The First Day of School

Austin's countdown is finally over... School has started! He was a little upset because today was only a half day and he did not get to try out the new playground. He did, however, sing us the first song he learned... 'The Rules of the Classroom.' He is very excited about school and enjoys his teacher. A picture is on the left hand side of this blog.

Today was, also, Hayley's first day at Intermediate School (5th grade.) This year, Hayley's day is broken up with three different teachers... one for English, one for Math, and one for Science and Social Studies. Additionally, she has three more teachers for Art, Music, and Gym. She was a little upset that none of her friends are in her class rotation. In fact, she jokingly feigned sickness before she went to bed tonight.

Home Safe and Sound

We made it home safe and sound. What an amazing trip! The weather was great, and not a single thing went wrong during our travels. How amazing is that? Our cats are happy we are home and it is nice to sleep in our own beds again. We had such wonderful hosts on our trip though, it's hard to get back to it! Several people have asked if we intend to keep up the blog, and at this point I think we will. There's always good stories to post, although it may not be a daily thing. I think I can set up email alerts to send off when a new posting is made. Let me know if you are interested in being alerted to a new posting.

Departing

Thursday we had a fairly relaxed day visiting the zoo and beach. The kids' favorite part at the zoo was the Meer cat exibit. There were tunnels underneath that the kids could climb through and then climb up a ladder to pop their heads up in a clear plastic dome that looked right into the Meer cat's home. Their faces were just inches away from the cats. They thought that was pretty cool.

On Friday, we spent the day with Tracey, a school friend of Cheryl's, and her 2 1/2 year old son. When we arrived at her house, I was stunned by the angle of her driveway. It appeared to be a 60 degree slope. Needless to say, I was hesitant to go down it. We had a good time going to the beach and ordering fish and chips from a Take-away later in the day.

Saturday morning, I finally got to play a little golf with Graeham, William, and one of William's friends. Austin joined us and played shy at first. However, much to the dismay of William, he warmed up quickly. Austin acted as William's caddy and was fortunate to rake many sand traps for him. When someone hit the ball into the trees on the first hole, Austin proclaimed... "Why did you hit the ball into the trees? Daddy never hits it there." After a good chuckle, Daddy hit the ball into the trees off the tee on the next hole. On another occasion, after William topped the ball, Austin exclaimed... "I can see that ball. It didn't go very far at all!"

We went back to Auntie Lyn's for lunch and had many of my favorites from NZ... Scallops, Mussel Fritters, Cheerios, Chips, and Sausage Rolls.

We are now at the airport getting ready to depart. The trip has been good with many great memories. NZ seems much more relaxed than the States and very in-tune with environmental issues. I have uploaded some more photos to our Flickr account.

See ya soon!

Bird Sanctuary

Today, we received a call early from Darren that my grandmother had passed a few hours earlier. I find it no coincidence that our excursion for the day was a trip to a bird sanctuary island. Bird watching was one of Granny's favorite pasttimes. I hope she was able to enjoy it with us, as we saw some amazing birds! We will upload some pictures of the day soon for those of you who were unable to enjoy it with us in spirit.

More Pics and Power Rangers spotted

We have added more pictures to the original links. The pics are from our excursions on the Coromandel Peninsula, Rangitoto Island, Kelly Tarlton's and our time with Annette in Mission Bay.

You should see the police officers, here! They dress like Power Rangers and they carry ZERO weapons. That's right, they do not carry a gun or even a taser! I saw one with a radar gun and was secretly hoping he would pull me over so that I could get my picture with him.

Did you know it is against the law to spank your children in NZ? It is a recent rule and the teachers make sure that the kids know about it. After learning this, the kids were eager to move here. However, Austin had a change of heart because he did not want Mom taken to jail.

Cheers! (That's NZ for Goodbye)

The Extended Weekend

On Saturday, we got to meet up with Cheryl's cousins and relatives. The morning started with Cheryl's cousin Graham, 2nd Cousin William, and friend Pete coming over to "trim" some trees. Graham likes his chainsaw and as a result the trimming left about 3 feet of trunk on each tree. Austin and I helped out and we were rewarded with some cold frosty beverages. At lunch, we were treated to several NZ specialities... spaghetti on pizza, cheerios (a small red sausage), and bangers (a larger sausage.) Cheryl's cousins Nigel and Vivian and their families came over later. Austin found a friend in Trent (also 5) and they partied until 11 at night.

We had to wake Austin on Sunday morning so that we could meet up with Cheryl's childhood friend Annette. They live in a newer house and it did not show up on our GPS. Consequently, we had to use a prehistoric method to find their abode... stop at a gas station and ask directions. We headed to Mission Bay and had lunch and played on the beach. We later toured a supermarket (my idea) and had some coffee. Sunday night, Vivian and family came over for dinner. As many of you know, Cheryl was concerned that the Kiwi's would not appreciate my sense of humor. Unfortunately for her, I am fitting in quite well. In fact, much to everyone's shagrin, Vivian's husband Dave and I created a splendid atmosphere for dinner.

On Monday, we woke and decided to go to Rangitoto island, a Volcanic island that has not erupted for 400 years. After a very rough docking (the skipper thought it would be a good idea to ram a pilon at the dock to slow the vessel down), Cheryl thought it would be a spendid idea to hike to the summit of the Volcano. The trek started off well enough. The volcanic rock and solidified magma was quite amazing. However, about three quarters of the way up we figured out that Cheryl's eyes were bigger than her desire to surmount the summit. The trek became much rougher. Finally we reached the summit. As we paused to take in the view, Cheryl noticed rain approaching. Keep in mind, we just hiked for over an hour, straight up, to reach this point. Now, we were going to have to descend quickly to beat the rain. Cheryl took the lead and after sometime I realized I didn't recognize the path we were taking. I brought this to her attention and she paused and started to question the path herself. We asked a passerby and sure enough, we were on the wrong path. *** We now had to climb back up and go down the mountain. Keep in mind we only had an hour and a half until the last ferry was leaving the island. We had atleast an hour journey with rain approaching if we did not make anymore wrong turns. *** Luckily, we made it in time. The kids decided to vote Mom off the island and not let her plan any more treks up the side of a Volcano.

I am not receiving messages on my phone again. We hope to upload more photos tomorrow.

Coromandel Peninsula

Today we left Thames and headed up the coast and around the Coromandel Peninsula. The trip took about three hours. The roads were very windy and often became one lane several points in time. After winding through the mountains we were treated to some magnificent views, and also to Austin's car sicknes...okay, he didn't actually get sick, but we did have to roll down the windows and slow down a bit just in case. Since we are on a dial-up connection tonight we will wait until we have access to a higher speed internet connection before we try and upload some photos from this adventure. I hope the photos do justice to the awesome beauty of the landscape.

After leaving the peninsula, we headed for Clarks Beach to my aunt's house. We have arrived in safely and Shawn is happy to not have to unload luggage again until it's time to leave for the States. We plan to stay here the rest of our trip and do some day trips in and around Auckland and also catch up with some friends.

More Rotorua Experiences

We've had a busy past two days! We started out Wednesday morning by visiting some geothermal activity (boiling mud pools) in a park in Rotorua (see pictures via the link in the previous post). After taking a few pictures we decided we'd had enough of the fragrant fumes and headed over to Waitomo to visit the glow worm caves. What an awesome experience!!! Although the boat trip through the caves was a bit short, the pure splendor of the caves made up for the short trip.

After caving we stopped for lunch at a local dairy and then headed back to Rotorua for a purely New Zealand cultural experience. We took a tour through Te Puia Maori Cultural Center (Centre, for the NZ readers). By this time it was about 4:30pm and starting to get a bit chilly, but we warmed our rear ends up on some geothermally heated rocks while we waited for a geyser to erupt. The Pohuta Geyser is the second largest in the world next to Old Faithful. Continuing the tour we visited the Maori carving and weaving schools. The last part of the evening was participation in a Maori ceremony and hangi (feast). Shawn was chosen/volunteered as our "chief". As Chief he was reponsible for representing our group. Our group consisted of the four of us, and a couple from Scotland. The welcome ceremony was hiliarious, although we were instructed not to laugh. I have some good video of the ceremony, which decides whether we come in war or peace. After it was determined we came in peace, we were invited into the meeting house for a formal ceremony and song and dance. During the presentation we were invited up on stage to use the pois (can't think of a good description so just google it) and later the men were invited up on stage to learn the Haka. Once again, I have great video so ask for it when we get back!!! We concluded the evening with a wonderful meal with way too much food. At this point Austin was so tired he was asking to go to bed!

After a great night's sleep we woke up and headed for the kiwifruit (not kiwi for the USA readers...this is a bird) growing fields near Mt. Maunganui. We were provided a tour of the orchards and packing facilities. This was really interesting and we watched while they sorted and packed the fruit. Hayley loves kiwifruit and picked up a few of the discarded fruit from the ground to take with us.

After leaving Mt. Maunganui we headed for the Coromandel Peninsula. We took a bit of a wrong turn (my fault) and we didn't quite end up where we had hoped to be tonight. However, it has worked out quite well. We have stopped for the night in Thames in an all inclusive, self-contained unit (kitchen included). Tomorrow we hope to visit a goldmine area and possibly Hot Water Beach. After that we will head to my aunt's house in Clarke's Beach, south of Auckland.

Check out the pictures we have so far (link available at previous post).

One more item to note that we forgot to write down in previous posts...we saw a sign on the side of a building that said, "If Hilary wins, Monica gets her job back." Unfortunately, we drove by it faster than I could get my camera out. We just about died laughing. NZ'ers seem very interested in American politics, and from what we have seen, most seem to be rooting for Obama. And with that, I will end this post.

Pictures

We are having difficulty adding pictures to this site. However, if you would like to see some pictures, go to... http://www.flickr.com/photos/27338358@N04/show/

Rotorua

We spent the night in Rotorua. Rotorua is famous for boiling mud pools which we plan to see today. Pictures will not do this town justice. You need the sense of smell to fully appreciate this place... imagine French Lick on steroids!

We drove for several hours, yesterday, seeing many sheep, cows, sheep, horses, sheep, red deer, and even a few sheep. The landscape is quite breathtaking. After seeing these many sights, we stopped off to see, you guessed it, a sheep show. The kids really enjoyed it. I especially liked seeing the dogs work the sheep.

I have encountered many oddities compared to the States. As some examples...

• Kiwi seem to be prejudiced against ice. Fountain Coke machines do not dispense Ice. Drinks are not served with Ice. Ice can not be bought in convenience stores.
• People look at you strange when you ask for ketchup. I found out it is called tomato sauce here.
• French Fries are served coated in Vinegar and Salt.
• Dewar asked Austin if he had some rubbish he need to throw away. Austin replied... 'No, it's just trash.' (Rubbish is NZ for trash.)
• You push down on light switches to turn them on.
• Each electrical outlet has a switch next to it to turn it on.
• People look at you strange when you ask for a rest room. This worried me at first because Austin really had to go. I found out that this terminology is foreign to them. They call it a toilet or bathroom.
• Toilets have two flushing options so you can adjust based upon the load you deposit.

Today, we are off exploring more hoping to see boiling mud and glow worms.

Rotorua Bound

Yesterday, was the 'Queen's Birthday'... a national holiday in NZ. Consequently, most everyone was off work. We went to Mt. Eden, a dormant volcano where we could see both sides of the country and down into the Volcanic Crater. Dewar later told me that he used to ride dirt bikes in the crater. Now you are not allowed to descend it. We also went to the Sky Tower and went to shops on Queen Street in downtown Auckland. We went to Pakuranga and drove by Cheryl's childhood home. Believe it or not, they have not yet recognized her house as a Historic Monument.

Today, we left Rosalie and Dewar to trek 3 hours to Rotorua (approximately 10 hours in Austin time.) Hopefully, tonight, we will be able to upload pictures. Their house is pretty cool. You can pick fejioas, mandarins, lemons, and lots of other things from their yard. They collect rain water for all their indoor water needs. Another NZ oddity... they leave their doors and windows open without any screens to cover them. They don't have the bugs to worry with that we do.

We are currently stopped for lunch in Cambridge, a quaint little village that reminds me of New England. Next stop are the glow worm caves. Hopefully, we will find a motel for the night with internet so that we can upload pictures and so we don't have to sleep in the station wagon!

Arrived Safe and Sound

Twenty four weary hours after beginning our travelling adventures, we finally arrived in Auckland. The flight in was foggy but luckily enough the pilot didn't tell us the plane was on auto-land until after we had touched down. We were able to track our progess through the night on a TV screen in the seat back in front of us. Austin informed us that during our flight, he saw that we flew over the moon!

When we landed, we got our rental car... a nice Nissan station wagon (92,000 miles on the odometer) with a distinct smokey smell. The rental lady informed me that we should return it with as much fuel as was in it. I informed her that should not be a problem since it was barely above empty.

As for driving on these roads... It has been a challenge driving on the wrong side of the road. Luckily, though, I have Cheryl in the passenger seat informing at every intersection to stay to the left. Another odd thing with the car is that the turn signal is on the wrong side of the steering column. Consequently, every time we turn, I turn on the windshield wipers.

The weather has been good. We have been enjoy tremendous cooking from Rosalie... Leg of Lamb, Homemade pickles, Ciabatta Bread, Apple Pie, etc. Everything is made from scratch and any suggestion that it is otherwise is considered an insult.

Dewar and I inspected his garage to view his cars include a beautiful hard top Yellow MGB GT (with a V8.) We then looked at several photo albums from his race days... including some pics of when he worked with Mario Andretti at Indy.

Austin and Hayley have been getting along fairly well. We have walked down to the Marina and Beach a couple of times to keep them occupied. Last night, they were extremely tired and went to bed without any complaints.

We are getting ready to eat lunch and depart on an adventure into Auckland. Currently, my cell phone is not picking up emails. However, we can log into our home account.

Warming Trend

It seems we get to leave Indiana just as the weather gets warm. Somehow I'm guessing that not too many people are feeling sorry for us though...

4 More Sleeps!

4 More Sleeps to go (as Austin puts it) until we launch. I must say that I am starting to grow a bit concerned about Cheryl. It all started innocent enough. We went down to her parents place so that she could film her Parent's saying Hello to family and friends in New Zealand. Unfortunately, I think she may have been bitten by a bug... a shutter bug. All the way home, she continued to film things to show the people in New Zealand... Cloverdale streets, Chicago's Pizza, blooming trees, the Airport, and, yes, even the occasional road kill (perhaps, I am exaggerating a tiny bit. However, you get the gist.) If she has become this incessant with filming now, what is it going to be like in NZ???

However, this line of picture taking has got me thinking. Perhaps, I should film the toilet flushing and then play it back in NZ to see if it will really swirl in the opposite direction.

Introduction

Friday, May 30th, 5:00 p.m. Destination... Auckland, New Zealand. Two weeks away from reality in the 5th most Peaceful Place on Earth. (According to Q95. Iceland was first; United States 96th... go figure.)

Be forewarned. This blog will contain numerous typographical errors as I try to adapt to the Kiwi lifestyle and bridge the necessary language barriers.