The End

This final post has been long overdue, but I wanted to officially end this blog so I figure better late than never. I'm back from my post-New Zealand family vacation to Hawaii and have now been in the US for 3 weeks and officially home for a week. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a strange feeling. After spending almost 5 months in New Zealand, and seeing my friends there literally every day, it's weird to suddenly be back home and know that I won't see most people until school starts back up again in September. But it was an absolutely incredible experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. I just can't believe that it's all over now.

So, how did it all end? Well, we had a very enjoyable last night. It rained literally every single day for the final week, but that didn't stop us. We all faced the rain and went out to dinner at the Waterfront, down in the Viaduct. (Since we didn't totally dry out during dinner and it was quite cold, we kind of wimped out and decided to take a cab back!). Then, we went out for one last night out, trying to make the most of our last 24 hours.

Here's a group shot at dinner:

And here's one of Cate and I:
Sunday morning we got up early so as not to waste what little time we had left. We did a little more packing and then a group of us decided to go get a final kebab on Queen St. (Another group of people decided to really go out with a bang and went bungy jumping off the Auckland Harbor Bridge that morning!) We headed back to Empire to shower and finalize all of the packing, but Cate and I were done with plenty of time to spare. We were literally sitting in our empty rooms, which was way too depressing, so we decided to go upstairs and watch Rich and Nick finish packing!

We had arranged for 2 Super Shuttles to come pick us up at 4:30 PM. We met downstairs and said our goodbyes to non-Loyola roommates and Australearn kids. This was when it was really starting to sink in that we were actually leaving, never to live in Empire Apartments again. At the airport, the line was moving pretty slow. We went up to the counter in groups of 3 or 4 so that we could sit next to each other. I was sitting with Cate and Nick and we lucked out with our luggage - our combined weight just made the cut so we didn't have to pay any overage charges. By the time we got to the gate and everything, we didn't have long to wait before we boarded.

The flight went by surprisingly fast. Luckily I was able to sleep for a good portion of the flight - I'd guess I got in about 6 hours of sleep. So I wasn't feeling too bad when we arrived in San Francisco for our 9 hour layover. We weren't about to spend 9 hours just sitting in an airport when we had just come off of a 12 hour flight and still had another 6 hour one to go. So most of us took the BART train and headed downtown to check out San Francisco.

We were quite a sight, a group of 12 of us walking around with all of our carry-on luggage. We walked along the water, past Fisherman's Wharf, and got lunch at In-and-Out burger, at Ed's suggestion. After lunch, we went to Ghiradelli Square before riding a trolley back to the BART station. I was definitely very glad that we got to actually do something during our layover - it made the time pass much more quickly.

We could just see the Golden Gate Bridge through the fog:

The flight from SFO to JFK seemed much long than the one from Auckland to SFO, even though in reality it took about half the time. Once we landed, everyone except for me and a few others were reunited with their families. I was among the few whose parents were not at the airport (I was catching a ride home with Cate, and there were several people who still had to take a connecting flight). So, later that day I had my reunion with my family and then had one day to unpack and repack before heading off to Hawaii.

So now, it's been 3 weeks to the day since I've been back in the US. There's been some adjusting to do. (I kept turning on my windshield wipers instead of my blinker the first few days I was back driving. Luckily, I remember to stay on the right side of the road.) I really miss New Zealand, and especially my friends, a lot. It was an incredible, truly once in a lifetime experience, and I am so thankful that it turned out so well. It was everything I could have hoped for it to be - and even more.

I'm still working on going through the almost 5000 pictures I took. (I'm making my parents and sister look at every single one, but I'm in the process of creating a best-of slideshow for everyone else!) Every time I look at pictures, or something else here happens to remind me of New Zealand, I can't help but smile. It was just truly a great 5 months. Never again will this be what I see when I look out of my bedroom window, but it sure was wonderful while it lasted!

Well, thanks to everyone who read this blog! Though tedious to write at times, I'm so happy that I stuck with it. It was a great way to stay connected with people at home and to keep everyone updated on all my adventures (not to mention that this will be a great keepsake for me).

It's been quite an adventure that I know I will never forget. Thanks for sharing it with me! And if you ever have the chance to visit New Zealand, I highly recommend it (if I haven't made that quite obvious by now!).

Love,

Lauren