Back to Auckland for a bit of Samoan culture and heading home after an experience of a lifetime!

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Kia Ora everyone,

Here is my final blog about Auckland and my final days there. I feel it is important that the trip come full circle, so bear with me as I share the highlights of the times in the sunshine in Auckland with La'au and his family.

I flew back to Auckland from Christchurch on Saturday afternoon after spending a great morning out at New Brighton with Paul and Alex and taking in the views of the Santa Claus parade. La'au was there to meet me at the airport and I was excited to tell him about all my stories in Southland. We spent most of the afternoon liming in his backyard chatting and singing songs with guitar. The weather was gorgeous-a comfortable 22C-we were wearing short sleeves- I know, seems so foreign after being here in Canada in the snow and cold.

In the evening La'au took me to a Samoan culture night at his church. There was a choir that sang songs from the Pacific islands and presented traditional dances in full authentic costume. The countries of Tonga, Cook Islands, Hawaii, Samoa and others were featured. My favourite group of the night was a group of guys called Sweet and Sour who danced hiphop! It was a great evening with lots of celebration of culture and lots of laughter. I was likely the only Westerner there but it gave me such an appreciation for La'au's heritage and the traditions of the peoples of the Pacific Islands. While La'au was born in NZ he has very strong connections with Samoa and will be going there to celebrate Christmas with his extended family.

Sunday morning I was treated to more Samoan culture as I attended La'au's Samoan Methodist Church. Everyone comes to church dressed in white-the women wear long dresses and hats and the men wear white blazers and lavalava skirts that look like sarongs. Even the choir is in full uniform. I did my best to sing along to all the hymns that were sung in Samoan. La'au's aunt said I did a pretty good job. The Samoan language has a lot of vowels in it and in combination they each have different sounds. It was beautiful to hear the whole congregation in unified song with even some harmonies too. The entire sermon was given in Samoan too with only a little bit of English. This was quite an awesome experience to be there for worship.

La'au's aunt and mom prepared a beautiful Samoan lunch after church that consisted of Samoan chopsuey, a beautiful fried fish, rice, mixed vegetables and pork. We had some nice conversation around the table about life in our respective countries. La'au's mom gave me some beautiful gifts to take home to remember my times in Auckland. She gave me a beautiful maori skirt, a model of a Samoan boat, and a cool necklace. The Tanielu family were so generous to me while I stayed in Auckland that I hope some day they will come to Canada so I can share the same hospitality. I can't wait to go back and see them all again! They welcomed me like I was family! Very special!

Later in the afternoon I was invited to speak and attend the youth group at the church. I was asked to share about my adventures on my 2 months of travel in S.E. Asia, Asia and in NZ and was asked to share two of the songs I wrote. There are about 12 youth who attend this group and their whole focus is on building community, outreach, worship and service. For many of these youth who were between the ages of 16-27, I was one of the first Canadians they had ever met which was cool! Knowing them and La'au's friends and family I know many more Samoans than I did before I came to NZ. We played Samoan cricket and I took a few tries at bat. The bat is much like the Caribbean bat but it has a bit of a different shape-a bit more like a diamond. We had fun laughing and cheering each other on. To end off the time we had an amazing worship singing session-I swear every Samoan I know is a fantastic singer-the harmonies were awesome! I was so blessed to be in their company and share in that music!

My last night in Auckland was spent dining over Thai food with La'au and his brother in law Seti. We then headed to Mission Bay and ate ice cream at the famous Movenpick ice cream parlour on the beach. There were flame throwers entertaining in the park and so many people were out! After all it is summer in New Zealand and it was quite warm outside.

Monday morning came early and I headed to the airport at 6:30 to check in for my flight. I was grateful La'au was there to help me re-jig my luggage which was sort of overweight. I went to buy a few more souvenirs before I said goodbye. It was quite hard to leave NZ since I had had such an incredible time. It was awesome to stay with La'au and his family-we shared some awesome conversations, toured all around the city and ate some great food together too. It is hard being 18 time zones away on the other side of the world, but I know for sure that I will be back in New Zealand again soon enough.

As I flew home from Auckland to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Anchorage, Alaska and then from Alaska to Toronto-26 hours, I had a lot of time to begin to reflect on my journey over these past 2 months. Which has stuck in my mind the most are there people I met, the friends I was about to reconnect with and all their generosity, the beauty of all the places I have seen and the cultures I have experienced!

I am truly blessed and privileged to have been about to travel to HK, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines and NZ. I have taken so many photographs and have returned home with my heart filled with love, my mind full of incredible memories and so many stories to share. I am looking forward to reconnecting with all of you at some point, all of you who have followed my journeys abroad and I can't wait to tell you in person about my adventures not shared here. I thank you all for your messages and emails as I travelled-it was good to know I was being thought of and prayed for while I was abroad. I only hope that some day you will all have the opportunity to go to these places and see them for yourself. There is a whole big world outside of Canada to be explored. I only hope I have been able to bring a little bit of that home with me.

I truly believe that travelling is the best opportunity for growth, sharing, experiencing, learning and loving people and the world. I don't know what the future holds for my upcoming travels in the winter and spring, but I know that I have been forever changed by what I have seen and done thus far. No matter what adventures lie ahead I know I will embrace them with open arms and an open heart.

Thanks for reading. Love you all. Can't wait to reconnect.

Katy

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Comments

[Naomi]

Welcome back Katy!! I am so glad to hear your trip went well. Definetly the experience of a life time... am very proud of you!!!! Safe flight!