MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM NEW ZEALAND!!!

Dearest Friends and Family,


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from New Zealand!!!!! I wish you all the love and joy this season has to offer you! May you be surrounded by the best of friends and so much love and joy and may your heart to so happy! This is a time to share with the ones you love. Share from your heart, not so much from your pocket book, but your heart, your love and share the joy you have with you. Open to your truth of who you are and let that being out and turn to your family and friends and say “Hey, I love you, you are and amazing being and I want for you all the happiness and joy there is for you no matter what.” So here I am saying exactly that to you! I love you! I appreciate you and think that world of you-even if I say it in a group email it is to you, individual and as a group, as we are all one anyway! So go be merry, happy and love! Merry Christmas!!


It's been lovely so far here in NZ! The weather the first day was gorgeous, warm, and clear blue skies with white puffy clouds. Rob and I got the car, made our way to Akaroa and the drive there was spectacular!!! All the rolling green hills, trees, blue skies, air so clean, the sounds of the sheep baaahhhing and the birds singing. It was so nice to see someone from home and be traveling with someone! What a beautiful gift!


We got to the top of this hill and was over looking the lake of Akaroa and the hills all around were just breath taking.


We got the house and “OH MY GOSH”!!! This place was gorgeous! Yes a little run down, needing a paint job but honestly who cares. With all it offered! We park at the door, the owners have all the windows and doors open, the man, Lou, calls out to us saying he’ll be right there, full of life and light in his voice. He introduces himself as Lou with such grounded New Zealand Cheer. He showed us the HUGE pool table, and when I say huge I mean huge, meaning it’s the size of almost two pool tables in the US! It had a gargantuan fireplace in the same room and windows filling all of one wall with a couch and vases behind it looking out on the huge grass yard with a large organic veggie garden beyond it-which we eat out of!!! YUMMY!!!


Next room over is the dining room with a Baby Grand Piano in it with the view of the mountains, fresh rolling green hills. Upstairs is where the real delicious part was. Our room……imagine a room with a Queen size bed, a dining table in the corner with windows looking in all directions in the corner, a fireplace next to the bed and then walking out on the extra large porch with a deep old looking tub OUTSIDE, with a bed with a four poled mosquito net hanging above it and a sun shelter pull down to guard from sun or rain or wind. So you can sleep inside or out! The view of the hills and the ocean from the other porch was just outstanding! So staying here by day of exploring Christchurch and looking around the place as well as just staying in laying in front of the fireplace sharing and cuddling as well as me getting well took up our days there. It was the most incredible, magical and best place I’ve ever stayed in my life and very romantical!


It was just incredible to take an outdoor bath with the stars above and the light cool breeze coming in from the ocean and mountains and take in the sounds of the cows mooing and sheep baaaing in the back ground. All the animal sounds came alive at night it seems. So gorgeous! The bathtub was so deep you could fit your whole body into it and possibly even put your whole head under without scrunching into it! Beautiful! Plus when you put on the hot water it is immediate hot water, almost scalding, so you have to be careful, but there was plenty to fill it and then some!!! So you can be warm, warm, warm!


And the food……it was……divine! We couldn’t have asked for more blessed food-Salmon cooked with the most glorious spices, asparagus, piles of veggies, salad, one night, other nights lamb, potatoes, more veggies and salads, and beef with lots of healthy things like steamed beets from the garden, served fresh to us each night. With breakfast being a HUGE bowl of cut fruit with all kinds of colors of Strawberries, kiwis, apricots, apples and many more, with toast, tea and ginger with lemon and honey for me!

It was so nice to be spoiled for those few days there. Moving on was hard but it was time after a few games of pool and a few delicious nights sleep there-us being the only people there.


Every where we went we found friendly people, so down to earth, authentically friendly, laughing, full of life and light. It was a delight to be around these people. To watch how they raised their children was even more of a delight. As they included them, they wanted them around, talked to them as people. It wasn’t as if they wanted them away, or they were too loud, or pestering them. They wanted to be a part of their lives, thoughts, ideas. They wanted to be a part of their lives inside and out. The children seemed so confident, so well rounded, so appreciated and appreciative. I’ve never seen anything like this in the west. It was such a breath of fresh air, I breathed a sigh of relief to have such love, laughter, joy, inclusion around at the next dinner table over or at the beach of a lake of everyone talking, playing, listening to music, working out problems and communication. This is how children should be raised, it’s just lovely to see a culture doing this and seeing how together they seem as adults.


We drove through the mountains and stopped at a resort for a dip in the hot springs but ended up staying over for a massage, dinner, a dip as well as a great night sleep, a lovely breakfast and then a very filling breakfast.


Driving through the vastness of the green valleys, the turns and twists, the clouds hanging just over the tops of the mountain tops and then breaking through to the blue sky at the beach, watching the ocean pound onto the pebbled grey beaches was just titillating to all the senses.


So driving south on the west side to all the jutting lush mountains coming out of the land, next to the sea was just a sight to be had for our longing eyes for nature. Here I was, “stop here”, “now here”, “oh, oh, stop here”. That was me, I couldn’t get enough. So many photos in so short of time. I’ve almost already taken my 1200 photos on my camera in the past week, of course that includes a few videos as well!!!! Much to share once I am back.


Now we are at France Joseph Glacier, near Mt Cook and it rocks the most so far! It seems like each place gets better and better. The blue glacier the moves a foot a year, maybe it’s a month, but I think it’s a foot a year, is powerful in its stature. It stands strong, powerful, unmovable yet feels like it’s moving all at the same time. The tall green mountains surrounding it are just stunning, whether in sun or in cloudy weather, it’s just miraculously amazing!


If you have never been here, you must come if you love nature. The sound of the birds, cows, lambs baaaing every where and so delightful to listen too. I can’t imagine eating the deer they have here for meals but they have lots of deer farms.


It’s to nice to hike by day see glaciers, nature, smell the freshest air I’ve smelled in a long time. As well as finding lots of organic foods and fallen back in love with nuts and dried fruits, YUMMMYYYY! They don’t have lots of organic and they aren’t much into health, but it is getting bigger over here and it’s very nice to see and taste when we can find it. Oh and driving opposed to busing it, this is like heaven. To go when you want to go, do what you want to do, I am really loving it. Plus listening to music in the car, windows down, fresh air in your face, feet sticking out the window, when it’s not too cold.


Some days are so gorgeous here, but other days I have 3+ layers on and a rain coat. But I have to say, it’s so far a lot warmer then expected and the landscape makes up for the chilliness!


It’s funny this place seems western but it feels like it’s about 40 years behind with it’s small towns, laid back attitude, things closing at 5pm, and when they say that Greymouth is the largest city on the west coast, well if you say a town with two main streets in it a large city, well, hummm…..that’s pretty amazing! So it feels a bit small and backwards but it feels absolutely amazing here!!! I am delighting in this place, enjoying all the hikes and nature.


The other day nature took me by the hand and started talking to me, showing me things, teaching me lessons. It was a beautiful lesson. It gave me a lot but I’ll share with you 3 words it shared with me: Love, Believe and Trust. These are some powerful words. The message was to be as the stone-strong and powerful within yourself, be as the tree-bend with life, allow for change of direction and acceptance, be like the river flowing around things, ever changing, going through and around things, being absorbed yet being part of. It told much more but nature has much to say and it asked to be listened to more and more. So to be silent with her, it is the best! Listen me, hear what life and the ones around you have to say. This is the important thing of the now. Who you put around you and what you put around you is what is important so take a look around, who and what is around you? Do you like listening to them? Do you want to hear more? Do you listen to it/them? Do you enjoy them?

My lesson is to listen more, enjoy life as a gift everyday and every human that crosses my path. Thanks for being someone that has crossed my path and that is in my life today. I send you love, Merry Christmas and have a very safe and Happy New Year!

Remember someone out here is thinking of you, no matter how far away I am, I am here, I feel you and love you. Love, Heather

Many hugs to you!!!!!