Bay of Islands, my last NZ stop

While on this trip I have read a lot of books, its something I love to do and have really enjoyed getting the time to do so again. At a store in Nelson I found two sequential books by a Kiwi author about a girl from England being sent to NZ with her missionary aunt and uncle. The stories are titled Kitty and Amber, and they mainly take place in the newly settled Paihia in the Bay of Islands. During the first book the Maori chiefs come together to sign the Treaty of Waitangi which is a founding document between the Maori and England establishing land rights. And this morning I visited the Treaty grounds where the chiefs met with the English and Missionary (they served as translators) leaders to discuss the treaty. For me it was a book come to life and I greatly enjoyed seeing this little town on a beautiful sunny day.

Its a small town but we had a good time. Yesterday after arriving, myself and some of the guys from the bus went down to the beach and played a bit of football/soccer which was quite fun, but also challenging on a slope going into the water. Then it was just a laid back evening getting to know one another.

Today I went for a walk to the Treaty grounds then further on to the mangroves and Haruru Falls. It was a long walk, but it was a beautiful area and home to kiwi (although I didn't see any). Then after getting on the bus back to Auckland we stopped at a bird sanctuary where we got to see Woof Woof, a talking Tui as well as a live kiwi bird!!! We were even able to touch the sweet six week old kiwi, quite a treat! They are in the care of the sanctuary until the drought is over so that they will have the best survival rate possible. Robert also had Herrier Hawk that was in for an injured wing but was a very impressive creature as well. In the past they have even had Albatross. If you are interested they have website with photos, videos and even webcams http://www.whangareinativebirdrecovery.org.nz.

Kiwi bird in Roberts arms

It's very strange to think that I am leaving New Zealand tomorrow. And stranger even to think that I will be back in the USA in a few short days (and one very long one). If you haven't heard yet, I will not be able to make it to South Africa on this trip mostly because of my finances, but I fully intend to make a trip there at another time not too far away. On my hike this morning I was trying to think if there are any lessons learned or major takeaways from this trip (wow that sounded depressingly corporate) but it was hard to come up with any that I can write down. What I can say is that I love traveling, more than anything this trip has reinforced that love of going places, seeing and doing things and most importantly meeting new people. I love the global culture and hope to never stop exploring the world.

Tomorrow I go to Sydney for one last hurrah with my wonderful friend Kristin and then I will spend a long day heading towards Indianapolis where I will soon be running a half marathon (May 8th). I'll try to keep blogging if you're interested in what is going on in my life and where I'm going...because right now I'm not even sure where my feet will fall next.

Much Love!!!