I woke up to the sunshine and beauty of NZ... I sat in my bed and began to get sad... it was my last day in NZ and I was going to miss the place a ton... I then got up, got dressed and joined the family for breakfast... After breakfast we packed up the car with all our beach gear and Olly and I headed out to Tawharanui Regional Park for a day of exploring, sun and being out in the water...
I cannot tell you how beautiful the trip was to the regional park... The scenery was unreal, grass so green, sky light blue with clouds that looked as though they were painted in the sky, sheep, cows, pigs and lots of trees... I guess there is like 4 sheep per person. It took us about an hour to get to the regional park... No other animals are allowed to come into the park and there is a gate that opens to the park... NZ is extremely strict on bring any sort of plants, animals, soil, shells, even like ancient masks are not allowed in NZ... We finally made it to the beach! No taking shells, fish, or anything off the beach... The beach was absolutely beautiful... We had beach on both sides of us...
We had some lunch and decided to climb up a hill to overlook the beach area... When we got back the seagulls ate all our snacks... oops we forgot to close our lunch pack... LOL... Oh well... we moved to a different beach to get into the water and do some surfing/bodyboarding action... We were out for a bit then came back in to go back to Olly's house... We packed up and were about to leave the beach area until I saw a swing that was hanging that faced the beach area... I had to jump on and take a swing.... So beautiful...
As we made our way back to the car we decided to put all our gear into the car and venture up a hill to overlook a different side of the beach... We got up to the top and it was such a magical view... Looking to the left was all beach area and looking to the right was all beach area and to the back of us were sheep.... We sat and talked about life for about an hour with the sun on our bodies... I could not believe the view... It was a bit windy but why leave such a beautiful spot... I did not want to leave this amazing place but I knew my time was up and that I needed to get back to my school work... oh and graduation time was coming up... Olly said on the top that he would defiantly propose to someone at the spot we were at! I laughed... I said I would want to sleep under the stars if I had an extra day...
After seeing such a magical spot and talking about life... We made our way back to the car and drove back to Olly's house with a quick stop at one last beach on the way ... Gosh I love NZ... So much adventure and beauty... By the time we made it back to the house it was already 5:15 PM... I had to hurry up and get ready to leave... Rose and Dave made me my favorite dinner of SNAPPER Yum... After dinner I took a shower and packed up all my shells, calender that Olly gave me of Daves veggie master pieces... (Dave enters a contest every year and builds these incredible themed masterpieces out of veggies).... Unreal... I started to get sad... but then Dave told me he and Rose had a gift for me... I was like "WHAT?" ME: "I am the one that should be giving you guys a gift". I opened the gift and there was a tiny kiwi animal... AWWW... I started to laugh and tears formed... but I didn't cry... I was astounded by there generosity, love and friendship... For only knowing them 10 days I felt like I was already apart of the family... What a great feeling that was...
I said my good byes to Rose and it was off to the airport to get there by 7:30PM... Dave, Olly and I were reminiscing about my time and talking about farting... I know what an akward subject... but not with them... We were laughing so hard we were crying... God my abs hurt and I was going to miss these boys so much... I had a good two hour wait... but Dave and Olly stayed with me... We looked around at the stores... I showed them photos of friends back home... and we laughed some more... then it was time... I HATE good-byes... This was hard but I made my way through security and waved to Olly and Dave through the glass... I did not want to leave... I guess at this point the flight attendants were calling my name... "Calling passenger CARLY HILL"... oops almost missed my flight... Darn that would have sucked... I made it though... I sat down took a nightquil and was so pooped from the day that I fell right to sleep... I woke up a couple of times but slept pretty well... When I woke up I had some breakfast... not to bad and watch "Marley and Me"... Almost cried to that movie.... Our flight made it to LAX in about 11 hours...
I really didn't want to be in LA... I wanted to be back in NZ on the beach... soaking up the sun and exploring... I left on a Monday night and got back to LA and SD at 6 PM Monday... Weird... Jet-lagged for sure... NZ if five hours behind California and a day ahead... gnarliness... I was culture shocked... and had a major case of the spring break blues.... did I really have school the next day... Oh yes... Oh well... I had the time of my life in NZ and I knew in my heart I would revisit... NZ is defiantly a place I could see myself revisiting and living there for a while... Maybe after my internship... I did look up as NZ being a place I can practice Dietetics'... Sweet... All I have to do is take a test and I can easily become licensed!
Olly and his family said it is super easy to get a working visa and a green card for that matter... NZ is in my future... But I have a lot to look forward to... My Dietetic Internship will be starting in August... If not NZ I will be back.