April 1 - 9 pm

Happy Easter Monday! That's a thing here in New Zealand. Really it's just an excuse to have another day off work, but not such a bad idea. Good Friday too! Listen up USA!
Today was really good. As usual. The weather turned out great. I was able to spend most of the morning at the beach in Orewa. It was fantastic. I actually woke up really early - like 7:30 - and needed to get something from the supermarket for breakfast, so I went out for a walk right about 7:30. It was nice being out before the rest of the town was awake. And the sun coming up over the ocean was amazing. So I hurried back from the store, ate my bran flakes and banana, and got ready to check out and get to the beach! About 9 am I was walking along in the water, looking at the millions of sea shells that had come in with the tide. The water was the most perfect temperature. I found a few really cool shells that I'm bringing home. Figured I had to - it could be the last chance I get to be on a beach in New Zealand! Made the most of it.. Walked the entire length of the beach - about 3km - and then found a grassy hill right by the beach to sit on, and I just sat. For maybe 2 hours. Watching the waves and the people. Best morning.
Stopped in McDonald's for a 60 cent icecream cone when I got a call from Dad. The fam was all together eating Easter supper. Missed that. Gotta talk to Mom, Dad, Conor, Denney, Molly, Dave, and Eveny. Tully was there too I think. Good to hear from everybody. The call cut out unexpectedly though.
I headed to the bus stop. It was supposed to get in at 1:50. I waited until 2:35 when it finally came. So that was a fun little wait. But the bus ride was only an hour, so it wasn't too bad. Got to my hostel okay. Verandah's, on Ponsonby Road. A different part of Auckland I didn't get to see when I was here last week. It's the hip part of town. Winston called to see if I wanted to go tenpin bowling. With his accent, I had the hardest time understanding what he was saying, and finally figured out he was saying "bowling". So I said sure. We picked up Claire and her sister and went to the slummiest bowling alley ever. Quite hilarious. And I was given the bowling nickname "USA" and proudly represented my country with a score of 96. Took the silver medal. Winston took gold. We played pool too. It was all very fun. When they dropped me off I went and got myself another burger from Burgerfuel. Again, it was amazing.
So tomorrow I need to explore this new area of town and then I think I'll be satisfied with my time spent in Auckland, and on the north island. I've done almost everything I wanted to do, and a lot I hadn't planned on doing. Success indeed.

March 31 - 10 pm

In the beginning, I had to keep telling myself - "You are in New Zealand. You're really here." And now I find that I have to tell myself - "You are still in New Zealand, you're Lifelong dream!" So I don't take it for granted; now that I've been here about 2 months I can see how it might start to feel just like normal, everyday, not special.. But I don't want to feel like that, I want to enjoy every day like it's my first day here. That's what a friend from back home told me when I asked him for advice on traveling alone. He said to try and enjoy every minute of everyday, because it will all be over before you know it. And there will probably be days that you wish you were home, you're lonely, stressed, or whatnot, but the best thing you can do is just look at it all as part of the adventure.
So I'm trying.
Today was fine. Finally experiencing the New Zealand "4 seasons in a day". It rained overnight, but woke up to partly sunny skies. Cool, not cold, even hot when the sun came out. But as I was riding the bus to Orewa it started to rain hard. On and off all day long. Got caught in a heavy rain walking around the other side of town. Not too good. But then there was a rainbow and it was lovely.
The place I'm staying tonight is more like a family lodge. Seems like most guests live here actually. And I'm just in an 8 bed dorm room all by myself. Again! Crazy! Orewa is a great town though. Too bad the weather was wacky today. There's a nice beach right across the street. Lots of little cafes. A gypsy market on the waterfront. I bought some earrings made from buffalo horn, so I'm hoping they won't bother my ears like every kind of metal seems to.
Didn't really feel like Easter today. Couldn't make it to church. No Easter basket, no dying Easter eggs or having an Easter egg hunt. No family dinner. Weird. Sad. But I'm here in New Zealand enjoying every second of every minute of every day. That's right.