NZ post #2

What an incredible trip! It's somehow come and gone already (I knew it would go quickly) and we're on our way home. The overview is this: the basketball was SUPER fun - with just eight of us we got lots of time on the floor, and because we were stronger than the competition we were able to run hard and (more or less) do what we wanted on offence and on D. Unfortunately there were only four teams in our pool and we were the one and only team registered in the premier division for our 30+ age group. This means that even though we were guaranteed a medal we feel that we earned it, winning all six of our games without much challenge. We also hit the town on multiple occasions, went shopping in various locales, and saw quite a bit of the Auckland area. I won't do the day-by-day sum-up but instead mention a few highlights:

Opening ceremonies
With a Canadian flag hanging out of the window we garnered lots of attention, and whilst stuck in traffic on our way to the ceremonies the co-pilot handed out pins - which earned us a complimentary parking spot just around the corner from the event. There was music, dancing and fireworks, and all of the athletes (I think there are 27,000+ from over 100 countries) paraded on the field on the way out at the end of the show.

Eating
We had some great meals at home (tacos, burgers, pasta, crepes, and more) and out on the town. Posonby was a favourite neighborhood that we discovered far too late in the trip, and we had a great meal at an open and happening cafe/resto. And if you know me you know I love visiting grocery stores in foreign countries - I like seeing what's on offer, even if the store itself (Pak'n'Save) isn't anything to write home about. Both out and in, the food was significantly more expensive than at home, and most of our cash definitely went to nosh.

Bridal Veil Falls and Ngarunui Beach

We made the longer than expected drive south to the beach / surf town of Raglan, and stopped at Bridal Veil Falls on our way. Getting to the falls involved a short 10 minute walk to the top, and another 20 minutes to the bottom, with a mid-falls lookout point along the way. It was nice to be in the middle of the woods, even with other people; it wasn't commercialized at all, so that was refreshing too. After a quick van-side lunch, we continued on to the massive beach at Ngarunui, just outside of Raglan. The beaches were a big highlight for most of us, many of which were massive - long and wide and never overpopulated.

Ngarunui beach

halfway point at Bridal Veil Falls

Mannequin Challenges

I need to find a few of these videos - there were three (or four?) in total I think, one of which we did at halftime of game three, with refs and the people working the table involved too. So fun!

Devonport

This lovely little town just north of Auckland was worth the stop. After lunch and a wander about the town, we drove to the top of Mount Victoria and enjoyed beautiful views of the city. We also found a bunch of little mushrooms - and played Never Have I Ever to switch and find a new mushroom; maybe the photo will explain? Super fun.

Seeing friends!

I was SO happy to be able to get together with friends that I hadn't seen for 10 years plus: Jen and Rowan and Kristin and Terry. We met Jen and Rowan in Romania where we met in the grocery store while looking for chocolate milk. We became good friends there and it was great to reminisce (mostly about life in Romania and the parties we had at their place) and catch up on the last 10 years. Hopefully we can all get back to NZ to visit them in Kati Kati, as it sounds like they have a beautiful place there. And KK! Kristin and I played basketball together at Gonzaga, and hadn't seen each other in at least 12 years. We were good friends there, and it feels like we picked up right where we left off. We also talked about our time at GU, and then caught up on life since uni as we haven't talked too much since the early 2000s, when teammates' weddings brought us all together. They're another reason we'll have to go back down under and visit!

with the one and only KK!

And did I mention the basketball? I feel like I'm hooked on the game now - I want to keep working out, play more, and make this master's tournament a regular every-four-years thing. During our last game one of the women playing for the other team came over and asked if anyone was keen to switch jerseys for the last quarter (we were winning by 30+ at this point) and so we swapped numbers and I played for the other team for the last 10 minutes. I was happy to run the whole time AND give a few teammates more of a run for their money under the hoop, and we all laughed as we jostled for rebounds and positioning down low. After that last game the green team came out with Tim Tams and we ate cookies at centre court before calling it a day. (There are lots of game shots but I don't have any yet - so you can watch me make a left-handed layup if you want...)

Lastly, it was incredible to spend time doing my own thing, and to occupy the one most essential role in my life - mine, and being me. Me first, and mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend next; often this is hard to do, but coming back home to my amazing life and the amalgamation of all roles I am lucky enough to fulfill, I feel refreshed, happy, and grateful beyond words.