Goodbye Melbourne- Hello Auckland

Last week it was time for the farewell and everything that goes with it!

My last week of work was really busy again, as Scott had to go on an out-of-town assignment for several days and Jenna and I were alone with the kids. Since she also works and goes to university, I naturally had the kids more often and for longer periods of time. So it was very stressful for me and I was very tired at the end of the day, also because of all the travel planning, but I was able to spend a lot of time with the two little ones :)

On my last weekend, Jenna and Scott planned a BBQ for me and organized and cooked way too much delicious food! We had all my favorite dishes one last time and part of the family plus two of my au pair friends came to join us. It was a really great afternoon/evening and I was able to say goodbye to everyone. After the family had gone home, I let the girls convince me to go into town and the evening lasted longer than planned ;)

The last three days (Mon - Wed) I still worked as usual, as I had to be at the airport late in the evening and wanted to help Jenna and Scott where I could, as we unfortunately had many problems organizing a new au pair. Since Harry always wanted to sleep with me in one bed, he was allowed to have a 'sleepover' in my bed with me on my last evening and he was super excited. We all read his bedtime books together in my double bed and then he cuddled with me for a long time until I sneaked out of the room ;)

On my last day, we went to Mount Buninyong near Ballarat, as we never got around to going there. The weather was perfect and Jenna came home from work early, so we could have a picnic there. From the lookout tower, you can see the whole city and even Lenny, the family dog, came along!

On Wednesday evening, after a pizza dinner with the whole family and Cecilia, we went to the train station in Ballarat, as my sky bus to the airport was leaving from there. The bus arrived just before it was supposed to depart, so we kept the actual farewell relatively short, which was better in retrospect, as I was already crying before that! I think Harry only really realized that I was leaving when I put my backpack in the bus and hugged him. He and Jenna both shed a few tears too and I received many heartfelt hugs. On the way to the airport, Jenna gave me a small bag with my favorite M&M's and a super cute card to read. And then my real 'travel time' began - first stop: AUCKLAND!!!

After a 2.5-hour night flight and 2 lost hours, I arrived in Auckland just before 5 am and after some problems with the bus transport, I finally arrived at my hostel. Then I went straight to bed, as I didn't want to stay awake for a whole day. Miral, my travel mate, had a later flight to New Zealand, so I had three days to relax and catch up on sleep. I also had the chance to explore the city in peace and walked really long distances every day, because I didn't want to neglect my exercise ;) I perceived Auckland as a very quiet, relaxed, and green city and I really enjoyed many of the hiking trails. Here's a little first impression: