It's 2024. It's wild to not only say we're in 2024 but we're already 3 months in! Time flies even faster when you're living, learning, loving, & growing along the way. Being in New Zealand for 1 year, 6 months, & 19 days (at this point) allows plenty of room to do just that & I can humbly say, I have in more ways than one.
To top up the tea, January flew by so fast, that I can't pinpoint too many note-worthy moments outside of the usual outings with friends & myself alike, which you can see through my pics below, but February is a whole different story. No, I am not being biased because February is my birthday month, it just felt good, the whole month through & through. February felt like the purest forms of love from work colleagues, friends (near & far), family, strangers & (not surprisingly) myself.
I went from not having any plans for my birthday to easily whipping up an itinerary for my 2 celebratory days. On my birthday eve, I took a 2-hour solo road trip for a hike to see The Omarama Clay Cliffs, which are quite a stunning site to see in person. I then took about a 20-minute drive to Hot Tubs Omarama for a 90-minute soak sesh. The hot tubs were not as easy to relax in as I was used to because they were boiling! I need to revisit during the colder season because going to an outdoor hot tub where water is heated by burning logs will have you feeling like a chicken in a hot pot if you don't go during the right time of year! Later, I danced my evening away at a Hip Hop dance class & after enjoyed a late, but great celebratory dinner at Ayrburn, courtesy of a good friend. Safe to say, I enjoyed my pre-birthday.
February 13th, my birthday, was filled with nothing but love from others & myself alike. I started my day with a beautiful brekkie at the infamous Mora Wines & Artisan Kitchen with two friends, then spent an hour indulging in a massage, before doing a little shopping around where I intended to treat myself but, ended up buying gifts for others. The evening was spent dining at Botswana Butchery for dinner & sipping on a couple of drinks at Perkys Floating Bar & watching the sunset with my friends. A day well spent.
March. Where do I even begin? We're already halfway through the month & it feels like I've already hit the climax of my year. What I mean by that is, do ya'll recall in my last post where I mentioned that my working holiday visa was going to expire on March 3rd & to stay tuned for what's coming next? Well this is next, I've been having a "homeless holiday", as I like to call it hahaha. As of March 3rd my working holiday visa expired & since the next visa I applied for in January hadn't come through yet, by March 4th I could no longer work per the terms of my interim visa (bridging visa).
It's March 22nd here in New Zealand (21st in the States) & I have yet to be back at work due to lots of back & forth & miscommunication with the insufferable New Zealand immigration. While I could go into great detail as to why there's been such a major delay in the processing of my visa, there is no need to bring up traumas of the past & repeat the tale I am quite tired of re-iterating to those who ask out of curiosity or concern.
I have been staying in an Airbnb for almost 2 weeks, as I left my prior accommodation (which was almost as insufferable as the New Zealand immigration) & was well on my way to my new place but decided to refrain from moving temporarily until I got everything sorted with my visa. I didn't feel it made sense to get too comfortable in a country where I was in between staying or going back home. Regardless of all the back & forth with immigration & not being able to work for almost 2 weeks now, I've put so much money, effort, & time into this visa application as well as created quite a little life for myself here in New Zealand & felt like I owed it to myself to see it through as opposed to throw in the towel & return home (there was a breaking point). So I decided to stay in the country for 3 weeks to ensure everything got sorted with my VISA, work, & housing or the opposite, selling, packing, & returning home. That's where I currently am, waiting in limbo & honestly fine with things going either way. I'm happy to have the opportunity to continue my journey in New Zealand & just as happy with redirecting home to the States for a little while. God has the final say.
