Ka Kite Ano Aotearoa! Goodbye New Zealand!

I don't know if it's really hit me yet, but today is my last day in New Zealand. My last day! I have no idea where the time has gone, but 3 months is up. We were going to celebrate by going to Mission Bay and enjoying a New Zealand beach one last time, but it was cloudy and rainy when we woke up...bummer. Instead we had a lovely lunch at The Brigham with Sheryl, Raewyn and Kodie. It's one of their favourites, and it was fun to spend the afternoon with them. We truly will miss them!

Apparently, Alexis has always been photogenic, but it is oh so difficult to get a good picture of Kodie. We have tried multiple times, and rarely succeed. We had three cameras out during lunch trying to snap one, and it was quite a challenge. Here's some of the photo shoot :)

We have several like this...

...and several of these "almosts."

One strategy: Kodie LOVES spiders, aka "bi-duhs." So to get him to look at the camera, we would ask him if he could see the spider on Sheryl's head. The problem with this is that then he really wanted to look on her head for a spider!

After lots and lots of attempts, this is the best we got...sure is a cutie!!

We've been talking a lot about what our last meal in New Zealand would be, and we realized that the majority of things we needed to have "one last time" were all desserts. So, instead of having dinner tonight, we had dessert! Literally. (well, I guess Kerry did roast a sausage for everyone as an appetizer haha) Here was the menu:

1. Pavlova: How could we leave without making one more pavlova?! We didn't have any kiwis, but we used their feijoas from the backyard. We have become true NZ kiwis :)
2. Steamed Pudding: One of Raewyn's specialties. We failed when we tried to make it last time, but she made a beautiful one tonight.
3. Banoffee Cake: This is another one of Raewyn's specialties. It has a cookie crust, covered with layers of caramel, bananas, and whipped cream. SO delicious.
4. Fanta Floats: Raewyn made these for us one day after school, and it had been just what we needed. They were just as good tonight!
5. Marshmallows: We had so much fun roasting marshmallows with chocolate in the middle of them before, we just had to do it one more time. We only made one s'more this time because we were so full of sweets already, but it was still yum!

Raewyn getting our Fanta floats ready.

Making the steamed pudding!

Here is part of "The Last Supper" as we called it: pavlova on the left, banoffee on the right.

We made it through the pavlova, banaoffee, and floats, and were ready for the steamed pudding!

It was raining a bit, but we still made it work :)

So, I'm done with New Zealand. We fly to Australia tomorrow, and then I'll be back in the states on Wednesday, April 13! Looking back, it is amazing to me how much I have done during these past 3 months. It really was the opportunity of a lifetime, something I will never forget. Cheers!

One more thing: My dad asked me the very first week I was here if the water really did drain the opposite direction. You can't tell in the toilets, but here's the sink draining...enjoy! :)