The simple pleasures in life

Wednesday, Oct 13: I didn't wear shoes all day today - I love New Zealand!  No one wears shoes!  I love feeling the sensations under my feet - hot, cold, hard, grass, bumpy, sharp, smooth, I just realized the Maori building has heated floors!

Thursday Oct 14: Today I jumped on a bus to make my appointment at Northland's Medical and Sports Care to check out the numbness in my back and side pain.  My doctor is a cranial therapist and osteopath.  I learned so much he is amazing!  We talked about chiropracty, osteopathy, and reflexology.  He showed me what points in my back correspond to the organs in my side.  He massaged and cracked all these vertebrae that he said were super tight and misaligned.  He said that my back could have caused my side pain and then was set off after the super uncomfortable plane ride from Rarotonga.  I love this kind of stuff!

Sumner Beach

Friday, Oct 15:  Oh, the simple pleasures in life.  Today was a beautiful day so I took a bus by myself to Sumner.  I walked along the beach soaking up the rays and beauty all around me - from the bluest clearest water and softest white sand to the craggy rocks.  I laid and read my book (Eat, Pray, Love) under the sun in the warm sand by a grassy dune.  My apple tasted so much juicier and sweeter and crunchier than normal.  I thought to myself; four weeks left, Shona, four weeks left in this paradise.  I know I will return here someday.  Maybe not to this very spot, but definitely to this dreamland.  I know when November 13th comes around I'm not going to want to leave.  I'll probably have an emotional breakdown when Steph and I part each other and New Zealand.  But life after New Zealand is going to be amazing also.  I'll make sure of it ... My conscience slips back to Sumner.  What a moment, what a place, what a day, what a life.

I ventured into town and slipped into a nice looking cafe called Tuti.  I asked the cashier to order me her favorite tea,  Turns out it was Japanese green tea with lime.  It was so hot and delicious.  I don't know how she knew exactly what I wanted!  As a sipped the soothing, warm, green liquid I read some more.  As I left, I eyed a small tub of NZ made organic chocolate ice cream and had to buy it.  It was the best chocolate ice cream I have had in a while!  I ate it while waiting for the bus to take me home.