most of the time i try to be one of those people that doesn't say "i told you so," but sometimes the desire to do so is so overwhelming that i just can't help it . . .

on thursday morning, robin and i left our caravan and lindsay and malcolm :( to drive back to auckland to meet jacob :). once we got to jacob, we got delicious thai lunch and hopped on a ferry to a nearby island where we were picked up in a dinghy by julian, a 23 year old german boat builder, and then were taken to a giant catamaran sailboat that sleeps nine people. three germans (friends of jacob's from his study abroad semester in NZ) and three americans all under the age of 24, none of whom had any real ties or remote ownership of this beautiful sailboat. WHAT?!

we sailed around the islands in the east coast auckland harbor for the evening, watched the sunset, made pasta in seawater and washed our dishes in the ocean (we ran out of freshwater in the sink). that night the unusually warm auckland ocean was filled with phosphorescence that was so bright and active that when i looked over the side of the boat, it was like the boat was floating on top of a nite-brite (remember those?!). sparkling stars in the sky and their midnight ocean equivalent - sparkling phosphorescence in the sea.

the next morning we woke up, made breakfast, drank tonic water to stay alive and sort-of hydrated, sunbathed and read all day. around lunch time julian anchored the boat to go diving THIRTY FEET to collect scallops for lunch. the absolute best and freshest seafood i could have ever wanted! no more than 15 minutes from the ocean to my plate. delicious!

that evening we sailed to a sandy beach, rode the dinghy to the shore, and walked the two blocks back to jacob's, took showers, and were introduced to his lovely host parents. good, good day. i couldn't ask for a better day.

i couldn't help thinking about an "i told you so" shout-out to my lovely parents, who, unlike me, are wise enough and old enough to be thinking ahead toward the future. but! no amount of debutante ball connections or interviews with old bosses or labored conversations about money could have gotten me on a fantastic sailboat for free with friends on a perfect auckland day. i am pleased and ever grateful when things like this work out when you don't even ask for them. perhaps it is naive, but why not assume that things like this will work out for the rest of my life? maybe things like this always happen and it only takes the consistent and grateful recognition of them for them to continue. thank you thank you thank you to that big starry - phosphorescence - mountain - ocean - water - fire - wind - life force that i so believe in.

all that being said, my family comes in 19 hours and i am SO SO SO EXCITED to see them and show them this place that is so easy to love.

cheers, to life!

love,
maggie