What a Wonderful World

"I see trees of green, red roses too"

New Zealand undoubtedly lived up to every postcard or brochure I've seen. I've seen sunsets and sunrises on beaches. I have drunken from glaciers, skipped rocks on still lakes, swam with wild dolphins, and tread mountains of waterfalls. I've seen mossy forests blurr by. Green mountains sprout directly out of the fjord. Ferns line gentle rivers.

I have seen true beauty.

"Skies of blue, clouds of white"

The clouds are so close here you could stand on a ladder and lick them. The sky is more open. No mountains block the view of sunrises in the East. They move fast, like white stags racing. They're indecicive. They don't form into shapes. Sunrises and sunsets cause the clouds to spread a pastel hue through the expanse of sky.

"Brightness of day and the dark, sacred night"

When the brisk air whisks down your nose you know that it's going to be a good day. You can tell when you look out the window and see blue sky beckoning you. You know it when the cabbage trees stick out like pompoms and the warmth from the sun somehow makes the grass a little greener. But once the sun goes down it's a different world. I had never seen the color silver in the wild before-out of it's metallic state-but I saw it in New Zealand during a midnight stroll down the beach.

With a full moon.

The silver shimmers on the wave as it curls but is up-staged by the crashing white foam.

"I see friends shaking hands saying, "How do you do?" They're really saying, "I love you."

By far the best thing in New Zealand has been the 33 other students who ride red bikes and wear green helmets. We are one. We take over bike racks, round-abouts, libraries, and occasionally small villages. There is never an excuse to be alone on a Friday...or a Tuesday or Sunday for that matter. I have met so many amazing people here. I've met locals and I see them when I head over to Yaks and Yetis. I've changed lives and they've changed mine. I love them.

I'm leaving in approximately twelve hours to hop on a plane and go to Australia and Fiji. Time flies. I'll blog more in a few weeks. Oh the suspense!