More Magic from New Zealand

I recently visited my daughter in New Zealand where she is living for a year! My son and I took off for a ten-day adventure to see one of the most magical lands in the world.

You could see and feel the magic as we landed. The runway was near a beach, so the first thing we saw was beautiful water and green grass.

My daughter picked us up from the airport and our adventure began! It was so good to see her, it had been five months since she left.

I’m not going to lie; it was a bit unnerving having her drive us all over on the wrong side of the road, through countless two-lane roundabouts at high speeds. Just kidding, she wasn’t driving any faster than anyone else.

Day two, I took the back seat for the rest of the trip and let my son have the front seat. He seemed to like it there and I couldn’t see as well from the back seat, so all was good.

We saw many beautiful beaches, mountains, went snorkeling, went to a cave to see glow worms, Rotorua to see redwoods and Hell’s Gate which is an active geothermal reserve and mud spa, (warning: do not wear your favorite swim suit or wash said swim suit with other clothes unless you like a strong sulfur smell that does not go away!), to the Auckland Museum and watched a Maori Cultural Performance which was breathtaking, ate lots of good food, and met wonderful people.

One of my favorite memories from New Zealand was when we had a flat tire. Sounds like a strange thing for a favorite memory, right? Stay with me.

We were heading toward home after a long day of exploring. As we got in the car, my son noticed that the front left tire was low and suggested that we stop and get air. No worries, except that it’s a long distance between service stations.

I did my part which was to ask my dad (who is in Spirit) and Archangel Michael to keep us from having a flat tire. I was sure we’d be fine. My daughter, on the other hand, was getting nervous. It wasn’t her car and she worried that she might ruin the tire.

Finally, we got to an exit that had service, only problem is that they didn’t have an air machine.

Back on the motorway and another stop where the air machine was broken. I’ve always heard third time’s a charm, and just as I was losing hope and my daughter was about to lose her self, we found a service station with an air machine. There were two cars in front of us to get air and finally when we got our turn, we all breathed a sigh of relief.

My son got out and started pumping air into the tire. Suddenly instead of inflating, the tire deflated completely because a piece broke and let all the air out. My daughter started freaking out a little, I couldn’t believe we made it that far only to have a flat tire, and my son went into hulk mode and started changing the tire.

I was grateful that we had a safe place to change the tire and it hadn’t gone flat along the roadside and was a little disappointed that my dad and AA Michael didn’t come through for us.

I told my daughter to find a tire repair shop close, so we didn’t have to drive far on the small spare tire. She wasn’t having much luck because it was 6 pm and many places were closed. I was trying to help my son, the jack wasn’t working very well, my daughter was getting more upset by the minute, and our perfect day was turning into a frustrating show of emotions. My daughter was almost in tears, my son was frustrated with her and the situation with the jack, not to mention laying on the ground on hot asphalt, get the picture?

My daughter was giving up and I said, “LOOK AGAIN!”

In a few seconds, she found a place that was open and only fifteen minutes from us. Yay! So, we headed for the tire shop. It was all going to work out, but why did we have to have that flat tire and all the frustration when I asked for help?

We pulled up to the tire shop which had four bays that all had cars up on lifts, and a cheerful man walked out and greeted us like he was waiting for us. Somehow, he knew we weren’t from New Zealand…

He stopped what he was doing, put the tire on the machine, started to take the spare off, and looking at the tire said, “I know why the tire was losing air. Look at the steel belts showing through, you’re lucky you weren’t stranded on the side of the road or worse yet, had a blow out while you were on the motorway.”

He had a new tire at a good price. He put the tire on, and we were on our way within fifteen minutes.
As soon as he said we could have had a blowout, I realized that we were protected and taken care of, just not like I thought.

Having a flat tire most likely kept us from bigger problems down the road.

There is a higher prospective that we can’t always see. Our human self can’t know all the possibilities.

I know that if we trust and are open to things coming in a way that we don’t expect, the Universe brings us what we need, and always in ways we couldn’t predict.

I wanted air in the tire, the Universe wanted us to have a new tire.

I am grateful beyond words for the experiences in my life that show me I am not alone.

One thing I know for sure is that no matter where I am, I am Divinely protected.

When we change the world changes.