Exit NZ, Enter USA

Sadly, the day had to come when Bec and I had to leave NZ. It all came very fast, as is always the way. On our last day in Kerikeri, Bec's uncle took us to to a Kauri forest - these trees are massive!! They were cut down quite a bit when people first began to populate the islands, and it's the tree that is used to make a waka (Mauri canoe) because of the size and how long the wood lasts. But it is illegal to cut them down anymore because there are so few left. It takes 500 years for them to mature, so we want to conserve what we have!


This is a younger tree, and is about half the size of the one they used to make the waka in the picture in my last post.



Wednesday afternoon we drove back down to Aukland to visit another friend of Bec's - Sarah. We stayed with her family who owns and runs homestays, which is kind of like a hostel, but is run more like a home. Everyone has chores, there are house parents, that sort of thing. Anyway, lots of drama trying to get Bec's passport back from the consolate. They mailed it, of course, but every time they delivered it to the address in Aukland (Sarah's place), it was turned away. We ended up having to walk to the Courier place to get it, which was an hour and a quarter's walk - a little longer than we had anticipated. Later on Bec and I took another walk (in the rain...) to the supermarket so I could pick up something a friend had requested - food you can only get down under. :) We watched lots of movies and enjoyed our last day in New Zealand. On Friday morning before leaving, Sarah straightened Bec's hair for easier handling while traveling. Cute, eh?



Then her friend drove us to the airport. He actually started driving off before we were in the car! But we all made it safely. Everything seems to go awry somehow when Bec and I are doing things together... Anyway, after airport fun, we finally were on our way. We had a stopover in Tahiti again, but unfortunately it was too short and too late in the evening to enjoy the island. We left NZ on Friday afternoon, and arrived in Los Angeles on Friday morning. :) After waiting an hour and a half at the LAX airport, we finally got our shuttle to the hostel where we spent most of the time sitting by the pool, trying to relieve our swollen feet and ankles. We did enjoy a walk around the neighborhood, but we were both quite exhausted. Even though it was the 4th of July, we went to bed around 9:00. We had to be up really early for our early flights Saturday morning. At around 5:30am, Bec and I said our farewells. (I miss her already...) She went on to Chicago, and I am in here NYC with my big brother, Karl.

Like the good big brother he is, he had already planned a dinner to make when we got home. He made a great chicken pasta, and he even bought a bottle of red wine for dinner. We sat on his porch, which actually has a pretty cool view. Out the back of his building there's an old garden that noone has done anything with, so there's a huge tree and bush and overgrown land, so although I knew I was in a huge crowded city, it felt nice to at least look at something other than skyscrapers. But then I saw a giant centipede, and since we were finished eating anyway, we went directly inside. I slept for about 11 hours that night...

Around noon or 12:30 we left Brooklyn for our day. We went first to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I went there with him last time I was here, and I wanted to go again to see what I missed, and see some other things I really liked. Salvador Dali, Jackson Poloc, and my favorite room, the East Asian art. Last time I was there I didn't have a camera. This time I only had my cell phone, so I'll have to figure a way to get those photos onto my computer. So far out the sculptures. Anyway, afterwards we went back to Union Square for dinner at Chipotle's (the best burritos ever), a visit to Strand bookstore (bought a couple books, couldn't help myself), and a movie. We saw Wall-E, which, despite the poor previews, was actually really good. I'd recommend it.

Anyway, it's good to be hanging out with the brother. We'll do some other things tomorrow - the Museum of Natural History, I think we're going to go to the city farmer's market, and of course, the post office. Ha. :) Anyway, this is me talking about me. So write to me and tell me about you! Cheers!