a.u.s.t.r.a.l.i.a.

I'm officially leaving NZ to head to Australia for a week....with me and 6 other girls from our program (4 of them being my roommates :)). Our flight leaves at 7 am, but we have to be there 3 hours early and it takes an hour to get to the airport. This means we are waking up at 3 am to leave. Phil is so kind to get up in the middle of the night to drive us to the airport.

I am going to miss New Zealand so much. It is hitting me now that I am really leaving this beautiful place. I am really leaving and will probably not come back for a LONG LONG time. It was hard to say goodbye to Siah, Dia, and Richi tonight. Once Siah realized that this was goodbye he just hugged us and wouldn't let go. Like literally, he was hugging my legs and would not even move. He got really sad :(. It was sad for us to see him like that. I have loved being here with the Skeen family. We could not have asked for a better host family to be with here in NZ. I love Phil and Nish and their kids so much and I really don't like this whole "goodbye" thing.

I just want there only to be hellos and never goodbyes.

In Australia we will be going to Cairns first, which is in Queensland at the top of Australia. There we will be snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef with a day cruise. We will also be relaxing on the beach as it is supposed to be amazing weather and our hotel is right next to one. After being in Queensland for 2 1/2 days, we will fly to Sydney where we will go to Featherdale Wildlife Park, the Australia temple, the Opera House, the Bridge, the Gardens, and whatever else we have time for! It is (hopefully) going to be a relaxing and fun vacation.

I love the Skeens and my roommates :).

How I'll always remember New Zealand.

Here we come Australia!!