Car & Cricket

We got up early for Hank’s cricket match this morning, but had some unexpected excitement. As I walked out to the car I noticed the interior light on, so I new the battery would be flat. There are something like 7 interior lights on when the door is open so the battery, even though it is good, can’t start the car after running those lights for 14 hours. One of the doors wasn’t closed last night. I new we didn’t have much time to get to cricket so I asked the neighbour across the street if he could give us a jump. Wes and I pushed the car out of the garage, clipping the driver door on the wall as it entered the street. We got the car started instantly with the jump, but then I noticed that the door was dented all to hell. Bummer. Fa encouraged me to just enjoy the game, which was good advice.

Cricket was a lot of fun for Hank and us. The sun came out and it was really warm. The team played really well. There was much good batting, running, bowling, and fielding. We won our first game 83-61. The team was in great spirits after the win. We’re getting better all of the time.

Afterwards, Hank and I took a look at the car door. It wasn’t closing properly so I grabbed a C-clamp and pried it back into some shape. At least the door closes better now. We picked up some touch-up paint to cover the bare metal. It looks horrible but works. Hopefully, it won’t fail WOF now.

Later we went to St. Clair, where Corinna met us to take Christmas pictures. She took about 150, which I am going through now. Then we walked down the beach for half an hour and back. Wes treated us to dinner at Starfish at the Esplanade. I had venison, which was one of the best meals I’ve had in New Zealand. Check the end of this photo album for new pics.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17565&l=56840&id=543764697

Recent Happenings

I haven’t written in a while. Sorry about that. Not much to say.

We’re starting the Labour Day holiday weekend, but it kind of sneaked up on us so we didn’t make any big plans. It feels so soon after the kids and Fa’s holidays too. The weather isn’t supposed to be great either. We’re just sticking close to home, maybe rent some video.

We got back into our regular schedule this past week.

Ginny had a social studies quiz competition the other day, put on by the Otago Daily Times. We don’t know how well her team did (with Alycia and Kayleigh), but do know they weren’t in the top three, so didn’t get a prize. They had fun, though.

Hank has swimming on Fridays at the Moana Pool. I volunteered to help this week, not realizing what I was getting myself into. I took the better kids, including Hank, and had them do some strokes for me for about 20 minutes, before they mutinied on me and just played around in the water. It was fun but kind of like herding cats.

What else? Fa got her grades from last module: All A’s – best yet. She and her syndicate went to Lawrence to visit the business they’re working with this module.

I played squash three times – lost all three, but each time went five games.

Had the oil changed in the car. Oil, like petrol and diesel, is super expensive. Around $10 litre (about a quart). Diesel is getting up again – $1.169/litre. Not to up on petrol, but I think it’s around $1.70/litre.

Got a haircut.First one in New Zealand. Probably the longest I’d gone since High School.

Hank has started cricket, but the first game was rained out and the second canceled for the holiday. Hopefully, next Saturday he’ll get to play.

I’ve been playing around with our webcam, pointing it out the back window and having it save every 5 minutes to the “About” page here on the blog, but it often fails. Sometimes the camera doesn’t show an image, or the site I’m ftp’ing it to (Comcast) doesn’t work, which is happening right now. Check again and you may see a new picture every once in a while.

Even without the All Black’s, we’re still watching the Rugby World Cup. Tomorrow’s final should be great. I don’t know why, but I’m rooting for the English. Probably because I just hate South Africa. I guess it’s my generation: growing up when the RSA was the great evil in the world, with Apartheid and Nelson Mandela and all that. Silly now, of course, but you kind of wonder why there are maybe two black players on the team.

Weather should be getting better in the next few weeks, so hopefully I can do some fishing. Too much rain lately has muddied the rivers. A week of dry weather and I’ll be sweet as.

The 50 Worst Cars of All Time

This is great. The kids and I were laughing all the way through.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/completelist/0,,1658545,00.html

Car problems again

On Friday after the marae visit Fa gave me a call to get picked up but when I went to start the car – nothing. The battery was flat. The passenger door was not quite closed from the day before so the interior lights (at least 3 of them) had discharged the battery overnight. I thought it would be no problem to just push start the car, since we live on a hill, but it didn’t work. The engine was turning over but wouldn’t start. By the time I got to the bottom of Leven Street, I had run out of parking so pulled over and walked home. Fa gave Corinna a call, who came and took me to the Auto Parts Shop to get some booster cables. I figured I might as well buy some since several times here in New Zealand people have asked me if I had any. Then she took me to the car and we hooked them up. Nothing. Corinna idled for a couple of minutes – still nothing. Finally, we waited while she revved her engine for about 10 minutes and I got it started. What a relief! I drove around for 15 minutes to finish charging, filled up at petrol station, and everything seemed fine. I’ll have to get the battery checked out or get a new one, though, since we’re planning a ski trip in 2 weeks so the car needs to be perfect. Oh the joys of having an old car.

Car, Squash, Soccer, All Blacks, Etc.

The car was taking a long time to get fixed. On Wednesday I called them and the said the wee steering shaft came back from the shop but they put it in wrong and had to take it out again so it wouldn’t be ready until Thursday. They finally offered me a loaner car, which I accepted. Up until then we had been getting by walking around town but I had to get Hank to soccer “training” so I took the loaner. They have an interesting way of picking you up here, at least with Steven Duff Mitsubishi: when you drop off your car for work, you drive to the shop and then you drive back in your own car with someone from the shop, who then drops you off at home and drives the car back to the shop. The reverse happens when the car is done. Of course in this situation my car was apart so they couldn’t use our car, so did the same with the loaner car. Since it was “rush hour” at this time, the shop worker took me back to the shop via some crazy back streets going all over the hills and South Dunedin. He said he had lived here all his life so new every trick. In fact, he had never been off the South Island. He isn’t the only person we’ve met who said that. I think there are quite a few people in Dunedin who haven’t been off the island! I got the car and made it to Hank’s soccer “training”, which is what we call “practice”, on time.

Thursday, after getting the kids off to school, Fa and I took a trip up the harbour. We stopped at Port Chalmers to have a look at the port, but there were no ships in at that time. Still, it looked like a lot of activity as always. We continued on to Aramoana and parked at the end of the road. We were the only ones there this time. We saw a large container ship coming in so we hurried out to the end of the mole to watch it, but it went on by without coming in to the harbour. We could see across to the albatross colony, where occasionally albatrosses were wheeling around in the sky, but they were so far away they looked much like seagulls. We must get there soon to see them up close. We then walked down the beach, where Fa picked up some nice shells for the kids while I looked for more bristleworms, but I could not find any. We did see a seal or sealion on the beach when we first got there. When we got on to the beach it had shuffled up into the dunes. I walked up to the edge of the dunes but couldn’t see it and decided to let it go – I wouldn’t want to corner it on the narrow path it took up into the grass! It was a very nice but cold day.

On the way back to Dunedin we took a detour up to Mt. Cargill, which is the dominant mountain to the northeast of town. Unfortunately, the south side of the mountain is not accessible by car, only by track, and as we didn’t want to tramp up the mountain, we headed back home. We came in through Northeast Valley and now have gone into and out of Dunedin by all possible routes. Just after getting home the shop called and the car was ready. I picked it up in time to get the kids from school.

On Friday I talked Fa into coming to watch me play squash with Phil. She took a few pictures and movies, but then got very cold and bundled up in the corner. The squash courts are not heated, but we warm up pretty quickly when playing squash so it doesn’t matter. Sitting there watching for an hour is too much to take, though. I did finally beat Phil, 3-1, probably because I had an audience! Here is one of the points I lost. I had him put away but hit it right to him. Yikes.

Later we rented some movies from Video Ezy – 5 for $10. I picked up the kids from school – we gave them a break and didn’t make them walk up the hill. I made some home-made baked beans for dinner, which we had with hot dogs (frankfurters), and we dragged our mattresses to the lounge for movie night.

Hank had a soccer game against Moari Hill Yellow at Ellis Park, his home field, Saturday morning. It was a bitterly cold 2C with a moderate wind. Wow was it cold! I brought our video camera and tripod to film the game. My finger just about froze off setting up the equipment. Even with gloves on my fingers weren’t working correctly so I fumbled my way through it. Hank was moving around so he and his teammates were nice and warm - sweaty even, but the parents were all huddled on the sidelines freezing. I can’t imagine a colder soccer game – any colder and it would have to be cancelled. What a contrast to last July at Jefferson when Hank had a game on the hottest day of the year – 99F or 38C! Although no one keeps score, we won the game 2-0.

Last night we all went to Phil’s for the All Blacks game against Australia. This was for both the Bledisloe Cup and the Tri Nations Trophy. The first half was pretty slow with a pounding rain (this was played in Auckland) and a bunch of penalties. I believe the score was 15-12 at the half. The second half began the same way but the ABs slowly pulled ahead and eventually scored a try around the 60th minute. The excitement really picked up by then and we cheered the eventual 26-12 win. Although it wasn’t pretty it was probably a typical All Blacks – Wallabies game and very enjoyable. I really love watching rugby. It’s too bad it’s not bigger in the states. I think it’s much more exciting than gridiron (American Football) since there are few stoppages of play. The whole game is done in about 2 hours. It’s also good that they don’t wear helmets so you can easily identify the players by there faces – more like baseball or basketball. After the game we played a bit of trivia and then got home by 10:00.

We often find the neighbor cat around, and in, the house. Here she is on Fa’s moped.

WOF

The car failed its first Warrant of Fitness (WOF) yesterday. This was my first experience with the WOF. All cars older than a couple of years must get checked out every 6 months. Our power steering pump is leaking, the front and rear sway bar bushings are worn out, and a fog light bulb is burned out. The joys of driving a 12 year old car! We can’t drive the car without getting these things fixed. Luckily, most of the problems are covered by warranty. I’m taking it in on Monday to get fixed, but the WOF expires today. I better not get pulled over in the meantime. It makes me wonder if they shouldn’t do something like this in the States. I’ll bet a lot of cars shouldn’t be on the road and a WOF would get them off. I know some of the cars I used to drive would fail.

Friday, 20 April

We spent last night doing our final packing for our trip. It was complicated by the fact that we needed two sets of supplies: one for the hiking part and one for the camping part. Fa and I tried on our packs when we were done. At that time it seemed manageable. Today we got Fa off to school for her last final while we went to the library to get some reading materials for the trip. The kids and I thought we had a lot of time for final preparations but we nearly ran out of time. We got back to the house and packed the car. It was a strange setup with one of the middle seats facing backwards and one of the back seats down. We needed seating for 5 to take Corinna with us. We got the car packed and the kids played in it while I cleaned the house – I wanted it to be clean for when we returned. I turned off all of the electrical appliances except for the fridge. We got out and filled up the car, but by then it was too late to get food before picking up Fa and Corinna. We met them at Corinna’s house and loaded up her stuff. We were finally on the road at 3:30 pm. We drove to Timaru, got some food for dinner, and then 20 kms farther to Temuka, where we got to the holiday park as it was almost dark. We quickly set up our tents (Corinna’s first time) and had dinner in the dark. We bundled up from the cold and went to sleep. We were happy to be on the road – it was a good start to our trip.

Lake Wakatipu

Friday morning we had a slow start to the trip. After breakfast and showers, we got the car packed. We seem to be getting better because we have more room every time we pack for these camping trips. After stopping at the Business School and then BP to get fuel (lucky it was open because most shops are closed on Good Friday by law!), we hit road at about noon. The first bit seemed to fly be as usual until we got to Milton and the turnoff to Queenstown. There’s something about the next section from Milton to Alexandra that seems to take forever. This is the main and shortest route to Queenstown, but it is a somewhat narrow and winding road. Many places you have to slow to under 50 or 60 and there is at least one one-lane bridge. Then Alexandra to Cromwell and through the Kawarau Gorge to the AJ Hackett bungy, where we stopped for a potty break. Unfortunately, they must have been on a break since no one was jumping.

Our plan was to go to Skippers for the night so we figured the route through Arrowtown would be the shortest. Once in Arrowtown, we drove around in circles a few times because, even with several maps plus the GPS, we couldn’t figure out the correct road to take. Finally, we got it sorted and then proceeded to hit road construction. In fact, the road we wanted to take was closed so we detoured around for a few kilometers and got back to the start of Skippers road. It was pretty nice on the sealed road up to the Coronet Peak Ski Area, but then it got a bit hairy. As we dropped in to the canyon, it was very narrow with no turnouts. Fa was not happy so after having to back up to get around some on-coming cars, we found the first spot where I could turn around (7 point turn!) and got out of there. I’ll try some other time without the family.

We dropped down through Arthur’s Point and into Queenstown. It was quite a madhouse as usual, with people wandering about everywhere. We slipped through and onto to the road to Glenorchy. At 12 Mile Delta, we pulled off into the DOC campground and found a nice spot tucked under some willows. We set up camp (door facing wrong way) and had a nice dinner of hot dogs before a little bit of rain came. We stayed dry (seams sealed this time) and waited out the rain, which was over in a few minutes. We’re deep into fall now so it was dark by 7:00 – we headed to bed.

Next morning we got up and had breakfast and walked the beach. We met the ranger who asked us for our camp fee, but we had no change. She said no worries, get it tomorrow, but I headed for town to get some cash. I got into Queenstown quickly to find the ATM, get some diesel, and out. I saw the Highlanders practicing on the waterfront for their game that evening as I left town. On the way back I veered off up the hill to Lakes Kirkpatrick and Moke to do some fishing. At Kirkpatrick I saw some nice browns cruising around, but I couldn’t get them interested in anything I had. The book I have says that Kirkpatrick trout are frustrating, and I truly believe it. Seeing trout as long as your arm ignoring your flies can drive you crazy. The book says that it builds character! I must have lots of character now. I continued on to Moke Lake, where I didn’t see a thing except a steady stream of SUVs, mountain bikes, and even ultra-marathoners. After a couple of hours, I headed back, stopping again at Kirkpatrick to torment myself.

Back at the camp Fa and the kids were resting and playing. By the middle of the day it was quite warm and sunny so the kids put on swimsuits and walked into the water. Ginny the fish braved it and swam for awhile, but Hank just waded around a bit. Then they both got cold and came out. We lounged around for the rest of the day before having smoked mussels and oysters for dinner. Again, an early night sent us to bed.

Easter Sunday we awoke to find eggs around the campsite so Ginny and Hank collected them before breakfast. We finished and packed up to head to Glenorchy. It was a fantastic day in New Zealand – clear and warm. We could see forever up into the Southern Alps. We passed through Glenorchy and on to the Lake Sylvan DOC campground. Unfortunately, the camp was not at the lake but 40 minutes away by foot, so we decided not to stay there. However, the camp was on the Routeburn River, which had an interesting suspension bridge across it, much like the bridge in Shrek. We walked back and forth across it a few times and left.

20 km down the road we came to Kinloch where there is a lodge (motel, really) and a DOC campground. We found an amazing spot at the end of the road, surrounded on three sides by water, looking up the valley and down the lake. Just as we pulled up I spotted a couple of 24″ trout in the little stream entering the lake, so I new this had to be the place. We set up the tent in the loose gravel, using the car to stabilize it. Then we all changed and headed for the water, me with my fishing gear and the kids with their swim gear. I didn’t see any more fish but wandered upstream for an hour while Hank and Ginny swam in the lake. Eventually we made our way back to the camp and relaxed the afternoon away, reading, fishing, exploring, etc. I didn’t have any luck but Hank caught some minnows with a bucket and his hands.

After a dinner of reheated 4-cheese pasta, everyone went to bed while I got out my fishing gear again. As it got dark, many fish entered the stream in front of the camp. I could see rises all over the place, but couldn’t figure out what they were hitting. I finally tied on a large woolly bugger and had a couple of strikes, but didn’t hook them. Oh well. Eventually it got completely dark and even though I could still see and hear fish rising in the starlight, I gave up when I lost my fly on a backcast. I looked at the stars for a while and came to bed.

There had to be a downside to that perfect place and we discovered it that night. All night long what we thought were cows were mooing in the distance. They were occasionally interrupted by ducks quacking and sometimes by a bird calling right outside our tent. I think it was some kind of plover since it sounded much like a killdeer. It felt like we were sleeping in a barn.

Eventually, the night was over and we got some sleep. Once we got up I talked to the DOC fee collector and he said the mooing was from deer, or rather stags that jumped the fence and went bush. He said they are in rut right now so that’s why they were so noisy at night. We decided that after such a horrible night we were done camping and would head home a day early. We had a nice breakfast at the lodge and then packed up the camp. Amazingly, I found the fly I lost the night before just sitting on the ground. That never happens.

Leaving Kinloch, Fa drove for the first time in New Zealand. She made it about 20 kms to Glenorchy, good as gold. On the way back to Queenstown we ran into a bicycle race, which delayed us probably 30 – 45 minutes. Eventually we leapfrogged the several groups of cyclists and got through Queenstown. We stopped at the bungy again and this time watched a few jumps. We saw a double jump and several water touches. It looks like so much fun we’ll have to do it before we leave New Zealand. This time on the way back we took the long route over to Ranfurly and Palmerston. At 20 extra kms it didn’t seem as bad as the normal route – less traffic, wider road, and less turns. We got back to Dunedin at 5:30 and got Flying Squid takeaway.

Home and unpacking, relaxing, movies, etc. Today clothes washing, cleaning, recovering.

Chess

This morning we spent several hours doing school work. First Ginny, as much as we could, then Hank, who has everything here. It was a great day so we were hoping we could get to the beach, but only if the car was fixed and we had finished school. Unfortunately, by 1:00 it was apparent the car wouldn’t be done so we decided to walk down to the Octagon (center of town) to visit the Dunedin Art Gallery. It took us 15 minutes to get there, where we picked up “Art Hunt” sheets to fill it. There were a series of questions we had to answer by finding different pieces of artwork. It was a lot of fun and got the kids looking at the art. After finishing the Art Hunt, they rewarded us with a Cadbury chocolate sample each along with some postcards and stickers. We had a good time.

Ginny has our old camera so she took some pictures of the Robert Burns statue and other sites around the Octagon. We spotted a giant chessboard so Ginny and Hank played a game:

Eventually, some more serious players (teenagers) showed up so we left. I think Ginny was winning but Hank wants a re-match. We headed back home up the hill (200 meters elevation gain). 15 minutes down became 30 minutes going up. We were exhausted when we got home. Fa’s been doing this every day but twice as far. She’s going to be in great shape when this is over. We rested for a while then took the loaner car back and picked up the car. It was great having the car back. It works great now. We stopped at Office Max to get some school supplies, then Fresh Choice (supermarket) to get dinner, then home. We had a quick dinner that Ginny made, then Hank and I did some more schoolwork (bad idea at night – too wound up), then to bed.

Late start

We’re settling down in the house, but must get going earlier. Ginny woke up at 9:30 and Hank at 10:00 – too late. Ginny and I worked on some schoolwork while Hank played with the toys that arrived the other day. The kids have taken over the lounge and made it into a playroom – typical. I’d take some pictures but my camera has a problem at the moment. It will take pictures but the LCD screen is freaking out. It looks like it has a crack down the middle with the left half working correctly and the right half all wild colors and lines. I was always worried about the LCD, since I read they were fragile on the Canons, so I bought a screen protector over a year ago. I guess they don’t help. I don’t remember dropping the camera or squashing it. I just discovered the problem the last time I took it out of it’s case to use it. I found a replacement LCD screen and instructions on replacing it on the Internet for $70 including shipping. Hopefully I’ll get it soon and fix it. I can take pictures using the viewfinder, but who does that anymore?

We took the car in to see about the radiator overflow hose. The dealership said it was an easy fix – glue the hose into the top of the radiator, which is plastic. They gave us a loaner car, and by the time we got home they had left a message saying it was done. So I drove back there and got ready to leave when the service guy said he forgot to fill up with water. When he did so, the repair was weeping a bit. A couple of guys gathered around and decided it needed a new top tank. So a call to get the part tomorrow, they promised to have it fixed by the end of the day. I took the loaner back home. Looks like it won’t cost me anything. Bummer to have problems but I love the car so much I don’t care. And the people are so nice there.

So much went well for us earlier I guess it was time for a bit of bad luck. After those two things, then the coffee plunger (i.e. French press) we bought disintegrated on us. It was a cheapo from The Warehouse, so I’m not surprised. The Warehouse sells the junkiest stuff imaginable, but it’s so cheap you can’t resist. I’d put it below Walmart, about like a giant version of Big Lots. I took the plunger back and got a refund. They asked if I wanted another one and I said, “Are you kidding?” I’ll use my camping one, the one I used to use at work, which just arrived in a package, luckily. I need my morning coffee, but I have to watch it here because the coffee seems to be somewhat stronger. Actually not necessarily stronger but more variable. The coffee we were making at the apartment was very weak, but the ground coffee we bought at the supermarket seems very strong. My first cups a couple days ago had me very shaky until after noon. Wow. I heard that coffee, soda, energy drinks, etc. are not regulated here in their caffeine content, so you never know what you’re going to get.

More pictures

Here is our beautiful little house on Kilgour Street.

From the south.

The Delica just barely fits in the carport (by 2 cm!)

The back yard has a nice deck (and view).

The kitchen is great.

Nearby is a park with a crazy kiwi slide.

It’s not as impressive as it looks because there’s so much friction you can’t get moving very fast.

Tuesday

The kids and I tried adjusting the seats in the car to see if we could sleep in there. It looks like it’s possible, but it will be a tight squeeze for 3, better for 2. We discovered a burnt out bulb in the dome light, so went back to the dealer for one and for a car manual, but they were out of both. Tomorrow.
Since it’s right across the street from the dealership, we went to The Warehouse to get some bins for the car. After getting a few, we walked around the south end of town looking for 2nd hand stores. We found mostly antiques, so we need to find somewhere else to get furniture. We stopped at Toroa house, where we heard we could buy beds, but they were all accounted for, so we got on the waiting list. If they haven’t been picked up by Monday, we can buy them, so we’ll have to figure out where to sleep this weekend.
Fa came home at 2:30 and suggested the beach, so we changed and headed to St. Clair. We got there and joined about 100 people on the beach. Somehow Ginny got me to get in the water even though it was freezing. I got Hank to join us and we played in the surf for about an hour while Fa did homework. We had a great time jumping over the waves and attempting to body surf. Eventually Hank and I were completely frozen, but Ginny still wanted to stay in the water. We retreated to the car trying to warm up our numb hands and feet. It’ll be nicer when (if?) we get the kids’ wetsuits.
We finally got warmed up at the apartment, had a nice dinner, and watched the NZ-England cricket match. New Zealand finally beat England – it was great to see.

Hooker Sealion

Today we started at the business school to get the laptop working on their network. Unfortunately, we could find a hot ethernet port and so couldn’t get it working. We met up with Carinna, Martin, and Rohit to go on a trip up the peninsula.
After picking up some snacks at Countdown, we drove the windy Portebello road for about 30 minutes to the Albatross Colony at Taiaroa Point.

We looked over the Pacific and watched gulls and shags fly around the cliffs. We wandered through the visitor center, but no one wanted to pay the $30 each to go on a tour and see the albatross, so we left.
We took a backroad a few kilometers back and headed over to the Pacific side of the peninsula. We first stopped at Sandymount and trekked up the 319m mountain. The view from the track was incredible but by the top we were in cloud. It is very similar to being in the mountains on Hawaii!

We came down and drove to Ridge Track, which took us to Sandfly Bay. It was quite handy to have the Delica to drive these unsealed roads. Although most cars would have done it, I would have been nervous in anything without four-wheel drive on the greasy bits. Needless to say, we had no problems. It was also nice to carry 7 people with no worries.
The track to Sandfly Bay took us through several sheep paddocks and across a couple of fences, some electric. Luckily, we met the woman who owned the neighboring farm who told us where to go. After 30 minutes walk we arrived at the beach. We took off our shoes and walked another 20 minutes down the beach. As the seven of us spread out on the beach Hank ran to catch up with the Kiwi as she went down the beach. Fa and I then noticed a lumbering hulk moving towards them. We thought it lucky Hank was with the Kiwi as they passed the Hooker Sea Lion.

However, the rest of us eventually reached it, and, while trying to figure out how to pass it without being charged, just about stepped on a couple of females lying on the sand. They looked like logs or something. The Kiwi and Hank were waving and yelling at us in the distance, but we couldn’t hear them or figure out what to do. We kind of stood there while the male charged the females and herded them into the sea. He soon followed and we could continue down the beach. It was very exciting – like the leftovers from last night. Discovery Channel or National Geographic!

We reached the end of the beach where we hoped to spy some Yellow-Eyed Penquins. We waited in a penquin “hide” for a while, but all we saw were New Zealand Fur Seals and Hooker Sea Lions. Hank counted a total of 12 for the day.

Eventually we realized the penquins wouldn’t return to the beach when the Sea Lions were there, since penquins are a favorite prey of Seals and Sea Lions, so we left. We had another encounter with the male Hooker as we walked down the beach. He sort of escorted us off his beach, slowly moving closer and closer. Six of us made our way past him, but eventually we realize Fa was on the other side taking pictures. She just squeezed by and we were off. Very exciting again!
We retrieved our shoes, climbed the track back to the car, and drove 14 km back to Dunedin. After dropping everyone off at their flats, we came home and had leftovers from last night for dinner. Wow. What a day!

Picnic

Today we took care of some errands before having some fun. After Fa went to school we eventually made it to her office and Susi kindly let us use the FAX machine. I faxed a letter to Mutual of Enumclaw to get them to fax proof of my having no insurance claims for the last five years to our new insurance company: State. It’s been quite a bit harder to get car insurance than to buy a car. Hopefully Mutual of Enumclaw will do as I’ve asked and help me out. It’s the difference between $NZ632 and $NZ332 if I get the proof so I hope they’ll do it. We then visited the insurance agent at State. They were very professional and got us out of there quickly.
We stopped at Telecom to see if they could get us on their mobile phone system, since they use CDMA, which we have on our Verizon phones, but they said they would only activate phones they sell – no exceptions. I deferred a decision on that until later.

After dropping the car back at the apartment, we walked down the road for five minutes to the Woodhaugh Gardens for a picnic with Fa’s colleagues. Of course they were a bit late so the three of us spent 45 minutes exploring the park. There was a nice native forest we walked through where we saw some of the 10 metre fern “trees” and other native plants. Eventually we met up with Maureen from the Business School and helped set up. We had a nice lunch and the kids met a couple of Kiwi friends: Josh and Reva. They took a while to warm up with each other but after a couple of hours they got along great. We had a brief cricket lesson and played for a bit with plastic bats and wickets. Hank and Ginny both enjoyed cricket a lot (me too – I was the wicket keeper).

We wandered home and later on had a steak, rice, and portebello mushroom dinner with NZ Sauvignon Blanc – very nice. Another great day in New Zealand.

Settling In

Today we got a late start. We took the Delica down to Rebel Sports (like Big 5) to get some squash shoes for me and a bathing suit for Ginny. I met a squash player who wants to play during the day, but I don’t have my shoes yet (they’re in the last box we shipped, unfortunately). Phil will lend me a racquet so we can start playing – tomorrow, I hope. It seemed like we wouldn’t fit into the carpark, low clearance 3 m, but we’re just over 2 so no worries. I need to get used to this tall car. It’s a lot of fun to drive, though.
We stopped at Office Max for some writing supplies and picked up a second key for the Delica at an ancient locksmith downtown. We had some lunch and then went to the St. Clair Saltwater Pool. The kids had a good time, but I got cold and got out after about an hour. The kids swam for one more hour and we then had to race home to beat Fa so we could make dinner. We were at the supermarket when Fa surprised us since it was the only place we could be. We had a simple spaghetti dinner and cleaned up while the kids played “lost in a fire pit” in the vacant lot across the street. Another wonderful day in New Zealand.

Big Changes

This morning was our last at the Executive Residence. We had our good breakfast (we just love the coffee “robot”!) as usual and packed up all of our belongings. Fa went off to school so the kids and I planned our day. We were waiting for noon to get into our temporary apartment, but when Fa came back at 10:30 we decided to head out. Luckily, the new place was available so he checked in and got our keys. It’s just a little farther away at the north end of town. We took a few bags in the rental car, then left Ginny and Hank while we went back for the rest. Eventually, we had all of our luggage in the apartment. It’s nothing great but it does have a kitchen and washer/dryer in the unit. We’ll be fine here. No internet, though. We are close to some shops and we walked to the supermarket for groceries. After a nice lunch of grilled-cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, Fa left for her afternoon classes and the kids and I did some laundry. We decided to hang up the laundry instead of using the dryer. This is apparently very common here. I do remember doing this as a kid but Ginny and Hank had never seen such a thing. We scrambled to get the last bit up as we had to get to the car dealer by 2:00.
We filled up the rental car with petrol, about 10 litres for $15.00. I think we went maybe 100 kms. We arrived at the dealer and saw the Delica. The kids of course loved it and I thought it was pretty cool too. We took it for a test drive up to the house we’re eventually moving into. No one was home so I quickly drove into the garage/carport. I chickened out a few feet into it, but I think it will fit. If not, we’ll park it on the street. It took a bit of getting used to driving a diesel stick up and down the steep streets of Dunedin, but it was fun. I even tried four wheel high and low – what a blast. We headed back and agreed on a deal. Then I thought we’d be in the dealer’s office for a long time, but it turned out it the sale didn’t take long at all, but acquiring insurance took forever. Brian, the finance guy, was one the phone to a couple of insurers for probably 45 minutes before we finally came up with something. The only catch is I have to get letters from my previous insurers proving I haven’t had a claim in 5 years. I’ll work on that tomorrow. Then we took the rental back, followed by one of the shop guys in the Delica, and I dropped him back at the dealer. Then we were off in our own car. Wow.

We met Fa at the Executive Residence for “Nibbles & Drinks”. She is working with a great bunch of people. I learned a lot about rugby from Pip. I can’t wait until the season starts up in about a month. (Sorry about the Seahawks, I heard it was close, though)
After a couple of hours of mingling, we were back to the apartment and I watched the last 15 overs of the England-New Zealand cricket match. I really enjoyed it, but unfortunately England won on the second to last ball. It was a very close and exciting game.

Delica

Here is a link to the Delica we’re (hopefully) going to buy.

http://www.autotrader.co.nz/used-car/MITSUBISHI/DELICA/Canterbury/2146835.aspx

It’s being shipped down from Christchurch and we’ll see it Tuesday.

Some pictures

I haven’t posted pictures lately but I’ve finally got around to downloading them. Here are a few.

Outside the Moana pool:

Our rental car, the Bluebird:

Trip to Brighton beach:

Dunedin – Day 3

Today we had another great breakfast at the hotel. It’s by far the best meal of the day. I have muesli with yogurt and peaches, whole-grain toast, and fresh ground coffee – can’t beat it. Fa, Ginny, and Hank have variations on that and also like it more than other meals. We have to get the hang of eating here. I’m sure there are good meals out there somewhere – we just have to find them.

We started the day by moving all of our stuff into one room, since from now on we’re paying for it. Two is just too expensive. Somehow it all fit. Then, after checking the paper for cars-for-sale and making one call (no good), we hit the road to find a car. The first place we stopped was a dealership recommended by Vicky, who’s moving out of the house we’re going to rent. We arrived and asked Steve Duff, the owner of the dealership, if we could look at the Delica for sale. Actually, the first thing we asked is how to pronounce it (Duh-leek-a, accent on the second syllable). Then he informed us that it was sold yesterday. The Delica is a 4 wheel drive minivan, but not like the ones in the states. This one is for off-road use with high ground clearance and locking differentials, etc. See Delica. He then took a look at what he could get from his other yards and found one in Christchurch that is perfect for me (maybe not for Fa since it has a stick, but I know she’ll remember how to drive one). He’s trucking it down on Monday night so we’ll have a look on Tuesday, but it sounds perfect for us. We need to extend the car rental one day but otherwise it looks like it’s going to work out.

We left Steve and, since we were close by, took a drive to the beach to show Fa where we got blown around last year. Unfortunately, the road was closed due to sewer construction so we turned around and drove to the salt water pool in St. Clair. We didn’t swim there but of course we’ll be back sometime soon. It’s in a very spectacular setting right next to the sea with waves crashing up over the railing.

Since we were out and about we took a drive up to the house to check on the clearance for the Delica in the “garage”, which is more of a carport. Looking at Vicky’s Pajero (Mitsubishi Montero in the states), it looked like there would be clearance for the Delica, but we’ll have to try it out to see. Otherwise, we’ll have to park on the street or get something else.

As we drove up to the house from a different direction, we got a real appreciation for how hilly Dunedin is. We went up and down three different hills between St. Clair and Roslyn. Our hill is just about the highest around and from the next street over you can see forever both east and west.

We then made our way down the next valley and south to Brighton to swim. Got to the sleepy little town in less than 30 minutes and changed for the beach. It was fantastic. Although somewhat windy, it warmed up nicely by 12 or 1 o’clock. The kids of course had a great time swimming and playing in the water. I was shocked how cold it was. I inched my way in to slightly over my waist, but couldn’t do much more. I must by getting old, or maybe my fat layer is less than it used to be because I used to be able to swim in anything, but this was too cold. When the kids get their wetsuits (waiting for package), I’m going to look for one myself so I can join them in water like this. We played for several hours, had some snacks, and drove back to Dunedin.

Tiring of restaurant food, we picked up food at Countdown for one of our favorite meals: loaf of french bread, cheese (brie and jarlsberg), Italian salami, crackers, and smoked oysters. We could eat that anywhere at anytime. And don’t forget the wine: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. We had a great meal in the hotel dining room and talked for hours about the adventures we’ve been having. What a great day.

Dunedin Day 2

So we woke up a 3:00 am this morning – 6:00 am Olympia time. Luckily, we got back to sleep for a couple more hours. Then we had a great breakfast at the hotel – very simple but delicious continental style. It was a nice change after the strange food we’ve been eating lately – airplane, snack machines, bad restaurants, etc.

We made our way to “The National Bank” and got an account opened. It was very easy and the people were all super nice. What a relief to deposit those thousands of dollars in cash and traveller’s checks! Then we stopped at the financial office to sort out the tuition, etc. Looks like next week it should be fine.

We dropped in to the Business school and I’m not sure how it happened exactly, but suddenly Fa was on the phone with Vicky, one of Fa’s professors who is moving out of a rental house at the end of the month. Soon we were racing to get a cab and run up to Kilgour St to inspect it. After getting some history lessons from the cab driver (remember, absolutely no tips in New Zealand!) we arrived at the house. We all fell in love with it immediately. It is partially furnished, so we’ll only have to get a “lounge suite” and 2 beds. We made arrangements to talk to the owners, who are running a backpackers in Bay of Islands at the extreme north end of NZ. Then we rolled down the hill to Moana Pool, where Fa left Hank, Ginny and I to swim while she did some errands.

Moana Pool is the nicest public pool I’ve ever seen. It has a wave pool, endless river, 2 water slides, various diving boards, and a temporary blow up thing that takes up half of the olympic pool. The kids and I spent about 2 1/2 hours there while Fa inquired about a motel for the next couple of weeks. We then met up at the hotel where she informed us that it was on for the house rental. We’ll be moving in on the 28th probably, so in the meantime we’ll be in a temporary apartment at the north end of town. However, we can’t get in there until Tuesday so we’re staying here at the Executive Residence until then. Unfortunately, we may not be able to stay here on Monday night so who knows? We may be at the Holiday Park!

Oh yeah, sometime when all this was happening we contacted Pegasus Car Rentals to see about getting a car. They came and picked us up and took us to their office, where we rented a Nissan Bluebird. I can’t say I’ve ever been in a bluebird before. I’d say it’s a little smaller than our 2005 Camry, maybe more like the previous generation Camry, the late 1990’s one. On our way to the rental shop, I remembered how different it is to drive on the left side of the road, so the whole time we were filling out the paperwork I was getting more and more nervous. When I finally got the keys my adrenaline was following as we accelerated out onto the street. Fa as copilot’s job is to say “Keep Left!” as much as possible to remind me to drive on the correct side of the road. She did this perfectly as I never once strayed over to the right, although a couple of times, when we were at an intersection where there were no cars, I looked around and asked where they would be coming from if they were there, but no matter, it was clear. I must admit it is a lot of fun driving here, especially with a stick. I do need to get the turn signal down before too long, since I keep hitting the windscreen wipers when I want to turn.

And another good thing happened – I didn’t need those wipers because the sun has finally come out. After getting the car, we walked around downtown Dunedin, soaking up the sun and looking for food. We found a Vietnamese restaurant and had dinner. We asked about vegetarian food for Ginny but they initially said they had absolutely nothing without meat. They relented and made up a shrimp salad without shrimp which Ginny really enjoyed. The Pho is not like Olympia but it was nice. We grabbed some dessert at CountDown, a large grocery chain, along with some NZ wine, of course, and headed back to the room. I’m enjoying the wine now as I write this at the computer in the conference room of the hotel.

Sorry no pictures today. Tomorrow we look for a car. Take care.