Making it Happen vs. Letting it Happen

When I first described to a friend how the inner-workings of our trip to NZ would develop I told him that I was a planner and Bry was most comfortable going with the flow. I tried to hide my anxiety as I imagined myself living out of my savings account with little to no agenda except that I needed a break from the everyday and NZ seemed like a great place to do it, and well... Bry relished the blank slate we were working with. Over the past 6 months we have managed to reach a series of compromises (not without the colourful frustration that often preludes a compromise of course). Those compromises have landed somewhere between tramping the entire South Island and being a surf bum, or - making it happen and letting it happen.

In the past few weeks we have had one farm host cancel on us and another not return our phone calls. We've felt the arrival of fall in the South, dealt with the rain of Fiordland, and became reacquainted with sandflies. What with the current situation unfolding in Canterbury, we quickly realized that our troubles were trivial. We push onwards, relieved to be together and safe.

The Moeraki boulders, falling out of the cliffs and into the sea.

We reach Dunedin, a classy little city I could imagine myself being very comfortable in despite the persistent rain. While visiting with Brit & Ben for a few days we make fish cakes, see an albatross, and watch blue penguins waddle up to the beach at dusk.

We visit a sheep farm in the Caitlins for a few days, the Southland's east coast. Here we are with the smallest 'ute' (trucks in NZ are known as 'utes' short for utility vehicles) and the biggest pile of weeds. You can call this glamour-wwoofing.

Chased by a bull seal on the southern most beach in NZ.

We arrive at Milford Sound (which is ironically a fiord) and decide to join all the other NZ tourists and book ourselves in for a cruise. One of the key selling points: a BBQ buffet lunch was included in our tour. We make a stopover at the new Milford Sound Discovery Centre and descend a staircase to the sea, full of phenomenal marine life.

While on our Milford tour we pause with the rest of NZ for a moment of silence to show our support for the people of Christchurch. I realized that whether we are making it happen or letting it happen, our relationship with this country has taught us that the beauty of NZ goes beyond the mountains that plummet into the sea.