What we have learned in NZ

Here are few random thoughts on what we have learned since moving to NZ.
*Building a good fire- We are getting to be pros at starting a fire when we get home from work.
* Hunting for fire wood- Keeping the eyes peeled for anything that can burn. John has cleaned out the miscellaneous wood that was stashed under the deck when we bought the house. We also made a trip to the local garbage dump for free reclaimed wood over the weekend. Yahooo---- the garbage dump as a Sunday outing!
* Kiwis think they are living on a tropical island - For years, the government and builders have forgotten that it is freezing for 6 months out of the year. The government is finally starting to realize this and as of July 1 is starting to offer rebates to insulate houses as a way to create jobs and to 'green' up the environment.
*The fast lane is not always the fast lane- You can't be committed to your traffic lane or get lulled into thinking the speed will pick up just around the bend. Driving the motorway every day I have learned that lane jumping is a necessity to get anywhere.
* Plan twice as long to get anywhere- See above. Plus, there are few straight roads and there are traffic jams on Saturday afternoons around here.
* Take a second look at the prices- Sometimes the prices don't include the 12.5% GST tax, which can really get you at the register.
* Rugby- We are slowly learning the rules. Just remember you have to pass backwards to move the ball, you can't throw it forward. The All Blacks are the national team. They are not a full time team though. Instead they call up the best players from the regional teams for the games. Seems like it operates like major league baseball in the US. You might be called up for one game and if you don't perform, you get sent back to your regional team and they try out another guy.
* If you are John, don't have a drink and drive- I believe he has been stopped 5 times now for random breath checks.
* Get to the airport parking early- John missed his flight this morning to Napier because he had to wait for 20 min for the shuttle bus.

South Island Adventures

The South Island is the true outdoors persons paradise. I call the South Island the 'true' NZ. It is the area that we first fell in love with a few years ago. The North Island is more about beaches, BBQ's, boating, and baching it on the weekends. The South Island is all about rugged terrain, going miles without seeing anyone, and living off the land.

Proving the 5 degrees of separation theory----We flew to Christchurch Thursday night after work. I booked a B&B outside of Christchurch not knowing anything about it. It just happens that the owners of the B&B are none other then the parents of Phil Keoghan, the host of the Amazing Race! John Keoghan, his father, just returned from a 40 day trip across the US. John supported his son Phil in the MS bike ride across the US. John and I were standing in the kitchen scratching our heads about why we knew the name Phil Keoghan..... it just so happens that our friends from DSM and our friend Phil from Omaha rode with him when he passed through the respective cities. We will have to start watching the Amazing Race now. There was recently an episode of the Amazing Race filmed in NZ.

Proving NZ will put a road up anything----- Friday morning we headed up to Mt Hutt to go skiing. Mt Hutts claim to fame is that it is one of the first ski fields to open in the Southern Hemisphere each season. To get to the ski area, you drive from sea level up gravel mountain roads (with shear drop offs and no guard rails) until you reach about 6500 feet. From there you can ski the top portion of the mountain. Mt Hutt was closed on Thursday due to gale force winds. On Friday, the lower lift was open and later in the afternoon the lift that goes to the very top of the mountain opened up. We took the very top lift only one time. We had a hard time getting off the lift because the wind was blowing so hard and about 20 ft from the top we got sandblasted with snow. I would have liked to seen what the gale force winds were like the day before! So,we took our look at the panoramic view and called it good. That night, we stayed in Methven at a really nice boutique B&B and meet 2 couples on their honeymoon (one for South Carolina and the other from England).

Seeing the Cloud Piercer ---- On Saturday, we took a leisurely drive south to Aoraki/Mt Cook. Aoraki means Cloud Piercer in a Maori dialect. Mt Cook is the highest mountain in NZ at 12,316 feet. Mt Cook is part of the Southern Alps range which has 70+ glaciers and over 140 peeks standing over 6600 feet. On the way, we stopped at Lake Tekapo. There is a lake and little church here which is a tourist 'must see'. One of our B&B hosts said they had once seen 13 tour buses here at one time! It is a great spot--- check out the pictures and see for yourself. We also stopped at the Mt Cook salmon farm. The farm is in a hydro canal used for power generation and is the highest salmon farm in the world. Next was on to the Hermitage at Mt Cook. The Hermitage is a historic resort in NZ and is in the valley at the foot of Mt Cook. We were on a recon mission to check out the area for friends in coming in Nov. The 55 k road up to Mt Cook was very foggy- you couldn't see the lake we were driving along. Fortunately, the resort was above the fog level so we had a perfect view of the mountain. I feel we lucked out getting a view of the mountain. Many people travel here and only see the mountain covered in clouds. Saturday night we stayed at the Hermitage and watched the NZ All Blacks lose to France. (P.S. we have tickets to see the All Blacks against Australia in a few weeks time).

Tramping to glaciers and icebergs---- After a restful night at the Hermitage, we got up early for some tramping. We saw a few of the parks glaciers, crossed a couple of suspension bridges, and saw some icebergs. Mt Cook was clear at the start of the tramp. By the time we got back from the tramp the mountain range was socked in with clouds and was spitting snow. That was the end of our South Island fun this time around. The next time we plan to be down here is in November with friends from Iowa.

For a full range of trip pictures see here - http://picasaweb.google.com/jandlmarshall/SouthIsland2009_06_1202?authkey=Gv1sRgCIT7-f68laXNiwE#

Nothing much new in NZ

We continue to work on the house and try to stay warm. I just got done posting a bunch of remodel discard items on Trade Me (the NZ version of Ebay). We have been looking at bathroom tile and fixtures, have gutted the closet and replaced the light in the bedroom. Still a long ways to go!

We are headed to the South Island for the weekend on Thursday. This is partly to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary on Saturday. We will be flying into Christchurch. From there, we plan to head to Mt Hutt and Mt Cook. We hear that Mt Hutt is open for skiing so we will check out the snow conditions. There has been quite a bit of snow in the South Island. I believe this is Mt Hutts earliest opening ever.

Swine flu is still in the news. The Victoria area in Australia has over 1,000 reported cases. NZ just passed some emergency quaratine messures. Thee was an article in the local paper last week that the US says swine flue originated in NZ ?!?!?!

Long live the 3 day weekend....

Posting by John today....
Apparently, when you are Queen, you can have your birthday on the first Monday of June, regardless of what day you were actually born. I never held the British Monarchy with too high of a regard, but if it gives me an occasional three day weekend holiday, I guess I'm OK with it.

I've decided that there are two things that you can sell in NZ and make lots of money.

1. Coffee. Lots of caffeine addicts. Rarely been to a cafe that did not have a line/queue. One in two business meetings are usually held in a local cafe.
   
2. Heaters. You would think that insulation would sell pretty well to, but it is much easier to just turn on a space heater than install insulation. I hold the NZ home building industry in lower regard than Prince whathisname. They probably do better work today than in the past, but thier past work was pretty pathetic.

Activities last weekend: Farmers market sampling lots of strange fruit, tramping to another waterfall, having a couple Minnesotans over for dinner, and began gutting and redecorating the master bedroom and bathroom.