The Beginning of Goodbye…

We’ve had to begin to say goodbye. It’s started slowly, but the momentum is building. This past weekend we traveled to Auckland to see some friends, squeezing in that one last visit before we fly out. Then on Monday I said goodbye to the kids and staff in the special needs unit at Otumoetai College. And last night, Cory and I said goodbye to Jaap, our yoga instructor.

We went up to Auckland for the purpose of catching up with some of registrars Cory used to work with at Tauranga Hospital. Two of the couples left Tauranga and moved to Auckland for their next training. We joined them for dinner Sunday night and got to spend the evening catching up and playing with their kiddos.

The next day brought the next goodbye. I’ve been volunteering at Otumoetai College (a local high school) one to two days a week, and it was the last day I would be there. I took in morning tea for the staff (pumpkin bars, which is a real novelty, as pumpkin is more of a savory ingredient here) and chocolate chip cookies for the kids (which I had to call chocolate chip biscuits so they would eat them). One of the staff made a CD with videos of the kids saying goodbye which was really fantastic.

Then, Monday night was our last yoga class. I got Cory to sign up with me several months ago, and we’ve been loving it. It is the first class Jaap has ever taught and, while he sometimes struggles for the right word and says “chin” instead of “shin” (his first language isn’t English), he does a good job and makes the class really enjoyable. He is really kind and makes a point of looking after Cory, who may possibly be the least flexible person ever. With a visitor coming next week, it may well be the last yoga class we go to.

All these goodbyes are beginning to make the end seem so near. We are truly just weeks away from our flight back. Someone asked the other day if we had seen all we wanted to see in New Zealand. There will always be something more we want to see – a different hike to do; another cool place to visit; more time to share with friends… I don’t suppose we’ll ever be ready to leave New Zealand, but I guess we are ready to be home again.