My first adventure!

Salud,

It’s 7am and I’m sitting on a bus to go to the airport for an adventure on the South island with my mates Kevin and Sunil;) I’m flying into Christchurch and picking up a campervan and then I’ll be off to Nelson to pick up Kevin and Sunil. I don’t really know what to expect other than that it should be fun. In case you didn’t know, Kevin is an old friend that is traveling the world and writing a book about his adventures. The book is titled ‘Blindly Going Who Knows Where’ and as you might have surmised it’s called that because he’s blind. Not completely blind mind you, but legally blind and as you can imagine it is no easy feat to jaunt around the world when you can’t see.  Have a look at his site, I think you’ll be impressed.

http://www.blindlygoing.com

I’ll be traveling for the next week or so and have a few things I’d like to do, but if anyone has any ideas on fun things I should do or places to go, please leave a comment with your idea;)

As for the last couple of days, it has been super busy. On Tuesday I attended my first official luncheon with my club, the Rotary club of Newmarket. I wasn’t sure at first how I was going to get there, but my host ‘mum’ Trish organized a ride for me with Martin, another club member. The luncheon was a very fun event and I got to see just how active and dynamic the club is. During it, I sat and spoke with quite a few members that were all very pleasant as we listened to the guest speaker talk about the medical equipment that his company researches, designs, and sells on a global scale.  

At the last bit, my counselor Bill also let me know about a dinner he organized for me with his family and Jeff’s family on Wednesday night. In case you didn’t know, Bill and Jeff are my co-hosts. Yes, I’m so popular that I have two host families!  In attendance were Bill, Trish, their daughter Bridgette and Jeff, Val, and their daughter Phoebe. The dinner was absolutely fabulous. I think my favorite part was getting to spend time with everyone in a more relaxed and casual environment. The wine was great, the food was spectacular, but most important, the conversations and warmth from everyone was very comforting as I’m adjusting to my new home. Especially my host mum Trish, who is always giving me bits of motherly advice which I joke about, but that I still deeply appreciate.

So it was a very pleasant evening and got better as the night progressed. Indeed, I got some good news after the meal from the airline. My bags have been located!!! I had almost given up hope. They’ll be delivered next week after I return from my southern adventureJ I’m quite excited because I’ll finally be able to settle in with some of the creature comforts that I had packed for myself.

Anyway, the bus is at the airport now. So I better get inside and catch my flight. Please don’t forget to leave your ideas for what I should do on my first Kiwi adventure!