“There is no place like home.”

On my flight to New Zealand, I read “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho.  It could not have been a better fit at the time, and it’s an even better fit now that I’m home.

That’s right, all- I’M HOME!

This particular quote rings especially true for me right now.

“But he was able to understand one thing: making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”

I left with the idea that this trip would be the start of a new life for me abroad, but what I realized is that I might just have what I wanted all along right here at home.

There were several things that factored into my decision to return a little earlier than planned, and all I’ll say about that here is that I made the decision from my heart and am really happy.  Surprisingly happy, in fact!

I have some incredible memories and a few people I’ll be lucky enough to keep in touch with and even visit again one day.  It was an emotional and personal journey, to say the least.    I learned some tough at the time lessons, and I most certainly earned the confidence and resilience I know I have from everything.  I’m hoping the near future still contains some lessons, but perhaps a little gentler 

Let me tell ya, it’s been great to see my family.  I’m back in the barn, and I very quickly realized that you can take a girl off the farm, but you can’t take the farm out  the girl.   I’ve been to my favorite grocery store to stock up on allergy friendly foods, and I had a brief reunion with Target when I bought a sleep aid.  I’m still working through jet lag, but it doesn’t seem as bad as when I arrived in New Zealand in December.  (Wow, December!  Has it really been that long?)

Thank you to everyone who supported me on my journey away and to those of you who read any or all of my blogging along the way.  There was more love, encouragement, and prayers sent than I could have ever imagined, and I will never stop being grateful.  Thank you with all my heart!

And finally, back to New Zealand

And to conclude my trip with my mom and sister,we went back and spent four full days in NZ.  We spent two days in Wellington and two days in Martinborough, a famous wine town in the Wairapa region.

On the first day in Wellington, I showed them around the city and we took a 1/2 day tour around a wind farm and seal colony.  It was much better than I expected which was a delight; we had private access to a lovely part of the coast full of seals.  On the second day, I let them explore solo while I spent the afternoon saying goodbye to Caitlin (the Irish friend I met in Napier and then re-connected with just before leaving NZ).

Our trip around Martinborough was gorgeous and a lot of fun.  I rented a car drove from Wellington.  I don't think my family was too nervous to drive with me despite being on the left, but neither appreciated the drive through the Rimutaka ranges.  We stayed in an awesome hotel which made it even better.  We did wine tastings, shopped, and had brunch twice at a local cafe (I missed you, eggs benedict).  We also explored the town of Greytown for shopping and their chocolate store.  Before returning the car back to Wellington, we drove down to Cape Palliser, the southernmost point of the North Island.  Gorgeous!

On the way to Martinborough

Cows at Cape Palliser- they are living the life

The Rainforest Journey to Kurmanda

We took a scenic train ride up to a rainforest village called Kurmanda outside of Cairns.  While on the train, we were seated in the same car as a couple from Fitchburg (right outside Madison and within 10 minutes of my hometown of Verona).  We took a cable car back down, and I ended up being pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed that experience as I had never done that before.

The village itself was great; it was a little hippie community full of markets and small shops. It was there that I met one of the bloggers I follow, and it felt a little like meeting a celebrity!  One of the greatest things about my time in Australia and New Zealand was the opportunity I had to have fun and learn from some exceptional people from both countries; it's humbling to realize that there are so many incredible people all around the world.  It's a great feeling to know that I have a few people in both countries I'll stay in touch with and hopefully see again one day.  And the added bonus of meeting an Irish family and an English girl in NZ means I just might get to spend some time in Northern Ireland and England as well!

Before heading back to the city, we stopped at a crocodile farm where I got to see more koalas (okay, obviously secondary but still my favorite part).  Seriously, could baby koalas be any cuter?  I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted to hug an animal more!  The croc farm actually scared me a little bit; those are some enormous and very dangerous animals.  But we attended talks on what to do if you were ever bitten by a poisonous snake or attacked by a crocodile which I found interesting although thankfully not needed.

Cairns

LOVED my time in Cairns (pronounced "Cans").  The Australian accent was occasionally difficult to understand; they're known for being fast talkers and cutting their words short.  For instance, afternoon is often shortened to "arvo" and thank you to "ta."  And the silent "n" snuck in from time to time in words like Cairns.  But I guess we have the silent "h" when pronouncing "herb" so we really can't be too critical.

It was hot here; probably sunny in the 80's.  This was the first time I really felt like I had a summer.  Yes, I'm a bit bitter about having a cold summer in NZ followed by Winter.  It was lovely!

We did two main trips; the first day was exploring Green Island off the coast (in the Coral Sea) and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef!  The reef was awesome but not as beautiful as I expected from seeing photos; I think it just depends where you're at as it stretches almost 1500 miles long.  We saw some "Nemo's," a couple sea turtles (the neatest thing!), and plenty of coral and other tropical fish.  I donned a "sexy" wet suit in order to get some extra protection from the sun or accidently brushing against something I shouldn't in the water.

The view of Cairns from the boat

Sydney

Sydney was okay to visit, but overall, I found it just to be a big city.  Not to say we didn't do some cool stuff!

The view from the Sydney Eye

Family shot outside of the zoo

Koala's are SO COOL.  This little fella was hopping  out of the tree to move to a different one.

A side view of the harbor bridge as we ventured out on a boat for a whale watching trip.  Saw a humpback whale breaching multiple times, but it was too quick to get a picture!

The iconic Sydney Opera House

The Gibby's

"The Dish" outside of Parkes- it was used to capture the footage of the moon landing.  I watched the Aussie movie "The Dish" with Jeanine ironically on the day Neil Armstrong passed.

Feeding cows with Season and her daughter Rhain

The view from the Mt Nangar lookout

My time in Eugorwa wasn't complete without a buggy ride from Colin and Ann around the farm.

Back: Jeanine, me, Britt, Rhain
Front: Colin and Ann

Ian, Season, and me

Lambing in Eugowra

I've finished up three wonderful weeks of travel.  It would have been great to have been able to upload my photos and write about my experiences since I had so much going on, but my internet access was limited.  Now, to look through my photos and re-remember the fun!

I had such a blast at the Gibby's farm in Eugowra.  Their neighbor, Colin, was kind enough to take me to work with him to check on the ewes.  One of my favorite experiences in all my travels!

Look at that happy face!  This is the lamb I pulled.

Oh, to hold a lamb.  This little one was accidently separated and I got to hold it while we reconnected it with the mob (aka flock)