New Zealand Finale

It's not goodbye, just see you later

After an amazing 6 months, my time in New Zealand was finally coming to a close. In the final week before leaving, I studied like a madwoman for my final, but made time for some closing experiences. A big group of us ate a fancy dinner at the top of the Sky Tower which was quite nice as it's a rotating restaurant that gives 360 degree views of the city lit up at night. 

Roommates

 

I also did a last daytrip out to the Waitomo caves region with my roommates where we did a really nice bushwalk through some karst caves and drove a little ways to see Marokopa Falls. It was a little farther than we realized, and I think we might not have driven that out of the way to see the waterfall if we had known, but it was an impressive sight and we reached it just at dusk.

Waitomo Walk

Me and Nikki being silly

Marokopa Falls

 The drive home was dark and a little windy at parts, but it was the last time I was driving in New Zealand on the left side of the road so I enjoyed it as much as I could. I did a lot of eating in this last stretch of time. We frequented Burgerfuel several times which has very delicious burgers and fries (I'm sorry, I mean chips!). 

The morning of July 1st, I woke up, reviewed one last time for my final and headed off to campus to finish the semester. You know that feeling when you've studied and then it pays off tremendously when you just know that you have nailed an exam? That was the best way I could possibly hope to finish and that was the way it went. When I got back to the apartment I hugged everyone and danced around for a good half hour before I was able to calm down. It may have  had something to do with the lack of sleep but whatever the reason, I was so happy in that moment. I was able to really enjoy my last night in New Zealand. One of our friend's Liz was booked to do stand up at the Comedy Classic comedy club and we all turned out to support her and have a great last night together. So many laughs and warm feelings. 

It was pretty hard to digest that we were leaving, heck, I had hardly digested the fact that we were there at all, the entire experience felt so incredibly surreal. The following day I finished packing, tidied up the apartment and headed to the airport for the long journey home. Goodbye for now New Zealand.

 And maybe (ok, probably) it's the nostalgia talking, or the fact that I am writing this after being away from New Zealand for a little while, but I look back at my time there and I feel such a mix of emotions as I think of all the incredible experiences that I got to have, the beautiful people I got to meet and the unique friendships I got to forge. Whether it was playing music with Aurora from Spain, hanging out with Ruby over Easter, traversing mountains in the South Island, learning to drive on the other side of the road, the many daytrips I took or just hanging out in the apartment and enjoying some quality table time with my friends, I had such a beautiful experience in New Zealand and it will always hold a very special place in my heart. I know for sure that I will be back, so until that time comes, all I can say is thank you for everything New Zealand, and I look forward to our reunion.

Malani