To my Telecom family, farewell and I love you all.

 
 To my Telecom family,  where do I begin, just over 9 months ago when I walked into that tiny little training room on the 2nd floor I had no idea what to expect. It was the beginning of something so foreign to me, a new job in a new country surrounded by new people made up of all different cultures. I don't think I have to tell you that as a country boy from Mississippi, it was a whole new experience for me, but from that fear and anxiety grew great admiration and respect and even better friendships! I honestly can not begin to tell you all how much you mean to me, most of us have made memories that I will never forget as long as I live! We have joked, laughed, and even cried together. You have all literally been my family over this past year, and I can not begin to list all the fun times we have had during working hours, while we should have been dialling and others outside of work. I also can not believe my time here is already come and gone, it feels like only yesterday Lindsey and I were back home packing and ready to set off on this new adventure in our lives, and now we find ourselves in that very same position. We have our eyes wide open and our arms stretched out ready to embrace the next chapter in our life, while we are not sure what the future holds for us, we are absolutely sure who holds our future. As we wait on that chapter to begin we can not help but sit and reflect on the ending of this amazing story in our life. As the time draws near for us to leave New Zealand, and for me to leave you all at Telecom I can't help but feel bitter sweet.

     To all of my TEAM LEADERS I would just like to say a special thank you for not firing me!! Lol! All of the help and support you have all given me over the past months has been amazing. You are truly deserving of every blessing life has to offer. To Luvy and Charan, "Momma and Papa" you two were there for me in the very beginning, way before I became a Telecom ROCC Star!!! I will never forget that last day of training when you two walked in to listen to our scenarios! I knew right then that Luvy was going to be trouble hahahaha....I Just never knew you would be this much trouble!!! Charan, what can I say man, you have been almost like a brother to me at times. I have so much respect for you man it is not even funny; I have no doubts with your determination and drive you will go far in life, but I must say,...buy 1 size bigger in the pants! Lol! I think you will feel better and I know all of us will!!! Hahahahaha! Just messing with you man! All of the TL's have been awesome, and very helpful. I really do just want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart!

   To my Provisioners, wow, I think that best describes some of the situations I have gotten myself into with you guys!, Pooja, you have been with me through training and stuck by me the entire journey here at Telecom. We have laughed more than I believe anyone else has at Telecom, along with Janet. You all are absolutely amazing and I know the sky is the limit for you all.

   To all of the Managers/ Campaign specialist and whom ever else sits over in that area next to the break room lol!!!, I would also like to thank you all as well. I know some/most of you probably do not know me, but I am the loud, slightly chunky, white American that has been hanging around for the past nine months with a big smile on my face. Working hard (sometimes!) and enjoying my self and everyone else (all the time).  You guys were always there for me if I ever had a question, concern, or idea! You all are truly the top, of a winning team.  It has been my honour and privilege to have the opportunity to work for such a wonderful company, amongst even better company! If it is true what they say about great teams starting from the top down, then ROCC will always be in great hands! Thank you all again for everything.

   In life there is nothing worse than something great coming to an end, wondering why people shift in and out of your world. Goodbyes never seem to work, so instead I will share a quote that my father shared with me just before he passed away "Never put a question mark, where God has placed a period". Thank you all again for everything I love you all with every inch of my heart!

Cheers,
Raymond (Ray) Triplett
Raytriplett25@gmail.com
Keep in touch!
 

Andare (v. to go; to travel)

Well, lots of great things have happened since I last updated all of you on our journey! Lindsey and I both took a long weekend trip to the Coromandel; we wanted to go check it out so we decided to do so before we leave. The weekend was very relaxing and allowed us to see many more beautiful natural sights that New Zealand’s North Island has to offer! Our favorite had to be Cathedral Cove, followed closely by Hot Water Beach! Both reminders of Gods ever present hand on this beautiful earth!

Cathedral Cove

Hot Water Beach

Cathedral Cove (my tripod works ha!)

  

Aboard the Endless Summer

I also started and since finished my long awaited sailing classes. The lessons were so much fun, and so informative! My instructor Penny Whiting was amazing; she is a great sailor and is one of the funniest people I have ever met! She actually lives half of the year in the states sailing huge yachts all over! I told her if she needed any help crewing on one just to let me know and I would be there! The weekend the classes started the Volvo Ocean Race came into Auckland! We were the finish line for the Fourth leg of the circumnavigation race! It was an amazing sight to see these huge racing yachts come in from their 20+ days at sea; the Groupama yacht won this leg of the journey. The Viaduct was full of activities all week and it was fun to ride in the racing simulator and watch the 3D movie of their life at sea! Lindsey and I also got to see all the boats start the 5th leg of the race with a 40 minute loop around the harbor then they headed on their way to Brazil.

Sanya

Volvo Yachts leaving the harbor

Other exciting news, this Saturday will be Lindsey's and my last day at work. That's right it has almost been a year since we moved here, so with time winding down we will be flying to the South Island this Sunday for a full on adventure! We will be joined by Lindsey's sister Megan and her husband Sean, as we all climb into a camper van for a week long road trip! And for those of you who know Lindsey and Megan I will give you a second to pick your jaws up off the floor!! Lindsey has recently seen a term called "glamping" which she says means glamorous camping! I have a feeling she is in for a rude awakening! We will be flying into Christchurch, then driving to Dunedin, then to Queenstown, and back to Christchurch. We will be back in Auckland for a few days before we pack up and start our journey home! We fly from Auckland to Sydney on April 7 and will be there for a week before we return home on April 15.

Dat ders an R.V. ( What we will really be doing)

What Lindsey thinks we will be doing hahaha!

That is just a quick recap of some of the things we have been up to over the past month and a few things that will be coming up! We are both so excited to see the South island and will be sure to update everyone as often as possible, but I am sure we will be without Internet for most of the trip so we will do our best!!!

Cultural Day!

Cultural day at work today, everyone dressed in authentic cultural attire and brought a dish that represented the culture of their land! Well, not sure what cultural dress would be for a boy from Mississippi, I just decided to wear jeans a plaid shirt and boots. I am sure you can see were I was going with this, all I lacked was my cowboy hat. Although I had a hard time trying to decide what to wear to represent my culture I had not problem thinking of something to cook! I introduced my team to peach cobbler, and they all loved it! Just a little taste of the south!

Time Flies By...

It's almost February...where did the time go! We cannot believe that we have already been here close to 10 months. I guess it's true, time does fly by when you are having fun! This experience has been wonderful and we have had an opportunity to learn so much. We have met some amazing people, not only from New Zealand, but from all around the world. We look forward to being able to visit them in their home countries at some point. I think trips to Egypt, France, India, Malaysia, Ireland, and England would be a blast!! 

The past few days in Auckland the weather has been amazing! Is this Summer finally? Ray and I were able to get in a few beach days before he went back to work from a month of holiday time. We have truly been blessed with opportunity here. Both able to find a job, whether in our fields or not, we have had experiences we will never forget. 

I know many of you are wondering what we will do next...so are we!! We passed up the chance to live here permanently in order to still be flexible and travel some more so I guess that's what we will do. We will be heading back to MS in mid April and are very excited about seeing family and friends. We are very overdue for a catchup. We miss home! 

Lots going on before we head home we have some visitors coming to NZ for a visit!! My sister and her husband will be here the end of March and we are so excited! We are flying to Christchurch and renting a Campervan...yes I said Campervan, and traveling around the South Island for 6 days. This should be quite an adventure! Of course we are all in planning mode and trying to determine what excursions we will get into. In Queenstown, referred to as "Adrenaline Capitol of the World", we hope to find ourselves doing things like white water rafting, jet boating, skydiving, canyon swinging, etc! Heaps to do so I know we will have a hard time deciding! 

When we return from our trip we will be packing and moving from New Zealand. This will be a very bittersweet time for us. We will be stopping for a visit in Australia for a few days which we are very excited about! We have never been out of the airport in Aussie so we are really looking forward to it. We will spend the first few days in Sydney as tourists. We then travel North to stay with our friends, Debbie and Steve. We will be there for Steve's birthday so it is going to be a fun celebration! We haven't seen them since Hawaii in June so we will enjoy catching up. 

Just wanted to bring you all up to speed! We have lots to see and do before we move! We of course are not going to be able to see it all...had to leave somethings for our return visits! 

I guess it's time for me to leave our balcony where I have been soaking up the sun for the past few hours and go cook dinner! 

Lindsey