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From Paihia, I headed two hours south to a small town called Ruakaka. There isn’t really much there, but a large beautiful bay, 7 or so kite spots and wind. Those items thankfully are really all I need to keep myself busy, so taking the advice of a good friend of Monty and mine from Idaho, Chris Campbell, I connected with Dave and Sue from Ruakaka Kitesports/Dekay Kiteboards. They showed me the ropes for 3 days and 2 nights and following the friendly Kiwi way, kindly gave me a place to crash. I happily got to kite for 3 days in a mix of waves and flat water as well as watch the building of a custom kiteboard from start to finish in 2-days time. The shaping, the hand-painting, the resin and all... it was fascinating. Dave and Sue are very good at what they do!
On the 2nd day, 3 of their friends (& my new friends) drove up from Raglan to kite and stay. And, what do you know?... they were all from the U.S. And, not just any part of the U.S., but here I was in a small town in New Zealand with a guy from Bellevue,
WA (Corbin), a girl who used to live in Seattle for 10 years (Alicia) and a girl from Santa Barbara (Katie). Alicia and I realized we had numerous friends in the kite world as well... it’s a teeny tiny itsy bitsy world we live in, yes it is.
On the 3rd day, Katie and I decided to head to Raglan for my last 3 days in NZ. It’s a small surf town with a chilled out vibe and a good wave. Plus, Katie lived there and happily gave me a place to stay for the night. And then.... it rained! Surprised? No, me neither. It rained a monsoon for my last few days, so I hung out at Katie’s with her and her 4 roomates... doing normal at home stuff like watching TV and eating food. They were such a fun bunch & being anxious to get home, it made my last few days so much easier. Collectively, they were from Germany, England, America and New Zealand. There were a few other friends from Holland as well. Everyone was super cool... there was even a mom that stopped by. After the hostel life for 7 weeks, it was just what
I was craving... normalcy. People heading off to work, making dinner and visiting with family. We even had a girls afternoon/night with apps and wine. I made the easiest thing ever... deviled eggs... such an American thing... most hadn’t eaten them before & they were a hit. Who knew?! They are pretty tasty.
And so it was time to head HOME. Awww, Home! Just the word has a nice ring to it. 4 months away and I was ready. Ready for the ease of American life and more than ready for a kiss from my man... It was such an amazing journey... a unique time in my life I will always be grateful for... From bustling SE Asia to windy Australia to God’s country New Zealand... What a beautiful time I will never forget!
As I flew over Seattle last night and saw the Space Needle and was greeted by a sign reading "Welcome to the United States of America" in the customs concourse, I couldn't help but get a little choked up. It is so good to be home!
(Thanks to everyone for reading & keeping in touch!! It sincerely means a lot to me. These last few
blogs, I wrote at the end of my trip, but with the excitement and normalcy of being home, I never posted them. Sorry about that! Since I’m in Greece now on journey #2, I figure its definitely time to get this current and start blogging again. Oh, how I’ve missed it!)
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