And so it begins...

This year of adventure, reflection, healing, time out and exploration - not necessarily in that order but encompassing them all.

It feels somewhat surreal and I can hardly believe that I'm actually doing this. A 12 month sabbatical! I didn't think I would have the courage to do something this big on my own.

Yet it became incredibly important to me to do this solo trip and a year 'out' feels completely right for me at this point in time.

My farewell from work was heartfelt and filled with many good wishes, a few stories and some laughs. There was an acknowledgement to country by one of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleague's followed by a minute's silence to honour and pay respect on the passing of Mum and another colleague's mother who had passed 6 weeks after Mum. Needless to say, it was a very emotional moment for me and no doubt for my colleague.

The last two weeks in Australia flew and were rather hectic trying to tie up loose ends at work before doing a road trip back to Brisbane to spend some time with family and loved ones before I left for the land of the long white cloud.

I have to say packing up your life for 12 months into two suitcases and one carry on is no mean feat!  Especially when there's very distinct seasons and snow involved. 

I decided earlier on that I may as well meet another fear of mine head on by flying into Queenstown airport. For those of you who know the area, you will understand the reason this has been a big deal for me. For those of you who don't know the area, perhaps these pics of coming in to land will be self explanatory.

  

And yes, I even had a window seat! It wasn't as bumpy as I thought it may be given the cloud cover and I've watched the planes come in between the mountains before, so I managed to swallow the fear and enjoy the scenery. Admittedly I was very glad to be on the ground safely but I have to say that the scenic views out both sides of the plane are pretty impressive.

I decided to mark the start of my year in NZ with a Wilderness Cruise on Doubtful Sound so booked a couple of nights in Te Anau in order to do the cruise the day after my arrival.  

NZ is normally 2 hours ahead of Australia, however, I arrived the night that the clocks were turned forward for daylight savings, which meant I had an extra early start the next day.  

The trip involves a 50 minute boat cruise across Lake Manapouri, followed by a 22 km bus ride across the Wilmott Pass where you then board the boat for a 3+ hour cruise on Doubtful Sound. There is something incredibly special about this remote wilderness and I imagine to be there quietly (as in not on a boat with 50+ other people) would be unforgettable. Just the sounds of nature and wildlife - bliss! 

I spent some time down by the lake before I left Te Anau and it didn't take long before thoughts of Mum drifted by. On my previous visit to Te Anau, I'd had a long phone conversation with Mum and it was during this conversation that she'd asked me to bring her with me on the next trip and show her all my favourite places. Sigh.. I think there may be a few of those bittersweet memory moments ahead.

During my first 2 days in NZ, I managed to come down with a heck of a head cold so was all germified when I arrived in Wanaka at my new digs. Thankfully, it appears that I've not shared them with my housemates!

I'm now at the end of my first week in NZ and that time has flown too. There's lots more I've done but I'll save those stories and share a little later otherwise I may need to resort to chapters! In the meantime, I can't end the post without at least one Wanaka pic.