So Long, Farewell, auf Wiedersehen, Good Night.

Sunday 3rd May

So here it is... the last day of my New Zealand Adventure! I really can’t believe that the time has gone so quickly, but I’ll come back to that later! Today I got up very early, got a shower, got my things together and then took a Shuttle Bus to the airport.

I was nice and early for my domestic flight to Auckland so I just got some breakfast (chocolate and crisps) and messed around on my laptop for a bit. I put my earphones in and selected a song on my iPod, hit play and then... Mr iPod died. I was distraught. We have been together for almost 3 years and I really do love my iPod. Sure, he’s not tiny, he doesn’t have a touch screen, I can’t use him to make or receive calls, but I still love him, in all his chunky goodness. Realising that there was nothing I could do about the death of my iPod I listened to music on my laptop, well Netbook. I’m so glad I put all my music on this bad boy – life would have been a little worse if I hadn’t. It would also have been a lot worse if I hadn’t bought this little Netbook with me!

Eventualy I got on the flight to Auckland, it was a really small plane – maybe six seats the whole way across, but the flight was fairly short, so I tried to take a nap. When I got to Auckland I had to change terminals – I walked for over a mile and eventually got to the right terminal. I found the check in queue, checked myself in (after a hurried call home to find out where I was staying in the US) and then I proceeded through security to the departure lounge area. I waited around, browsed, ate some food and then slept on the floor. I will never judge the people that do that. I was just so tired, I just needed to nap. I’m not even sure if I was asleep, I think I was half asleep and half awake, but it was still nice to “rest my eyes”. Then, scared that I was going to miss my flight, I got up and found my actual departure gate, waited in line for a bit and then got on the plane. It was one of those really big airplanes – with more than one level, so that was really nice. It was a Qantas flight and I LOVE Qantas – they are just amazing. You even get a menu to choose your meal from! There was also so much complimentary food on this trip, I was in heaven! They gave you the little sleeping kit, with the socks and toothbrush etc, a snack bag with bottled water, chocolate, crisps etc, then they gave out Chocolate Ice Cream Lollies – the good kind! You had dinner, which was really lovely (I got chicken and rice I think) and then they had Cadburys Hot Chocolate and other snacks! It was amazing! You also got free drinks and then there was the breakfast – I got a sausage and egg thing with a yummy muffin, milk and some fruit. I was very happy indeed.

I watched “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” which I didn’t think was all that good. The story wasn’t too bad, but it just didn’t do it for me. Also, the way it ended was so flipping stupid – (if you haven’t seen it then look away for a second) why did he leave her to go die? He grew young anyway and she ended up having to look after him – surely they could have spent that time together. Why didn’t he stick around to meet his daughter? She found out about him in the end – yes the dynamics are off, he gets younger while his daughter gets older, but he’s still her father, he’s just a little different to the other dads. What a stupid movie. The whole “look at me, I’m ageing backwards” thing didn’t bother me – the stupidity of the characters did. After wasting some of my life watching that movie I watched “Marley and Me” and I was so impressed. It was a really beautiful movie, so honest and simple. If you haven’t seen it, then you should really go watch it – there is so much more to that movie than a cute dog. It’s about life - married and family life especially and it deals with how it isn’t always easy – it shows you how difficult life can be, but it also shows you how there is good in everything. The dog, Marley, is obviously fundamental to the movie – but he isn’t just there for comedic value, he adds so much more to the movie. I literally wept during that movie – I didn’t even try to contain myself, I just sat with my little free blanket up at my chin and cried. I love animals but I really do think that dogs are the most amazing creatures. I have my very own little dog, Kelso, and I think he is just the best – that was probably why this movie made me cry like a baby, I was thinking of Marley as Kelso. Aww man, I can’t even explain it, you just need to see the movie and I just need to go home and give my little gentleman a hug :)

Anyway, after “Marley and Me” I just listened to some music, ate some free food, tried to take a nap and eventually arrived in the U-S of A! I landed in L.A airport and I had to make my way from the arrivals terminal to the internal departure terminal – it was a pretty long walk, but I eventually foundt he right place. There was some sort of electronic check in thing going on, so I had to queue up for that and then I had to check myself in, pay for my baggage, print off my boarding pass and find my departure gate. It wasn’t actually too difficult, which amazed me – I am quite challenged when it comes to transport of the public variety. I just don’t get it. Busses and trains are the worst – flying isn’t as bad because I can usually ask someone and I’m always really early. The following events are pretty fuzzy, but I do know that I got an amazing Caesar Salad from California Pizza Kitchen – yikes, I’m turning into my mother, the woman whose memories all involve food... Once I was fed and watered I got on the plane to Tucson. It was seriously small – there were only four seats across the whole plane and there was a funny whistling sound coming from the door. Good times.

The flight was just over an hour, I think, and I arrived in Tucson, which was great because I obviously got on the right plane. I went to collect my luggage and I was met by Alison, Kieran and all four kids – the whole family was there, except for Stitch! Alison is a McKenna and the McCune’s and McKenna’s are tight. When my dad joined our church (the Mormon church) he became really friendly with Molly and Fred and their five kids who are around the same age as my dad. Since then we have always been really friendly, which is really great because the McKenna’s are amazing cooks and really great people! So we have this whole, family friendship thing going on – when I stayed in Utah before Christmas I stayed with Patricia, Molly and Fred’s daughter and now I’m staying with their daughter Alison and her family in Tucson. It’s pretty cool, having friends in sunny places...

Once we got my massive suitcase into their massive American car we drove back to their house, I got the grand tour, had some pancakes, unpacked some things and then went for a swim in the pool! I think I’m going to like Arizona!

So there we go – I’ve officially left New Zealand. In all honesty I got really lazy and stopped writing my Blog, so I’m writing this entry in June instead of May, so now I can say that I really do miss New Zealand. It was a really great trip – I saw the most amazing places, did the most amazing things and met the most amazing people. It was nice to just take some time to think. There is nothing better than sitting on a beach or a mountain or even the kitchen floor of your Hostel and just thinking – “I’m O.K.” Before I left I didn’t really know what I was capable of. I have never had to work for anything. I’ve never pushed myself and yes, New Zealand wasn’t a hard place to travel through. The Kiwi Experience really does hold your hand through the whole process, but still, there were days when I was totally alone and I just knew that everything would be fine. In fact, being alone was something I really enjoyed. Spending the entire day with yourself is actually quite fun. Sometimes I would just walk, I wasn’t going anywhere in particular, but I was thinking, making sense of all the stupid things I think about – I was (to be all Buddhist about it) living in the present. You should try it, you might be surprised at how nice it is to be living in the present, totally happy in the knowledge that you are exactly where you want to be and more importantly, who you want to be. Two months may not seem like a very long time, but it has really made a difference to me – I still have a very long way to go, but for those two months at least, I found myself and that was really quite nice. I also found some really great people and I realised that I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by good people at home – sometimes you have to leave to realise what you have. Happiness doesn’t mean a thing unless you can share it and I feel that I shared my trip with some great people and when I’m 80 years old, living in a nursing home with a bunch of cats, I’ll be able to tell my grandkids about my Great New Zealand Adventure. Maybe they will read this Blog and realise just how freaking cool my life actually was.

Xx