so as I sit here in the airport, polishing off my final thoughts about this past year, I am once again filled with that same trepidation and nervousness and excitement. Once again, heading somewhere completely new--and I wonder, in another year, what the experience will bring.
But we will always have a soft spot for New Zealand. We have made lifelong ties here. I think I still find it a bit surreal when I look at a map that that is where I have been. Yet, I am also equally compelled when I look at a map by all the places I desire to go still. My appetite for travel and adventure is not yet satiated--though I hope it never will be.
So thank you New Zealand for everything you have given us. Luckily we're not yet going very far--just to the land up and to the left!
I hope you all following along as we embark on John and Kristin's Aussie Adventures!
http://johnandkristinsaussieadventures.blogspot.com/
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