So Much to Say (so little time)

I'm not a huge Dave Matthews fan (even having lived in Charlottesville) but his lyrics have been ringing in my head recently, "I find sometimes its easy to be myself, Sometimes I find its better to be somebody else".  I definitely have both choices here where we are making a life for ourselves.  I must admit, I am finding it easier to be myself than I have in years.

Mamaw left almost two weeks ago now.  It was hard but we made lots of plans and have been busily ignoring the fact that we miss her!  We have been working on staying on a tight schedule, inviting friends new and old into our home and indoctrinating ourselves into the institution of family life in New Zealand.

First, I want to finish our vacation.  We loved Wellington.  I would highly suggest a visit if you ever get the chance.  We didn't have much time there but we stayed in a posh hotel downtown and visited the Te Papa museum.  It was glorious!  Windy Welly proved to feel a bit sophisticated and showed us a great time.

Next we went to the Muriwai Gannet Colony.  It was a really lovely idea that JJ had.  The family went for a walk on the beach and then the AJs played on the playground.  JJ treked to the look-out point and then traded so Mamaw and I could go up alone.  I think it was literally the ONLY time alone I have had with my her in a good long while -- probably four years!  I realized it and I loved it.  The view was beautiful too!

Surf school is in!  I will be attending one this summer and I cannot wait!

We took the boys to see Blue Mountain Mystery at the cinema.  We were the only ones in the entire theatre and the boys were all entranced!  We followed it up with a trip to the MOTAT (Muesum of Transport and Technology).  We let them have cakes and juice at the cafe, climb onto a diesel engine, watch an automated train go through the same area of the central plains that we had just visited, and ride on a tram to the aviation museum and back again.  My children were in seventh heaven for sure.

One Dark Night When We Were All In Bed, Mrs. O'Leary...

I steered our family toward Napier for our next night/day of vacation.  Napier is in the Hawke's Bay region located on the Eastern shore of New Zealand.  I was keen to see this area because it had been leveled by an earthquake in 1931 and rebuilt in classic Deco style that still stands.  I read that it is lit at night with neon and looks beautiful in its glory.  We arrived at dusk and rented a very standard motel room.

Blurry photo of Napier at night.  It's the best I got.

The room housed two sleeping spaces.  One in the main area with a queen size bed and sleeper sofa and another with two twin beds.  There was a generous bathroom with shower and separate whilrpool tub and a small kitchenette in the area that also served as a hall.  It was a newer construction and had a great balcony as well.

We left the boys asleep with my grandmother and went to dinner at the Masonic Hotel just up the road. I had an uneasy feeling.  I worried the entire time we were gone.  I was spooked by the crashing waves (it is too dangerous a beach to swim at and the wave CRASH into the shore LOUDLY). I was spooked by the seals at the National Aquarium moaning in the night.  We kept walking around town after dinner looking for another drink (we sound like alcoholics probably, but we had only had one glass of wine in a wine region we were not familiar with and wanted to try more).  Nothing was open on Friday night at 10pm, I wasn't impressed with the architecture as I had hoped to be (I had imagined it to be all Rand's The Fountainheadesque and it was much more subtle) and I was spooked by the emptyness of the town.

I am not comfortable leaving my boys with anyone.  I was moderately coming to terms with leaving them with one specific sitter in Charlottesville.  A young woman in her mid-twenties who was a responsible, professional, business owner (not in the child care business) who was married but had not begun a family yet.      I would still worry pretty much the entire time that I was away (and I totally trust Cari).  I will leave them with my grandma and not really worry.  That is about where it stops.  JJ has not ever cared for all three boys at one time by himself.

We got back to the hotel and everything was fine.  Everyone was asleep and we fell asleep ourselves too.  Morning came early and I needed to contact the states for work quickly before the business day was over.  My cell was dead and I needed to go to the store before we began our day so I left everyone and headed across this little town to the Pac 'n Save and use the car charger to make my call.

When I returned, I was met at the door by a moderately upset JJ.  My first thought was, this place smells like candles, hmmm.  Ooops!  I had innocently set a bag of supplies on top of the stovetop hob (I made a mental note to make sure the hob was turned off at the wall switch -- everything is on a wall switch here -- so that even if it were turned on at the knob it wouldn't heat up).  At some point in the night Mamaw looked for the light switch for the hall and must have flipped the switch to the hob.  After I left to run my errand and make my call, AJ2 was caught playing with the hob knobs and a FIRE broke out!!

The fire department was called and the alarms went off evacuating the entire motel (which was at capacity).  Thankfully, JJ found the source, put it out before any real damage was done and dealt with the hotel manager etc.  In classic fashion, JJ then made all of us breakfast and we ended up missing our check out by thirty minutes.  It was hilarious!!  The poor manager tried to be passive aggressive with me when I paid but in my classic type-A American way, I stopped her dead in her tracks.  I understand her frustration, but come on, I was having a seriously bad day already!

We finally packed up and headed over to the National Aquarium and to let the boys play at the beach and ride their scooters.  I never got to see the seals, I was tired and getting cranky and we hit the road again with our sites on Wellington as a final destination.

The Adventure Continues...

We stopped the first night of vacation (we never made any reservations) at a little motel in Taupo called the Oasis.  It wasn't anything fancy but it had two bedrooms, a living area and a full kitchen, a steamy pool, sat right on the lake and it was immaculately clean (and really reasonably priced).  AJ1 fell asleep before we arrived so JJ and I donned swimsuits and took AJ2 for some rare two parents with the middle child bonding time.  It was fantastic to swim in the brisk night air and AJ2 was so, so happy!

Morning came early for mamma and the two big AJs (like 4:30 am early!) and I was that much more grateful for the living area of the hotel.  A bit later everyone else got up, JJ and I took the two bigs swimming and we were on the road again!  We headed out to Whakapapa and National Park.  What. A. Drive.

A Kiwi friend of mine talks about how she feels rather immune to the beautiful scenery here.  I cannot believe that these beautiful mountains volcanoes wouldn't affect anyone who sees them each and every time.

These photos may (or may not) look familiar, this was the set for Modor in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the area around it was used to film the Hobbit earlier this year.  It is also (and probably more importantly) a world heritage area.

I have not touched at all on the Maori (I apologize, I do not know how to place diacritics in blogger) people in New Zealand and I am not going to now except to say that there is a beautiful legend that I have read that is associated with the Maori and these mountains.  If you are interested, you can read it here.

Once we got up onto the mountains we had planned to go tramping but with the recent eruption, many of the  crossings were closed and we decided to move on.  Little did we know, our trip would reach the apex of excitement the next morning!

Family Firsts

We embarked on our first  vacation as a family of five.  In fact, we hadn't been on a family vacation since AJ1 had his first birthday (we spent that time at the Outer Banks in North Carolina).  AJ3 celebrated his first birthday at home and we headed out the next morning.  

We decided to do an old school driving vacation this time.  JJ and I both grew up with this kind of vacation with our families.  Junie and Mamaw would often load us all in the car (when I say all, I am serious, I can remember one trip to and from Florida, a twenty hour drive, with three teenagers, a pre-teen and Junie and Mamaw in a SEDAN!).  JJ's parents would often go on state and national park adventures.

Recently Mt. Tongariro spewed a good bit of ash and rock and we just had to see it ;)  We headed out for the central plains.  We spent most of our first day driving but made it to Rotorua in time to visit the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland.  It was reaaally beautiful.  As usual, I was totally impressed by this little piece of the world but I was also totally impressed with Mamaw.  At 78 years old she pushed a pram through this park, up and down hills and then walked up and down hundreds of stairs.  I am so very grateful that God blessed me with such an amazing, amazing person who loves me.

I am a total nerd but I LOVED seeing this geothermal unit (and would have loved to investigate more).  I couldn't help but find myself wondering all about it's production, costs, efficiency, etc, etc, etc.  This is a no nuke country (I think of all the "No new nukes at North Anna" bumper stickers I read in Charlottesville).  You can take a girl out of the markets...

Advice for Laura

Just before we moved to Auckland I was contacted by a nurse who was also moving to Auckland soon with her MD hubs and three little girls.  To be completely honest I can't remember the ages of the girls but I know that they are pretty close stair steps like my boys (maybe just not as young).  In addition to these similarities, this girl is FROM C-VILLE originally!  Small, small world!

I heard from Laura again recently asking if there was any advice on what to bring when they trek across the international date line in a couple of months.  I have had this on my mind for more than a week and I have asked my friends here on the north and south island as well as JJ to put their two cents in and here is what we have come up with.

My boys are close enough in age that I was able to bring Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends and tracks and we were basically set.  We have purchased a few things here including scooters (all the kids in Auckland have them).  I would only bring the bare essentials.  I wanted this to be a time of less toys and more exploration.  Jenny was quick to point out, there are toy libraries to join here to keep everything fresh!  Heidi pointed out that toys are expensive here and she is SO correct, everything is so we are learning to do with less.  The playgrounds are amazing and the beaches and, and and!  Finally, I'm not sure if you have heard but they are totally nuts about not letting in foreign soil so if your bikes aren't totally scrubbed of anything that could possibly be confused with dirt/mud/soil they will not let it in (they will also check your shoes in your suitcases!).  There was even an exhibit at the Te Papa about keeping out foreign soil and pests!

Emily pointed out that she missed having nice bedding!  Again, everything is expensive here (or of poor quality OR BOTH).  At the last minute I decided to pack our duvets and pillows in space bags and make room for them in suitcases.  I am SO GLAD that I did.  JJ purchased new sheet sets for our beds before I arrived and I don't even want to know what he spent on them!  We also went thrifty on duvet covers opting for cheapies from The Warehouse.  If I had it to do over again I would have made a trip to IKEA and purchased a few duvet covers to stick in my suitcase, the ones we have are just as good but were still expensive in my mind.  I do a lot of shopping at Briscoe's and The Warehouse because I know it is all temporary for us.

Bring your favorite make-up!!  I really like Clinique but I have a hard time spending money on things like mascara that goes bad quickly so I usually use the Cover Girl that comes in the pink tube -- it is $20 here -- it's like $4 at home!!  Jenny actually suggested this but I couldn't agree more!! It's also hard to find many brands, here is a link to an article that Jenny recently posted on her Facebook page about choice in NZ.

If you like ANYTHING plastic, BRING IT!!  This country is obsessed with being green and part of that seems to be shunning plastic or making it so expensive that it is prohibitive (seriously, ONE sippy cup is at least $17 and four reusable plastic plates at the Warehouse are like $8)!!  Bring sippy cups if you use them, plates, forks, water bottles cannisters (I reallly wish I would have brought those!), etc, etc, etc!!  BRING PLASTIC!!

If you child uses a comfort item (Heidi suggested this about pacis) bring several - you might not be able to find them!!

If you like to read, get a Kindle or e-reader if you don't have one already!!  Again, Jenny on this one -- again, I concur!! I got a Kindle for my birthday in May (totally the basic Kindle) and I am so glad.  I brought  my boys a few of my favorite kid books but your girls may be old enough or the right kind of children for the library (my boys are neither!).  In addition, Jenny suggested updating any electronics that may go bad while you are here.  I purchased a new lap top the week I few over and I brought my printer.  JJ purchaed a Mac Air right before he came.  We have priced things here and found that this store is reasonable for Apple products but still pricey (sick of hearing that yet? :).

Kids vitamins!  Heidi on this one!!  I would have forgotten to mention this but I had them mailed over a few weeks ago.

Heidi also remembered that the Old Navy brands will deliver here (it's like $30 shipping for $125 in product) so good deals on clothes are available (my bestie works for this company so she sends me discounts - yay).   I would make sure that they entire family is stocked on GOOD WALKING SHOES (running shoes are at least $200 for adults and $100 for kids) and hiking/rain gear!  I bought a new pair of running tights and a shirt the other day and I don't want to admit how much it was.  If you see me running in the next year, chances are, I am wearing it.

If you don't have a good city stroller and you still use strollers BUY ONE NOW!!  A used Phil and Ted's double is between $250 and $500 here (most are heavily used).  If I had realized this, I would have laid down the $700 for a new one before we came.  The airline will probably bring it over free and not count it toward your baggage allotment.

Medications!!  Emily suggested this one and she is right!  I had a friend who is living in Berlin suggest this to me and I am so glad that she did.  You do not want it to be midnight and need meds for your little one and try to figure out where to get them (everything closes -- they don't even run the MRI at night at the hospital!) and how much of something different from your usual brand to give.  Since you are both medical professionals I am sure you could figure it out but in that moment of sick little one I about lose my head!

Rain gear (Emily again!)!!  It really does rain about everyday here.  I'm not complaining but you want to be prepared.  I ran in the rain once and by the time I got home I was soaked to the bone and COLD.  50's feel cold on the seashore.  I remember Jenny saying this before I came and I kind of thought, yeah, okay but it's still 50F -- trust me, it's cold!  Don't forget rain gear for the kids and stroller if you have it (oh and and afterthought, warm pjs for everyone).

I would LOVE to have a retractable clothesline to use in the house.  Electricity is HIGH $ here and you don't want to run your dryer any more than you have to.  Our last electric bill topped $600 and I am pretty careful about using our heaters (only at night) etc.

Finally, kitchen gear.  As Emily put it, things are "cheapie" here.  I brought measuring cups and spoons and a few other things but I miss my kitchen things SO MUCH!  Bring storage items too (think plastic) I save every container that comes into my house for left overs these day.  It's expensive to eat out and restaurants are a tight fit so it's harder with children.  Babysitters also seem to be few and far between for a date night!

I know it seems like a lot but if you look closely, I bet most of it was already on your list!  All this talk about things being expensive (let's not even talk about rent!) things are attainable.  There is the exchange rate to consider but things really are more pricey.  As always though, the best things in NZ are free.  The beaches, the day sky, the night sky, the mountains, it is beautiful and you will fall in love!!