Fritha treated us like queens and it was nice to be with family once again. It's been quite a trip for that. Rowan was large and in charge, as Gwill had promised, and I treasured those moments with him. He is wise and excitable and musical and thoughtful.
We organized a two day tramp through the ethereal Whirinaki forest. This involved driving several hours to the national park and then having a guy drive us to the start of the trail and bringing our car to meet us at the end. Sort of complicated but well worth it. There was a bit of a late start and much of our tramp to the bunk house was in the dusk and darkness. While moderately frightening, this allowed for a peaceful moonlit time in the woods and the sighting of a rare owl. Arriving at the hut we found a group of hunters having a blokely time. They were alarmed by our homemade sushi dinner and tried to get all of us to eat venison. As I lay on my bunk trying to turn the snores from below into soothing lullabies, Maggie and Stacey (Fritha's sister and her husband) arrived! They had left well after dark and clung to the narrow path walls the whole three hours. We had been sure they wouldn't arrive at all as they had just flown in from Chile and had to make quite a journey to meet us. Incredible to see them again! The next day we all high tailed it to the end of the trail to meet our pick up.
Jessica and I had a day of rest back at gorgeous Tauroa farm in Fritha's precious cottage then headed back to Wellington to catch our flight back to the states. On the way I got a speeding ticket. Bollocks.
It is surreal to be back in America. I am living in Winter Harbor and commuting an hour to Bar Harbor most days. Forgetting what it means to sleep quickly... It's good to be near family but hard to be away from my favourite hemisphere. Counting down the days until November 23rd.
All photos from this trip should be up so until next departure, be well and happy!