From Sydney with love

Our container with all our household items was re-scheduled to arrive last Friday, around lunchtime. At 10:00 I receive a call from Randy from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF). He phoned to inform me that a few of our items from our container had been confiscated. I suddenly remembered coercing Amy to err on the vague side of exactly what was in our boxes. Was I in for it now? Apparently the border patrol went through all our stuff and found a few contraband items. My brain was racing ahead of what Randy was telling me, wondering what they had found and what would happen next. I listened carefully as Randy explained our options. We could pay to have the items fumigated, try to send the items back to the US, or have them destroyed. Randy turned out to be very friendly and told me that there were just a few little things that were held back; a few straw Christmas ornaments, and a gourd with seeds in. He suggested that the items didn’t have any significant commercial value, and I could replace them at little cost at the local Warehouse (the Warehouse is New Zealand’s version of Walmart). I was too relieved to be offended. A wave of relief came over me when I realized we were being let of the hook, save a few ornaments. Our stuff had made it through customs.


A little later, the three-man Allied movers crew arrived with all our clothes, books, toys, pots, pans, camera gear, and much more, re-packaged after careful inspection by the border authorities. It turns out that our inspection is quite typical, and the border patrol usually finds some items to confiscate. Christmas ornaments are a likely place to find straw ornaments or pinecones.

It took the movers about two hours to unload the van, even with me hesitating while I tried to remember what furniture we had and where they should take it. We only made them move one piece of furniture twice. It was the heaviest piece though.
After living out of a few suitcases for eight months, we’re now sinking under hoards of stuff we forgot we had. And that’s after numerous garage sales and trips to the Salvation Army donation center before we left the States.

Quinne and Beck had a ball discovering their toys again. It was like Christmas in the middle of winter (that will only sound strange to the few southerners reading this). They both outgrew many clothes before even wearing them. Now that we have new clothes to wear, we hardly recognize each other. After camping in the same clothes for so long, it’s a thrill to have luxuries like slippers to walk around the house in. A choice of shoes seems decadent. We have to choose what to wear now instead of picking the least smelly items from the small pile next to the inflatable camping mattress. All this stuff takes organization, and we’re not used to it. It was simpler with fewer items lying around. We appreciate what we have now more than ever, AND there’s something we’ll miss about the simpler ‘zen’ lifestyle of our former minimalist existence.

Living with the mindset of not buying stuff has been good for us. We’ve held off stopping in at the store to buy something that we knew would be here soon. In the mean time, we found creative ways to do without. We’re used to drinking out of jam jars instead of proper glasses. Now we have a choice of vessels to suit the type of beverage we’re about to elegantly sip. No more gulping. Now we have to remember which fork to use for the salad.

Talking about eating, we now have chooks (chickens). We bought four 12-week old white shavers, which are supposed to be good layers. The bossy one is named Gladys. The others are Pip, Pip Pip, and Nog-a-Pip (Gladys Night and the Pips). Amy has taken them under her wing, and treats them like old friends. She makes sure they have a comfy bed, a warm meal, and fresh water, several times a day.

The pullets are introduced to their new home...


Here's Gladys Knight...


and the pips...