Five Hundred, Twenty Five Thousand, Six Hundred Minutes

How do you measure, measure a year?

This Thursday is my official one year anniversary with New Zealand. What. A. Year. It was approximately TODAY a year ago that I found out I would be coming to New Zealand at all - just until Thanksgiving, maybe Christmas. Well a year later here we are. I have experienced, learned, and grown so much over the last year it's almost hard to put it in to words, but I'm certainly going to try.

First and foremost I learned a lot about myself - I learned who the people are in the world who matter the most to me. I learned what I truly and honestly like to do. I learned what habits were a product of my environment and which were activities I would enjoy doing in one of the furthest places from home. I discovered who I am as an individual and how to stay true to that self.

I learned how to travel. To be honest I'm still working on that one. If you've been reading my blog, you've seen all the missteps I've had on weekend trips here and there. Over the course of this year, I've discovered there's more to traveling than booking transportation and accomodation. It takes an incredible amount of planning, direction, and a willingness to change your mind. My first weekend here I drove to Hokitika to discover that it was a much smaller town than expected, and I basically had a beer in a bar, decided not even to try to see Pancake Rocks or the Hokitika Gorge (which 10 months later would become one of my favorite trips) and without cancelling the accomodation I had booked, turned around and drove back to Christchurch. Throughout this year I've learned the things to look for in a smaller city and how to enjoy the road- even if it's bumpy, and rainy, and probably not the best idea I've ever had.

Traveling in Style

I met Cam. Life has been an amazing adventure ever since. I owe about 90% of my knowledge of New Zealand to this guy. Thank you for teaching me the merits of surfing, lolly mixtures, and salt and vinegar chips.

I gained friends who I will treasure my whole life. Without getting too sappy, the TTNZ community is made up of an incredible group of people, and I am certain those people will be in my life for the long haul.

The Girls of TT New Zealand

I rediscovered the flat white. Plain and simple- New Zealand makes the world's best coffee.

So how do measure, measure a year? According to the cast of Rent - Measure in Love. I can truly say I have loved this year - this opportunity, these friends, each trip and every experience. Work has been hard, and missing friends and family pushed me to tears a couple times - but what a year full of love I have had. I am so grateful for everyone who has been a part of that.

To wrap it up, I've been thinking recently about all the adventures I've had and wanted to do a couple superlatives:

Best weekend trip: Akaroa for the Queen's birthday or Nelson Wine Tasting with my mom
Best day hike: Queenstown Hill
Favorite City in New Zealand: Queenstown
Favorite blue water I've seen - there's a lot here: Lake Pukaki (I'm always driving and have never taken a photo but just look - Thank you Google Images)
Hardest thing I've done: Routeburn in the middle of a blizzard
Craziest thing I've done: Bungy Jumping in Queenstown

And finally, I made a map with all of my trips - red are completed, green are on the calendar to be finished by December, and purple is Christchurch. I've seen a good bit of this country - but honestly, it keeps surprising me.

I wish I could make this more interactive and tie markers to photos/blog post links..
maybe with a little more internet research time :)

Cam and I have been enjoying Christchurch, our friends, and being outside in the spring weather, but the traveling will pick up again in the end of this month. Next stop: Waiheke Island (it's that green marker next to Auckland)!

Staying home's not too bad, when home looks like this.