Goodbye Edmonton! Hello Auckland!

Today I said goodbye to Edmonton. After a month of saying goodbyes to friends and family, I thought today's departure would be easy. Boy, was I wrong! It's funny, no matter how many times I leave the country (and for a handful of times I've been gone for two months or more), it's still hard to say goodbye to close friends and family. Once I was past security, however, I was ready for my big adventure.

I'm off to Auckland, New Zealand, for a month before heading to my new home in Karratha, Australia.  I'm joining a tour group (www.flyingkiwi.com) to tramp around New Zealand during the southern hemisphere's summer holidays. Twenty-seven days of biking, hiking (tramping if you're from New Zealand), kayaking, camping, and other outdoor adventure activities. I've been looking forward to this since July and can't wait to get started. I'm especially looking forward to seeing the Haka performed live. I'm also looking forward to 23 degrees and sunny days with no snow, especially after leaving Edmonton's recent deep freeze!

Check out this link to view the Haka: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdMCAV6Yd0Y

I arrive in Oz January 28, with a brief stopover in Perth before continuing on to Karratha in northwestern Australia. Karratha is located approximately 1500km north of Perth and 850km south of Broome. Funnily enough, I've been there before, in 2009. My tour from Broome to Perth stopped in Karratha to pick up groceries on our way south. I don't remember much other than it was hot for August (and that's their winter!). I'm excited to call it home for 11 months.

I will be teaching grade 4, which means my new students can connect to my Edmonton students. I'm looking forward to emailing, blogging and exchanging letters with them over the next few months. It will be fun to share Australian culture with the Edmontonians and Canadian culture with the Karrathans. I've brought some Canadian books to share (thanks, Todd!) and I look forward to reading some Australian children's books too.

I won't be writing much in January (I am camping after all, and probably won't have a lot of access to the Internet), but I will post updates about New Zealand (with photos!) once I am settled in Karratha.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their friends and family! I look forward to spending New Year's in New Zealand~ I will be celebrating a full 20 hours ahead of my Edmonton friends and family! May 2013 bring you your own adventure, whatever that may be!