A piece of paradise

Hello there! Let me begin my saying that we have experienced something yesterday that reaffirmed for us the reason we chose to spend so much time in New Zealand. These past couple of days we have been in Auckland, which is NZ's largest city, and who would have thought it is very much just a city. I suppose we expected everything in NZ to be green, pristine, "New Zealand-esque", but Auckland is a city like any other; however, unfortunately for Auckland, it lacks personality. You know how other big cities may be large and in charge, but they have something special, a feeling you have when you are there, a memory, or just some idea in your mind of what it should be(and hold to it), but Auckland, just a city, not one that will instill a special memory other than being the beginning of my journey. Needless to say, the three of us were disheartened. Thoughts of doubts crept up and we began to wonder if this was such a good idea after all. Then, all of a sudden, like an unexpected gift, we boarded a ferry to Waihike Island, about 40 minutes from Auckland. We found paradise(and nudists...). Seriously though, it was a breathtaking day, more and more, as the day went on, more beauty everywhere we turned. That island is what New Zealand is. It's white beaches, ice-blue clear water, views as far as the eye can see, enormous rolling green hills filled with vineyards, cows, horses, and of course sheep! Every person we ran into smiled and made conversation with us. We were so fortunate to meet a tour guide at the ferry harbor who was as local as a local can be. Without him, we wouldn't have seen the Waihike that the locals love. He was exactly what I thought a Kiwi would be like in my mind. He was excited, happy, funny, full of life, and has been to GAINESVILLE, GA. When he found out we were from GA, he immediately loved us. Apparently, his son is a world renowned kayaker, and had a competition in Gainesville, GA a few years ago. Apparently he is #7 in the world and will be competing in the next summer olympics in Beijing! Anyways, he took us to this vineyard that makes the most expensive wine in all of NZ. We didn't taste that one because it was $30 for a glass, but we did taste their other wines and they were quite good. Be sure to look for Fallen Angel Sauvignon Blanc, it was absolutely wonderful! Anyways, we are now thinking about spending the next few weeks visiting the rest of NZ then coming back up here to live in Paradise. It is one of the top 5 beaches in all of NZ, and that's saying something seeing that NZ is completely coastal! Anyways, I'll update you all more later, and I hope you are all doing well! I will soon have a phone number and receive incoming calls free, so you have to call me! You can use skype for $.02 a minute! Good-bye!