the end is nigh

Though we'd only spent a week in Australia, by the time we left a few days ago, we felt pretty fucking satisfied. We'd snorkeled and scuba-dived at the Great Barrier Reef, we'd hung in a town full of kangaroos, we'd driven through "the bush," seen massive crocs chomping chicken wings and massive endangered turtles laying their eggs. We'd even enjoyed a stomach-bursting Aussie BBQ, care of our awesome Bed & Breakfast owners. Stuffed with grilled meats, and a couple liters of Bundaberg's famous ginger beer and rum-and-cola-in-a-can, we flew off for 2 weeks in New Zealand, the final country and the final 14 days of our epic trip.

And the first day we arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, an earthquake hit the country. But it was on the other side of North Island (which is the half of the nation we're spending our time in), and we didn't even feel a quiver. Which isn't to say that we're feeling fine...

There are definitely things we look forward to about coming home. We miss our friends and family a lot. And it will be great not living out of a backpack, and finally sleeping in our own bed. But I'd be lying if I didn't say that the imminent end of our journey has our hearts heavy and has a dark cloud hanging over the New Zealand landscape, as beautiful as it is (more on that to come). But while this is almost certainly the most awesome thing that we've done in our lives so far, we don't plan on it being the most awesome thing we've ever done, so maybe we shouldn't feel so bummed out after all.