In Review

As we wrap up our second week in New Zealand, I wanted to take a post to reflect on our time here so far.

Weather:  

Whenever I told anyone it would be spring when we arrived, they all got that far away look as they thought about the perfect spring day that anyone only experiences for about 3 days a year anyways and said, "That sounds wonderful."  Let me tell you, it was definitely still winter when we got here.

Spring and sunshine are starting to peek out, and when they do it is lovely, but we have certainly had our share of 'England days' as we call them.  Low grey clouds, cold and drizzly.  I really have never seen lower hanging clouds.  I can see why the Maori named New Zealand Aotearoa, meaning 'The Land of the Long White Cloud'.  Our recent trip to Akaroa and Banks Peninsula, a ridged mountain formation from volcanic explosions, proved this.  Heading up the summit road to catch the beautiful views of the harbor was harder than expected.  Again, we drove through clouds that gave us views like this:

Nothing like driving in the clouds!

but every so often they would clear and give us views like this:

View of a bay from summit road

You can see why they chose New Zealand to film Lord of the Rings!

More on that trip here.

You really know it's bad when everyone tells you, oh yes, what a really bad spring we're having, it's just dreadful isn't it? Normally by this time it's warm and gorgeous.  It's getting better though, not as frigid.  Today was nice and sunny so I figured why not put the laundry outside on our clothesline? 2 hours later we were bringing them in from the rain to out in the dryer anyways. Come on spring!

Electricity: 

The cold in the beginning was compounded by the fact there there is no central heat (or AC) in the house- and we only have a space heater and an electric blanket to keep us warm inside.  It has been like living in a refridgerator.  But really, I have to microwave nutella in order to be able to spread it.  

The bill is handled very differently as well, it's more like a prepaid phone.  You take your electricity card to a local retailer (in our case The Mad Butcher) that can load it for you.  Once home, you stick it into your electricity slot and it will keep track of how much you have left/ how much you are using per hour.  So, you can see your spending in real time. For example, when we have nothing on we were using 3 cents an hour, but once we start cooking or shower (water is electrically heated so $$) it jumps to 60 cents an hour.

Driving/Roads:  

First off, yes, driving on the 'wrong' side of the road has been an adjustment, but really it's their left-turn yield rule that has given us some confusion.  If you are turning left (like making a right turn in the states) and someone wants to turn right across traffic onto the same street, you are supposed to stop and let the turn before you. Provided that if there is more than one lane there is no one coming in the other. Confused yet? I'm still trying to figure it out, especially since apparently only half of New Zealanders follow it and /or understand it themselves. I heard they are working on repealing it... Good.


On the other hand, crossing the street was also an adjustment and we still occasionally do the double-take and look both ways constantly while crossing.  But we're getting better: look right (Rachel), look left (Ludlow). At least that's how I remember it!

Interestingly enough, I haven't seen too many stop signs but rather "give way signs." I guess that would come naturally from a country with a good number of traffic circles.  At least they don't stop at the round a bouts. Also, I have yet to see any numbered streets.  They all have names, and in some cases it can be a bit hard to understand.  Every time we get a name from someone, we have to ask them to spell it.

Me (over phone):     "Where do you live?"

                              "21 Safeye street."

Me (looking at map):"um, could you spell that for me?"

                              "Okay.. S-a-pp-h-i-r-e"

Ooh, she's saying sapphire. Wow, I just asked her how to spell sapphire. 

But you have to, because you definitely dont want to have to call back.  (as highlighted by the case where Wells had to call back and ask a guy to spell 'mansuth' or Main South Road. Then you just feel really silly.) Really didn't think it would be this hard to understand the accents, but I guess out of context...

Not Available in New Zealand:

In an attempt to stay up to date with all of our US shows and the sort, we have run into many an unwelcoming end.  As we learned in Europe, Netflix and Hulu do not work outside of the US.  Neither does Pandora. We have been lucky enough to get to watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report to keep us up on things back home, albiet it is 2 days later over here by the time its online.   

And on the bright side we are getting amusing adverts like this one:

You can't make this stuff up.

Jobs:  

Unfortunately, it has been a bit slow on the job front.  I had e-mailed a couple of places before I left so I had an interview the first Monday we were here.  I got really excited since it was a marketing company and it would not just be a job here, but a great resume builder too.  I never did get a call back which has bummed me out for a bit, but he did say that he had over 100 applicants for the few available positions.  As the company was just re-opening their branch in Christchurch after their building was flattened during the earthquake in February, I can definitely see how they would be interested in hiring local.  I hadn't thought about the sudden unemployment that hit the city with the earthquake.  I am determined though, and I have applied to a few other places since being here-- and, i have an interview for a new bar opening nearby on Monday. Fingers crossed!

Oswald:

I know everyone is interested in hearing about this little guy, or show we say Houdini, but he really deserves his own post (coming soon!).

But for now:

Oooh, yeah, gotta love that belly rub

Cheers!

Hello Mt. Hutt! Goodbye Winter

Last Thursday marked our first week in Christchurch and our official goodbye to winter with our second day of ski/snowboarding.  With the weather finally getting a bit warmer, Mt. Hutt, one of the last open mountains, is closing at the end of this week.

We had our first skiing adventure our first Sunday here; we left Christchurch early to there for a 10:30 ski lesson (as Wells had never skied before and I had only once 4 years ago, we both needed it).  It takes about an hour along the highways from Christchurch to get to Mt. Hutt but mind you, these 'highway's are curvy 2 lane roads with one lane bridges- mostly along sheep farms.  Once you get to Mt. Hutt, it is a 30 minute winding, cliff-side, gravelly driving adventure with signs like this:

But views like this:

Our little car has certainly proved herself, twice over now!



As hectic as it was, the panoramic views were really unbeatable. Maybe it's just because I've lived in Florida for so long, but it is crazy to me to see grass growing above the clouds.  You certainly believe that this is one of New Zealand's highest skiing points.   

On our first trip, we both took a ski lesson and stuck to the beginner slope and at the end of the day we were doing pretty well (considering I managed to only bring 2 right ski gloves from Florida..). We did try an intermediate slope, but a near white out experience steered us away from trying that one again! The second day, Wells went back to snowboarding and blew away my 3 days of skiing skills.  He whizzed down the mountain while I tried in vain to make it down in one piece. I definitely got better as the day went on and got more comfortable picking up speed, which was a bit scary when trying to stay away from the edge of the runs.  I remember my first time skiing in Canada: lots of soft white snow, short but steep hills, nice full evergreens... But here it was different: steep, never slowing slopes with a view of the valleys and clouds below you. From up there, there was no mistaking it. You were on the top of a mountain!

                                                   Cheers!

Getting Settled

Wells and I certainly hit the ground running getting ourselves set up so there hasn't been too much writing time; this will cover our first couple of days.

I arrived at 4:15pm (16:15) Thursday and by 4:30 we were in the local mall, super conveniently located just down the street, starting our new joint bank account at Westpac.  Next we went a few doors down to get, what else, cell phones! We are now new members of 2 Degrees mobile.  Since Wells can change the sim in his Blackberry, he still has his phone, and I have one of his old phones since I cannot do the same with mine. Goodbye iPhone :( 

We got dinner in the mall (as we have no food yet) then headed back home and greeted Oswald, the little tabby cat that we are taking care of while we rent our flat- I'm sure there will be pictures of him to come!

Day 2:

Okay, so we have a back account and cell phones, now what? Food and a car!

Luckily, the grocery store is also in walking distance, but as we learned on this trip: Food is expensive! I guess they are on an island so many things are shipped, but still. $8 for a cheap frozen pizza, and over $3 for a head of iceberg lettuce. Plus, everything is in cost per kilogram, which is something I am definitely not used to... We'll see how this goes. 

When looking up information on working holidays in New Zealand, it was great to hear that since a lot of people take a gap year, there is a lot of 'recycling' that goes on in terms of jobs, lodging and also cars due to the transient nature of these particular people.  We had found a great place online where you could buy a car, get the insurance, mechanical check, etc and they would also buy it back from you! So we take our walk from Riccarton, through the park- where signs of spring were showing:

                                          Wild tulips!

And then to the center of town. Soon, the destruction from the February earthquake was evident.  Buildings showed signs of damage, some lots were leveled and streets were closed, but it really wasn't until we got the the car mart and found an empty building and empty parking lot that it really hit us.  Businesses were closed, even ones that didn't look damaged.  We went next door and a man told us that the center of the city, cathedral area, is still closed off. And it is, with a chain link fence. And this is 8 months later.

Luckily, the same man was able to point us in the direction of the one backpacker car mart he knew was still open. It was, and the selection was... Interesting. Mostly old vans and station wagons (so that a bed can be made by folding the back seats down for camping/traveling) and the newest ones were from the late nineties.  We managed to get a good deal with a Subaru station wagon, that we now affectionately call 'Betsy'.  She is a 1997 with over 200,000 miles, but the mechanical check proved her to be in very good health.  We paid about 2500 and then had to buy the vehicle history and some insurance.  They don't buy then cars back, but we can leave it in their parking lot to sell ourselves when we are done. Although the test drive was pretty terrifying- they drive on the other side of the road!- we made it home safe and sound and are very happy with our choice:

I'm Here! WHAT TIME IS IT??

I made it safe and sound into Christchurch Thursday afternoon, no missed bags or customs red tickets and was greeted by Wells outside our flat at 4:15 pm. So, sometime Wednesday night for most of my friends and family. Since my flights started Tuesday at 10:45 and my flight from LA didn't leave until 8:30 their time, it was a very long day. Wednesday, by contrast, was very brief. I fell asleep Tuesday night on the plane and woke up when it was 6am Thursday in Melbourne. It's hard to wrap my head around, but somehow a missed an entire day in there. I met a woman from Australia who said that when you go back over, you get into LA before you left... So I guess eventually I will get that day back! More importantly, she was from a place in Australia called 'Kangaroo'.
"Yes, we really do have kangaroos in our backyard," was her immediate response.

The Virgin Australia girl hooked me up with an awesome seat, so on my long flight I had a window seat but with only one person next to me so I was not completely trapped. For the first time ever (probably due to lack of sleep the night before) I slept pretty soundly for about 8 hours on the plane. It was awesome, it hardly felt like a 15 hour flight. And free movies, tv and meals :) I watched Something Borrowed, which I will warn you would only be entertaining if you were stuck on a plane.
I arrived in Melbourne safely, and I guess a few months too early as I will miss this opening:

As at home as this made me feel, I was definitely afraid the entire wait and next flight that I would arrive in Christchurch with nothing but my purse. I was already a little weary when the woman in Gainesville told me she could check my bags through to Christchurch even though I was changing airlines, but then in LA they took my carry on as they thought my backpack was too big and it was only checked through to Melbourne. So a lady quickly radioed someone to pass it on. I was not inclined to trust that, but luckily all my bags arrived safely and it was just a quick shuttle ride over to our flat.
Hello New Zealand!

What is a Kiwi?

Let's get this squared away:

1. A flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand

2. A nickname used for the people of New Zealand

3. Informal name for the New Zealand dollar

4.  A brown, fuzzy fruit with a green center, also known as the Chinese gooseberry. Re-named Kiwifruit by New Zealand exporters.

So, to sum it up:

Or something like that.

But really, take it from someone whose mother has read the guidebooks.  New Zealand is an amazing island about the size of Japan with terrain changes that let you surf on the coast and ski in the mountains.  They invented bungee jumping and have more sheep than people, so what's not to love and explore!

In two days begins my Kiwi Quest in New Zealand.  I feel so lucky to be going, especially with my (now) fiance. It's going to be a wild ride!