Goodbye Milford :(

Hey everyone!

There have been some happy times and some sad times since my last blog post. The sad times being the fact that my time spent in Milford have come to an end. Andrea and I had to pack up all of our stuff, fit it all in the van, clean my room, say our goodbyes (which was really really difficult), and leave… possibly for ever…

As I drove away, I couldn’t help but think about all the fun times I had during my 5-month stay living and working at Milford Sound Lodge. I made some very strong friendships and created memories I will never forget: our road trip to Dunedin, winning the Milford Treasure Hunt, Christmas and new years celebrations, Climbing Mitre Peak, the Milford Olympics and my poor gumboot toss (to say the least), swimming in secret places, the Routeburn Track, Milford Dress-up, the Milford End-of-the-Season Ball, and much much more.

That place is truly special and it’s not just because of the indescribable beauty, but also because of the people working and living in the closely-knit community of less than 200. When I came to New Zealand, one of the things I wanted to do most was to make friends from around the world. Over the past five months, I did just that. For the rest of my life, I will keep in touch with my new friends from New Zealand, the UK, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Spain, USA, Holland, and more. Thanks for a great time, guys! I really lucked out coming to Milford and meeting you all.

I also wanted to thank my lodge coworkers/friends for my goodbye gifts. They put together a goodbye card that was constructed out of a Southern Discoveries brochure, but with the lodge brochure cut up and glued to it. Then, everyone wrote a little note to me on it. Jamie also made a large batch of his outstanding oatmeal raisin cookies (which, might I add, are almost gone already).

Cheers Guys!