Notebook of a Nomad

1/15/25

Paul and I flew into Auckland from Melbourne today. We checked into the hotel and we both needed a nap. After the Australian Open we had some late night kebabs. Paul loves himself a kebab. I only ate a third/half of mine. Paul finished his and then I’m pretty sure he finished mine. Despite saying they were the worst kebabs he’s ever had. Lol

We took our naps and Paul was sleeping HARD and did NOT want to wake up. I finally shook him awake but he stayed disoriented for a while. Once he got his bearings we went to the Weta Workshop, a tour of the special effects company who worked on Lord of the Rings (LOTR). Unfortunately there wasn’t any actual LOTR content included in the tour.

The tour seemed more geared towards kids and focused on movies that weren’t real. They created fake movie concepts during the COIVD lockdown and walked us through the special effects to make those concepts happen. I’m guessing the NZ government wanted to keep people employed during the pandemic so this is the work the company chose to focus on when the movie industry wasn’t producing any new content.

My favorite part of the tour was going through the gift shop for the 15 minutes after the tour. They sold a lot of LOTR content in there, including models like Helms Deep for the low cost of $1,599.99. The entrance was guarded by a giant cave troll. If you’re in Auckland, I’d recommend skipping the Weta Workshop and hitting the gift shop if you’re a LOTR nerd like me.

After the tour, Paul and I went up the Sky Tower in Auckland (the second tallest freestanding structure in the Southern Hemisphere). There’s a restaurant up there but they were fully booked. Thankfully we were able to get a table for about 30-45 minutes so we had one drink there and called it a night.

1/16/25

We started our day by sleeping in because we were both tired. Once we got moving it was time to head to the ferry that took us to Waiheke Island for a couple of winery tours. The island had a Hawaii-like vibe. Our tour guide, Debbi from Ananda tours, was awesome. Super friendly and knowledgeable. The only other people on our tour were some newlyweds who lived a half hour outside of Manhattan.

Our first winery, The Mudbrick, was a very charming venue that hosts 4 weddings a week. It made me want to get married. Lol. During the first wine pairing Paul and I exchanged a few pleasantries with the couple from New York, Steve and Casey.

After that was done it was time to head to our second winery, the Goldie Estate. It was another beautiful venue with more beautiful scenery of Waiheke Island. It was the first winery in the region, created by a couple who loved Bordeaux and wanted to try and bring some Bordeaux back home to New Zealand. The history of the island was super interesting and made me want to spend more time there. It had an awesome culture that kept me wanting more. And of course the culture was paired with beautiful landscapes. 

The Goldie Estate included a wine pairing and a small lunch plate with meats and cheeses. During our lunch, our guide left to give us some space and enjoy ourselves. We spent some more time getting to know Steve and Casey and the more I got to know them, the more I liked them.

Once some rapport was established, I gave them the cliff notes of my story and they were eager to cheers my world tour. I replied by cheers’ing new beginnings. They shared my desire to leave 2024 in the past and start fresh in 2025. I didn’t pry but Steve told me that he was in a wheel chair for four months after a horrible skiing accident that left him with two broken ankles/legs. His skiing days are over.  

I hope my travels include meeting more interesting people like Steve and Casey. I really enjoy hearing about their experiences and their perspectives. We’ve all had battles that we have faced or are still facing. Casey was recently diagnosed with celiacs disease. I had a friend with celiacs in college and knew the disease was often sparked by trauma. I asked if that was true in her case.

When Casey was talking to her doctor, he also asked if she had been through any traumatic experiences and she said no. He responded by asking “You don’t think that being a nurse in NYC during covid was stressful?”

Casey’s COVID experience was exceedingly harsh. But she didn’t seem bitter about it. I imagine that might be common for nurses. They choose to devote a large portion of their life to taking care of others. I have always had respect for nurses but I didn’t realize the impact they have on patients until I was a patient who needed a huge amount of support when I was going through one of the most difficult times of my life.

Steve has an aunt and a grandmother confined to wheelchairs. He talked about seeing people struggling and thinking you understand that struggle until you start to live it and realize that you had no idea what it was really like. Steve correctly assumed that my experience was similar. You don’t really understand a struggle until you’ve lived it. And I hope no one experiences the struggles that I have. But I’m happy to use my struggle to live a life that was completely unavailable to me in my old life. And I’m even happier to use my struggle to help others when I can.

Towards the end of my discussion with Steve I told him a summary I’ve been telling myself for a while. “So I basically sold my face… I didn’t want to sell it… but at least I got a good price.” I like this framing because it’s true but also has a hint of dark humor which lightens the negativity.

Another framing I shared with Steve is that a terrible thing happened to me, but it happened in the best possible way. It happened at work which is far better than it happening outside of work. The truck that hit me was part of a large corporation that had good insurance. It happened in a blue state where the laws protect victims and not corporations. I found an incredible attorney, Michael Carter, who made sure that I was taken care of. My attorney introduced me to an incredible plastic surgeon, Dr David Teplica. There are a lot of silver linings in that dark cloud shaped like a semi-truck.

During our time at The Goldie Estate, I took some photos for Steve and Casey. Casey joked that I needed to teach Steve a few things about photography. She also returned the favor and took a few photos of me and Paul.

At the end of the tour I asked our guide Debbi if she knew where an ATM was so I could give her a tip. She told me it wasn’t necessary and wasn’t part of their culture but I wanted to show my appreciation the way people in my culture show appreciation. I told her that Americans have a bad reputation on the global stage so I try to make an effort to show people that we aren’t all bad. She correctly assumed this was in relation to Trump and told me the only American she had a bad experience with showed up in a MAGA hat and was rude the entire time. She added that his wife was very submissive and I could tell that Debbi didn’t like that as a strong woman. Maybe she was playing to her audience a bit, but it sounds like a true story to me.

After getting back to Auckland me and Paul had a cocktail near the port and then searched for a nice restaurant. We found one and ate quite well. Then it was back to the hotel for Paul’s first espresso martini. He’s a fan. I worked on my journal before heading to bed. It was a long day and we were both feeling pretty good/drunk by bedtime. 

At the end the night Paul told me that he’s happy to see me after ten-plus years and see that I’m still the same person. He wasn’t sure what to expect after hearing about the severity of my accident. He added that I’m showing resilience and refusing to think of myself as broken. Actually a lot of this was mumbled when he was brushing his teeth but that was the gist.