Sunday, June 7, 2009

Homebase

When I say things keep on getting better, I sincerely mean it. After a full day of glacier hiking, we hopped back on the bus for another day of travel to our next destination. Up the west coast we went again. But this time, what we were seeing seemed oddly familiar. Sitting on the bus, we were passing coastline on our left and a dense rainforest on our right, and it just felt right being there.

"I feel at home here," Heather said.
And I couldn't agree more.

It did feel like home, because this was the place we had started our amazing experience. To the left a coastline, to the right a rainforest. We were heading straight for Punakaiki and couldn't be happier. All throughout our first two weeks volunteering, we knew we would at some point be passing Punakaiki for a short amount of time so that everyone else on the adventure tour could experience the pancake rocks. We had seen them countless times when were living in the small town, so we decided that instead of visiting them once again, we would revisit our starting ground, the Punakaiki Coastal Restoration Site and the gang we got so close to there.

We were on a tight schedule though. A mere half hour we were spending at the pancake rocks. We hoped we might get the chance to be dropped off at the site, but due to the tight schedule there was just no way. I had been emailing Sam back and forth all week about visiting, but even after his"I better see you or I'll come and find you" lines in emails, it was looking like we weren't going to see them. Bummer.

So, entering this place that felt like home not only felt food to be there, but a litter sad that we were so close to the site and people there, yet so far it seemed. Parked in front of the pancake rocks, off the bus, and sulking on the sidewalk. Until...

"Look there!" I yelled to Heather, who by the way was standing right next to me.

Hopping onto the sidewalk and peeking to my left, what should I see but the CVNZ caravan parked right behind us. Heather and I booked it to the van and just as we hit the end of our bus, we were over taken by a bright orange glow. I was none other than the great Sam, appearing once more with sunglasses, a smile, and his classic CVNZ orange vest to greet the original ISV gang. A huge hug was in order, followed by a loud scream to all the other Punakaiki volunteers. Everyone had the same reaction as I did. Run to the van. Hug Sam. Smile. And laugh.

"Can I steal you guys one last time?" Sam asked.
"Of course!" we all yelled.
"Enthusiasm?"
"CHECK!"

After getting permission to be stolen for perhaps ten minutes, we hopped into the CVNZ caravan one last time to travel one last time to the site. I have never had such a happy car ride. We were all laughing and sharing with Sam all the things that had happened in the mere half a week that we were away from him and this place. We got to the site. Ran to see Kristina. More hugs. Saw James. More excitement. Then we got to meet the new ISV crew. It was lunch time for them. They seemed a little quiet, but anyone seems quiet to our group. We were always loud, rambunctious, and perhaps over-enthusiastic, but that was us and I know neither Sam nor Kristina would have wanted it any other way.

That's ten minutes. Hop back in the van. Drive back to the pancake rocks. One last group hug and one again we were leaving Punakaiki, our NZ homebase. That ten minute trip had made my entire day, and I know it did for the rest of the group too. We now felt so close to this place and the people in it. We could point out the places we were, name the trees we planted, and laugh and reminisce about the amazing time we spent there. NZ is a long way from the states, but judging from what I felt on Wednesday, something tells me this isn't going to be my last time here. And boy, let me tell you, I couldn't be happier about that.

1 comment: