New Zealand

A final recap...

2009-12-16T12:38:00.000-08:00

... so it has now been almost 20 months since Ann Marie and I returned from our adventures in New Zealand. As we're about to go back to celebrate my cousins' weddings, we felt the need to finally document the 2nd half of our time there from early 2008!!

Rather than spend tons of time describing everything, I've linked below to our various picture albums from our major travels and activities over the NZ summer. We've included captions to describe much of what's going on in the albums...

First, our week-long road trip from Auckland back to Wellington after Xmas 2007:

Bay of Islands

Next, a look at the infamous Wellington 7s rugby tournament from early February - the biggest party of the year in Wellington!

Wellington Sevens

Our big trek in March, the Tongariro Crossing!

Tongariro Crossing

The very enjoyable, extended birthday weekend in Nelson - the last trip we took before packing up and departing for the States.

Nelson and Able Tasman

And finally, a collection of photos from throughout Jan to Apr -- gatherings, shots of the US Embassy softball team, various hikes, and other events.

NZ Feb-Apr Other

Australia can kill you...

2008-01-06T11:39:00.000-08:00

...in many many ways. Here are a few:

Crocs:

Jellyfish: This beach is four miles long, and the only part you can swim is within the white barriers, which is about knee deep. In the wintertime, there are no jellyfish, so you can swim all you want!!

Poisonous Rainforest Trees & Fruit: The plum colored one will drive you insane (neuro-toxins) the one to the right has the highest concentration of cyanide found in nature, and the third can actually be eaten, but only after bathing in the river (to wash out the toxins) for a couple weeks, which is how the Aboriginals used to eat them.

This is the tree the Cyanide one came from... or it's a nutmeg tree, which is also poisonous.

This "Stinging Tree" won't kill you, but it will embed small nettles in your skin, which will cause severe pain and irritation for 3 to 4 months:

Rusty logging saws:

The Cassowary Bird: Check out its inner toe - four to six inches of disemboweling talon. This also happens to be the most ridiculous looking animal ever.

And finally, Paul:

Additionally, Australia houses many of the world's most deadly snakes and spiders, a large number of sharks, and several other dangerous sea creatures and scavengers. Yikes! This is all a stark contrast to New Zealand, which has no poisonous snakes or spiders and no large predators. About the only thing in NZ which can hurt you are wild mushrooms.

Despite all the deadly creatures, Australia is a blast!! Ann Marie and I spent a week in Tropical North Queensland (in the far northeast) at the end of November. We were primarily in Port Douglas - a sleepy resort town near to the Daintree Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef.

Our adventures included snorkeling on the Barrier Reef (if you are not a scuba person, I would highly recommend the Wavelength tour based in Port D - they are snorkel only and do a fantastic job), a day long rainforest tour (where we learned all the perils of Aussieland and licked green ants, which have a super intense vitamin C citrus taste), relaxing on 4-mile beach (where we couldn't swim), and visiting the Croc Farm where we met Paul, as well as saw Koalas, Wallabies, and the Cassowary up close. Shockingly, we did not see a single Kangaroo on our trip to Aus. We did eat Kangaroo, however, on a couple different occasions (it was great, but croc is better). Here are some pics of the fine Australian cuisine we enjoyed:

Roo, Croc, & Emu Bruchetta

Deep-fried Mud Crab (a specialty of Tropical North Queensland)

Whitebait (actually an NZ staple - whitebait are juvenile smelts, which are caught early in the spring in NZ rivers)

Morton's Bay Bugs: these are like little lobster tails, without the rest of the lobster! They were fantastic and didn't have that characteristic seafood taste that some people don't like - I would recommend to all!

We're working on getting the rest of our pictures up online using Picasa, so we'll post that link soon!

On the road...

2007-11-21T14:38:00.000-08:00

Greetings from beautiful Queenstown, NZ!

We've been on the road, so I haven't had much of a chance to update my blog, but here is a quick summary of what we've been up to - I promise I'll upload a bunch of pictures over Christmas (including all the stuff in Australia that can kill you!).

The weekend of November 19th our friends Tim and Jennifer invited us to the Marine Ball. It is a celebration of the Marine Corp birthday which involved a good deal of ceremony (including cutting cake with a sabre) and speeches from the US Ambassador to NZ and several other special guests. There was a great deal of good food and a rocking party after dinner. That same weekend was the annual Toast Martinborough wine festival! It is located a couple hours northeast of Wellington (near the Hawkes Bay region we went to a few weeks ago). The festival includes a number of the area's wineries hiring live music, specialty catering, and offering plenty of wine to taste (all for a price of course). Every year Carsten and Sarah rent an entire train carriage to transport us all from Wellington to the festival and back home. It was a perfect day and an absolute blast.

Our current contracts with work ended on Friday, Nov 23rd - that night we had an impromptu Thanksgiving dinner with Carsten, Andy, Tim, & Jennifer. It was by no means traditional (Salmon instead of Turkey) but there were sweet potatoes (Kumara) and a bottle of really good Pinot from the south island (courtesy of Ann Marie's boss). We barely slept that night because after cleaning up dinner we had to pack for our trip to Australia and the South Island!!

Early the next morning we grabbed a flight to Cairns, Australia and then made our way further north to Port Douglas, which is the perfect place to get out to the Great Barrier Reef. We had a fantastic time (although it was crazy hot) in PD - we went snorkeling on the reef, took a great rain forest tour, ate kangaroo, and relaxed on the beach. It is shocking how big Australia really is - flying from one side to the other takes as long as going Chicago to LA.

After a week in Port Douglas and Cairns, we flew directly to Christchurch and took a bus down to Queenstown (about a 7 hour ride). The trip goes along the southern alps and the views we had were astounding - snow capped peaks over crazy blue lakes. Now we have a week to enjoy Queenstown - probably the most spectacular scenery in NZ - with some friends from the states (they are meeting us in a couple days). Then we'll take a week to tour the rest of the south island before flying home for the holidays!

I do have one picture that I uploaded before we got on our way. As I mentioned in my last post or two, I've been playing Touch Rugby with a team from work. We just got our team t-shirts, which are possibly the ugliest and loudest shirts I've ever seen. They were part of the "Corporate Challenge" which was a big run/walk in Wellington a few weeks ago. ACC provided shirts to all employees who ran/walked it and our Touch team will be wearing those same shirts. Right before the event started, all the ACC employees who were participating gathered for a group photo - there were about 200 people in these shirts... additionally, about a third still had creepy mustaches because it was Movember (and only about halfway in)!!! Here are three of my teammates:

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

2007-11-06T02:54:00.000-08:00

Hello all - last monday (Nov 5) was Guy Fawkes Day - an infamous holiday in Britain and also celebrated in NZ (of all the English colonies, NZ maintained and celebrated it's connection to England the most). It commemorates the attempt by Guy Fawkes and some others to blow up Parliament in London in 1605. The attempt was barely thwarted and is now remembered annually. Generally, people celebrate by setting off fireworks - either public displays, or the cheap kind you buy at the store. What I find most amusing, is that fireworks are illegal in New Zealand for 361 days of the year, but from the 2nd to the 5th of November you can buy and set off fireworks to your heart's content! We went out Saturday evening with our friends Tim and Jennifer (also Americans) and celebrated Guy Fawkes in style by setting off a hefty quantity of fireworks and then watching the Wellington city fireworks as well. This is a video/picture of Ann Marie doing her best Harry Potter impersonation:

November is also the month of one of NZ's biggest charity drives: "Movember". Men will shave on October 31st and then grow their mustaches throughout the month to raise money for Prostate Cancer research and awareness. Often offices will have competitions to see who can grow the best "mo". No, I am not participating (I was strongly encouraged not to) but I do know some people that have started sprouting impressive mos.

I've been slow to update the blog, so here's some bits on the travel that we've been doing over the last couple weekends:

Taranaki w/ Carsten & Sarah

The 2nd week of October, Ann Marie and I planned another weekend road-trip on the north island - this time to Taranaki on the west coast. The area was a major Maori stronghold during the 1800s, and Mt. Taranaki is considered sacred to the Maori. As legend has it, Taranaki was caught dallying with Ruapehu's wife Ngauruhoe (these are two of the big volcanoes in the center of the north island) and went west to hide and cry in shame (Taranaki is one of the rainiest areas in NZ). The trip was extremely relaxing (especially cause Carsten & Sarah graciously did all the driving) and we got to see the mountain, Dawson's falls, and tons of coastal scenery. Highlights included getting lost (not really, but our map was not what you would call detailed), playing card games with Guinness coasters at an Irish pub, searching for volcanic rocks on the beach, and climbing the Paritutu (the "Rising Precipice"). We missed out on a couple of interesting museums (the weather was great so we opted for the outdoors experience) so a return trip may be in order at some point.

Christchurch

The following weekend (which was a three days weekend for Labour Day here) Ann Marie and I flew to Christchurch to spend the weekend with Jorgen & Mona. We were again lucky with the weather and had a wonder time. On Saturday, Jorgen drove us up into the mountains to see their mountain cabin and the scenery. It rained a bit on us through the passes, but everything cleared up after lunch.

These pics are from a cave system near the cabin - you can hike through the caves by following the stream underground - of course it is an ice-cold glacial stream and the hike requires you to wade knee deep and scamper up a couple short waterfalls (note we didn't actually hike the stream this time).

We also spent some time in this boulder park - all these rocks are the product of erosion. They are immense and wandering among them is quite eerie. Jorgen pointed out a couple of exposed fossils and we also watched some people free-climbing on the smaller boulders.

The South Island is a bit more rural than the north (certainly more so than the areas around Wellington) - check out this boar we saw on our way back from the mountains!

On Sunday, we explored Christchurch itself - we started in the central market to pick up a few souvenirs (and some crepes from a funny and friendly frenchman), walked through Cathedral square and downtown, and then rode the gondola to the highest point in Chch for a great view over the city. That night we enjoyed a fantastic meal with Jorgen, Mona, and my Aunt Charlotte (I should mention at this point that Jorgen is a gifted cook and we ate quite well over the entire weekend).

We got up early on Monday and directed our rental car toward Akaroa. Christchurch is situated just north of the Banks Peninsula, which was formed by two major volcanoes - one crater became Lyttleton Harbor (which is two minutes from Christchurch) and the other became Akaroa Harbor, which is about 90 minutes away. Both harbors are narrow and long, with some spectacular scenery on either side. Our drive included these views over first Lyttleton and then Akaroa harbor.

In Akaroa, we took a harbor cruise during which we saw fur seals, dolphins, and miniature penguins.

We then headed back to Christchurch for another enjoyable meal (a Danish favorite - frikadeller!!) and then made our way to the airport. We're looking forward to getting back to the south island for two weeks in early December before coming home for the holidays.

Road Trip! (AKA Sammy's visit part 2)

2007-10-22T23:20:00.000-07:00

So this really should have been posted close to three months ago, but you know how life goes. I wanted to put this all in one blog entry, but my first post got long and I didn't want to post one massive entry so I figured I'd break it up. Good idea in theory, but in execution... not so much. I didn't start right away and then one thing led to another... anyway I wanted to come back and tell the story of Erik and my epic (well... maybe not epic) journey up into the countryside of the North Island.

Erik took that Friday (July 6) off work and we slept in a little longer than we had planned. Sleep is a wonderful thing. At about noon-ish, we wandered down the street to the rental car place, picked up our lovely vehicle and hit the road. One thing that turned out to be a little shortsighted on our part was that we only burned one CD of music. I think by the time we got home 2 days later, we must have listened to that CD about 15 times. Good songs, just too repetitive.

We hit the road with no real plan. We knew we wanted to head towards Tongariro National Park (the place that they used to film Mordor in the Lord of the Rings movies) and we were hoping to head all the way to Rotorua where there are some great hot springs. But we were just happy to hit the road, see the sights and go where the journey took us. It was almost like a scene out of a Jack Kerouac book or something, but much more pretty. We started heading up the coast until we got to Palmerston North. We stopped for lunch there at an Irish Pub that took so long to get our food, I thought they might be hand making the sausage in the back. It did leave some time for me to remember that I am no good at darts at all and Erik is.

The countryside was unlike anything I've ever experienced before. It was like the mountains in Colorado, but much much more lush and green. The grassland in Colorado is much more brown, but in New Zealand, the entire landscape is pure green. It is not however the bright emerald green that is normally associated with Ireland and I believe that is due to the brightness of the sun in that part of the world. Due to the big hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica, there is much less of a filter of the sun. It really seems to make colors appear to wash out, like if you took pictures and slightly overexposed the film. Colors don't appear majorly vibrant, but it really didn't matter. Everything was gorgeous. I believe that the sheep outnumber the humans 10-1 in New Zealand and from what we saw as we drove, I wouldn't doubt that statistic in the slightest.

Another thing we came across were a number of cows. At one point, Erik and I had stopped to take pictures and these four cows followed me as I jogged to the other side of a hill to get a better shot of the valley below. They then followed me back to the car. I think they wanted me to take a picture of them, so I did.

Something else we learned is that when you see a sign saying "scenic overlook ahead" you go check it out. We got to Stormy Point just as dusk was beginning to settle in. Those images are some that were burned into my memory forever. Words really can't describe how amazing the scenery was there.

As the sun went down, I took my turn behind the wheel. It was my first experience driving on the left side of the road and the right side of the car. Add to that the complete lack of any lights on the side of the road and couple it with the blizzard-like conditions that swept in over the mountains and it made for an interesting drive. One thing that I commented on was the fact that I had absolutely no idea what was on the sides of the road. For all I knew it could have been a sheer cliff on each side and I would have had no idea. I knew that we were driving through the mountains and the road was "The Desert Road" so I had some guesses on what it might have looked like. We were in Tongariro National Park, so I imagined Mordor and I figured that was probably close enough. Finally, I could tell that we were alongside Lake Taupo because I could begin to see the reflection of the city of Taupo begin to reflect off the lake.

We got to Taupo and checked into a neat little hostel. Nothing special, but it was pretty cool. I think the highlight of Taupo was meeting John the Fisherman. Erik and I went to find some food and a drink and we went to one of the local establishments. Out in front was this grizzled guy who we got to talking to. He was clearly a regular at the bar as it looked like he had a standing tab and he knew all the bartenders. We had a great conversation about fishing. He said he used to lead fishing expeditions out on the lake and the rivers around it. Apparently Lake Taupo is one of the greatest places to fish for trout in the world. This guy was so much fun and really took a liking to us. When, while we were ordering dinner, Erik made a comment that everything was better with bacon, John asked the bartender to put bacon on our steaks and to charge the bacon to him. We had a great time chatting with him.

The next day was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. It was a little brisk, but the air tasted pure and clean. We spent the morning at Huka Falls, which are the largest falls on the Waikato River, one of the longest rivers on the North Island. Just a beautiful area with the water rushing by. It was very serene. Another serene location was the Craters of the Moon park which was just just up the road from Huka Falls. I'm just going to let some of these pictures speak for themselves.
I'm glad to see that Erik and Ann Marie went back to Mt. Ruapehu when the weather was better. When Erik and I went, thick clouds were covering the top of the mountain and it had snowed something like 12-15 inches the night before. The skiers were loving it, but it didn't make for good picture taking. Instead, we got some great shots of us climbing through the rocky desert towards "Mt. Doom" in the distance like a scene out of Lord of the Rings. The views from the mountains were amazing. I was struck with how different the climate was in such short distances. One moment, you are in rolling green meadows covered in sheep, the next, desert mountains. It was simply amazing.

Thanks go out to Erik for letting me post to his blog and double thanks for his magnificent hospitality while I was out there. So for now, Be Excellent to each other, and Party On Dudes!

Possum World!! (and other random adventures)

2007-10-15T23:25:00.001-07:00

For those who don’t know, the Possum (Opossum) is a hated creature in New Zealand. They were introduced from Australia a long time ago and the lack of natural predators allowed them to spawn like crazy. Note that the NZ Possum is different from it’s smaller North American cousin (which most of us are familiar with). Now, the Possum is a serious risk to native bird and plant species, and the millions of Possums in NZ eat 70,000 tons of foliage every night. People here will go out of their way to kill Possums – my coworker Jeremy (also an American) tells me about his neighbor who traps and kills 40-60 possums every couple weeks. The pelts are actually valuable – the fur is blended with merino sheep wool to create something similar to polar-tec fleece. Here’s another fact from Jeremy – you cannot kill a possum (at least not humanely) with a .22 caliber bullet. You have to use something bigger, cause the possum’s skull is too thick. How insane is that?

I learned many of these facts at ‘Opossum World’ in Hawke’s Bay! Ann Marie and I took a road trip to HB a few weekends ago to check out the east coast, and to see some of the wineries in that area. Possum World was pretty hysterical (and free!). There was a Possum Shooting Range (here I am helping thin the Possum population), and little stuffed possum pelts everywhere. A great place, but shockingly and to our disappointment there were no ‘Possum World’ t-shirts.

The wineries were also a ton of fun. We rented bikes to travel from vineyard to vineyard - there were a couple tough hills, and some brutal head winds at the end, but we really enjoyed the scenery and freedom to go at our own pace. We stayed in the town of Napier, at the former prison there (now a backpackers) which was, to be honest, a little weird - but still enjoyable. It was nice to get out of Wellington and see an area that is totally different from what we’ve seen thus far – HB is mostly flat and dominated by vineyards, although some of the areas have rolling hills. Napier was also completely devastated by an earthquake in 1931 so nothing stands more than a few stories tall.

The following weekend we stayed in Wellington. On Saturday we hiked up to the top of Mt. Victoria – which is one of the two big hills in the middle of the city. The views were fantastic – we could see downtown, the entire harbor including the channel out to the sea, and the ocean-side of the city. The hike took us a good 3-4 hours and included another stroll through Oriental Bay - our favorite neighborhood in Wellington, which is at the base of Mt. Vic. We are trying to do least one hike a week to prepare for some more challenging trips later in the year.

We’ve also made friends with our neighbors the Marines! They were having a barbeque over the weekend which Andy, Ann Marie and I dropped in on. The guys were really nice (they have a great reputation in Wellington and lived up to it) and we met a number of others from various govt. departments (both American and Kiwi). It was fun to share stories from back home as well as NZ – be it about sports, the embassy itself, or some of the things that are different over here. We also learned from our new friend Tim (not a marine, but pictured below in the middle) how to watch football from the states. Unfortunately, there are zero games on during the weekends here – they only broadcast Sunday and Monday night NFL games during the day on Monday & Tuesday. Neither of us has watched a minute of either college or NFL this fall. Tim had his parents to purchase a cable-box with an internet connection. The box can be accessed over the internet, allowing the user to watch anything on their computer in real time (although one drawback is that the box controls the TV it’s connected to, so Tim’s parents have to watch the same thing as him!). We figured that was overkill for us, but if we were staying for three years like Tim, we'd have to look into this option.

The weekend ended on a downer though… on Sunday morning the All Blacks lost a close game to France in the Rugby World Cup – their earliest exit in a world cup yet. On cue, the clouds and rain rolled in as the game ended (it had been a nice sunny morning up until then) and the weather was pretty ugly for the rest of the day. The Kiwis are all disappointed and rather angry at both the team and a particular referee, but they’ve managed to rebound a bit to enjoy the remainder of the tournament (South Africa plays defending champ England next weekend). My team members from work all met up this Monday morning for breakfast at one of the local pubs during the SA-Argentina semi-final before going into the office.

As I mentioned in my last post – I have moved offices! I’m with the same group at ACC, but we have moved into the downtown building. It is a further walk (15-20 min) but it is much easier to run errands during the day, or meet up with Carsten or Ann Marie for lunch. I’m still enjoying the work (currently we’re sorting out next year’s budget), and feel like I have been able to contribute a lot to the team.

This most recent weekend we went road tripping with Carsten & Sarah, but more on that later as well as our upcoming visit with Jorgen & Mona in Christchurch. Hope everyone is well – cheers!

Mr. Doom Gets Angry

2007-09-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

Hey all - not sure if it made much news back home, but one of our volcanoes erupted this week! Mt. Ruapehu (the same one Ann Marie and were exploring the base of on our trip to Auckland) launched a good bit of ash, mud, and debris on Monday night. We couldn't see it from Wellington or anything, but it was kinda crazy to think we had been there just a week before. It wasn't a major explosion - just one big rumble that send a "lahar" (river of mud and debris - in this case 8m or ~24ft wide) down the mountain side. Luckily there was only one injury, and while the guy is pretty bashed up, his injuries are not fatal. The last time Ruapehu erupted it was in 1995-96, and it was unstable for several months (the tourism economy was really affected by the decreased ski revenues). This time around, they believe the pressure has been released and the mountain should be safe again (based on temperatures and chemical composition of the crater lake).

We are headed up to Napier in Hawke's Bay after work tonight - HB is one of the three major wine regions in NZ so we'll be touring a couple of the wineries while there. Hope everyone enjoys the weekend back home!

Erik & Ann Marie go to Auckland!

2007-09-25T00:25:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone - finally, another post from New Zealand!

Things are going very well. Ann Marie is settling in, and has even got a new job! We have also started to carve the north island up into weekend get-aways. That will be an efficient and cheap way for us to travel while we're working over the next two months.

Our first (of what will hopefully be many trips) was an extended weekend in Auckland. We decided to take the scenic railway all the way from Wellington (for comparison - this is a little longer than taking Amtrak from Chicago to Minneapolis). The Overlander train was a fantastic way to travel cross-country. I love trains because of the freedom to stand up, move around, and even go outside! The scenic trains in NZ (you may remember I took the coastal train from Christchurch to Wellington a few weeks after I arrived here) usually have an open car for optimal photos. I think Ann Marie and I spent about half our train ride on the open car, and ended up with 300-some pictures. It is true that the pictures are all of farmland, but this might be the most beautiful farmland in the world:

Our trip was unexpectedly delayed though. I heard a scratchy announcement from the conductor when we were on the viewing platform - the word was that they were kicking us off the train halfway to Auckland and putting us on buses for the rest of the trip (a cargo-train had derailed earlier up the track). Ann Marie and I quickly pulled out the travel books to see if we should stay the night, instead of taking the bus to Auckland. We decided if one of the local hostels had room for us, and if the train would honor our tickets the next day, we would stay and do some hiking. Here I am, trekking (and carrying ALL of our stuff!) from the train station into the 9 square blocks of National Park city, located at the base of Mt Ruapehu - one of the active volcanoes on the north island:

After settling in at Howard's lodge (the ultimate ski-bum's hostel), we went for a quick hike outside the town. There was a 12km track through the rainforest near our hostel. We aimed for the first scenic point on the trail - the Mt. Taranaki lookout (Taranaki is a large peak on the west coast of the island... Mom & Dad - it used to be called Mt. Egmont). After an hour (during which we learned all about rain in the rainforest) we got to the lookout - but the mountain was missing!!

Here is Ann Marie in the mossy and rainy forest:

We enjoyed the hike nonetheless. After, we met our german roommate Carolyn, did some shopping at the local store (gas station) and grabbed dinner at the corner pub. At that point we crashed (in bunk-beds! I wish I had gotten a picture) - it had been a long day - but I still managed to get up around midnight to catch the All Blacks against Portugal (it was a one-sided affair, but people down here are still talking about the Portuguese during their national anthem - as a semi-professional team, it was amazing that they even made the World Cup, and the pride and excitement showed as they belted out "A Portuguesa").

The next day, we tried to hike on the mountain side, but it was too rainy. We learned a bit about volcanoes, had a lot of coffee, met a nice couple from Texas, and got back on the train.

Luckily, the rain was localized to the mountains, and very quickly we were back into sunny scenery. One of the coolest features of the Overlander train route, is the "spiral". This is an engineer's highlight of the train route - coming out of the mountains and the national park, the terrain descends quite quickly. To compensate, the track does a 540 degree circle, backtracking underneath itself twice, kinda like a roller coaster track might do. At several points on the track, we were able to look back and see the track we had just traversed. Check out this link for a birds-eye view: http://www.tranzscenic.co.nz/images/imagegallery/Print%20versions/15%20The%20Overlander.jpg

Finally, we arrived in Auckland. Our activities included taking the harbor ferry to the extinct volcano Rangitoto, which we hiked to the top. Below is my post-climb euphoria, and the great view over Auckland, it's harbor, and suburbs.

We also spent some time in Devonport - a sleepy beachside town, ten minutes on the ferry from the central business district of Auckland (my co-worker called it the million dollar-mile because of its housing costs). There were several round-topped hills there, which in the 17 and 1800's were the location of Maori Pa, or fortified villages. Ann Marie and I scampered up to the top of one, which may have been the highlight of the trip for me. I was enamored with the view, and the way these hills looked compared to the surrounding landscape.

When we got back from Auckland (we flew, rather than taking the train round trip), Ann Marie started her new job, with the Ministry of Economic Development, which is where my cousin Carsten used to work too. It's only another 5 minutes down the road from my office, so we are both close to home and the city center.

In other news, we spent some time last weekend getting to know the Marines next door (along with Andy, the three of us crashed their party on Friday night) and may barbeque with them next weekend. More on that, our upcoming trip to Hawke's Bay, and my new office location (we're moving) soon. Hope everyone out there is doing well and enjoying themselves.

The best meal ever...

2007-09-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings everyone - I'm happy to report that Ann Marie has arrived, and we've been having a great time the last couple weeks. The NZ weather has cooperated - a little colder than ideal, but the weekends have been sunny and calm! I've finally gotten my act in gear this weekend and post more about what we've been up to.

As many of you know, Ann Marie and I enjoy cooking together. Last week, we decide to take more advantage of specials at the local grocery store - specifically where meat was concerned. We figured this would be good for the wallet, and also get us to expand our cooking horizons. So, on Thursday we bought lamb chops. After seasoning w/ salt & herbs, we threw it in the oven for ten minutes and then dined. I tell you, this was honestly the best home-cooked meal I've ever had. To prove it wasn't a fluke, we tried again last night with Andy and had excellent results!

We've made a couple trips to the botanical gardens (pictures above and below) which is just up the road - it's a nice combination of manicured gardens and nature reserve. This morning we ate at the breakfast & lunch cafe near the rose garden. This past week we also had dinner with Carsten & Sarah, added some decor in the apartment, and started to make some travel plans (we are hoping to go up to Auckland next weekend via the overland scenic railway).

Tonight we are off to a house party and the first All Blacks match of the Rugby World Cup! The whole country is in a tizzy for this event to start, even though the first few games should be easy wins.

Small world....

2007-08-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: this story has not been corroborated, but I'm confident it is true.

So at work on Friday, I was working with one of the ACC Programme Managers (they work directly with providers in monitoring what is charged back to ACC, and yes, that's how they spell it). Anyways, Rosemary asked me if I was Canadian or American (I am often asked the either/or question... maybe my Minnesota accent is coming back), and where in the States I was from. We were talking a little more about the different perspective you get when you're out of your own country and she shared this little anecdote with me:

She said that when the Olympics were held in Los Angeles (1984) she was watching in NZ with some Danish friends and their American relatives in Christchurch, and the Americans were really taken by the non-American coverage of the Olympics, and how different it was from the patriotic coverage back home. Well, combining 1984, Danish Kiwis, Christchurch, and American relatives in my mind, I said "were your Danish friends Jorgen and Mona Schousboe?" She was shocked, and I think a little embarrassed that she just inadvertantly told me a story about my parents. I do need to confirm this with Mom and Dad (if they remember), but I'm pretty sure Jorgen and Mona do not have any other American relatives (certainly not who were in NZ in the summer of 1984 - unless it was my Grandma, or Uncle who came over to visit - regardless, they're in the family).

I told Rosemary she'd probably even met me at the time and we had a good laugh. It is indeed a small world.

Let the two week countdown begin...

2007-08-11T20:19:00.001-07:00

...and now the best bit of news (which deserves its own post) is that in two weeks Ann Marie will be here!!! She arrives next Saturday which will be utterly fantastic. I have a couple days off work so we can enjoy a nice long weekend in Wellington. Beyond discussing a number of things we'd like to do, we haven't made specific plans yet, but we'll have four months to explore NZ and hopefully some of the surrounding pacific before we come home for the holidays.

Throw another shrimp on the barby...

2007-08-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

...as the Aussies say. This was my first experience grilling fresh prawns (complete with heads, legs, and shells). Extremely tasty, but extremely messy - you really had to work on these guys. I laughed later that night when, upon meeting up with Carsten and his friend Steph and telling them I had grilled prawns for dinner, they both immediately quipped "Throw another shrimp on the barby" in faux-Australian accents. Too funny (here are the three of us that night at the wine-bar).

In addition to prawn grilling and wine tasting, earlier that same night my flatmate and I tried go-karting... one of the guys on my basketball team invited us to his dad's go-kart park. Here are Andy and I before racing (finally - a picture of the infamous flatmate). It was fun and mostly uneventful, except for when one of Andy's wheels came off his kart - he was a bit disappointed, or "quite gutted" as they say in NZ.

Sadly, after a rousing come-from-behind semi-final win, my basketball team lost in the league final last wednesday. Actually, "lost" may be an understatement - we were demolished. There was one interesting aspect though - after the game, the captain of the winning team was asked to address the teams and fans. This is standard in New Zealand - be it the end of the annual Tri-Nations rugby series with Australia and South Africa, or the lowest grade recreational basketball league in Wellington. I think it's rather cool, and to my knowledge, that doesn't occur back home. Hopefully, the team will bounce back and get to the final again next season and win it all.

Now some good news - my cousin and I finally caught a fish! On our fourth expedition we snagged a healthy sized butterfish (or greenbone), which we brought home and deep fried. Marvelous.

I've been unfortunately under the weather this weekend, and haven't really left the house but for a few errands. Hopefully I'll be up and running again in a couple more days.

Quick Thoughts

2007-08-03T16:14:00.001-07:00

Hi all - in light of the tragedy in Minnesota this week, I just wanted to say I hope everyone back home is safe and ok. I've heard from my family and several friends from MN thus far, who were thankfully not involved.

It's a strange experience, being so far away when something like this happens. I didn't expect it, but the story has been the top news item and on the front page in NZ. It was surreal seeing pictures of my hometown all over the office on Friday. It's nice to know that despite the distance, being connected with home is relatively easy thanks worldwide media, internet, etc. It's something I'm trying not to take for granted - 20 years ago when my parents lived here, the only way to communicate home was via mail, or a $2/min phone call!

Again, I hope everyone is safe and sound - especially those of you who live in Minnesota or have family there.

The Long-Awaited Guest Entry (part 1)

2007-07-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

So it's been a long time coming... and here it is! The official guest entry on the infamous week of fun down under (or close to it)! For those of you who don't know me (which I would imagine would not be too many people) I'm Sam and I was visiting Erik down in New Zealand from June 28th through July 8.

The trip over to Auckland was not without its own drama. One of the great perks of working for an airline as I do is the ability to get great rates on international travel. Of course, with every great perk comes the flip side. International standby. There's really nothing like starting a week that is supposed to be the ultimate in relaxation and fun with 5 hours of pure stress, wondering if I'm going to get on the flight, trying to figure out alternate routes to get to Auckland in time for the Guns and Roses concert (more on that later), trying to be patient and graceful as the departure time nears and I still don't know if I'm going to make the flight or not, etc. The greatest part of all this is that my flight leaves at 9:55 and they finally give me my boarding pass at 9:45. The guy at the ticket counter calls me up and says "Here is your boarding pass. Run!" At this point, I still have not made it through security and I have about 10 minutes to get to the plane before it goes. Fortunately, the people waiting in line at security were very gracious and let me cut in front of the line. I don't know if it was my winning smile, dashing charisma, or the sheer look of panic in my eyes that made everyone so willing to let me go. After I got through security, I didn't have time to tie my shoes and I didn't want to run barefoot through the airport, so I slipped on my untied dress shoes and started sprinting. Of course, my gate is the very last one in the LAX international terminal. If anybody has ever flown out of the international terminal in LAX, you know just how big it is. Finally, after what seems like an eternity of sprinting, I get to the gate and dash onto the plane. The flight attendant looks at my boarding pass and escorts me to my seat. In business class. In my sheer desperation to make the flight, I didn't even realize that I had been upgraded. I get to my seat completely out of breath, hot, sweaty and fried. The guy sitting next to me asked me if I was going to have a heart attack or something because that would make for an uncomfortable experience. He actually turned out to be a really cool guy and I had a great conversation with him after I caught my breath and cooled down.

To paraphrase Ferris Buehler: International Business class is so choice. If you have the means, I suggest you try it.

We arrived in Auckland at 4:45 am and Erik and Carsten are not going to get there till 10. So I have the lovely chance to check out the Auckland International terminal... and domestic... and parts between... while weirdly jet lagged. Once Erik and Carsten arrived, we went to Carsten's friend Milsie's house where we chilled before the Guns and Roses concert. That's where I learned how to play a great game called "3 card lou." It's a little like euchre with gambling involved. The more people who play, the higher the stakes get. I started off a little rough, but once I figured out how the game worked (and after my nap) I won back most of the money I lost at the beginning of the game. Erik did pretty well himself I believe.

After the game wrapped up, we ordered some pizza. Good stuff by the way. I'm not sure exactly what I would equate it to here in the States as the flavors are different than what I would expect for pizza. I guess you can get some weird stuff like that in California, but I've had Cali pizza and this was different. We ordered from a place called Hell Pizza. Hell Pizza is a nationwide chain and they do good work. I'd be very interested to see how everyone there would like something from Giordano's. Very different stuff.

On we went to the GNR concert which was, in a word, amazing. I had never seen them live before and, even though the band is just Axl and a bunch of new people, they were very tight. Actually, they had Robin Finck on lead guitar. Robin is formerly the guitarist for Nine inch Nails. Granted most of NiN is Trent Reznor, but for touring purposes, Finck was the guitarist before he left and joined up with Axl for the latest tours. Anyway, on to the show!

Erik and I managed to squeeze our way up to the front of the floor (I make a great lead blocker) where we ended up about 5 rows off the stage. Great positioning for a great show. They played all the favorites, opening with a great rendition of Welcome to the Jungle, playing Sweet Child O' Mine, Live and let Die, November Rain, and closing with Paradise City while shooting off a huge cloud of confetti. Sebastian Bach (of Skid Row fame) opened for GNR and by the time Axl got off the stage, it was about 2:30 am. Fortunately, my internal clock was so skewed up I had no idea what time it was.

We left the concert in varying stages of exhaustion, and hopped a cab back to Milsie's place.

The next morning (afternoon?) I had my first experience with the famous New Zealand baked pies. Mmmmmmm pies...... Erik's cousin Carsten was jonesing for KFC, which I could not support at all. It's interesting how in the States, fast food is somewhat universal, but there are some definite differences in the same chains over there. For example: in New Zealand's McDonalds, they have something called the Kiwiburger. It's kind of like a Big Mac, but it has a fried egg on it (nice) and instead of pickles, it has beets (sounds worse than it is.)

That afternoon Erik, Carsten, Sarah and I flew back to Wellington and I got my first hit of the real mountainous region of Wellington. It was raining pretty good that Sunday evening so there weren't any real opportunities to go out a-wandering, especially with the sun setting so early. It took me a little while to wrap my mind around the backwards seasons, although I would have to admit having New Years fall in the middle of summer would be pretty awesome. It might make for less frigid evenings on rooftop decks watching fireworks from behind the Chicago skyline.

From Monday through Thursday, Erik had to work so I was on my own for the days. Pretty much every day I slept in and then started wandering around, taking pictures, getting a feel for Wellington, watching people, seeing the sights, going to little coffee shops, trying tons of different cuisines and different hits of local flavor. Erik and I did meet up for lunch every day at different places, all of which were awesome. On Monday, I went to the Te Papa museum which is a fantastic museum of the history of New Zealand. There are some great exhibits which talk about the history of the Maori, a beautiful art gallery with local artists through the years, an examination of the geological region of New Zealand. There is a big fault line running right through Wellington and they examined what could happen if that ever went. That night, Erik, Andy (Erik's flatmate) and I went to this great Belgian restaurant and had some amazing mussels for dinner. Not only amazing mussels, but also a fantastic variety of Belgian beers. After that, we went out and hit a couple bars including a backpackers bar where Erik and I tried to dispel some stereotypes about Americans that are out there. I think we got through to a couple Aussies and one guy from Japan before calling it a night. Tuesday, I went for a hike in the mountains directly outside Erik's place. He's right. I did get indignant when I found out he had not checked that area out yet, so I'm glad he finally did. Much like the pictures he posted, that area is absolutely gorgeous. I came across this passage through the trees that seemed like it was straight out of a movie.

The views were spectacular. The day was pretty sunny and I noticed something very interesting. The sun is much more intense down there, probably from the huge hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica. As a result, the colors seem almost washed out because the light is brighter. Even when it was partly cloudy, I was happy I had my sunglasses with me. After lunch at this nice Indian restaurant, I wandered towards the Botanic Gardens which are breathtaking. I would imagine in the summer they'd be even better with all the plants blooming and the rose garden in full effect. As it was, it was awesome. I got some spectacular views from the top of the hill where the Cable Car goes from downtown to the top. On my way back, I stopped in for a pint at the Speights brewpub. Good stuff. I especially like their Distinction Ale. Very nice that. That night, after Erik, Andy and I went to catch Transformers, we went for some authentic Hong Kong BBQ. That is like no Chinese food I've ever had before. It felt a lot more authentic. Dessert was at this amazing coffee/dessert shop and was really really good. We all had more food than I think any of us knew what to do with. Wednesday was a lot of fun. I wandered around Cuba Street which really reminded me a lot of my home town of Boulder, Colorado. Lots of little eclectic cafes and shops that felt a lot like the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder. I was enthralled by this water sculpture that would pour water into the scoops below. Very neat.

That night, Erik took me to play with him in his basketball league. That was awesome. I haven't played b'ball in quite some time and I'm not sure what I was expecting. I do know that it felt more hardcore than I had originally thought. We had jerseys, referees and everything. It was great to get out there and dominate. Erik and I were twin towers down low. We absolutely crushed the other team. I found out later that the guys were asking if I could come back and play with them again. That would be awesome, but I don't know if I could handle the commute.

Thursday night was a blast. We went to Mac's Brewery and made it a point to sample their entire selection of hand crafted brews. Very tasty beverages if I might say so myself. Dinner was amazing as well.

We ended up hanging out there for quite a while before we headed out and checked out some fun live music at one of the Irish bars downtown. That band was a lot of fun as well, although they didn't play many of the "traditional" songs that I knew and could have sang along with. Oh well, maybe next time. After that, we bounced around a bit and Erik showed me a really neat place called Good Luck. His joke is that it's called Good Luck because "Good luck finding it!" As we went in, the aroma of fresh citrus was overpowering. That's because they make all their drinks from scratch (at least the fruits. I'm guessing they don't distill their own spirits.)

On Friday, we dragged ourselves out of bed and went to go rent a car for our journey up into the countryside. The full descriptions of that adventure will be forthcoming in the second half of "The Long-Awaited Guest Entry."

Backyard Hiking

2007-07-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

Something I've been meaning to do for a while is explore the hillside boarding Thorndon (my neighborhood) on the northwest. This is the same network of hills circling central Wellington that I wandered through while staying with Carsten and Sarah. Between weather and other distractions, I just haven't gotten around to checking out that part of my neighborhood (when Sam was here he was rather incredulous I hadn't explored my what is essentially my own backyard).

So, this past Sunday, after sleeping in (necessary after a late-night celebration of the All Blacks thumping Australia to retain the Bledisoe and Tri-Nations cups), I went for a little hike. What's great about these particular hills, is they don't waste any time - within 20 min I had some fantastic views of the city and the harbor.

I've mentioned this before, but it is striking how quickly city turns into wilderness here in Wellington - after hiking to the top with rock music blaring from my Ipod, I turned the music off on the descent and could hear nothing but the trees (giant trees mind you) creaking in the wind. I still see the city through the trees, but was completely isolated otherwise. In addition to the view, the wildlife is intriguing - I've found that on the whole, plants don't look that much different down here from back home. But, if you actually look closely, many are totally unfamiliar (example - giant ferns!). I imagine there will be many more impromptu walks through these hills before I leave.

This week will be some more adventures in New Zealand sport... Tuesday night I am going with Aaron to see the National Basketball team take on Venezuela. They call the national team the "Tall Blacks". Seriously... too funny (many NZ national team names derive from All Blacks, but this is by far the best). The team stars include Kirk Penny (of Wisconsin Badger fame when I was in college) and Craig Bradshaw (played for Winthrop in the last couple NCAA tourneys). Aaron used to play with a couple of the Tall Blacks in HS, so he'll be a wealth of information at the game. Also, on Friday the national rugby competition (Air New Zealand Cup) starts, which includes teams from most of the major NZ cities, as well as some of the less populous regions. There is a big international film festival in Wellington this week too - I may try to catch a couple of films before the week is out.

For my tailgating breathren, we did some grilling this weekend before the Rugby. My flatmate picked up his propane tank recently, so the grill on the front porch is now operable. We didn't go all out, but I cooked Lamb Bratwurst, which I give two thumbs up (next I'll try Ostrich). During the Air NZ Cup, I think it's likely that the tailgating will come out full force. By the way, the words "tailgating" and "grilling" don't work in NZ - it's barbequing (every time I say the word "grill" at work, Ian - one of the Kiwis on our team - makes fun of me).

I'll sign off with an ACC fun fact that I recently learned: in the last three months, the most common concern received by 0800-Poison (NZ's version of poison control) was for ingesting dish-soap.

Pictures!!!!

2007-07-12T23:11:00.000-07:00

Hi All - Below is the link to Sam's pictures from the week he spent with me here in Wellington. A brief overview of the week - we met up in Auckland with a bunch of my cousin's friends for the Guns N Roses concert (which was awesome), then chilled out in wellington getting a good dose of the local scenery, food, and beer, and spent the final weekend driving north to Taupo to see the mountains and countryside of the north island. Sam will be giving a more in-depth report in his guest-post, but for now, enjoy the photos!

http://picasaweb.google.com/samwalter21/NewZealandTrip

An update... finally.

2007-07-11T01:14:00.000-07:00

So I'm officially fired. Apologies for not living up to my every-week-or-so-updating plans. I'm hoping to get a couple of posts up this week, plus a guest column from Mr. Sam Walter who was out here to visit last week (this is Sam and I enjoying the local brew).

For now, just a quick update:

Work continues to go well - I've been learning all about Elective Surgery of late, which is one of the hot-topics at ACC (mostly because it costs a lot). The resident expert is likely leaving sometime in the next few months, so I'm helping to cover the reporting and knowledge base for that service in the interim. Also, we had a team breakfast this morning at the pub instead of our weekly team meeting at the office!! This I highly recommend (note that no beer was consumed - only normal breakfast foods).

In the non-work arena, I've joined a very laid back basketball team, and an indoor footy team (soccer), both which play weekly. The bball guys are all real young, but are a blast to play with - the only downside is it takes a little while to get to the place we play. I end up getting a ride there from my flatmate and biking back. Getting home is easy though - it's all downhill (very downhill) which was extra exciting tonight in the driving rain!

It is definitely a bit colder here now that winter has arrived, but relative to the winters I'm used to, it's still pretty nice. Here's some photos from this past weekend - Carsten, his friend Aaron, and I went golfing (almost 1 year to the day since I last golfed). The weather was perfect and the course we played was gorgeous.

As you can see, things here are pretty much sweet as (as they say here). Sam and I had a great time last week - I'll get some pictures and such up from the concert we saw, and our road trip through the countryside. He'll undoubtedly have many more to add as part of his guest column. Hope things are good back in the states and that nobody is melting from the heat!

All Blacks Rugby

2007-06-14T00:17:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I got my first taste of live All Blacks Rugby. In a word, it was awesome. The stadium was packed and everyone was intensely focused on the game (despite the record-setting blowout of the French). The older woman next to me (who was slurring her speech at kickoff) thought I was for the French at first and gave me a couple dirty looks and a gentle elbow, but after I showed her the All Blacks jersey I was wearing (which was perfectly visible from the moment I sat down) she decided I was ok.

Enter the All Blacks:

After the entrance come the national anthems, three in this case - one for France, then the NZ anthem in Maori (beautiful) and again in English (so-so... it just seems awkward compared to the Maori version).

Much to my appreciation, NZ Rugby is not like watching baseball in California. Everyone is in place before kickoff in time to see the Haka. A Haka is a generic term for a Maori dance. They All Blacks perform one or two before the start of every match, and have done so for a long time. Many other NZ National teams perform a Haka before international sporting events - I know that the Quad Rugby team and the Ice Hockey team both do. The other Polynesian teams (Fiji, Samoa, Tonga) also perform their own Hakas. It is a huge cultural symbol - even the crowds in the bars go silent to watch the ABs perform their Haka.

It is an intimidating performance to watch - especially on TV when you can see the players faces and how much emotion and passion they put into it. Check out the link below for a video of them performing in 2004 in France to see one of the best, Tana Umaga, lead the Haka. http://www.allblacks.com/index.cfm?layout=haka

As I said, the game was a complete blowout - the French didn't bring their best players, and got destroyed 63-10, but they did play hard: their most well-known player - Sebastien Chebal or "The Caveman" (literally - the french fans call him that) - broke one of the ABs jaws while being tackled.

Here are some more pics of the stadium and the game (everyone is wearing black and the seats are yellow, so you can tell how few empty ones there were).

After the game my flatmate Andy and went out on the town, which was packed - when the ABs play here in Wellington, everyone from the area comes into town for the game. I actually ran into that same older woman from the game and her husband at about midnight at the "beatles bar" downtown! Unfortunately I did not get a picture, but she didn't elbow me this time.

Sadly this is the only game in Wellington this season for the ABs, but I'll get my fill of broadcast games during the upcoming Tri-Nations and World Cup tournaments (Kyle - your Springboks are going down this year).

Fishing

2007-06-01T19:41:00.001-07:00

One of the best things about being in Wellington, is that the city is super compact and does not have much urban sprawl. You can be out of the city and among the sheep within minutes. The last couple weekends Carsten and I drove no more than fifteen minutes out of town and around to the other side of Wellington harbor to go fishing.

That gap in the hills is the exit to the ocean from Wellington harbor - nothing between us and Chile! The city is off to the left and around the corner in the picture. It was a perfect day for fishing - calm, sunny, and warm (and this is supposed to be winter??!!). This is us in all of our hunter-gather glory.

The good fish weren't biting (only undesirable "spotties"), so Carsten decided to do some diving for Paua which is similar to abalone and is a NZ staple. They have one shell, and use their underside to stick to the rocks where they hang out until guys like us get them. Apparently you have to sneak up on them or they grip the rock really tight. He managed to pull up about six of appropriate size (just smaller than my hand), warning me that they looked nasty, but were quite tasty (he was right on both counts - check out the flexibility of this guy!).

After the catch, we went back to my place and had some teriyaki paua stir-fry. The area is also littered with mussels, but they're really cheap to buy (and of superior quality) at the supermarket, so "picking" them isn't really worth it. Paua shells are super colorful inside and are used for jewelry, decorations, etc all over NZ.

Bonus material:
As I mentioned, I started working at ACC last week - turned out to be Thursday rather than Wednesday, cause their HR staff was rather harried. My team seems like a good group - I am likely the youngest and am one of many internationals (there are only 4 true kiwis of the 10 on our team). I'll be working mostly with claims data to analyze and evaluate the ACC budget for different health care sectors (primary care, rehab care, etc) as well as look at individual providers that are behaving as outliers, and hence may be charging or billing inappropriately. Thurs and Fri were not very intense - especially with the goodbye party for one of the team members - but I'll be diving in this week for sure (which conveniently is a 4-day week thanks to the Queen's Birthday today). Also, next Saturday, I'll be attending my first All Blacks match, when they play France here in Wellington!! The Frogs (as the French call their team) did not bring many good players, so it should be a fun to watch the ABs romp.

Employment

2007-05-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

Success! I am happy to report that I am now employed by the ACC – Accident Compensation Corporation, a “crown entity” (aka Government) that basically provides personal injury insurance to all New Zealanders. I’ve been hired for a 6-month contract with the Business Information group – I’ll be doing in-house analysis and reporting on the performance of providers that contract with ACC. This is their nice blue building, which is conveniently located three blocks from my flat!

ACC doesn’t really have a corollary back home – in addition to personal injury coverage, ACC will cover lost wages for workers hurt on the job. The team I'll be on consists of 8 people and is in a state of expansion and reorganization. It should be an interesting place to observe and be a part of. Supposedly I start on Wednesday, although this is, as of yet, unconfirmed.

P.S. A follow-up to all the comments on the box of Halloween costumes - I have not thoroughly searched it, but it includes: a Shrek mask, a police helmet, a dreadlocks wig, plus some fairy wings and assorted accessories.

43 Tinakori Rd.

2007-05-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

This is my new flat!! Basically, I live in a 4-bedroom house. It's kinda reminiscent of a college property, to be honest. The way it works is that when you move out, you find a replacement - there are no time-based leases like back home. Hence, over the last two years, probably 10 different people have lived in the house. Former tenants often leave things when the move out - like furniture, kitchenware, and the box of Halloween costumes in the front closet. Currently the house contains myself, Andy - a self-employed Tiler, Kylie - an architecture design student, and a doctor who is never around and is moving out in june. The place has enormous rooms - even bigger because of super tall ceilings (see picture of my room - and check out my awesome pink bed I got on Trademe - the NZ version of Ebay). Also, Andy tells me we live next door to marines who work at the embassy (I have yet to confirm this - but they do have an American flag flying in their front window).

In addition to moving in, this past week I did some hiking along the ridge-line that surrounds Wellington, and is essentially in my cousin's backyard. It offered some amazing views of the city to the east and also of the surrounding mountains that go all the way to the western and southern coasts. The city picture doesn't show Wellington central because it is further down the hill... these are the western suburbs of Wellington (it looks very similar to the picture I posted earlier of Karori, just taken from a lot higher up).

I also went to Te Papa, the national museum of NZ, where I got a good dose of New Zealand history. My favorite part were the bits on Maori artifacts and history. The Maori were the original Polynesian setters of NZ, and are very much a part of today's NZ culture (the Haka is a Maori story-chant that precedes many NZ national sporting events - most notably the All Blacks rugby games). Note that cameras are allowed and encouraged at the museum, so I didn't break any rules photographing this canoe stern (the canoe was about 80 ft long - it was really impressive but hard to photograph).

Wellington

2007-05-10T19:49:00.000-07:00

After my long train and ferry ride, I arrived in Wellington Harbor (I have no pictures from the actual arrival, because the camera battery was toast, but above is one from a few days later). My cousin Carsten met me at the ferry depot, and luckily we recognized each other right off the bat - I hadn't seen him in person (unlike my other NZ relatives) since I was 5 years old. Within about 20 minutes we had left the city and arrived the house Carsten and his girlfriend Sarah own in the Wellington suburb of Karori - mostly west and a little north of central Wellington. Karori contains a large park (shown below) surrounded by modest hills (this is the view from Carsten's porch).

Once in Wellington, I started looking for flats (I've got one now and will be moving in over the weekend - I'll likely make that the subject of my next post), and jobs (starting to send out resume and cover letters now). I've also had a great time with Carsten and Sarah - we've done some painting and other home improvement (mostly making holes in walls), some fishing, and spent some time tearing up the town. They also took me to my first professional rugby match, which was fantastic. With any luck, I'll be able to secure some All Blacks (the national team) tickets come June (test matches against France) and then in July / August as well for the Tri-Nations against Australia and South Africa.

Arrival

2007-05-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

Hey kids - welcome to New Zealand!

Above, is the area around Christchurch, the biggest city on NZ's south island, and where my family used to live when I was 3. My dad's cousin Jorgen and his wife Mona still live there (they were the inspiration that brought us to NZ in the first place, and the picture is taken from the hill on which they live) and I spent my first week in New Zealand with them. After conquering my jet lag (directly proportional to the number of screaming children seated within two rows of me on my trans-pacific flight), I spent the week exploring Christchurch and relaxing. Sadly, my parent's old house has been bulldozed, but my kindergarten looks exactly the same. I had a wonderful visit with Jorgen and Mona, and with Jorgen's mom, Aunt Charlotte. They had great stories about my fam - my favorite is how my brother Jason picked all the lemon's off of Aunt Charlotte's lemon tree, killing it in the process. I spent several days wandering around downtown Christchruch and seeing the sights, mainly Cathedral Square and the botanical gardens.

On Wednesday the 25th I left Christchurch, via train and ferry to get to Wellington, where I would meet up with my cousin Carsten. The trip was beautiful - after spending the last 20 years on completely flat ground in the midwest, the scenery here is just incredible. Here are views from the TranzCostal Railway and the InterIsland ferry, respectively.