What a hiatus! It's been about a month since I came away from the Pouakai Circuit and the funny string of dramatic events that it unexpectedly brought. Looking back on that, it feels like that was already a lifetime ago; it happened last year, after all!
Shortly after the Pouakai Circuit at Mt. Taranaki, I flew home to Los Angeles for the holidays, but not before another Christmas rager with just the fellow structural engineers at work. In LA, I kicked back with family and did a whole lot of not-too-much. I watched movies with my sister, ate way too much chocolate, and went on long walks with my parents. That's what the holidays are for! California had just been through its first major rainstorm in nearly a year, finally making the rolling San Gabriel hillsides green and the air crisp, very similar to where I had just flown in from across the Pacific. I found quickly, however, after landing at LAX, that being in New Zealand had conditioned me to smaller crowds. The combination of holiday travelers and LA's enormous density suddenly had be at a chokehold while I followed my father to the car after he'd met me at the airport. There must've been as many people in that airport as there are in the Wellington City area!
At the end of my quick 10-day visit home, my boyfriend reunited with me in LA (look up cute puppy dances when it sees its owner on youtube, and you'll know just how happy I was to be with him again), and we flew together back to Wellington. It's his first time in New Zealand--out of the USA, in fact--and seeing NZ again through a fresh set of eyes makes it all seem like time hasn't been flying by as fast as it has, like it's all new again. Then again, as he meets all the friendly faces that I've come to know in the last three and a half months, it makes me realize again that Wellington is now home far away from home.
It's great that he's here with me now; great to have a constant companion to explore with. We've already planned out most of the big handful of long holiday weekends coming up this (Southern Hemisphere) summer: Cormandel on Waitangi Day and Sydney on Easter Weekend. This last weekend for Wellington Day, we spent two very relaxing and fun days in Martinborough with my favorite German couple, drinking wine and riding bikes through the countryside. And in between all these weekends, we'll be exploring even more of Wellington and its reserves, walkways, and bays. Already, we've been up to see lavender and pick-your-own-vege farms. 
As much as I've enjoyed exploring the City of Wellington and parts of the country on my own, it'll be especially nice to have a partner in crime to share it all with. But I guess I was never quite alone in my explorations. There were always people from work or Linda and Manu, the Germans, to tag along with or have along. That's been the greatest part about being here: that this country has offered, not only spectacular scenery, but the warmth of genuine friendship. Sometimes, it seems strange that I didn't always know these people that I've only just met, but sometimes, you just meet good ones. I just hope that it also blesses me now with more great adventures with Brandon. We've driven through the Pacific Northwest, biked through the Marin Headlands, and have shared a small campervan through desert in August between Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon so far together. Let's see how two years in and out of the New Zealand bush does to us.
I'm looking forward to it!
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