Visiting Taranaki

Unbelievably, it has been almost a year since we moved to Wellington. It doesn't seem possible that we've been away from Taranaki for that long, but it's true. J and I both wanted to visit our Taranaki jobs and friends, so we headed back on Thursday and Friday of this week.

Every time we take a road trip, I love looking out the window along the Kapiti Coast at the gorgeous  ocean and Kapiti Island off shore. Unfortunately, it's hard to get reasonable pictures out the window, but this time I managed one.

The road goes right along the ocean, with hills on the other side, and I love it!

The Kapiti Coast is on the way to Whanganui, which is about 2 1/2 hours from our house. We stopped there and I had lunch with Kirsten and J had lunch with Jonny, and then I got to stop by and see Belinda at work, all of which was lovely. Then we continued the 2 more hours to New Plymouth. I was struck again by how funny it was that we lived in New Plymouth, but neither of us actually worked there. I was in Bell Block and J was in Stratford - hence, we were going to visit Taranaki (the region) rather than New Plymouth, as our lives were a bit spread out.

Anyway, we got to New Plymouth and checked into our B&B, which had a lovely lounge for us to relax in a bit after our drive. It was run by a lovely elderly couple who were delighted to share that they'd actually been to Kansas.

It also had gorgeous views! I hadn't really thought about houses having views in New Plymouth, as it is very flat compared to Wellington, but obviously some do, and I so enjoyed looking out.

We met our friends Rachel and Stu at Sushi Ninja for dinner. We had tried to think of our favourite Taranaki restaurant and not come up with much, and then as soon as Rachel suggested Sushi Ninja, we both went, "Oh yeah! That's our favourite!" Well done, Rachel. Plus, they've upped their game since we moved and are now serving sashimi in paua shells! How cool!

Also, I believe I mentioned last week how I could eat dumplings forever - these only increased that desire. And I love that they're served over their own fire to keep them hot!

After dinner, as we walked to the car, we saw this display and were reminded of one of our hilarious moments in New Plymouth. J asked me to pick something up at "some healthy stuff store" downtown, and said it was the one with a girl in a bikini on it...

... I thought and thought, but could only remember a healthy stuff store with a picture of the glass being shattered by a big guy getting knocked down. We had something of an argument about it, as both of us were so convinced we were right...

... so we eventually drove down to see that... they're both there. Right there together on the same building, but he managed to only see one, and I managed to only see the other! 

This story makes me laugh so hard, because J and I almost never, ever display such stereotypically gender-specific behaviour, but in this case, we fit ourselves so perfectly into "guy-brain" and "girl-brain" boxes. Hahaha!

(Also, notice J laughing at me as I ran into the street to take this picture. He was entertained, but not enough to run around like a crazy person taking pictures like I was. Which is more typical behaviour for us.)

Another funny little thing - when we woke up in the morning and I checked out the view (after the storm overnight), the B&B owners had put up an American flag in our honour! What a lovely touch.

Friday was all about connecting with people at Puketapu Kindergarten and Puketapu School, which was both glorious and sad. From the moment I got there, from the first big hug from a child who is easily twice as tall as when I left, it felt like coming home. The teachers, the parents, the children, the place itself all said, "We love you and you belong here" and I wanted to stay forever! When my wonderful, loving friend Nate looked up and me and said, "I don't ever want you to leave" I thought my heart might actually jump right out of me and stay. It was so wonderful to see everyone, and so amazing to still feel like part of the tight-knit, supportive community of the kindergarten and school. I do totally love where I am now, and am lucky to be able to say that, but the children at Whare Kea come there because their parents are at the university, so then when they go to school, they go to ones spread out all over the big city, which is a totally different feeling than them all going right next door to "our" school. That is one of the things I miss the most. At Puketapu I could stay close to children and families even as they moved on, but here I don't have that same connection. I also know that there are huge benefits that I completely love about where I am now, but that's hard to see while being delightfully overwhelmed by love and connections back there.

At the end of the day, I had the honour of wearing the korowai that the children and teachers had made. A korowai is a cloak, woven with feathers, that is one of the strongest symbols of honour, prestige, respect, etc. in Māori culture. Plus, this one was woven with the love and creativity and energy of people I love, so it's even more special. They thanked me for visiting and wished me well, and it felt amazing. (My face does not look like I thought it was amazing, but that's because the universe has made a rule that all candid shots of me must be awkward.)

J had a good time on Friday, too. He visited his work, and the SPCA, where he did a lot of volunteering when we lived there. Being back in Taranaki really made us both miss Holly as well, and J went and visited the dog park we always took her to, which he reports was both healthy and sad. 

We both pulled ourselves away with some difficulty. I don't know if we'll ever end up living in Taranaki again, but it will always have a very special place in both of our hearts. And we'll definitely be visiting!