in wellington

new zealand is a marvel.

i have had the opportunity to seen a lot of stunning places in my life {ex. cinque terre - photograph above}, but one of the most beautiful sights i have ever seen was on the flight from auckland to wellington.

nz's beauty is a beauty that kills.

i have never seen anything quite so strange or beautiful. it is incredibly unpredictable and full of surprises. i was fortunate enough to get a window seat and every minute some new and exciting scene would come into view. unlike the intense blues, greens, and golds of the mediterranean, nz's colors are of a much softer quality. the sun hits the water here and everything is washed with this sparkling metallic color. at one point i looked down and to my great surprise there was this massive, picture-perfect volcano in the middle of nowhere! i felt like i was living in a dream.

i unfortunately had my camera up in the overhead bin for most of the trip, so little of this part of the journey was documented. : (

after a long couple days of travel, and four long flights, {plus some trouble in auckland - er. . . missing a flight to welly along with a group of other unfortunate people} i really couldn't be happier to be here. i have had a truly blessed first day and a half in nz and i can only hope the rest of the journey will be this easy.

i had a ride from the airport and i have a place to stay for a while. ken and orla, friends of eva's have been kind enough to put me up for a couple of days. a little after i arrived, i went out to dinner with ken and orla and a big group of their friends from ireland. i had to navigate the bus route on the way back {alone}, because the two of them were on bikes, but thankfully their lovely home in newtown is in the center of town. i honestly don't know how many people are living here at the moment! i've been sleeping on a mattress in the living room and i have two roommates on the couches right beside me.

i feel asleep last night in a matter of minutes and didn't roll out of bed until 8:30 this morning. i had intended to go for a run, but i ended up just walking around town for two hours. there is this big, tree-covered hill overlooking newtown and i decided to climb it this morning. getting to the top was somewhat challenging, but i managed to make it to the top. it was so quiet and peaceful up there {minus the animal sounds coming from the zoo below! *kels, there is a zoo only a two minutes walk from the house!} so i sat on a stump and meditated for a couple minutes. it was too perfect, i only wish i had my camera then too!

i'll post pictures soon! this place is fascinating.

after working everyday, all day for so many months now, today has been so strange and disorienting. not only am i in a an entirely different place but i don't have work to do. i can wake up and decide to do whatever i want whenever i want.

i don't know what to make of all this. . . i still cannot believe i'm here, this far away from everything i know. . .

all the love from wellington!

{i'm off to go find some food and then to take the dogs on a walk in the park}