Exploring the Land of the Long White Cloud

Mar 31/12 4:53pm To recall the last 5 days feels like at least 2 weeks! We are still at the homestay near the beach and unfortunately it's been a bit frustrating. We've looked into over 30 places to rent (some we only drove by, others we took the full tour) and it's a bit of a challenge right now to either find one we like or to secure one we like. Gone are our hopes of finding one in the beachside suburbs and we may be settling for an apartment rather than a house. Many people rent out their places via property management realtors and all of the offices we went into, they said they didn't have much available. Then on Wednesdays and Saturdays, that's when people place ads in the paper. It's a classic case of being too informed. Last time we looked at 2 or 3 places and picked one straight away. This time we know more about what we want and where we want to be so we aren't so hasty in deciding. Which is a good thing in the long run as we hope to be somewher...

I completely forgot to find this video to put into my first post after we arrived! The safety video on Air New Zealand was really quite funny. It kind of reflects the attitude here in general. Sure, some things are serious but why not make them a bit fun if you can! I think the version we saw had bits from the following few - they have some local celebrities (and Richard Simmons) in them so there's little inside jokes too. Also, the crew is wearing body paint in one of them! Enjoy!

March 27/12 10:20am I started writing this entry from the sun-soaked deck overlooking the ocean but the sun was just too bright so I moved into a super comfy chair with windows overlooking the ocean. Yep, we're in New Plymouth. We're staying in this stunning home right near the beach. Last night, we didn't have to use a sound machine because we had the ocean crashing as a lullaby. On Sunday we did make it out to Piha for a bit of a walk. It was far too windy to surf plus it's a dangerous spot so on a bad day it's a deathwish. We figured out how to eat an avocado on the go though. This place had 8 avos for $1 on the way out - yep some navigational drama since we didn't map it first and hadn't been there before - so we grabbed 6. But we hadn't brought utensils since we just had sandwiches and Dustin's multi-tool was in his bag at the flat. So it turns out that when they are ripe enough you can just peel it and nibble away. Delicious! Yesterday w...

When we were headed to YVR last week we saw a rainbow. It showed up just as we neared the Alex Fraser Bridge and over the bridge we could see the entire thing! From one pot of gold to the other! Little moments like that kind of feel like signs. Sounds kind of cheesy but I'll take it. It's fun to rejoice in beauty and let it shine on you. That relates to today because we had success in finding a car! We ended up seeing about 5 cars and were interested in 2 of them. Suspicions of one seller's motives led us to get the other inspected first. The inspection was all good mechanically so we decided to go for it. Since most people sell their cars on trademe (an auction website) it makes pricing kind of tricky due to people's expectations about how well the auction would do. This one didn't have any bids yet so that was good but the aucton was set to end next week. We worked out a deal and off we went. This morning we realized that I hadn't driven here yet and we woul...

Down on the Waterfront with the Sky Tower in the background This crazy tree in Auckland city that we sat near and watched birds Our luxurious "home" for 4 nights. We are here until Monday. Blues fans go wild! The fire flared when the Blues scored Piri Weepu is one of our fave players

Mar 21/12 4:28pm Here we are on the 10th floor of a hostel on Queen St in Auckland. The trip was quite smooth - we did get a row to ourselves on the plane! The direct flight was just under 13 hours and overall it felt shorter than the roughly 10 hour flight from LAX to Auckland. So we were pleased with that. Before we got our first meal on the plane, I was watching this show called New Zealand on a Plate where they travel to different regions and cook with local chefs outside. It made me so excited! They visited this goat farm that we went to last year. They make cheeses from the goats' milk and even make a goat milk ice cream. I don't know what it was but watching this show just got me so keen for this place. We both got bits of sleep and our flight arrived early so it was about 7am by the time we were through immigration and customs. We hopped the shuttle bus to the city and it was shocking how little traffic there was! It was dark and rainy and they didn't have a ...

Only a handful of minutes before we start boarding. Gosh it's an odd feeling. We've said many goodbyes, not too many tears though. It is a joyous thing to be chasing happiness so we will keep smiling. Well, wish us luck that we have an empty seat in our row! (Turns out it was $600 each to upgrade to premium economy and $2000 each to upgrade to first class!) But he tried to get us in a row without anyone else so that was nice. Here's to something different! We will surely miss you all (well unless you just stumbled across this site, we'd probably like to meet you before we miss you.) It's interesting to have an open-ended return on the books, I honestly don't know if we know any more than you at what point we'll be back. But, we carry you all with us and we are beaming back good thoughts to our friends and family. Next time we update we'll be in Auckland! Hopefully with a mouthful of meat pie and Monteiths :)

So after the major task of dropping off our boxes for shipping this morning, we will finally be into the stretch of prep that feels somewhat like a regular holiday. Just packing up the bags we'll take with us and getting any paperwork together. I think we're almost there. Oh, right, also need to sell the truck still. I think we're ready for that. Yesterday afternoon we knocked a few more things off the list. (Including waiting at the currency exchange with 18 people ahead of me!) Also, finally scored some more adapters which have proven very difficult to find compared to the last time where I just happened across them at the dollar store in Fleetwood. Now, we could only find complete sets for the whole world or singles for countries that are not on the itinerary. Or singles for NZ but at ten times what we paid for them before so we kept hunting. We might be able to feel excited today because the vast to-do list has shrunk. The tough part is fitting in all the visits whi...

It feels like it's already been a week since Friday. We both finished work on Friday and had such a full weekend that on our big first day to tackle our giant to-do list I am totally sapped of energy. We have 13 more sleeps until we go. Phew. That sounds longer "less than two weeks" left. Packing is the major item on the list of course. We'll be sending some of our stuff via air separately from us so luckily that just needs to happen a few days before departure at the latest. However we definitely don't want to be scrambling to get it all sorted out at the last minute. Up until now I haven't really wavered on knowing this is the right move. It has felt so in line with what we want for our life. But lately I've had a few doubts. Not specific doubts about it being right but just weird feelings. I think a lot of it depends on the kind of reactions we get about it and it's been affecting me more now that it's getting closer. I can't pinpoint wh...