Story

Tonight was simply good. Karla, Phil & I met up with our new friend, Kelsen, to make dinner at his house. Played cards, shared a bit of art and inspiration, ate enchiladas, took a walk up Mount Eden to look out over the city lights. The pictures below are from one of Kelsen's school projects. I liked them so much I had to bring them home with me.

And once you live a good story, you get a taste for a kind of meaning in life, and you can't go back to being normal; you can't go back to meaningless scenes stitched together by the forgettable thread of wasted time.

 ― Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

If the point of life is the same as the point of a story, the point of life is character transformation. If I got any comfort as I set out on my first story, it was that in nearly every story, the protagonist is transformed. He's a jerk at the beginning and nice at the end, or a coward at the beginning and brave at the end. If the character doesn't change, the story hasn't happened yet. And if story is derived from real life, if story is just condensed version of life then life itself may be designed to change us so that we evolve from one kind of person to another.

― Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

If we make them beautiful years, we must do it moment by moment as they glide before us.

-Nicholas Sparks, Three Weeks with my Brother

I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
-C.S. Lewis

The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we will take this view, life will become one great romance- a glorious opportunity of seeing wonderful things all the time.

-My Utmost for His Highest

NZ slang

Aotearoa – most widely known and accepted Maori name for New Zealand, translated as “Land of the Long White Cloud”
Au – I don't know
Bach – small holiday home or beach house
Barbie – barbeque 
Belly buster – belly flop
Biscuits – cookies
Bombing- cannon ball
Bum bag- fanny pack
Candy floss – cotton candy
Cheers – thanks, good bye
Chemist store – drug store
Chips – fries or chips
Chilly bin – cooler
Choice – expression of approval, great achivement
Chur- yeah, cool
College – high school
Courgette – zucchini
Crusiy- chill, laid back
Dairy – corner store/ convenient store
Dodgy – unreliable, sketchy
Eh - used at the end of a sentence when expecting a response; pronounces "A?"
Feed – meal ("free feed')
Film- movie
Footpath – side walk, pavement
Fortnight – two weeks
Fringe – bangs
Gumboot – rubber boots
Greases – fish and chips, popular takeaway meal in New Zealand
Greenstone- new zealand jade
Haka - traditional Maori dance
Hangi - traditional Maori meal prepared in an underground oven
Heaps- a lot of
Hire - rent
Hokey pokey - very popular type of ice cream flavor in New Zealand
Hongi - traditional Maori greeting, done by pressing one's nose to another person's nose
Hot dog- corn dog
Intermediate school- middle school, jr. high
Jandal – flip flop
Jam- jelly
Jelly- Jello
Jersey – sweater
Kia Ora – hello, welcome
Keen- down to/want to "are you keen to go?"
Kumara – sweet potato
Lift – elevator
Lolly – any sweet or candy
Local rag – local newspaper
Marmite – popular spread, made from yeast extract
Mate – commonly used for friend, but can also be used for a stranger
Mean – good, “That’s a mean car!”
Milo – brand of chocolate drink
Mince – ground beef
Moko – traditional Maori tattoo that covers the face and body
Nappy – diaper
Net ball- mainly a girl's sport- basketball without dribbling, a net with no backboard
Op shop – opportunity shop, second hand shop
Paddock – field with animals graz
Petrol –  fuel for engine, gasoline
Petrol station – gas station
Plaster – band aid
Primary school- elementary school
Rubber – eraser
Roadie- road trip
Rock melon – cantaloupe
Rubbish- trash
Sammie- sandwich 
Singlet – sleeveless under shirt, tank top
Spud – potato
Sunnies – sunglasses
Sweet as –something really good
Takeaways – fastfood
Tramping – hiking
Trolly- shopping cart/ buggy
Toilet- the polite way to say "bathroom" 
Togs – swim suit
Toot- honking a horn
Tiki tour – scenic tour
Ute - small pickup truck
Uni- college/ university
Whanau (pronounce Fa-no)– family
Zed – common pronunciation of letter Z

Coromandel

A couple of days in Auckland was all we needed before we were back on the road again.
Eight of us piled into one campervan and drove east to Coromandel. We pulled in late and found a random parking spot by Papamoa beach for the night. The morning brought rain, but it didn't stop us from having a great day.

A pancake breakfast, wine tasting, watching a Jr. lifesaving competition, trying fish n' chips for the first time, watching movies and bonding at Hana's aunt and uncle's house on the mount.

Karla and Hana in the basement of the winery

My first fish n' chips experience.

Hana was the lone Kiwi on the trip with seven Americans. As we were driving through town, she realized we were near her aunt and uncle's house, so she gave them a ring. They graciously invited us to come spend the night at their cozy house on the mount and even supplied us with pizza for dinner. We goofed around all night and snuggled up to watch a couple movies.

Our morning view from their porch

Imagine coming up this driveway every day 

Next stop, Hot Water Beach:

Dig a hole in the sand and the geothermal water rises up, giving you a hot tub on the beach.

Karla taught us how to surf...DREAM COME TRUE!!!!

Dinner, entertainment, and a parking spot for the night:

Cathedral Cove and a tow truck:

Thank the Lord for insurance. Our breakdown actually ended up saving us money. We didn't have to pay for gas on the way back and we got dropped off right in front of our apartment. Not to mention the fact that we got to ride in the car as it was being towed. 

Devonport Food, Wine, & Music Festival

On the ferry to Devonport

My two favorite dance partners. 

Mark, Karla, Phil

Auckland Skytower

Northland Road Trip

On February 12th, we moved into our student apartments. That night, twenty-four of us got together and planned out a new trip. In the morning, we rented three camper vans and an eight person van, got in, and drove north.

Paihia
A campervan park, a night hanging out on the beach

Bay of Islands

Artisan Crafts Market

Haruru Falls

Our sunny day turned into a torrential downpour. A couple of us went running through all the puddles back to the car. By the time we got there, the sun was shining again.

90 Mile Beach
Stayed in a Holiday Park in Ahipara, Northland
Late night beach run
Almost got kicked out for jumping in the pool. "Innocent tourist"-ed our way out of it.

Cape Reinga
My favorite part of the roadtrip- a day that embodied exactly how I pictured New Zealand being

Where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collide,
The northernmost point of New Zealand

The white strip of breaking waves in the distance is where the Tasman and Pacific are meeting

Pakiri Beach

Unpaved roads. Late night beach run. More stars than you can imagine. All twenty-four crammed into 4 cars for the night. A day on a secluded beach. Massive, desert-like sand dunes. Back to Auckland.

Rotorua- Days 3 & 4

Day 3:

Waitomo Caving- all the depressions in the ground show where the caves are

Karla- my other half here

Day 4:

- Community day at Lake Okareka- Tearing overgrown plants out of pathways, breaking up rocks to stop the erosion of the shoreline, lunch and a swim in the sun

- A HILARIOUS talent show and a late night in the hostel pool

Rotorua- Days 1 & 2

5 Days in Rotorua forming friendships, going on adventures, making the most of every moment.

Day 1:
-Learned and performed the Haka, the Maori war dance (in traditional clothing no less)

Ka mate, ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! 

Ka mate, ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora!

Tenei te tanga ta

Puhuru huru

Nana i tiki mai

Whaka whiti te ra

A upane! Ka upane!

Aupane Kaupane

Whiti te ra!

-Learned how to play Rugby (dominated.)

-Had dinner at the Blue Lake, took a walk through the woods

Day 2:

Zorbing/Ogo Ride- We're inside that giant ball rolling down the hill

Fish Pipe- This time we're harnessed into seats inside the giant ball

White water rafting on the Kaituna River, down the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world (7 meter drop) 

Redwood forest

Tamaki village- a recreation of traditional Maori life 

The Maori at Tamaki Village are so proud of their culture that they love to recreate it and share it with anyone who will come see. They danced, sang, told us stories of their ancestors, and taught us about what life used to look like for them. The night ended with a hangi dinner- one prepared in a traditional earth oven.