Missing our life in New Zealand

As beautiful as it is here in Santa Barbara, California, I’m missing so much of our home in New Zealand. People will say I’m ‘nuts’, since much of New Zealand is currently experiencing full on spring storms of destructive proportions, whilst the climate here is very easy to live with, but I love the ‘wild’ of our home in Wellington and need to have a fix of it – so am sharing some photographs of my home with this post.

I know I should ‘just get on with it’, ‘make the most of it’, ‘live in the moment’, ya de ya… but right now, I just want to have a moment to reflect on what I’m missing – and be happy knowing that this time living here is only temporary after all (so, yes, I should ‘make the most of it’!).

A larger reason for my melancholy is the ebb and flow of my children’s happiness – and right now, as much as they are fine in the house we are living right now, they – like me – are missing their friends and their home in New Zealand.

We’ve done with the darker evenings of winter and find our bodies ready for lighter evenings of spring, but the nights are drawing in fast here for ‘Fall’ – though it isn’t autumn like we know it. I cannot imagine not seeing the spring bloom of the Kowhai and hearing the trill of the Tui. Four seasons in one day, barely catching my breath in the spring winds.

The scent of the air, on Wellington’s south coast, and the roar of the waves in the bays, cutting through the rocks.

The crystal blue of the sky, that is a deeper hue of blue than anywhere else I have been.

The clarity of light and the amazing night skies.

The rich lush of the bush, with every hue of green, luminescent with vibrant life, from city to sea.

The freedom to step out my front door and be running by the sea in moments, or through native bush in the town belt reserves. Sweeping vistas for miles around, distant mountains across the Strait, towering to the sky from the South Island’s majestic land mass. Fantails flitting around me as I run, matching my steps with every beat of their wings, searching for insects that my footsteps disturb, hoping for a snack, whilst I seek out a moment of time.

The cafes with views, the people that make the most amazing coffee and serve it with love. Friends that know us, no ‘getting to know you’, no explanations, just friendly acceptance, support and understanding.

It’s so tempting right now to jump on a plane back to Wellington, living on the edge in the beautiful shaky isles, where the weather always keeps you on your toes, never complacent, makes you feel so alive and appreciative of the sunshine between the showers.

Where the land is green and lush and the scenery is breathtaking. A place where the ground itself is forever moving, growing, changing, just like every cell in our own beings.