Weekends

We have been having such an amazing time here. We both just can't wait for the weekend so we can explore and enjoy our home. This past weekend was particularly wonderful. We started it out right by slipping on our wetsuits and walking across the street to our little beach. Tobi desperately wanted to come so we buckled her little life jacket and let her tag along for comic relief. It was a clear sunny day with no wind. We walked right into the water and snorkeled around the rocky shores. At first Tobi freaked out a bit. She refused to walk out on the rocks. So I got out and walked down to a spot that had a more gradual shoreline so that she could kind of wade out if she wanted. Morgan snorkeled over to meet us. I hopped in and put my face in the water to see what was going on down there. And... it was beautiful. There were amazing little kelp forests swaying back and forth with tiny hawk fish and groupers scurrying around. What looked to be a bulb of kelp swam toward me in a zig zag pattern until I scooped it up to have a closer look. I am still not sure what it was. But it had legs and went limp when I took it out of the water. I put it back in and it went on its way. Minature starfish were everywhere, decorating the rocks like someone placed them there because they thought it would be cute. At the most it was maybe ten feet deep. It would be very shallow and thick with sea weed and kelp. Then I would come into a small clearing that was deep. Sometimes it was filled with round river looking rocks. Other times, rigged volcanic looking rocks covered in iridescent sand crabs and sea snails would be there. It was so relaxing. With my wetsuit I just floated like an otter as happy as can be. I convinced Tobi to swim out to me. To my surprise she did, about 20 feet or so. She got scared and climbed up on my back while I swam. I was laughing so hard. We swam over to some rocks and I left her there as I snorkeled near by. Could you just imagine an English Bulldog wearing a life jacket and sitting on rocks 20 feet off shore? Unfortunately that was when my camera stopped working. Then we all walked home and rinsed off. Its so nice to live so close so we don't have to worry about peeling off our wetsuits in a parking lot and getting them all sandy.
Later we took rocks out of the pond in our backyard that was filled in a few years back, and built up a vegetable planter. I went to Roller Derby practice for the first time that afternoon. Its good to be involved in it down here. All of the girls are totally nice and personable. Then I came home and we had Sarsaparilla and Ice cream floats,(since you cant get root beer here).
Today we went to church in the morning. I haven't found a church that I felt comfortable in for years. But this one is really nice. People are very casual, a little shy, and as they say, "non threatening." It was really nice of Morgan to come with me since I always feel a little like a target when I go to church by myself, getting bombarded with introductions and lots of questions. Anyway...
Then we stopped over at the farmers market to pick up some venison salami as well as gooseberry and brandy jam. At home we finished up the planter and the pond.Next week we hope to get some fish for it.
Now as the sun goes down, the chickens and the duck are wandering back to their little coop after a few hours of grazing, and Morgan and I are making home made garlic and cheese bread. Yum.
p.s. We finally got our Kitty back (eight days late). She was held in quarantine longer because the Ministry of Agriculture thought her anemia could be masking some weird, contagious disease. But of course she didn't. Anyway, after all that she is home and happy. The medication she is on is working and she has gained a lot of vigor. This morning she brought in a cicada that she had caught. The beetle clicked so loud that it woke Morgan. Nina has never been much of a hunter so it is good to see her actually catching things.

Good Things

Its been about two weeks since we moved in our new house. During that time we haven't had Internet. This has actually been quite nice. Ive been forced to slow down, read a book, paint, garden. I planted tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, and succulents in our garden. It has been wonderful. Our back yard is long and lush. It stretches way back to the foot of a mountain. Then it climbs up abandoned terraces that someone made and never maintained. There once was a fish pond that got its water from a natural spring. It is filled in with boulders now. But I am contemplating replacing them with fish. I have been reading a New Zealand History book, which has been so interesting. I often fall under the trap of thinking that all Polynesians are very similar when it comes to culture and history. But this is actually very untrue.
We went on an awesome hike on Valentines day. It was the Tongariro Crossing. We went up and down through wetlands, desert, brand new rocky earth, into a grassland, and then down into a rain forest. The hike was about 19km. But we added an extra three hours because we wanted to climb a volcano. This was the volcano that they used as Mt Doom in The Lord of the Rings. It was pretty ridiculous how steep it was. There weren't any real trails. You just walk and crawl up to the top the best you can. When you get to the top, it just stops and you are standing on a cliff looking into the crater of the volcano. It is amazing. Coming down is a lot of fun. You just have to book it without falling on your behind, which I did several times. Continuing on, we came across several bright blue and green pools. They were milky from all of the minerals. There was also a stream that flowed a creamy white. And steam vents were everywhere. Stinky. It was great.
We got Tobi from quarantine, but are waiting for our cat Nina to be released. The department of agriculture and forestry made a big deal over the fact that she was anemic. So they sent some blood tests to the UK and are awaiting their results before she can be released. When we get her, we will really feel at home.
There has been a lot of surf. But since we just got our car, and just got settled, we haven't gone yet. I am a little disappointed in myself for this. But, there will be more surf. Right now it is very windy.The ocean it moving fast and I can see the ferry and cruise ships going back and forth between the North Island and the South island from our living room window.
This weekend we are going to build a chicken coop and hopefully get chickens... I cant wait.

Observations

Something that I really love about the house that we are going to live in is that it isn't even part of town. The closest one is Miramar, where both mine and Morgan's jobs are. After work today I did a little bit of exploring there. Its a nice change from down town Wellington where our hotel is located. Its small and has beachy feeling. The houses are almost all made with wood siding and have sun rooms on their front porches. People have Victory Gardens right in their front yards, not because its trendy, but because its economical and rewarding. Most homes do not have electric dryers. Rather, they hang their clothes outside to be dried by the wind bright sun. When we moved here I was a little sad because I had to dismantle my succulent garden and give away all my plants that had grown from little clippings that I found around our old Berkeley neighborhood. I was so happy to find that people fancy succulents here, just like back home. So it will be a new adventure, hunting around for new succulent starters to plant all over the front and back yard of our new house. Rose bushes and citrus trees decorate the quiet, wide road neighborhoods. Seagulls are ever present, just like in California. But they are miniature and even a little bit cute. Their cry is a higher pitch and a little more comical. Miramar has no high apartment buildings like where we are staying now. Its just a little town with one main grocery store, and lots of second hand shops. I like it very much.
There are some funny little differences between New Zealand and the states. Claritin, my allergy medicine of choice, is spelled with a Y. Things are quite a bit more expensive. But when you factor in quality, the cost of importation, and the fact that tip and taxes are included, things seem a little more reasonable. If you go to order a milkshake, you will get flavored milk. If you ask for a thick shake, you will get flavored milk with a glucose thickener in it. Pies are generally made of meat, not fruit. And the drinking age is 18. So at times, down town Wellington feels like prom night.
I can't wait to move into our little house and begin painting, taking walks on the beach with Tobi, and collecting shells.

A fun weekend and playgrounds

I bet when you hear people talking about New Zealand, someone says something like, "It's like California in the 1950s." In many ways this is very true. For one thing, there aren't many lawsuits. As a friend of ours said last night, "No one is liable for anything here!" This to me is kind of neat. In the area of children, this place is definitely caught in a time warp. First of all, I just got a job teaching swim lessons. I'm so grateful to have found a job so quickly because I love to work. It equates a large degree of my self worth. Last Saturday was my first day of training. After the session was over, the main thing that my boss told me was that I needed to not be afraid to actually touch the children and physically manipulate them so that they swim correctly. She said she knew that in the states you cant do that. But here its no big deal. In addition to this, all of the little kids were very independent. I tried to help them float on their backs, or hold their kick boards for them. And every time I did, they would snap at me and say, "I want to do it myself!" On my way out to the parking lot, I saw a stone wall about 12feet high made out of what looked to be cinder block turned on their sides. Out of the wall grew large trees that were cut into stumps. This little boy, no more than four years old had climbed the wall and was standing out on the edge of one of these stumps and was calling for his mom. His mom was busy, rustling through her car, paying no attention to him. But after a little while she looked up at him and in a very enoyed tone told him to get down. If this little boy had climbed this wall in the states, the mom would be freaking out, the boy would be crying, and one of the neighbors might have called CPS. But...this is New Zealand.
Last weekend we went to visit the animals. It was good to see them again. Our cat has been pretty sick with anemia and we have been worried her, especially because she is in quarantine. But she looked great. She was rolling around, pouncing, and biting. Tobi was really happy to see us. All she wanted was to be hugged. She isn't a normal dog in that way. She much prefers a big squeeze to a good scratch. Then we drove around until we found a beach and a place to camp. Along the way, we stumbled upon some of the most awesome playgrounds. They usually have a skate park, a GIANT slide, a zip line that goes forever, and lots of stuff to climb on. When you go to these playgrounds, there are almost no adults. The little kids just hop on their bikes after being kicked out of the house, and run around like crazy people. I bet you New Zealand has a lower percentage of kids with ADHD. They are usually barefoot, and usually screaming. Its so awesome to see. Anyway, here is a little video from a few of the playgrounds that we found. We also found a great camping spot right up the way from the beach. We walked through a little wetland to get to it. Along the way we saw Maori tromping through the shallow water in the moonlight looking for eels to spear.

Photos to Go With The Rest

We're There

We arrived three days ago to Wellington New Zealand and are adjusting very easily. Morgan actually knows quite a few people at the company he is working at now. It is called Weta Digital, most of you already know. Its kind of weird. Wellington loves Weta because it has really boosted their economy after the Lord of the Rings, and now Avatar. So we feel a little special walking around at times. The lady that has been working with us to get us a house and all transitioned is named Marilyn. I will have to attach a picture later because she is so awesome. She's super hyper, super funny, and extremely efficient. When we first arrived we told her we had a dog and a cat. This concerned her a bit because even though a lot of people have dogs in New Zealand, not very many people like to rent their houses to people who have them. So she got on the phone with a few people and set up some appointments for us to go look at some places. We spent the first day napping, walking around, and hanging out in the hotel hot tub.
Yesterday we got up early and walked along the water for a while. Its a little strange because everyone seems to be outdoorsy. There are skate parks, public swimming pools, people swim in the bay, they jog, run, sail, and everything else. People do it in California I know, but not like they do it here. Its pretty inspiring actually. Then we went Weta to get a little orientation. They mostly tried to explain to us how the taxes work. We still have no idea. So they suggested we get an accountant. Sounds good to me. Then we went to set up a bank account, and looked at houses. We thought it might take a while. We got some advice from Morgan's friends. They suggested that we be picky and make sure we get the right one. That wasn't too hard. We fell in love with the first one we saw. You go over this hill and through a little tunnel, and all of the sudden you are out in the middle of nowhere, along a rocky coastline. As we drove along, we slowly slowed down. My heart skipped a little. I thought to myself, no way. This couldn't be it. Its too beautiful, too lovely. But as it turned out, it was. Its right across the street from the beach. There is one long strip of houses along the coastline, and no houses behind it. It bumps right up to the hillside. Its a simple little house with huge front windows and a little window seat in the living room. Its gets so much sun and has hard wood floors. There are two bedrooms, a garage, and a little studio out back. The yard is big and long and protected by lush, jungle foliage. We walked along the beach and found sea shells everywhere. Aloe and other succulents grew right on the beach in the rocks. And the back yard had plenty of little succulents everywhere. Wow...God loves us.
We went to look at another house, but it just didn't cut it for us. After two, we didn't want to see any more. So we went home and went for a little walk to Victoria University of Wellington. It is straight up in the hills from Wellington City. There are paths that cut up through the Forrest that pedestrians can take to get there instead of taking the road. When we finally got up to the school we walked along for a while and stumbled upon a graveyard from the 1880's, located right behind the History Department. It was beautiful, filled with mysterious old stone graves that had shifted around and cracked from earthquakes and erosion. It was on a hillside that overlooked all of Wellington. It was so eerie, but wonderful at the same time.
The next day, (today) we met with the Landlord and shook on the house. We should be moving in on the 9th of February. I also went with a friend to see Tobi and Nina, our cat and dog. I was really nervous that they would be mad at me, or over me for sticking them in quarantine. It was about an hour drive through mountains, green pastures, and pine forests. It looks a lot like Washington, or the West Coast of Canada. Of course there were sheep everywhere. We finally got there and I got to see my little animals. They were so, so happy to see me. Tobi jumped around, doing her little dance, and Nina rattled her tail and rolled around on the floor with excitement. It was so nice to see that they were doing ok. They only have two and a half weeks to go. I cant wait to take them home and play on the beach with both of them. Oh, I almost forgot, there are penguin crossing signs right by our house! I cant wait to see them.
So all is well in Wellington. So far I love it. Since Morgan and I lived in the Bay Area and there are so many people from other countries there, it doesn't feel weird. Wellington is actually filled with a huge mix of cultures and people. I have had no difficulty with culture or accents yet. The driving is a little nerve racking, just a little bit. More than anything it feels like you are playing a driving video game. And I don't know what else. Here is link on google maps to our new place.
Link:

New Zealand!

Almost a month ago Morgan got an email from Weta Digital, an animation company in New Zealand. They were interested in interviewing him. The following Sunday he got a phone interview. A few days later, he got a job! Now we are on our way to New Zealand. When we first heard from Weta, we were a Little reluctant. Morgan applied to the company almost nine months ago. Since then, I had been accepted to graduate school at USF, we were looking to get a tortoise, and we we're looking for a little house with a big back yard so we could have a garden and chickens. All along Morgan said it wasn't a matter of if he would get the job, it was a matter of when. So... our tentative date is January 23rd. The deciding factor was if our animals could go. When we first decided we wanted to go several months ago, we started the import process for them. You need to start the testing and vaccination for animals at least six months in advanced. Because we had already prepared them to go several months ago, all of their labs and blood work are up to date and they only have about three weeks before all of it would expire and they would have to start the entire process over. We had to hire a pet courier company which seemed pretty pricey. But the truth is, they were worth every penny. With only three weeks to go, they managed to get it all worked out with the USDA and MAF and get an import permit for them. As of now, they are flying out on Friday, two weeks before us. So its really important that we get our visas in time so that we get there and find a house before they get out of quarantine. So, now I am just getting rid of stuff, cleaning, and getting ready to get the heck out of here.
Here are a few things that I love about New Zealand:
1.There is no nuclear anything
2.There is no genetically modified food
3.The guy that first climbed Mount Everest is on their five dollar bill
4.It is the norm to walk your dog without a leash
5.The country decided MTV was trash so they got rid of it
6.Almost every house has a gorgeous view