-RANDOM Things-
Rakau o te ora
11/01/16
You might wonder why this sentence is the big headliner of my blog. Well, let me explain myself a little bit more. New Zealand wouldn't be New Zealand without the Maori culture, and when I first got here, people were trying to teach me some Maori words. I thought the language was beautiful, although I couldn't pronounce it correctly because of my French 'R' accent. After visiting the Waitangi treaty grounds (the place where New Zealands nation was created) my intrest in this culture couldn't stop growing. I was already so impressed.
After a while I was searching for a passionate and strong name to give to this website. Thinking further on the word 'strong' brought me to the Kauri trees. These are the most impressive and oldest trees I've ever seen in my life, NZ people are very proud of them! I see them as a symbol for why I'm in NZ right now. I wanted to become a stronger person, sort out what I had to sort out, build up new energy and be independent. It happens to be that those things are exactly how I would describe a Kauri tree.
Referring to this amazing trip of a lifetime I'm taking, and these impressive trees I'm totally in love with, I wanted to call my blog : 'Tree of life.' And that's what I did, only I translated it to Maori.
I ACHIEVED
I LEARNED
I WILL MISS
-Deciding to take a gap year for myself
-Flying to the other side of the world
-Seeing wild whales
-Climbing Mount Doom from L.O.T.R
-Seeing Wild Penguins
-To do multiple day hikes
-Learning how to cook healthy
-Watching the first sunrise of the New year
-Celebrating Christmas on the beach
-Did 3 of the 9 great walks in NZ
-Watched my first rugby game live
-Bought my first car
-Payed my first taxes
-Payed my first rent
-Got my nose pierced
-Got a tattoo
-Did a full barista training
-Stayed in a real old school hippie community
-saw two oceans collide
-Got hot tub drunk for 1st time
-Had my first roast dinner
-Went sandboarding
-Met people from all over the world
-Worked in a fine dine restaurant
-Learned how to make cocktails
-Arranged my studies through internet
-Been able to hold a journal everyday
-Found my passions back
-Managed to keep a travel blog
-Travelled in every type of way
-Lived in another country
-Climbed way too many steep mountains
-Worked in a strip club for a night (in the bar)
-Walked on the edge of a volcano
-Went to my first rave
-Worked on a local festival
-Made kababs for one day
-Sat in a natural geothermal hot pool
-Saw a real haka
-Touched a 10000-year-old Kaori tree
-visited The Lord of the Rings set (hobiton)
-Walking on a slag line
-Being 1 meter away from wild baby seals
-Had albatrosses flying above my head
-taking my first stargazing picture
-Cruising between real fiords
-Seeing wild dolphins
-walking up to 750 m from a real glacier
-To live in the present moment
-That I have a passion for healthy food
-Gardening and weeding is meditative
-Europe has extraordinary buildings
-Life is about balance
-How to make coffees
-That I used to not sleep enough
-That I’m lucky the way I got raised
-How to spent money wisely
-That America has a lot of food to discover!
-How mind and body rely on each other
-That you don’t need a lot in life to be happy
-Materialism means nothings
-A lot of houses are extremely bad insolated
-Asian culture doesn’t seem to have a lot of respect
-Being a chef is a stressful job
-Peanut butter is great!
-How to peal beans
-Sleeping in hostels is really tiring
-Books can really inspire
-that the key is to be happy anywhere
-to trust on my instincts
-Every bus contains the same personalities of people
-Kiwi people are hard to understand on the phone
-Water tastes a lot different on the other side of the world
-People leave nasty shit in hotel rooms
-Germans have crazy drinking games
-Life is expensive
-The education system back home is amazing
-Helpx is a beautiful system that should be used more
-That hoola hooping is amazing
-Sandflies are the worst
-basic rugby rules
-Doctors are expensive in NZ
-about the Maori culture and history
-Kia birds are the funniest birds ever
-how to play chess
-The relaxed kiwi lifestyle
-Not worrying about anything
-Driving in the middle of nowhere for hours
-All the sheep fields
-The stunning hikes all around
-Curly fries and aioli
-The kiwi hospitality
-Hidden waterfalls
-Living in a car
-Hopping from café to café to stay warm during winter nights
-Walking to work with a view on the snowy mountains
-The Pack’n Safe warehouse
-Hearing stories from other travelers
-the house sharing with Max, Jake and Maddie
-How clear the water in lakes still is
-The untouched nature
-Tim Tam cookies
-New Zealand news
-The clear skies at night
-Being able to see the milkyway
-Camping in the middle of nowhere
-Waking up at 4 together to do a big hike
-Going to sleep when the sun goes down
-Taking random naps on the beach
-Living life without being in a hurry
-Not knowing what my plans are
-Having conversations with everyone you pass
-Wheetbix in the morning
-Hitchhiking with Max
-The proud feeling after you finish big hike
-Speaking English all the time
-playing the ukulele together with hostel people
-playing card games with everyone
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