Helloo! I’m on United flight 916 from Auckland, New Zealand to San Francisco, California. Mum and I are watching Battle of the Sexes movie about the Billie Jean King story. For years I’ve had a Billie Jean King quote framed on my wall that was given to me by mum when I was a teenager. Perfect timing for this movie considering what’s happening in the world right now. As the plane took off I put through an order for a ‘Time’s Up’ shirt via PayPal on my phone. Mum thought that was pretty cool and such a ‘me’ thing to do as the plane was taking off.

As we were boarding I got a notification a new game of HQ Trivia was starting. I’ve got mum hooked on it this trip. We haven’t got higher than 7 questions but what does it matter?! we both love Scotty (the hilar host) and we have a bunch of laughs every single time.

Passport in 1 hand @ScottRogowsky in the other. Boarding in AKL heading to SFO! HQ BABYYYYYY! pic.twitter.com/JJPK4vzzI7

— CASIE STEWART ☀️ (@casiestewart) January 15, 2018

Before driving to the airport I bought 2 books of stamps and sent off a pile of postcards I’ve written this trip. I asked people to give me their address and also sent them to people I’ve worked with or haven’t seen in a while.

I love travelling so much. Sending postcards is something I’ve been doing the last few years and it always makes me feel great writing them and sending sunshine to people around the world.

Sent heaps of postcards before I came to the airport! ??☀️?✌??❤️ pic.twitter.com/pBNxGrS0wO

— CASIE STEWART ☀️ (@casiestewart) January 15, 2018

This trip was really awesome. I saw parts of NZ I’ve always wanted to and spend a good chunk of time driving the open road by myself.  I learned a lot and mum’s said she learned a lot from me about travelling too.

I’m really proud we made it through the 21 days together and came out strong. There were some hard family times to go through and a bit of drama but we stuck together. Both mum and I feel at peace with Nana, it was hard but it’s good we were there. We have nothing but pure joy when it comes to the family and all the cousins. I got to see so many people and build/form new relationships. Mum spent a few extra days in her hometown hanging out with cousins and old friends.  I feel non-ironic, honestly actually, blessed to have great people in my life.

I also feel pretty lucky to have such a great mum. Yes, there were times she drove me crazy (what mother doesn’t!) but we also had so many laughs, went for walks, stopped at nearly every vintage shop we saw, and drove long country roads singing along to Adele (haha). we didn’t make it yoga but there’s time for that.

Excited to be coming home and have memories to last a lifetime. They are serving lamb as the lunch on the way home with couscous and it is delicious. I love new Zealand food! We are also having Heineken!

With love from the sky at 35,000 ft!

I spent most of today in the car on a 3hr road trip from Palmerston North to Taupo. Woke up feeling a bit groggy from loud singing Adele with mum after an amazing dinner and few bottles of wine with my cousins. We had so much fun together last night. I love having my family close, getting to know them, making jokes together, them making fun of me, and laughing. This trip has been so exciting.

I went to say my last goodbye to nana at the home this morning. She was doing better than yesterday but she’s had quite a decline from the first day I saw her over a week ago. Getting old is sad. Next, we visited my cousin Lisa and gave gifts to her three darling little daughters. It was nice. Lisa came to visit us in Canada when she was 9. Her and my sister used to look so much alike. Lisa is 1/2 Maori and beautiful. Mum is staying in Palmy this week to spend more time with her mum and I’m on the road alone.

The best parts of my trip today were stopping at least 10 times to take photos and post things on the internet. A long drive on the open road is nice but I like to take photos so luckily for me, New Zealand has a lot of rest stops.

Aside from driving on the other side of the road, it’s pretty challenging because the roads are narrow and twist and wind all over the place. You really have to concentrate. I had my GoPro along for the drive and haven’t even checked the card for that yet. I’m planning to do some data backup and management on the long, nearly 24-hour journey back to Canada.

I stopped to take some photos from this lookout.

Stopped at Mt Ruapehu, an active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. On the way in we drove past but it was too cloudy to see the peaks. Still looks good from the last time I saw it back when I was 18! The last eruption was in 2007.

Then went to the Tokaanu Hot Pools about 45 minutes outside Taupo. For $12 you can get our own private pool. I took a dip in the public one too and was out of there in just over 20 min. One of the joys of solo travel is zipping in and out of tourist attractions really fast. In Wellington, I did both the National Museum Te Papa and the War Museum in about 30 min each. That post is coming soon. I’m a few days behind!

At Lake Taupo I stopped for ice cream at the beach and read my book in the sun. It was so lovely. People were swimming, riding bikes, riding seadoos, parasailing, and boating.

After a little rest up on the beach, I drove over to my Airbnb. My hosts are super nice. We talked over tea before they headed out for a night swim at the pool. I took in the sunset and soaked up the wifi to write this all down.

I’m really having a great time. I miss Sean and home but I also love being on the road. Can you believe we sill have 5 more days!? Tomorrow I drive to Auckland to stay with a friend. Can’t wait!

With love from New Zealand,