25.02.15

The sun roared today and it felt like the quintessential Kiwi Summer had decided to honour my arrival. I could not be more pleased. It was a day of sand, salt, and sweat. Nothing better than that!

Cicadas created the best soundtrack for reading a good old Agatha Christie (I picked the murderer!) and puzzle-making. What a perfect day.

24.02.15

"We're all going on a Summer holidayyy!" This was Mum's chorus as we drove up to Woolley's Bay for a week of quality sunshine. It didn't matter that the clouds threatened to pour. We were not deterred.

It felt so good to pile into Dad's work wagon and drive for hours. It has been the starting routine of many happy memories which flooded my brain as we wound over the Brenderwyns.

Now all we need is the Sun to come out!

23.02.15

Tonight we had a bit of a family sing along and it was a beautiful thing. Dan and I played our guitars and sang our way through my worship folder. I tried to keep up but I think some more practice is in order.

It was great to do that again, even if Mum and Dad were trying to film us secretly. Worst!

Spot in the sun.

22.02.15

I made it home!

The lovely Lucy came to get me from the airport and I'm afraid I didn't make good company on the car ride home or at her flat because I was in a traveller's daze.

We were waiting for the opportune time to go and surprise Mum and Dad at home. We decided to forego the plan because there were too many variables and just knock on the door. Mum answered with a stunned expression and then Dad came down the stairs.

It was a surprise, but they had their suspicions, particularly when my friend (Janet!) wrote it on Facebook. Aigoo. It was still such a lovely reunification.

Mum had planned a surprise for me. She wanted to fill my room with balloons and had organized my friends to help blow them up. We kept up that guise and I managed to jump out of the balloons for each of them. It was even more fun that way!

21.02.15

I can't describe my emotional state. I guess I'm a bit numb. I can't allow myself to feel too much because it's all too confusing. I'm definitely sad to be leaving this city with all its beautiful people, but then I've got equally beautiful friends and family waiting at home. It's just too much to contain in one head and heart.

I started this day with two of my faves at the best brunch spot in town, spent some of it in Tokyo, and then finished up the last hours in the air. It's very surreal to me right now.

Homeward bound!

20.02.15

I have the best friends in the world. I don't know how I find them.

Keke and Mariyah came over this afternoon and the deal was just that they'd have a look through my stuff and decide what they'd like for their new apartment. In the end they stayed for hours and helped me pack and clean before dragging all my stuff to the boy's new flat.

Dan joined us and we ordered dinner and just talked late into the night about all manner of things while giving each other massages. It was such quality time and the perfect last night.

These people make it hard to leave them behind.

Also it's difficult to leave this one.

19.02.15

I got far too much sun today, and it takes a lot for me to say that! There's nothing better than laying on the sand, roasting yourself and then running into the ocean to cool down. Repeat again and again, and you have my favourite kind of day.

This one had some paddle boarding chucked in and a mango shake for good measure.

What a great way to spend the last day on a tropical island.

One more thing, though. I never want to forget my last meal. Emily and I were looking for a quick meal to grab before we split. We decided on Mexican and boy, did we get it right! I had a Mexican fish salad called Ceviche and I swear, if I could eat it for the rest of my life, I would. It was the freshest, most delicious thing in the world.

Perhaps it tasted better because we ate it out of tinfoil packets in a far corner of McDonalds, hiding from the waiters there.

18.02.15

We decided to go on a romantic sunset sail for our last night on Boracay. We had visions of coasting towards the sun, laying back and soaking up the last rays. It was to be absolute bliss.

Things didn't exactly go as planned, but it turned out to be the most hilarious 30 mins I've experienced in a while.

It started out with us nearly tipping the boat over because all of the heaviest among us sat on one side. The boat had a very thin part in the middle with the sails and the steering man, and then two wings with floater things that sat on the water. We perched in nets on the wings. The floater on one side was way up in the air and the other was submerged a decent amount.

After we sorted out the weight disparity, we were off. On my side we were having a good old yarn, commenting on the beautiful sun, when we picked up some speed and heard shrieks coming from the other wing. We looked across and saw that they'd been absolutely soaked because their wing kept dipping under the waves, causing them to be splashed mercilessly.

Not so peaceful after all! We laughed our heads off, especially on my side of the boat. That is, until we turned around and now the wind was coming from the other direction. It was our turn.

In a bid to save my phone, I sacrificed a shoe as I let go of it to pass my phone to the other side. I let go just as we smacked into the water and it carried it away. RIP.

I didn't mind though because I was laughing too hard.

17.02.15

Tonight we went for an almost-midnight swim. I couldn't believe we were all alone in the ocean on an island of thousands of tourists. It was absolutely beautiful.

We could still see our toes, and of course the thought of phosphorescence did cross my mind when contemplating the swim, but I didn't dare dwell on it. That would be too much to ask.

However, I did run my fingers through the water to test it out and to my absolute delight, I saw sparks fly off them. Out a little further it glowed even brighter and we danced with the sea fairies for ages before realising it was time to awaken from the dream and go find our beds.

16.02.15

I felt kind of like Chuck Noland as I floated out to sea on my little paddleboard raft, except I had no Wilson and it certainly wasn't a deserted island behind me. Still, it felt so peaceful to just lay there and drift. Whenever I got bored I just stood up and paddled back to my friends.

I felt like quite the professional, but I probably looked anything but. Whenever a boat went by, it created little ripples that felt like giant waves underneath my flimsy board. I didn't fall off though! Quite proud of that.

15.02.15

It really hit me today that we were on a tropical island when a man in a handmade canoe paddled up to us while we were snorkelling and offered us fresh coconuts.

We sat on our colourful little boat and sipped coconut water while taking a break from oogling at the amazing fish beneath us.

Everyone kept saying they saw Nemo but I never found him.