New Zealand birthday

Let me first say this: how the hell did I get to be 19?!? It's all downhill from here. No longer looking forward to getting older. I fear 18 was the last birthday I actually looked forward to. And as I always used to tell melanie and fanny-"I do not have time!" In any case, my first day of being 19 was pretty beast. Certainly wasn't Fiji, but I think it worked out how it was supposed to as I was able to have some serious one-on-one time with New Zealand, who's been my home for the past 4 months. The day started off pretty lame. It was storming and I had to go out and feed the chickens, then do my usual cleaning chores which today included cleaning the bathroom. Once I finished with all of that I curled up on the couch with some tea and watched the rain and felt a slight bit of pity for myself-being all alone on my birthday. The pity quickly ended once I realized that this was the scenario I'd been wishing for the entire time i'd been traveling-to be able to curl up in a warm home by myself and listen to the rain. Then I enjoyed it! When the rain came to an end, I took my chance and hiked up to the top of mt. Manganui, waiheke's highest point. Unfortunately I didn't know the best way up, so I ended up climbing through the bush. Some parts were so steep I was crawling, other times the bush was so thick I'd have to squeeze myself between branches. It was an interesting journey, but not altogether pleasant, especially since everything was still wet and muddy from the rain. You know what I'm goin to say right? "but boy, was it worth it!" I've shed a lot of tears in NZ, but most often because a sight takes hold of my gut and I have no way of expressing my awe in any way other than through my eyes. This was no exception. I could see everything-the entire island, other islands like rangitoto, the mainland and Auckland city, oceans, boats, trees, mountains... I just sat for a long while. Let the clouds pass through me as though I was air, let the wind hit my face and rustle my hair. I felt home again, on top of waiheke island. Perhaps the best part was the rainbow across the way that seemed to stretch from space to the sea! It was massive. I've seen heaps of rainbows in my 19 years, but this was by far the most spectacular. I finally went back to the house and made dinner for the boys who arrived home with presents! Rachel and Gabe gave me a box of delicious praline chocolates and my very own bottle of Pinot noir from Marlborough. After dinner there was even cake, nothing special-just supermarket cake, but it was delicious. And the boys sang me happy birthday before eagerly and ferociously blowing out the candles (read: spitting on the cake) hah. After cleaning up and watching the girl with the dragon tattoo with Gabe, I had a bit of time to reflect. And in that time I felt nothing but appreciation and excitement for what this year might hold. The only sad part is I won't be in NZ for much of it, which is now a thought that actually makes me sweat. I spent many days looking forward to arriving home, but now that it's in just a couple days I feel nothing but anxiety. I'm sure by the time I'm actually on the plane, that'll go away. Yet still, I can't help but feel a little trapped about coming home since once I'm back I'll only have a little over a month before school starts, which, I'm sorry to say, I am not looking forward to one bit. But I Spose it all comes down to just me not wanting to go back to real life. NZ has been a dream, and with the success of my birthday, it only makes it harder to leave. All this for now. Until Friday, my love is sent. See you all soon!