So I finally made it back to New Zealand in one piece (although I can't say the same about my suitcase…). Yesterday was a really good day and as per usual, by the time I actually got home I was totally exhausted. We decided to do a day trip and headed to Palm Beach, which is known as Summer Bay from Home and Away! Mum and I have watched Home and Away together since I was really young, so it was something really cool to do. The actual locations for most of the filming are really spread out, so we didn't see much of the Home and Away set but we saw things like, obviously the beach, as well as the surf club and some other random parts. Then today we watched Home and Away which was cool because we recognised the setting!

The beach was really beautiful - maybe even the best I've ever seen. It was pretty stretched out, the sand was white and warm, and the sea couldn't have been any more perfect. It was totally clear and super warm and barely any seaweed! So we went for a huge walk, enjoyed a snack, went for a nice swim and then checked out some rock pools. We were there for about six hours in total - which meant I also had a rank sunburn as a souvenir despite topping up my sun lotion multiple times!

On the way home I took a nap on the bus. It was only like AU$5 each way to go to Palm Beach which was super cheap! We got home, took a quick rest in our room, and then headed out to eat Grill'd again! I got a different patty - it was delicious :)

We then decided to go for a night time adventure to see the Opera House at night time and try search for some crazy Australian wildlife. It was such a great walk which left me feeling so warm and fuzzy. I actually think that in some ways, living in New Zealand is really bad if you want to travel. This is because New Zealand is probably the best place in the whole wide world - and that's not only my opinion but the opinion of heaps and heaps of other people I've spoken to. And so I always find myself comparing other places to it. I may be like yeah this place is pretty beautiful, or yeah it's cool because there's heaps to do… But at the end of the day New Zealand will alwaysalwaysalways come out as the winner. I really am super lucky to have had to the opportunity to migrate here. But yeah, if somewhere actually manages to give me that warm, fuzzy feeling then its right up there in my rating, and that's what happened to me in Sydney. It's so beautiful and clean, and the people are so happy, friendly, and useful. New Zealand and Australia are truly in a league of their own in the international arena.

So throughout the walk we managed to stumble through an open wine festival. It was really cool because it was super colourful and they had really awesome modern live music, heaps of wine stalls etc. We went through a walk through the Botanic Gardens too and saw a stunning view of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge at night time, and got our dose of wildlife since we found heaps of bats and a possum!

It was a really, really, really nice way to finish the last international stop of our round the world trip. I also realised that we started our trip with beaches, and then managed to finish it with beaches.

And so we caught our last flight for a while first thing this morning. We were flying from Sydney to Christchurch. Something I've noticed from flying a lot is that there a few cheeky tricks that can make such a huge difference to your flight. For example, if you want more leg room, do your check in early and ask for the emergency exit row. Or if you want your chair to go lean back further, ask for the very, very back row. If you're a pig and want your food before everyone else, get one of the "special" meals since they alwaaaays get handed out first. I always get my vegetarian meals like an hour before anyone else!

Now I'm in Christchurch, New Zealand. My family were there to meet us at the airport which was so nice because my little brothers have grown up so, so much. It also means I get a chance to see my family's new hometown since when I left, they were still living in Dunedin.

I'm actually ridiculously upset and emotional right now which is stupid. I'm so, so, so happy to be back in New Zealand for sure, but everything feels really weird now. I think it's a combination of heaps of factors. For example, I think physically we're pretty broken right now - I'm having major problems with stomach aches all the time, always feeling weak and tired. I think it's because we have been getting minimal sleep but then we walk around for hours and hours every single day, don't necessarily always eat enough since it's really easy to forget when you're moving around quickly, and so on. Jet lag is also an issue, since we've changed time zones so frequently in such a short period of time - our poor bodies have no idea what clock they should be set to!

I think it's also largely because a lot has changed family wise since I left New Zealand. For a starter, my family have now moved from Dunedin to a place called Pegasus just outside of Christchurch. It's a really beautiful area. It's all totally brand new - the houses, the shops, everything! And has a beautiful, well sculpted lake right in the middle which everyone was swimming in when we arrived. It definitely suits my family well since it's clearly a super safe area and means the boys can enjoy the outdoors more. The lake is literally thirty seconds walk from the front garden - and the actual beach isn't much further! So it's worked out really well.

But of course the most emotional part for me is the bloody cat. I'm hesitant to be so honest about it because I know that I sound like a total freak. But at the end of the day, her uniqueness and funniness made her importance within our family structure so deeply rooted that it's so horrible accepting that she's gone. Today is her birthday, and it should have been the day that we arrived back in New Zealand, ran through the front door and patted her straight away (as Matt and I always did when we stayed at my family house in Dunedin). Now, however, we have constant big, fat reminders that actually she's gone and she's never coming back. Mum and dad had her cremated, with the ashes put in to a pretty wooden box which sits in the living room, so it's kind of nice knowing exactly where she is. On the other hand, times like when I'm sitting around with our other cat, I'm painfully reminded that Ghana is dead because usually those kind of moments were ruined because Ghana was come bombing in and jump on the other cat so wind her up. This is probably one of the most emotionally painful things I've ever been through, and it's totally pathetic.

It's also hard knowing I'm only here for just 1.5 days. I can tell my little brothers truly missed me - JJ especially. He's currently cuddled up on the bed against my arms because he's trying to cherish every single minute he has with me. We even went for a nice walk together around the lakeside earlier. It's going to be pretty hard not seeing him often this year since I'll be based in Dunedin doing my masters, and he'll be up here in Pegasus.

So yeah, it's so, so good to be back in New Zealand. Immediately, I felt a huge sense of relief when we flew in to the airport. I love that I get to live in such a frickin beautiful country that is absolutely full of the nicest and funnest people in the world. There's seriously nowhere better than here and I can't emphasise it enough to those who live here and don't realise it. My first meal back here was a BBQ with a beer (lemon flavoured since it's summer here! :D), which is as kiwi as it gets during the summer time, and I'm looking forward to a great year despite the huge, huge changes which are already affecting me emotionally.

I may be back in my home country, but my blogging won't end here. I still have heaps of challenges related to my travel to come yet so keep checking for updates! We're warned that we likely to face things such as post-exchange depression, or reverse cultural shock. So I'm sure there's a lot more to come. Hopefully it'll be a bit reduced to do the fact that I am doing kiwihosting this year (living with international students in a university flat), and mentoring several exchange students.

I really love that there's so many of you following both my physical and emotional challenges/adventures, and really hope you've all learnt a lesson or two from me xxx