Seven days til I'm on a jet plane

Hello people reading!! OK so this is where I will be posting most of my main travel adventures rather than on Facebook so check in and see what I've been up to.

Thanks to all my amazing wonderful friends who hosted various farewell events and catch ups before I left I had a super super time, and proved that above all I can shake that arse! Even to Wii.

Caught up with the old foursome at BCC last Friday which was awesome and I am going to miss them all heaps! Hugs to Aaron, Prash and Chels.

Piccie of me and my sis (sis one - non Swedish) - Chels who is just a beautiful beautiful chica.

And we soooo know how to pose! And this is after a week of my car being stolen, being attacked for my handbag and medical check ups. When it rains it pours - but the trick is to remain positive. Not to wonder why it is that both the police and the insurance company laugh at the fact that your Peugeot got stolen - and I quote "they took a Peugeot?"

 I have to be honest I have that nervousness just before you do something major and you have no idea how it is going to go. EEEK.

The next night the Usual Suspects held a farewell for me and I was given a beautiful jade koru, blessed of course to guide me into my new life and travels. For non-Kiwis, jade is always given, and should always be blessed by (and I quote Di here) "someone who is Maorified". It is a great honour to have been given this necklace and it takes pride of place with the bone carving of "aroha" (meaning love) that was given to me on the 21st birthday by my Aunty Angel and Uncle David.

Koru (the unfurling frond) - depicts harmony, new beginning, new life. The unfurling tip reaches towards the light striving for perfection, encouraging new beginnings. It represents renewal and hope for the future. It also depicts endearment in the form of a loving family relationship.

It is little pieces like this that when I am travelling, keep me centred and remind me that while NZ may not be a big country, we may no military might or big bucks - we are a country of people who still respect our indigenous peoples, who care about each other, and still go in with a hard swing on the international stage and "give it a go".

We had nommy food and then Ti and Dylan decided that I was to dance to the most TIRING dance I have ever done on Wii dance. But I rocked it - don't tell me I can't shake that booty. Lots of giggles ensued as we basically made complete idiots of ourselves but what a great send off and what good friends I have - crazily we forgot to do a group photo though!