First Things First

Greetings friends, family and people who just want to know what it is like for an American family to migrate to New Zealand!

Well, in case you didn't already know, it is beautiful here! We didn't take some long drive to a scenic overlook to capture the shot shown here -- it was taken from one of our living room (aka "lounge" in NZ) windows! The view is of Wellington harbour, from our rented home in the suburb of Maungaraki in the hills above Lower Hutt. Wellington harbour is actually just like Crater Lake, Oregon -- a giant caldera, the remnant of a once majestic volcano that erupted violently, collapsed into its own empty magma reservoir and then filled with water. In this case, the caldera opened to the sea -- Cook Strait -- on the southern side. Wellington and the surrounding communities are built down in the crater, while we are up on the rim. Just FYI mom, the volcano here -- unlike Crater Lake -- is much older and extinct.

After two weeks in a cramped hotel (having a 4-year old share your space could make the hangar deck of the U.S.S. Nimitz feel cramped) we are finally settled in our rented 4 bdrm/2 bath home and we love it! (Though our container full of stuff still will not be here for another month.) As you have seen, we have a fantastic view of Wellington Harbour, and the Lower Hutt City lights at night, and the back deck faces a tree and fern covered hillside with tuis and other birds which make the most unusual and beautiful sounds. We almost never want to shut the curtains! We are near the end of a dead-end street, so the traffic is light, and there is a hiking (aka "tramping" in NZ) trail where the street runs out. We signed a 10 month lease, which will end between the first and second terms of the 2008 school year. We hope that by then we will be able to move into a home of our own - though we are currently leaning towards staying in the same community of Maungaraki.

We visited Connor's new school - Maungaraki School - and are very impressed. It is such a safe, quiet, playful and colourful place, and the children and teachers all seem to be very happy to be there. Maungaraki School is really a combined Primary and Intermediate school (aka Elementary and Middle in the US) of around 250 students between Year 0 (Kindergarten) and Year 8, nestled in a natural amphitheatre of the mountains overlooking the Harbour. So Connor can attend the same school right up until he is ready for College (aka High School). In NZ they have four school terms per year, and the current one will end this week, followed by a two week break. Connor will start school full-time with everyone else at the beginning of Term 3, in mid-July.

The school is only a few blocks from our home and right next door to a little shopping centre with a quaint cafe, our doctor's office, pharmacy, a "take away" with a huge menu from Chinese to American classics, a small grocery market, a post office, and a few other necessities. We have to drive down a winding, but thankfully wide and not too steep (Eric notes "not too steep" if you consider, say, Monteagle Grade in Tennessee to be "not too steep") drive to Lower Hutt for everything else we might need. "Down the hill" there are several huge supermarkets, plenty of retail specialty stores and a large indoor mall much like anything you would find in the US. We can't get over all the fresh fruits, veggies, breads and deli meats available at the grocery stores. Speaking of food, we have not had a bad meal yet! To save money, we ate light breakfasts and dinners in our hotel room; but, for lunch we usually went to one of the many cafes in the area. We have had everything from healthy salads and paninis to pizza, hamburgers, traditional English fare, Indian, Thai, and Malaysian cuisine as well. Everything has tasted fresh and had really wonderfully different flavours. Well, everything except Eric's first experience with "Bangers and Mash," (sausage and mashed potatoes) which were, appropriately, bland as only English cuisine can be.

In many ways, Maungaraki reminds us of where we used to live in Troutdale, OR; but, with the added benefit of a fantastic harbour view and cafes within a short drive. The commute to the Wellington CBD is about the same as our old commute to Portland from Troutdale - 20-30 minutes, depending on traffic; but, we can easily take the train from a station at the bottom of the mountain, or a couple of buses starting with one at the end of our street. So far, we have actually only gone to Wellington's downtown for one day - to visit the Te Papa Museum of New Zealand. Te Papa is a fairly new, huge, world-renown museum covering the history of New Zealand on a geologic time scale. It has lots of things to see and touch, and Connor had a ball running from exhibit to exhibit. We were only able to see about half the museum so far, but since it is free we are sure to go back many more times in the future.

When we first arrived in New Zealand, we didn't really take any time to act like tourists - or look for jobs. (Our trip to Te Papa was our first and last "touristy" excursion, and that was 10 days after we arrived.) We immediately began ticking off the items on our "getting settled" list, figuring we would be in a better position to find work once we had transportation, an address, phone and computer up and running with internet and email access. So, first thing, we bought a car - a used Honda CR-V that feels newer than the one we sold two weeks earlier and has only 41,000 km on the odometer. It is dark blue and has a sunroof, and of course the driver is on the wrong side; but, otherwise it feels much the same as our old car. We figured that a familiar vehicle would ease the stress of learning to drive on the wrong side of the road. We also activated our bank accounts and started searching for a place to live.

Rentals go so quickly here we were starting to get worried. We spent several days driving past places and put applications in on three other smaller, older homes before we saw this one. Luckily, the property manager immediately liked us (it helped that we were both driving CR-Vs and that he had been a police officer for 25 years, sharing my career in law enforcement), so he signed us up without showing the house to anyone else. Shortly after we were approved, we found out we could have had any of the other three homes as well, so I guess we were worried for nothing. The home came with a stove/range and dishwasher (unlike the other three houses); but, we had to go on a spending spree for our own refrigerator, washer/dryer, microwave, toaster oven, computer, TV, DVD player, telephone, beds, bedding, and other goodies. There were also all the normal little things to do when moving - phone/broadband service, electricity/gas, delivery of large items, Sky-TV and rubbish disposal. On the unexpected bright side, water, sewer and recycling here are all free, though there is talk of instituting a water/sewer fee in the future.

We have moved to NZ at the start of their winter - when the weather is at its worst. Well, if this is the worst, bring it on! When we got off the plane (the trip here is a whole other post), the sun was shining, the sky blue and the temp felt like the mid-60s F. At worst, we have had a couple of periods of rain and temps down in the upper 30's F; but, even those periods don't last all day. On a couple of days there has been a dusting of snow on the high mountains across the harbour and up the Hutt Valley. We have laughed to ourselves about the natives who are all walking around shivering and apologizing to us for the cold, because we have loved the weather. So far, three weeks in country, we can say that Oregon winters were worse. Another thing here that reminds us of Troutdale -- the wind can really come ripping in, especially up here on the ridge. The other night we had gale force winds howling and rumbling and shaking the trees for about 18 hours (still not as bad as the 24/7 howling we used to get in Troutdale some winter weeks).

We have both joked to each other that all our lives we have heard people say "If you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes and it will change." We have always dismissed that as the usual local perverse pride hyperbole -- until we came here. It really can change every five to ten to twenty minutes! You can be standing under a rain cloud getting misted (like the Pacific Northwest) but see the large patches of sun and azure sky dotting the crater rim around the harbour. Wait a few minutes and the sun will be shining on you, and you will be peeling off your sweater or coat. You can look out the window and see only a few friendly little puffs of cumulus, come back a half hour later and find the sky ominously gray from horizon to horizon. The clean Pacific breezes and frequent changes of weather keep the air here fresh, and I have had no allergy problems at all since arriving. I am just thrilled to be able to take deep, fresh breaths again - like when we lived in Oregon.

Well, there is lots more to ramble on about, but this is more than enough for now. Suffice it to say, everything we learned in our research and preparations before the move has either been proven true or is even better than expected. There have been no negative surprises here, only positive ones - like discovering that a three month supply of three of Eric's perscriptions (normally costing us around $600 in the US) would only cost us $3 NZD. YES, I said THREE DOLLARS! Every Kiwi we have met has been overwhelmingly welcoming and helpful to us. Our only stressful moments have had more to do with finishing up loose ends in Arkansas from so far away, and learning to drive on the wrong side of the road here - but we are even starting to get used to the later.

In the meantime, know that we love and miss you all; but, we are doing very well and are looking forward to long lives as Kiwi. We also hope that some of you may make the long journey to visit us one day. It would be well worth the flight!

Eric and Linda, 27 June, 2007

PS: We now have a contract on our house in Arkansas, so things are continuing to fall nicely into place.