Imposing Myself on My Parent's Midlife Crises: The First Week

Rachel here to give some highlights from my first week here. I feel as though I've been here longer than a week. The journey to New Zealand, which was somewhat torturous at the time, now seems like a distant memory. I've been soaking in the relaxed environment here and trying to catch up on my sleep. I've actually enjoyed helping mom with every day tasks such as grocery shopping, laundry, and gardening. I feel like a completely different person, a very natural, green, hippie-ish person, when I'm gathering tomatoes from the garden, hanging clothes out on the line, or starting a compost heap. (And just to be completely honest, sometimes I do pretend I'm a different person. Just for fun. Mom always said I had a great imagination.) I'm really excited to put some of the more domestic things I'm learning into practice when I get back to America.

Mom and I went to Ocean beach on Tuesday and jumped through the waves. The fact that we got in the water at all was a major victory. It was not warm, folks.

Mom and I also made it to Whangarei Falls.

Dad had Saturday off so we all went to Whale Bay.

Dad took the opportunity to rock his New Zealand "cowboy" hat!

Last evening we went to Mair Park and hiked to the top of the peak there. The view was amazing!

But the hike, which was relatively short but very steep, was exhausting.

If we look sweaty and frazzled, it's because we are. That hike was no joke.

My first week has been a lot of fun. I have gotten to try some new food (we went to an Isreali restaurant called the Fat Camel yesterday), visit some gorgeous places, and I even got to drive on the left side of the road (I haven't seen mom grip the door handle that tightly since I was 15 and learning how to drive). I can't wait to see what other experiences New Zealand has in store!