So long Auckland!

I haven't traveled much recently - just a few trips out of town for some beach time,

First totally sunny Spring day, and a return trip to Tawharanui.

 and Rotorua to watch Rhiannon best her workmates in a mud run.

So chipper, must have been all that victory coursing through her veins...

Have no fears, for I'm about to travel a lot. For those of you who don't know, Rhiannon and I are moving to Toronto! We arrive in the chilly North in the third week of November, and my contract in Auckland just ended. So that means, yes, I need to fill 6 weeks of unemployment. Fill with what you ask?

So. much. traveling.

What better way to end a New Zealand travel blog than to adopt a truly Kiwi mentality and live out of a backpack in various countries for almost 5 weeks? Oh, and write about it. Granted, I won't always have time to meticulously update this blog, so I'll likely take a backlog approach and do the best I can when I have the time to do it.

But that's not why I'm writing this post. Think of this as a personal ode to Auckland, its many positive aspects (which I've written about extensively in the past), and the people who have made this short 14+ months I've spent in New Zealand pleasantly and wholly memorable.

"Life is a series of meetings and partings. That is the way of it." That's from Bob Cratchit a.k.a. Kermit the Frog in the 1992 classic The Muppet Christmas Carol. The context in the movie is that the ghost of future Christmas is portending the Cratchit family after Tiny Tim dies. So it's not totally relevant here, but this quote always comes to mind when friends are leaving. Making companions all around the world is undoubtedly fun and interesting and experiential. But it can be sad and overwhelming and sometimes frustrating when people come into and exit your life with such mercurial frequency. I think this is particularly evident in Auckland, where the import/export of short term international visitors is so high and flats are in a constant state of flux.

A throwback picture to late May - a hike in Piha that half of us almost didn't return from. Great terrifying memories and great picture!

The past two weeks have been a kind of celebration of the people I've met in Auckland. Especially since it was my last week of work, and especially since it was my birthday, and especially since it was the last week at my flat.

Birthday lunch with lab-mates at an appropriately Canadian themed deli. Also Dr. Beier in graduation garb.

Also an appropriately Canadian-ish birthday gift from the lab. Ready for Toronto winter!

To celebrate our friends and to say good-bye, Rhiannon and I hosted a leaving party. It consisted of drinking and eating, late night dancing to 'club bangers', and a 'dress as a famous person or character' theme. There were some excellent outfits:

Imperator Furiosa and Pablo Escobar - maybe not the most obvious costumes but still really fun.

Cool historical photo - the only time a Colombian drug lord and Jesus were pictured together. Also pictured:  Amy Winehouse, Mexican wrestler, every ABBA member morphed into one, and I think Waldo is somewhere in there but I can't find him.

Furiosa also made a delicious over the top chocolate and M&M birthday cake for me. Definitely elicited a lot of childhood nostalgia.

For the last week I've been bumming around Auckland, selling or donating most of my belongings and slowly morphing into the nearly material-less nomad that travelling requires. And while shedding things can be trying (think how long it takes you to pick out socks just to throw them away), it's the goodbyes and 'I don't know if I'll ever see this person again' moments that are most difficult. I'll miss Auckland:  the little cafes and bars tucked into odd places, the international and cosmopolitan feeling (though mostly it's a patchwork of conglomerated suburbs), green spaces necessitated by the abundant volcanic outcroppings, the proximity to beaches and beautiful landscapes. But of course what I'll miss most are my lab-mates, my flatmates, my soccer teammates, and the variety of other mates I've picked up along the way.

Cheers!

Bonus:  Bumming around Auckland means walking through parks, drinking coffee, and taking pictures of water fowl.

A pretty intimidating path to ascend.