On March 4 I drove to Cleveland airport, left my car in long-term parking, and boarded the first of three flights that would eventually take me to Wellington, New Zealand. The first flight, Cleveland to San Francisco, was just over 5 hours long. I then had a twelve hour layover in San Francisco (one of my original flights had been cancelled) before taking the 14-hour flight between SF and Auckland, New Zealand. I amazed myself by sleeping about 10 hours of that flight (I give a lot of credit to both the agonizingly long wait in SF and this light blocking sleep mask). In Auckland, the very long customs and border control lines caused me to miss my flight to Wellington, but I was able to be booked onto another flight only two hours later.
Wellington is the southern-most city on the north island of New Zealand. Chris and I spent half of my two weeks on the western coast of the north island, within commuting distance of Wellington. Chris had rented a snug, lovely Airbnb apartment that not only was right across the street from beach access, but came with its own visiting cat, Milo.
We spent our days walking the beach, exploring the area, and asking ourselves the question, “Is this where we want to live the next chapter of our lives?” We spent a day on a terrifying hike (now I know that when the brief states, “This hike is not for those with vertigo” I should also bow out gracefully). We met with builders. I walked down to the beach to bird watch.
The areas surrounding Wellington reminded me so much of Northern California, both the landscape and the vibe. At one point in my life I lived in Fresno, California with Sam’s dad and we would often drive to the coast to visit my in-laws in the Monterey area for the weekend. Driving around New Zealand that first week, if someone had told me this was that part of California and I didn’t know any better, I would have believed them.
Tomorrow I will post about the second half of my adventure!
Love,
Michelle xoxo