Best. Husband. Ever.

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I'm glad to know that marriage hasn't cured Steve of his random romantic notions. We had agreed not to exchange Christmas presents this year but he reneged on that when he surprised me with tickets to a Billy Joel concert on our last night in New Zealand. Billy Joel is my favorite musician, and poor Steve already had to sit through me cooing with the cluster of middle-aged women sitting around us at the DC show a couple of years ago. Our Auckland show seats were amazing, close enough for Steve to certainly be heard when he yelled, "Jersey!" in response to a band member's intro.

The following morning, we hopped on a plane to the most remote place I've ever been: the Cook Islands. This is not a place I'd want to suffer any medical emergency because the nearest place to be airlifted to would probably be New Zealand, a four hour flight away. The entire island nation only has fourteen thousand residents.

We had a good laugh on arrival when Steve noticed that our plane appeared to be at least twice the size of the airport. We made our way through immigration, collected our bags, and proudly paraded around in the gardenia leis we received.

This last stop was added as a sort of "real" honeymoon, and Steve kept the details completely hidden from me. He'd dropped little hints, which led me to conclude that we were staying on a rice paddy in the middle of the island. I wasn't too concerned because we've stayed in far worse places, and the island is not big enough to ever be that far from a beach.

Instead, he booked us a stunning beachfront bungalow with a private pool and hot tub. This is the coolest place I've ever stayed - there's even a tiny indoor moat around the living room with small bridges to the bedrooms. The pool has a waterfall surrounded by lush greenery, and the showers look out onto tropical gardens. Gorgeous!

We arrived with high ambitions to hike, see and learn about everything on the island. Those were quickly squashed as we rediscovered the simple joy of lounging around and doing nothing. No buses to catch, no tours to meet, nothing. We've spent the past week eating amazing seafood and tropical fruit, reading on the beach, kayaking and snorkeling around the reefs, splashing in the pool, catching up on movies, and chatting with the only other couple staying here.

I'm having trouble falling asleep because I know that once I wake up, it will be our last day overseas. We fly back to the States tomorrow night for a whirlwind of family holiday fun from coast to coast.

See you soon!

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Comments

[Jessica]

Awwww
What an amazing end to such an awesome trip. I cannot wait to see pictures!

[Jessie]

That sounds AMAZING. I'm super jealous.