Goodbye New Zealand! Hello Spain!
Hey it's me! Andi!
(I wrote this yesterday but was having trouble posting the pictures, so I'm actually in Barcelona now! Just pretend I'm still in Doha when you read this)
I'm sitting in the Al Maha lounge at Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar during my 10-hour layover from NZ to Spain. My flight here was 15 hours long and I expected it to be way worse than it was, luckily I ended up sleeping for most of it. Next step: a 7-hour flight to Barcelona. Here are some of my thoughts about the rest of my time in New Zealand.
In keeping with the theme of my time in New Zealand, my body decided to get sick one more time before leaving, so I've been on antibiotics for a whole new bout of strep throat! For anyone not keeping track, that means I spent about 75% of my time in NZ recovering from an illness. Even so, I had a great time. I just hope this curse doesn't follow me to Barcelona.
My experience in NZ was filled with hikes along the coast, caving, forcing myself to be more outgoing than I felt like at the time, biking, learning to cook new recipes, coffee shops, rain, leisurely walks in the parks, museums, reading, getting off at the wrong bus stop, interviews, forest bathing, new friends, being that annoying customer who asks baristas to make me a London fog (which no one has heard of here), hospital visits and lots of antibiotics, farmers’ markets, and lots of self-reflection. I was lucky enough to spend time with lots of different people and organizations in the adventure therapy field, including attending a workshop and networking event, paddling film festival, going hiking and caving, tagging along on a Māori mental health organization's foraging field trip, and interviewing various practitioners.
I was lucky to stay with my friend Kelly who I met earlier at the AABAT forum, and she and I went to a place called Castle Hill and Cave Stream into the mountains near Christchurch. We waded through many kilometers of freezing cold rushing water in complete darkness, aside from our 1 and 1/2 headtorches (mine only counted as half because it was running out of battery- silly me for not checking before we left!) The experience was incredible, my description of it will not do it justice but I'm going to try nonetheless.
Immediately upon wading into the water, my body went into fight or flight mode. It had rained a few days prior, and so the water levels were higher than Kelly was used to. We had wetsuits on, but the water coming up to my shoulders at certain points was exhilarating. Even though I was excited and not necessarily fearing for my life, my heart was pounding the entire time. Each step we took had to be carefully tested because the boulders and rocks we were stepping on could be precariously positioned, and we couldn't see what was underwater. At one point we stopped, sat on a ledge, and turned our lights off. For a few minutes we simply sat and listened to the water rush down the cave. It was a great practice of mindfulness. Later on I kept hearing noises that sounded like drums being pounded in the distance, and it freaked me out. Eventually we realized the sound came from the sound of water hitting the rocks in a certain way, but it definitely felt like we were walking into our doom as human sacrifices. I felt so alive. This is one of the places that Kelly's adventure therapy team takes participants, and I get it! It's the perfect place to undergo physical, mental, and emotional challenges and overcome them. You can't go through it alone, you need the support of someone else to climb up through certain parts of the cave and test out different footings. And you can't give up either, because once you're in, you have to either go all the way through or go backwards to get out, but both options involve participating in the challenge.
Here are some pictures!
Now that I'm in Barcelona, I'm about to start exploring! I'm excited to be here but also very nervous. This begins my European leg of the journey, and optimistic about what I'll learn and experience here! I'm considering signing up for a paella and sangria-making class, but man this place is way more expensive than Australia/NZ already. I'm looking forward to going to the Picasso Museum this afternoon, and hiking Montserrat later this week. I've connected with a nature/arts therapist in Barcelona too!
Adios amigos!
(I wrote this yesterday but was having trouble posting the pictures, so I'm actually in Barcelona now! Just pretend I'm still in Doha when you read this)
I'm sitting in the Al Maha lounge at Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar during my 10-hour layover from NZ to Spain. My flight here was 15 hours long and I expected it to be way worse than it was, luckily I ended up sleeping for most of it. Next step: a 7-hour flight to Barcelona. Here are some of my thoughts about the rest of my time in New Zealand.
In keeping with the theme of my time in New Zealand, my body decided to get sick one more time before leaving, so I've been on antibiotics for a whole new bout of strep throat! For anyone not keeping track, that means I spent about 75% of my time in NZ recovering from an illness. Even so, I had a great time. I just hope this curse doesn't follow me to Barcelona.
My experience in NZ was filled with hikes along the coast, caving, forcing myself to be more outgoing than I felt like at the time, biking, learning to cook new recipes, coffee shops, rain, leisurely walks in the parks, museums, reading, getting off at the wrong bus stop, interviews, forest bathing, new friends, being that annoying customer who asks baristas to make me a London fog (which no one has heard of here), hospital visits and lots of antibiotics, farmers’ markets, and lots of self-reflection. I was lucky enough to spend time with lots of different people and organizations in the adventure therapy field, including attending a workshop and networking event, paddling film festival, going hiking and caving, tagging along on a Māori mental health organization's foraging field trip, and interviewing various practitioners.
I was lucky to stay with my friend Kelly who I met earlier at the AABAT forum, and she and I went to a place called Castle Hill and Cave Stream into the mountains near Christchurch. We waded through many kilometers of freezing cold rushing water in complete darkness, aside from our 1 and 1/2 headtorches (mine only counted as half because it was running out of battery- silly me for not checking before we left!) The experience was incredible, my description of it will not do it justice but I'm going to try nonetheless.
Immediately upon wading into the water, my body went into fight or flight mode. It had rained a few days prior, and so the water levels were higher than Kelly was used to. We had wetsuits on, but the water coming up to my shoulders at certain points was exhilarating. Even though I was excited and not necessarily fearing for my life, my heart was pounding the entire time. Each step we took had to be carefully tested because the boulders and rocks we were stepping on could be precariously positioned, and we couldn't see what was underwater. At one point we stopped, sat on a ledge, and turned our lights off. For a few minutes we simply sat and listened to the water rush down the cave. It was a great practice of mindfulness. Later on I kept hearing noises that sounded like drums being pounded in the distance, and it freaked me out. Eventually we realized the sound came from the sound of water hitting the rocks in a certain way, but it definitely felt like we were walking into our doom as human sacrifices. I felt so alive. This is one of the places that Kelly's adventure therapy team takes participants, and I get it! It's the perfect place to undergo physical, mental, and emotional challenges and overcome them. You can't go through it alone, you need the support of someone else to climb up through certain parts of the cave and test out different footings. And you can't give up either, because once you're in, you have to either go all the way through or go backwards to get out, but both options involve participating in the challenge.
Here are some pictures!
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| One of the natural geothermal pools in Rotorua on the North Island |
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| Walking through the Redwood Forest in Rotorua |
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| My friend Kelly and I after our cave stream adventure! |
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| A beautiful stroll through the gardens near Hagley Park in Christchurch |
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| The mountains nearby Castle Hill and Cave Stream |
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| The top of Castle Hill! |
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| Views from Castle Hill |
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| Kelly! |
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| A view of Lyttleton Harbor along the Godley Heads coast hike |
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| Sheep!!!!! |
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| View of 'Taylor's Mistake' from the Godley Heads walk |
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| My collection of little stones and pebbles from the foraging field trip near Akaroa |
Now that I'm in Barcelona, I'm about to start exploring! I'm excited to be here but also very nervous. This begins my European leg of the journey, and optimistic about what I'll learn and experience here! I'm considering signing up for a paella and sangria-making class, but man this place is way more expensive than Australia/NZ already. I'm looking forward to going to the Picasso Museum this afternoon, and hiking Montserrat later this week. I've connected with a nature/arts therapist in Barcelona too!
Adios amigos!
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