6 months!

Half a year! I've been here half a year already! It sounds like so much but so little at the same time.
The reason why I am writing today and not tomorrow, on the 20th like I always do is basically because this is the only free time I can find. That's to say I haven't had a single free day since before Christmas, and won't have another until school starts! This really is a busy summer. I have got so much to tell you so let's begin where I last left you: just before Christmas.
Chris' birthday is on the 23rd, so his birthday always gets joined to Christmas celebrations. This year we went to a bach in the Coromandel peninsula to have a Christmas/birthday lunch with his brother's family. It was a very sunny day so we were lucky to be at a beautiful beach. It was also very windy so we could have a little sail. It was heaps of fun.
Christmas here is a bit different than back home. I was surprised to see that no one here celebrates Christmas Eve, when for me, that is the big family occasion. I got a bit sad to think that I would spend that night just like every other night, thinking about my family and their traditions. So, in order to not get too homesick around this time, which is when you're the most prone to do so, I asked Karen if we could have a little family dinner. It turned out to be a great occasion with Michelle (Karen's sister) and her three children, Phoebe, Lwell and Toby. It was a lovely dinner. I'm so thankful to my family here for doing that for me :D.
On the other hand, Christmas day is a really big deal. This is when the family gets together and when you open your presents and have a nice big dinner with usually turkey as the main course. That is exactly what I did. After opening the presents Santa had left on our little tree here in our house, we went to Michelle's house. There were also Nana and Pappy. Because Pappy recently had an operation and is still in recovery we decided to have a family lunch rather than a family dinner so he could go home early. The day was perfect. We gave our presents in a similar way to how I do it back home, a game here called "Secret Santa" but I call "Little Angel". We had a delicious feast and we all shared and laughed.
So that was my first Christmas away from home. I must admit I got quite homesick but my new family here was very helpful and did everything they could to make this a positive experience for me and I really appreciate that.

On the 27th, Chris, Karen, Raquel (a friend from school), Nikau (my dog) and I left Auckland on a car trip south. After eight hours of driving we arrived to Waikanae, a little beach town about an hour north of Wellington. There live some friends of Chris and Karen. It was an exhausting car trip so we were glad to have a nice swim at the beach and at the jacuzzi they've got there.
Waikanae is a beautiful little town. It is very beachy and sporty. The next day we went for a long bike ride along the cost and then along a river. It was really nice. We then of course had a nice swim in the sea to cool off before heading to Wellington.
We stayed in Wellington until the second with another of Karen's friend, Allie. Allie's son, Alex, is seventeen so Raquel and I had someone to hang out with, which was really nice. Alex was like our guide to Wellington. He took us for a walk around the CBD, up and down Cuba St, Wellington's main pedestrian street, around Courtney Pl, the main street, to Te Papa museum, to the Botanical Gardens, to the Civic Square, to the top of Mount Victoria, to the best ice-cream shop of New Zealand. Wellington was amazing! Alex, Raquel and I walked all around it!
On New Years Eve, the three of us went into town for a concert. We first met up with some oh his friends at a park and hanged around there for a while. Then we met some of my AFS friends in the Civic Centre for a free, open air New Years concert. It was a really fun night! We received the New Year among hundreds of people, singing and dancing! By the time we got back home we were exhausted!
The next morning Karen woke us up quite early to have our first swim of the year. It was a lovely sunny day, nevertheless the water was freezing cold! Nothing like my tropicals first swim of the year in Las Terrenas! I guess it was a good way to wake up. The rest of the day was very relaxed. We just had a picnic at the beach and watched a film.
The next day we headed up to to Chris's aunt's farm near a little town in Taranaki: Inglewood. Taranaki is the name of the area around Mt. Taranaki. It is the perfect mountain, perfectly triangular its is the living version of every kid's drawing of a mountain. From the farm we had a perfect view of it.
We spent a night there, watching the cows being milked and walking around the farm. It was really nice. We then toured around Taranaki and went to New Plymouth, a beautiful city just by the coast. We went to another beach and then headed to Awakino where we were to stay the night.
It was little hotel in the middle of nowhere, very old fashioned. There was also a very nice beach near there where we had our dinner picnic.
The next day was very exiting. We drove up to Kawhia, another beach of the west coast. But this is a very special beach because it's thermal, that's to say that if you dig a hole in the sand you create a hot water pool! How amazing is that! So after swimming in the cold sea you can relax in you very own hot water pool!
We then continued our journey back north stopping in Waitomo. This is a very touristy town because of the glow warm caves. Chris and Karen offered me and Raquel, as a birthday present, Black Water Rafting down these amazing caves. This was definitely a high light of the journey. We went 65 meters under ground in completely dark caves, lit only by the green/yellow light of the glow warms. It feels as though you are looking at the stars in the sky! It was heaps of fun!
Afterwards we headed back up to Auckland, home sweet home!

The fifth of January was my birthday. It was a slow day because we'd just come back. At night we went to Nana and Pappy's house and I had a birthday dinner with the family. Karen made the most delicious chocolate cake! It was a great way to celebrate!
On the 7th I had my birthday celebration with my friends. We all went to Cheltenham beach in Devonport. The day was amazingly sunny and warm. And the water was nice and cool. It was perfect! We stayed there for hours, had couple of swims and some ice cream. Then we caught a ferry back into town and came to my place for dinner. We had some home made pizza and talked and laughed. I had a great time!

The rest of the days were also very beachy. I went to different beaches with different friends On the 14th I went up north to Mangawhai with Raquel. I stayed with her family there until the 17th. The beach there was beautiful! The water was so clear and refreshing! And the waves were amazingly fun. I loved it!

Yesterday was the Big Day out. This is a huge concert festival. From ten in the morning to twelve at night i moved from stage to stage and saw Bjork, Arcade Fire, The Bleeders, Rage Against the Machine, LCD Soundsystem and heaps, heaps more! It was amazing! Such a great day! Everyone was there! It was so exhaustingly fun!
And to keep up the eternal concert today I am going to see The Police reunited! I am so exited! I can't believe my luck! So this is the only I had to talk to you because tomorrow I'm going up north camping with my host family.
I have had one the most incredible month of my life! It has been really memorable and amazing!
Love you all heaps,
Camila