I am taking my first deep breaths since we arrived in New Zealand almost a week ago. The months and days leading up to the move found us all in a survival mode. Dave had already left to start work and life here while the girls and I muddled through those last weeks of school, piles of heavy good-byes and the unenviable task of packing up our lives. Every last bit of it.
But onward and upward. The flight was a delightful 20 hours of nothing which we all needed and we arrived, after months of planning, on a cool Sunday morning at AKL. Home.
We are moving around a bit as we wait for our rental – meant to be a soft landing while we look for a more permanent solution. It is lovely and if the people we have rented from are any indication of the average Kiwi, we are in amazing company.
After a few days in Auckland – house hunting and jetlag fighting, we planned a drive to the North Country – Piahia to be exact. It is on the Pacific Ocean and offers some of those sweeping vistas where ocean meets cliff and green rolling hills meet sub-tropica
l forest. Unfortunately the weather will have nothing to do with giving us clear views – insane wind and rain. It hasn’t slowed us down though. We visited 90 mile beach yesterday; noshed on the islands’ very best fish and chips; and took in some gorgeous views on our hour or so long drive further up the coast.
We move into our rental tomorrow and can’t wait to get on with it – day to day life is looking like it will be pretty sweet.