Overnight Cruise!!

Let's be real. I wasn't really sure how to feel about this weekend. We had a really hard week of  classes, and my brain was dead and I knew we were going to be in the sun a lot and I was going to get sick on the cruise and basically....I was being a butt head. Nobody else knew that all these thoughts were going on in my head, but they were definitely lurking.

BUT. Turns out, it was one of the best weekends of the trip so far! Classic.

First we stayed in a Hostile in the Bay of Islands near the Waitangi Treaty grounds. For those of you who don't know New Zealand history like I do...It's the place where the British and Maori chiefs signed a treaty saying the Crown would have authority over New Zealand, but the Maori's would still have some input and a place in government. There is a lot of controversy over the treaty, because some people think the British cheated the Maori's in a lot of different ways. But the way I see it is...at least the English treated the natives in a civilized way opposed to the way it went down in America. Okay I'm done. It was cool to see all the places we've been talking about in our Area Study class.

Alright, fun part. The next morning we woke up and met some legit Anglican deacon, Patricia, who is over 80 years old and has been following Jesus full heartedly all her life. She talked to us all about how the gospel was first brought to New Zealand and the progress it has made up until now, and her part in it. She is a baller and hardcore servant for the Lord.

Then we actually hiked to the place where the gospel was first proclaimed, the beach where the ship landed with the missionaries, and the hill where the Maori village was located that first heard the gospel and protected the missionaries. It was neat. That turned into a beach day, but I was super exhausted so I found a shady place in the rocks and fell asleep in like five seconds. It was the best nap ever. Then I woke up and found chocolate in my purse and almost died from happiness. (That's for you Sarah Price Wright). Then we headed back to the city part to meet up with our cruise boat! When we first saw it we were like wow, that is not the most impressive boat. But then we met the crew and we knew it was going to be an amazing night.

We started out the cruise with a quick tour of the boat...it was a short tour. The whole bottom deck was a hang out space with a bar in the middle, couches around the sides, a pool table, piano with lots of different instruments, and most importantly the two bathrooms. Yes, they were in the center of everything we did, that was great, I loved it. There were about six rooms upstairs with six beds in each room, we were nice and snug.

Next, the crew set up a competition for all the passengers, the twenty of us plus 10 randos. They hooked up a plastic duck named Matilda to the back of the boat and we each had three shots with a paintball gun to hit her. It was actually really hard because of the waves and inaccuracy of the gun...those are my excuses for not hitting her once. The winner got a free chocolate bar so I was really bummed and jealous. Then we all went fishing off the side of the boat, didn't catch anything impressive, most of the fish were tiny but pretty. I almost killed the one I caught because I squeezed it to death. Oops.

Then we ate a really great steak and potato dinner all together on a looonnggg table, it felt like Thanksgiving. After that we separated into groups and went night kayaking near one of the islands with a special algae that made the water light up with phosphorescent lights. So while we paddled the water would start sparkling, it was like a Disney movie, I felt like Pocahontas creating magic in the water. haha yes I just said that. The stars were crazy beautiful that night too so Katie and I just laid in our kayaks for a while singing love songs to Jesus and thanking Him for where He had us that night. It was getting pretty late, but some people jumped in the water when we got back because the water would light up whenever you moved, but I was freezing so I chilled by the fire.
Around eight the next morning some of us jumped in for a morning swim, and it was FREEZING but it made my coffee taste better. After breakfast we all geared up and went snorkeling together around another island. That was pretty unreal. We were supposed to catch sea urchins to eat later, but there was no way I was grabbing one of those things. But I did eat them :)
Last stop was at a beautiful beach where we got to take a hike and see most of the bay of islands again. It was incredibly beautiful. After we spent some time on the beach again, Travis, Blake and I decided to swim allllll the way back to the cruise boat instead of riding back...and at the time, it was the worst decision I could have ever made. I'm not a good swimmer, I thought I was going to drown, I'm scared of sharks and anything in the water, and I was already exhausted from the weekend. BUT, I did make it, and the water felt amazing. It was a small but rewarding accomplishment. Then we ate lunch together on the boat while we hung off the side soaking up the last bits of sunshine. To finish off the wonderful trip, we saw dolphins. So no big deal.
We all walked off the dock agreeing that this weekend was all of ours favorite part of the trip so far. Not only did we get to do a ton of fun things on the cruise, but the crew was absolutely incredible. They were really good at making everyone get involved, and so upbeat and hilarious.
So what I thought was not going to be a fun weekend, turned out to be my favorite. Figures.