The Port Hills-Late Winter Hikes

We've been a bit behind on our posts, but here's some more New Zealand loveliness. These hills are about 7 minutes from our new house and there's miles of hiking trails to choose from...

Home sweet home

We have a place to live!

A vintage 1950's-early 60's grandma house! Our new abode is fully furnished (appliances, furniture, even dishes!) which will be a tremendous help to us since we have come to NZ with very, very little. We are the first to rent this humble abode. It was previously owned by an elderly couple who took immaculate care of the place and though it is "dated", we like to think of it as "retro". There is a nice conservatory in the back and a plot for a veggie garden. The garage will hopefully serve Mike's studio needs. Miss M's future school is just 2 blocks away and I will have an easy, flat bike ride to work.

We move in at the end of the month.

This about sums it up....

Siblings on a boat

Baking gone wild

This was my first attempt at baking in the southern hemisphere, the very easy chocolate chip cookie, but alas, something went terribly wrong. They taste alright but man, gonna have to tweak the recipe a bit.

First day of work and a query

First day of work today. My head is still spinning with the names of all of my new colleagues and the new information that I am required to stuff into my brain (which has suffered since having children...mommy brain anyone?). Learning about "registrars" (residents), "lead maternity carers" (midwives who provide prenatal and postpartum care to women and families), and the ins and outs of a Baby Friendly Hospital. Have I mentioned that this is the perfect job for me? I know there will be challenges, as there are with any job, but this is really, truly a great opportunity for me.

My new colleagues held a mid-morning "tea" for me which was lovely. I met many of the midwives and found that about half of them were from the UK. Somehow, we started talking politics (maybe I brought it up! Go figure!) and this led to a discussion about the current debate in the US around universal health care. One of my colleagues just bluntly asked "Why would anyone be against universal health care?" While I wanted to unleash my wrath on the no-good Republicans (I just typed "Repuke-likans" on accident! Maybe this term will catch on!), I restrained myself and then thanked my lucky stars that I get to experience working in a health care system that provides universal health care. Hip hip hooray!

My brush with fame...

Well, not really. But I swear, the skipper on the cruise in Akaroa looked like Neil Finn. As many of you know, I am a huge Crowded House/Neil Finn fan and I could have sworn that he was Neil's long lost other brother. Alas, I googled and found no such brother. Ah well. He invited Miss M and I up into the cabin for the end of the cruise and we had a grand time.

And here is a little video of the Hector's dolphins, the world's smallest species of dolphin only found in New Zealand.

Dolphins and Penguins and Seals, oh my!

A few pictures from our trip to Akaroa.

Hanging out in the backyard on a sunny day

A Day Up In the Hills of Christchurch 2

Just because they are so damn cute......

A Day Up In the Hills of Christchurch

So today was a good day as you will see from our pictures. It's late winter, very early spring here in Christchurch so we were pleasantly surprised to have a warm, windless 18 degrees Celsius day. A perfect day to take the gondola up to the hills just southeast of town about 8 kilometers. It's a quick ten minute drive up the gondola and the views let you truly soak in your surroundings. The outdoor living will be easy....
We also saw a nice house today out in Bryndwyr. Smaller, cheapish and very sweet and cozy. We put in our application and now we wait to see if the landlord takes a shine to us. She is a nurse so we have that going for us...which is nice (movie reference anyone?). To cap it off we also did some window shopping for some bikes and found the store where we will be purchasing ours. John Bull Avanti Plus is the place to go in Christchurch in our estimation! Super friendly and the always appealing good deal. Enjoy the pics and once again stay tuned. As an added clue to the internal movie reference remember this line: "A big hitter the lama.."

New Zealand's housing crisis

Not the kind revolving around sub-prime mortgages. Or failed banks or greedy people trying to have more house than they can afford.

To put it quite frankly, the housing here kinda sucks. If you visit any ex-pat forum/blog on the web, this is one of those topics that is always talked about by those coming from the UK, Canada and the US. As mentioned in a previous post, there is no central heating in most homes. Wood burners are common (though recently banned here in Christchurch) and while many are being replaced with a heat pump, the pump is normally only found in the lounge of the home. The rest of the house is heated room by room with either portable heaters or electric heaters of some kind. Most homes also have no insulation and single glazed windows. And remember that Christchurch is roughly the same latitude of Salem, Oregon but just in the Southern hemisphere. Which means similar weather to Salem. Which means cold and rain in the winter. Which means a frickin cold house.

So, all in all, housing standards, up until recent times, have been fairly abysmal. New construction has to meet more stringent standards but let's face it folks, we are not in the price range for renting a newer home.

Thus far, our search for a rental ain't lookin so pretty. Yesterday, we viewed one home that was at the top of our price range. It was in a "nice" neighborhood and had a nice yard that backed up onto a public primary school (since Miss M will start kindy in December) which was sweet. But the house itself? Oy vey. What a dungeon. It was run down and dreary inside. Mike and I both thought it would be the perfect house to buy and fix up but for a rental? No thanks.

We tootled around the city and found some other neighborhoods that we liked, especially Merivale, which is very close to the central business district. We did view the outside of a few townhouses and houses there and in some other key neighborhoods but overall, we were underwhelmed and left feeling a little depressed. Mind you, we know we are going to be renting and so we must lower our expectations but there are a whole lot of dives out there and it is no fun to have to wade through them.

Last night, Mike and I perused "TradeMe", NZ's version of Craigslist mixed with a little "Ebay", and got even more depressed. So we started looking at the burbs that are considered "really far away" and we started to feel a little better. So, this morning, off we went to explore the suburbs along the coast. New Brighton, Sumner, Red Cliffs, Lyttleton- now you are talking! We had a little more luck in finding some possible places (including one right on the beach) but these areas would mean a commute by car (and not by bike which is my preference) and with gas at $1.65/liter, that is probably not such a good idea for our tight budget.

So, we will keep searching, probably a little closer to the city center but farther out than we originally planned (and still bikable). Late this afternoon, we found one that looks pretty good. We drove by it tonight and will take a look at the inside tomorrow. Again, wish us luck and some good sense to find the right place.

Getting to know you....

Our first official day in Christchurch and it was very cold but beautifully sunny. On our recent road trip from Auckland to Christchurch, whenever we talked to anyone long enough for them to find out that we were actually moving to NZ to live and work, we would tell them we would be settling in Christchurch. The most common response was then "Oh! That's nice! It is cold down there! Why do you want to go there?" And add to this cold climate a severe lack of central heating and insulation in most homes in NZ, and, well then, yes, we are indeed finding that it is cold. This isn't too much of a shock to our system hailing from the Pacific Northwest where we get those wet, cold, bone chilling days throughout the winter and coming from Portland where we lived in a drafty, old, uninsulated house. But, along with all of the other changes, I imagine it will take some getting used to.

I hung my first load of laundry out to dry today with quite a bit of skepticism. You see, another NZ quirky thing is that they don't generally use dryers. I have been dreading doing laundry sans a dryer but you know what? It was actually okay. Early in the day, I hung the clothes out on the line and on a drying rack which I placed on the patio and by late afternoon, most pieces were dry. Mike even commented on how he liked the whole ritual of taking the laundry off the line and bringing it inside. This bodes well for me as he will be the house husband for the foreseeable future. I have to say, though, that I remain skeptical about this "no dryer" thing, especially when it will be raining here and bitter cold in the dead of winter. My skepticism is also fueled by the massive amounts of laundry that we do in our household. Oh, and the fact that laundry is just about the worst chore on the planet for me. So more on this later as we adjust to life here in NZ.

Today we spent a long day walking around the central business district of Christchurch, not far from our new "home". We also walked a route to the hospital where I will be working come September 14:


The new hospital sits in Hagley park, an iconic place in Christchurch. The daffodils are in full bloom, the punters on the River Avon were out with their passengers and many people were out for a stroll, enjoying the sunshine. Not a bad location to my estimation. Evidently, I share an office that looks out over the park.


Not far from the park, we strolled through a small farmer's market and bought some lovely bread and veggies ("veg" to the locals here). A nice relaxing day of getting to know our new home in New Zealand.

And some more.....

So we are here safely in Christchurch and had an amazingly beautiful drive down from Nelson. Here's a few pics to keep you company.....

Miss M says.....

Today we are at the coffee shop. I miss my friends. I miss my best friend Grace. We are driving to Christchurch today. I miss Rowan too. I miss Isha and Ian. Bye bye.

La-la land

While we are in the midst of the biggest move of our lives, we are also currently on a vacation of sorts. And being on vacation is a bit like being in la-la land isn’t it? The money just passes though your fingers like sand through a sieve and you forget that you have to work, do laundry, or take the trash out. This vacation definitely has a slightly different bent though. There is much more information to absorb since we will be living here for the next few years. I have been studying the people and my interactions with them, I linger in the grocery store a little longer to figure out what kinds of foods are available and I compare prices with the States. I notice how people and things are much less flashy here and much more practical.

Overall, I feel like we will fit in well here. People are polite, friendly, laid back and they seem happier than your average American. They are not hurried or impatient. The scenery is gorgeous. It is just much quieter and peaceful here and it is wonderful to know that sheep far out number people, especially on the South Island.

There are definitely quirky things from my American perspective. For example, can you tell me why, if you are making a left turn you are required by law to yield to a driver who is turning right across your line of traffic? The peculiar law requires that you must give way to all traffic crossing or coming from your right. So weird. Mike and I had completely forgotten about this odd traffic rule until today when I managed to royally piss some guy off when I did not yield to him as both he and I were turning. My inner Spock finds no logic in this.

And a few other notable differences:

• eggs that have yolks the color of the sun. And they are not kept in the refrigerated section of the grocery store but are on a shelf near the cereal boxes. And they don’t even have to be “free range” or organic to look and taste far better than American store bought eggs. Heaven!
• Dairy products that taste fabulous. The yogurt here beats anything I have had in the States.
• No high fructose corn syrup or corn syrup in anything so far. This is a miracle of God.
• Commercial produce that tastes like organic produce in the States. I have found a little organic produce and other organic products at stores but the commercial, produced -in-NZ produce is really tasty. There is a tremendous pride in NZ grown produce and NZ products.
• This is a very, very kid-friendly nation. There are play structures and baskets of toys in the most unusual places, including the dealership where we bought our car. People seem to love children here, rather than the usual “hmph” and glares that we receive regularly in the States. Having kids will be a huge asset for meeting people as we settle in Christchurch.
• Your average Joe knowing more about American politics than most Americans. Sad really, but so refreshing to have an intelligent discussion with folks who are interested in life beyond their own microcosm.
• The availability of fresh seafood. Being an island nation, there is an abundance of it. We had a lovely fish dinner tonight of freshly caught Hoki.
• Local wines a plenty. I sit here sipping a fabulous Sauvignon Blanc that was uber cheap.
• Bacon here rocks! It is more a cross between canadian bacon and American bacon. More meaty, less fat and oh so good.
• Walking down the street or down the grocery aisle is a bit confusing. Do we walk on the left side just like we drive on the left side or what? We are still figuring this one out.
  

Much, much more to come.....

Taupo to Welly

Our continuing journey down the North island took us along Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand, and to the Tongariro National Trout Centre where Mike drooooooled about the big, fat fish in the river just waiting to be hooked. Then we drove through Tongariro National Park where we had glimpses of Mt Ruapehu (Mordor and Mount Doom for all of you Lord of the Rings fans) and a clear view of Mt Tongariro and its conical sibling Ngauruhoe. When Mike and I were traveling in NZ in 2004, we waited outside the national park for two days, hoping for the weather to clear enough to do the Tongariro Crossing (add a link here) to no avail. So it was lovely to get to see the mountains at least. The crossing, which is a long, one day hike, is still on our list of things to do but not possible this time of year. A few more hours of driving and we arrived in Porirua, a lovely suburb of Wellington, where we met J, C and L who graciously welcomed our loud and chaotic family into their home.

Sunday was spent in Wellington with our hosts, visiting Cuba street and a hip cafe called “Fidel’s”, riding the famous cable car, playing at the park, stalking the tui (add link here) and visiting the Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. This has to be one of the best museums I have ever visited and it was FREE! We could have easily spent another couple of days there and if we lived in Welly, we would be regulars there. During our time in the museum, “Windy Welly” lived up to its name as a large storm front moved in and brought with it torrential rain and very strong winds which prompted Mr W to look outside and say “car wash!”. The winds howled all night long and we sweated a bit about our impending ferry crossing (they do cancel the ferry on occasion) but drove on to the ferry at about 10am for our trip over to the South Island.