fish & chips

One of my big quests once I get to New Zealand is to go through my mom’s old surf journal (yes, she went to a boys school…there weren’t enough girls for a girls school is the reason she gave, I think) and find all of her secret spots. 

Actually, to hear her tell it, she barely went to school at all she was surfing so much! In her journal she mentions a couple of really sweet spots. One of them is near a Hari Krishna farm that has free food all the time, which would be awesome after a big surf!

Another one is on a pitch black beach made of iron ore. Pretty sweet! Guess I’ll have to practice her “Surfer’s Prayer” to ensure I get the goods.

Salad time with Tita! My stepmom is from the Philippines, and she is a fantastic chef. Here we are making some salads. Yummm avocados!

I’ve slept a couple of different places this past month, from my friends Lois and R.W.’s “Bungalow”, a renovated garden shed turned guest house in their beautiful garden, to my amazing boss Suzanne’s house on “The Hill”- with a few random spots in between.

Yesterday I said goodbye to my friends and job in Boulder and headed down South to Castle Rock for a couple of nights with my family in what will be my last stop in Colorado/first stop on my trip…it’s going to be nice to be home for a little while just hanging out not moving around for a bit until The Big Move!

I have to say, it’s pretty amazing to have literally nothing to do for a couple days all snowed in down here! I finally have a little more time to get some reading done while I kill a couple days waiting to get on my flight. My Dad, too, is an avid reader, and he is lending me Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel. There happens to be a pretty awesome chapter on the history of Maori culture in New Zealand! Not to mention the amazing reading room my Dad and Stepmom Tita have set up, shown above.