My mom came to visit me about a month ago (how has it already been a month?!) and it was glorious. We had so many adventures and saw so many beautiful places, but honestly, we could have sat in one room the whole time and it would have still been perfect. I was just so happy to have her there, three dimensional and solid and real. There's just no one like your mom to make you feel tethered. Especially in a year where I've loosened a lot of ties to home and comfort (a year within a whole season of my life that's been confusing and amorphous and leaves me constantly reinterpreting my place in the world), it was so calming to have my mother visit. No one gets you like your mom!
We capped off our day with a farm stay in Matamata, which was such a great experience. We stayed the night in a couple's gigantic home on their small farm populated by eerie cows and Gingernut-loving sheep. It was so perfect to stay in their house, chat while they cooked us dinner, and settle in for the night with their pets like we were family. One of the best things about NZ is that people really do treat you like family members here. I know people say that about the South as well, and I do think that's largely true. Southern hospitality is all about treating guests with respect, to an almost formal, parental degree. NZ hospitality is much more casual; rather than treating people as respected elders or beloved children, most Kiwis treat people as favored cousins. It's a much more relaxed form of hospitality, but possibly seems more genuine for it. I've met so many people here who have just jumped right into conversation with me like we've known each other for years, and (though a bit jarring at first) I really enjoy it.
After Matamata we drove to Taupo, the sun finally peeking out to say hello! We stopped by famous Huka Falls and marveled at the colors and sounds of the water, which led to both of us deciding water would be the best element to control, given the chance (these are the important discussions in life, guys). From there we drove to our hostel and wandered around the town a bit, from the lake up through an array of merino wool shops (fingerless gloves forever!!), finally ending up at a lovely cemetery by sunset. Cemeteries are so fantastic; I recommend trying to find one in every place you visit. They tell a specific story of the area, and give you a great sense of a new place in a way more tourist-centric sites won't.
We had just a few hours to kill in rainy grey Wellington, so we hung around Te Papa, the national museum. Home of the colossal squid and a million more amazing exhibits, it was a great place to wander around for a few hours before catching the ferry to the South Island. Of course, about half of that time was spent battling the INSANE parking payment machines outside the museum, which broke us down emotionally and financially in the brief span of our acquaintance, but we escaped the abuse eventually and moved on to sitting parked outside the ferry for over an hour, listening to the Nerdist podcast and making up increasingly ridiculous stories about the truckers and few other passengers surrounding us in line. Eventually we made it on the ferry and made it to Picton around 12:30 Thursday morning.
After breakfasting on the most delicious milk we've EVER had, we explored windy Picton for a bit before hitting the road to Nelson, probably our favorite spot of the week. The sun and warmth stayed with us all day as we hiked up to the (surveyor's) Centre of New Zealand, spouted off endlessly about how beautiful Abel Tasman National Park is, and carried our aching feet to a nifty antique store where I fell in love with an amazing vintage swimsuit. We also got treated to free "pudding" (more like slightly-liquid brownie) and ice cream in our hostel, which just cemented the perfection of Nelson for us.
From Blenheim we went back up to Picton to catch the ferry back to Wellington. On this voyage we were able to catch some of the majestic sounds that surround the Cook Strait. Despite the intimidating wind and persistent drizzle, we made our way to the top deck to look out at the spits of green ice blue water peeking out through the fog. It was gorgeous.
We spent a few hours in Wellington hiking up Mt. Victoria and stopping in to say hi to Weta Workshops before driving on to Wanganui, where we spent the night in the cutest hostel, Tamara Lodge. Gorgeous old house by the river; I wish we could have stayed longer. Alas, on Sunday we started on the last leg of our trip-a full day of driving punctuated with a stop at Waitomo Caves for a look at the stunning and alien-esque world of the glow worms.
It was an amazing trip, and I am so thankful I could share it with my mom. There's something a little isolating about having these incredible experiences in the absence of family or friends, so to have her here to see New Zealand in the same way I've seen it was so special. I've been lucky to share so many iconic life moments with my mom (and many other members of my amazing family), and I'm glad to add this to the list.
Ps-since I know she's going to be one of the first to read this: Love you Mommy <3 Thanks for coming to the end of the world to hang out with me!