Left New Zealand - Home Tomorrow

In Hawaii right now and will be flying on the red eye to arrive back home. It will be fantastic to be home again for a little while and just relax and reflect on the last 8 months. The last two weeks in New Zealand were a lot of fun and went by pretty quickly. I had a great time down in Dunedin visiting the college and a kiwi friend of mine from the ice. New Zealand students really know how to party and so it was fun to let loose and go out for three nights in a row. After Dunedin it was a quick week and a half of Christchurch(recovering from a cold), Wellington, and Motueka before leaving for Hawaii again out of Christchurch. Wellington is the second biggest city on the north island and it is a beautiful port city with a lot of cafes, restaurants, bars, and theaters. The feel of the city was like being back in normal civilization. There was a lot of hustle and bustle to the city so it was nice to be around after spending a good part of the trip in New Zealand in small towns or out in the bush. Right before flying out of New Zealand I was able to store little ivan for the next year. And by doing that it will have saved me from taking a significant loss on the van. I hope to sell it when the market is better as soon as I get off the ice next year. So I definitely learned from the experience of buying Ivan. If I do choose to travel New Zealand again for a long time and I'm alone I am hitchhiking or taking buses everywhere. So much cheaper that way.

It wasn't all that hard to leave New Zealand. I think it was just time for me to move on. I had an absolute blast in New Zealand and there are still a number of different things I want to see and do there. However, since it was getting cold, expensive to get around with Ivan, and thoughts of home became greater, it was a pretty easy goodbye to New Zealand. I know I'll be back and can hit those other places then.

Hawaii has been a good time. Great to warm up a little bit and get back to the states. It's odd how small things like using American money again, temperatures Fahrenheit, and being able to catch the NBA playoffs have been missed. It's great to be back to familiar things. I expect the next few weeks will be great as I will be able to cherish the little things that I've been without so long. Especially catching up with all the family and friends I've missed!!