The World Wide Webers

Beck's first day at kindie

2010-03-15T01:35:00.000-07:00

Beck is loving kindergarten.
This is the family tradition shot...

This is the Calvin look...

Here's a boy who's going places...

He just loves his sissie...

First Day

2010-02-02T02:15:00.001-08:00

Today was Quinne's first day of school!

In the morning, she picked a flower for the welcome ceremony. She chose a sunflower that she planted from a seed...

Beck chose a flower also...

Quinne's kindergarten teacher led her into the big school where the rest of the kids were assembled to welcome the new class...

Amy didn't even cry...

This is what Quinne's new classroom looks like...

She's even more excited to go back tomorrow.

Summertime

2010-01-15T14:54:00.000-08:00

It's summertime here down south...

Time to water the children.

Quinne is devious when it comes to sprinkler tricks...

she gets Beck every time...

When the coast is clear, he'll be back...

for more

and more

until their lips are blue.

about time

2010-01-09T15:26:00.001-08:00

Yes, I know I'm well overdue for a post. Christmas got a little crazy.
We've been enjoying the holidays. Here are a few highlights:

Putting up the Christmas tree...

entirely too many presents...

pancake breakfast at Rabbit Island:

having the beach to ourselves...

out with the old and in with the new...

and plenty of time with the family...

yet another honeymoon

2009-11-07T11:44:00.001-08:00

Rob and Maria, friends from Boulder were here this week visiting us. It was great to see them.

We went hiking in Abel Tasman National Park while Grandma Tugi watched the kids.

They left yesterday to see the rest of the south island. I'm sure they'll have a great time.

Spring in the Mout

2009-10-28T21:00:00.001-07:00

We've had a cold spring here on the top of the south. With the fresh snow on the mountains, it makes for beautiful scenery...

toof

2009-10-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

Quinne is about to lose her front tooth. Can you tell which one?

What about from this angle...?

We'll keep you posted.

Anya

2009-10-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

Our friends from Geraldine (and Boulder), Sarah and Sven, paid us a visit and introduced us to little Anya. What a beautiful little baby...

She kept the entire family entertained...

We hope to see them again next week.

Spring Fair

2009-10-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

We recently had our locally famous Motueka Steiner School spring fair. The Motueka Steiner School is well known for its spring fair, and the entire town turns out. Its always a wonderful day for the whole family. This year was no exception. The weather was perfect, and the vibe was joyfully festive.

Much to the disappointment of many of the young children (and some older ones too ;) ), Amy was not the fairy queen this year. Instead, she sold the beautiful handmade dolls at the midnight elves stand. Here's a picture of the lovely fairy queen from last year...

The funniest story about the entire fair could only have happened in a place like Motueka. Two calves strayed from their farm and wondered into the school in the morning when the fair was still being setup. Naturally, they were added to the petting area with the other lambies and alpacas.

Here's the confused pair...

The farmer had no idea his lost calves had become a feature of the school fete. He called the police who somehow located the them in the petting area of the fair. He agreed to leave them there for the enjoyment of the children for the rest of the day.

The fair is an important fund raiser for the school, and even fairies have to pay. EFTPOS stands for Electronic Funds Transfer Point of Sale or something like that.

They have great craft tables for the kids. Little Anton was not happy about being told off for eating the paints though...

I'm pleased to say that the fairy queen was a hit this year also...

school holidays

2009-09-28T01:42:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of spring break. Beck is thrilled to have his sissie home all day long. They're getting along swimingly - for now.

We went up the road to the Mud Castle for afternoon tea yesterday. I took this before we got in the car...

I wonder what the pictures will look like at the end of school holidays.

Beck is Three

2009-09-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

Beck turned three on Saturday. He opened presents in the morning...

and had a party on the beach in the afternoon...

It was a beautiful day. Beck was quite content playing in the sand.

Beck's friend Aila had a great time also. She was very proud to be on a date all by herself.

Happy Birthday Beck

2009-09-17T15:31:00.001-07:00

This little guy turns 3 tomorrow!

He has a hot date with Ayla...

He's so excited, he could climb a tree.

We'll get him to put his shoes on the right foot for his date.

2009-09-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

For the first time in seven years, Amy and I went skiing for the day without the ankle-biters tagging along. I took Amy on a little tour and showed her some of the views over the back. It was the first time she had been all the way to the top of the ridge. The mountains around the top of the south are stunning...

The direction that Amy is pointing is mainly unspoiled national parks that cover the top of the south island...

It was a magnificent day full of blue sky, fresh snow and smiles...

but strangely enough, we missed the kids and thought of how much fun they would be having if they were with us.
Isn't life peculiar.

Spring is here again

2009-09-01T00:50:00.001-07:00

Spring has arrived in the Moutere. The air is full of energy. The little lambies are growing fast.

It's great to see the kids outside enjoying their amazing surroundings.

This is the rainy season, and we've had plenty of it. We've also had some beautiful days. The skies are quite amazing. Rainbows everywhere. Here's what it looked like from our porch this morning.

Here's Amy helping the neighbour herd their sheep...

That's probably not something she thought she would be doing a year and a half ago. How much our lives have changed. We're loving it.

skiwing

2009-08-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

I gave Amy a well deserved staycation the other week and took the kids up to the Nelson Lakes area. It takes only two hours to get there, but we stayed over Saturday night at a lodge in the small town of St Arnaud. Saturday was berserk. We drove straight to Rainbow, the local ski area just outside St Arnaud. Because the road up to the ski area is unpaved and steep, this year the ski area insists that all vehicles put chains on before going up the hill. If you don't have chains, you have to take the shuttle. We tried to borrow a set of chains from the neighbor, but they were way too big for our car, so we were at the mercy of the shuttle.

With two kids, skis, boots, food, sledding tube, nappy bag, extra clothes, water, sunscreen, and all the other paraphernalia required to maintain two young kids for more a few hours, getting on the shuttle was an expedition in and of itself. The shuttle, however, was easy compared to kitting everyone out in relative comfort and getting onto the slope.

Now the fun part. Yea right. It only got harder as I tried to manage two kids on skis at the same time. Before I appreciated what I was getting into, Beck was on his way across the embankment determined to get onto the main tow rope up the mountain. I wrongly though he would be safe on the side of the bunny hill while I sorted Quinne out. Just as I began to appreciate my predicament, Quinne was off in the opposite direction bounding out of control toward the bunny rope tow queue. I had to quickly prioritize which kid to save first. I went after Quinne because I saw a line of beginners in danger of being violently bowled over by a fast moving six-year-old. Besides, surely it would take Beck a while to mount the embankment and slide down the other side into the big lift line. As I raced after Quinne, I glanced over my shoulder and realized how wrong I was. Beck was already on his way down the embankment sliding toward the front of the main lift line. I changed course and went after Beck. I caught up to him just before he slid into poll position in the main lift line. Quinne had fallen just before ploughing into the unsuspecting bunny line. By the time I got to her, she wasn't pleased with me for leaving her in an uncomfortably twisted pile on the slope. She decided she'd had enough. Enough skiing. Lets do something fun.
Are there any pictures to go with this story? Yeah right!

I do have some pictures from the next day. I needed to recover from our ski day, so we leisurely took the day as it came. The kids played on the shore of Lake Rotoiti on the edge of St Arnaud.

Well, Quinne's not in the picture because she had locked herself in the car at this point. She was petrified of this vicious and vile animal that was about to attack her. Here's a picture of the terrible creature...

What makes a six-year-old afraid of a swan is beyond me. There was no way I was going to convince her that it wasn't going to attack her though. We had to all get back in the car and drive to the other side of the lake where there were no monstrous attack swans. There Quinne was happy to play freely...

In the mean time, Beck was hitting on older women.

He was rejected, but took it in stride.

When Quinne accepted that the other kids weren't being eaten by the swans, she happily joined in and made amends.

It just goes to show how much more powerful peer pressure is compared to parental pressure.

In the end, we had an enjoyable day in a beautiful place, and we all learned something.

Potty Training

2009-07-27T22:15:00.001-07:00

Beck is very proud to go on the potty all by himself.

and flush...

He likes to have some 'piracy' while he's on the potty though.

Little house under the stars

2009-06-23T00:39:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to capture the view of our house under the amazing stars as you approach the front door at night. This is what I had in mind...

The stars really are that amazing down here. Let me know what you think.

Quinne turns six

2009-06-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

Quinne turned six this week! Her birthday was on Sunday, and she chose to sleep in. We were ready for her to be up early, as most six year olds are on their birthday, and we were ready for her.

We had the kitchen beautifully decorated just for her with her presents waiting to be unwrapped...

Quinne eventually woke up and donned her crown...

Beck was feeling a little left out though...

so he went and got his crown.

He looked good in his crown, but Quinne was still getting all the attention.

Quinne happily unwrapped her presents...

while Beck watched...

and waited...

Luckily for Beck, the Christmas present that Nanoo Gubba sent to our old address had just arrived back after going completely around the world. Finally, something for Beck to unwrap...

Quinne loved her sewing kit and box.

It won't be long before she'll be making beautiful dolls like this one that Amy made for Quinne for her birthday...

Quinne had six friends over in the afternoon for a party. It was a 'bird' theme party. They made bird feeders...

and pinned the tail on the bird...

and played Simon says...

And what party wouldn't be complete without cake.

Happy birthday Quinne!

farm girl

2009-05-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

Quinne is quite the farm girl already.

The neighbour's pig had more piglets than she has teets, so Quinne helped out feeding the runts...

Wintertime

2009-05-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

It's getting cold down here on the top of the south. Time to snuggle around the fire.

This is what we do instead of watching the tele...

What better way to spend a winter evening?

Mom's day off

2009-05-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

For all the mother's out there, it's...

Happy Mother's Day!

Wine Country

2009-04-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

The Nelson / Tasman area produces some of the best wine in New Zealand. I'm fortunate enough to have been commissioned by a local wine tour company to take pictures for them for their marketing literature. Of course, my trusted assistant and I had to attend a wine tour to see what it was all about. Amy wasn't too hesitant to help out with this. She didn't even mind when I told her to stand over there and drink wine. Here's an example of her doing a fine job...

It was a beautiful day, and we got some great pictures of some of the local vineyards with the grapes fully ripe...

We ended the tour down the road at the local pub, which is the oldest continually running pub in New Zealand. Because you can't just drink wine...

A Dovedale Wedding

2009-03-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I shot a wedding with my lovely assistant Amy...

It was fun to work as a couple. Amy got some great shots when I couldn't be in two places at the same time.

The couple who were getting married are practically neighbors, but we didn't know them before they asked us to take pictures at their wedding. I don't know anywhere else in the world where someone could have a wedding like this. It was terrific. It was just up the road in a little town called Dovedale. They held the ceremony in the charming old single-room church. It isn't being used anymore as a church, so they could use the beautiful old oak shaded grounds for the reception. The bride rode up in a horse-drawn cart...

Notice the loverly assistant, Amy, taking pictures of them as they drive by...

Here's what it looked like from where Amy was...

The ceremony had Amy crying. I don't have a picture of Amy crying, but here's one of the ceremony...

What a charming couple!

After the ceremony, they had a picnic under the huge old oak trees.

We stayed to watch the horse and cart leave before reluctantly relieving our baby-sitter.

flying high

2009-03-26T16:52:00.000-07:00

We took full advantage of Nanoo Gubba's (my parents) visit and their offers to babysit while they were here this month. We had a great time showing them around, and we miss them. While they looked after the kids, Amy and I used the voucher I won almost a year ago to fly to Awaroa Lodge in the Abel Tasman National Park. I won the voucher in a local photo contest.

Tasman Helicopters is owned by Tally's. Tally's is the largest employer in Motueka. They use their helicopter for flying their big wigs around the area. When Tally's big shots are on the golf course, the helicopter flies paying guests to the exclusive Awaroa Lodge.

The above picture is our not-so-stressed pilot driving his expensive fancy flying machine out of the custom built (also expensive) hanger. He has a pretty cush job. It takes him 13 minutes to fly his pasengers to the lodge. Then he can relax for three hours until it's time to fly home again. It's not a bad place to sit and relax either. He took his running togs and went for a run on the magnificent bush trails through the park while he waited for us to enjoy our luxurious lunch and walk down the beach.

This was the first time for both Amy and I in a helicopter.

It was exciting and completely surreal when we started lifting off the ground.

In no time at all we were over the park. The views were incredible.

We landed in a clearing at the edge of the bush, where a beautiful bush path led to the lodge.

After a quick look around the lodge, we went to check out the closest beach.

As we expected, it was beautiful with hardly anyone else there.

This was as close to swimming as we got...

The weather was gorgeous with no cloud in sight, although the sea breeze was brisk in the shade.

After a delicious lunch, we had enough money left over to buy Amy a birthday present. She picked out a white carved swirl necklace.

We had just enough time for a short walk through the magnificent bush back to the helicopter...

before we were transported back over the majestic coastline and into Motueka.

Since Nanoo Gubba had taken Beck and Quinne to Nelson, we hung around to watch the next group of passengers take off.

We jealously watched them quickly and gracefully float over the horizon back into the wild Abel Tasman Park.

We look forward to doing it again, but probably taking the water taxi and a picnic lunch instead of the helicopter. Unless I win the photo contest again.

The Nelson Trolley Derby

2009-03-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was the annual Nelson Trolley Derby. I dragged jet lagged Nanoo and Gubba (Quinne and Beck's grandparents) through the rain to check it out.

Interesting looking homemade carts ranging from hastily decorated tricycles to high-tech rolling machines took to the Collingwood hill in downtown Nelson to see who could roll down the hill the fastest. Two participants from the same category head down the steep street to see who can cross the finish line first to advance to the next heat. Vehicles must be less than 300 cm long, 120 cm wide, and less than 40 kg. No engines allowed. Carts must have at least three wheels.

This year, the weather was horrible. The heavy rain was unrelenting, but the event was still on - sort of. The organizers must have been struggling with whether they should continue or not. They decided to run the races, but not time them. I suspect the stop watch was not waterproof.

The running of the balls event was cancelled at the last minute when they discovered the ink would wash off the balls in the rain. Sponsored balls are usually let loose down the hill to see who's numbered ball reaches the finish line first.

The youngest participant was three years old!

He won his first heat and advanced through to compete against the Red Baron in the nipper category.

The nippers start half way down the hill. We couldn't tell who won, but it looked close.

Some carts were absolute works of art...

This heat was much closer than it looked...

There was even a bat mobile...

Some deserved points just for being funny...

The kids were the best. How awesome for a little tyke to build his / her own cart and race it down the hill in a big event like this.

There were some spills. The cart in the background of this picture is about to throw the driver and break his collar bone...

He learned how not to design his steering next year.

Mabe Beck will be interested in participating when he turns three. Stay tuned.

piss off

2009-02-15T19:03:00.001-08:00

The sunset was beautiful yesterday, so I decided to take some scenics down by the shore. This is what a local dog thought of my scene...

Quinne's art

2009-02-12T15:40:00.000-08:00

Here's a sample of Quinne's artwork. This is a birdie. I think it's the best bird ever, but I'm partial to her artwork.

Happy Waitangi Day

2009-02-05T19:35:00.001-08:00

Here's what can happen if you don't closely supervise your children's baking ambitions...

The brownies (as they turned out to be) came out surprisingly well. What a mess!
Now we have a chocolate flavoured kitchen. Make that a chocolate flavored house.

Enjoying Summer

2009-01-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

Here's to lazy Summer days on the top of the south

barefoot

time to just sit and think

and enjoy each other's company

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T16:36:00.000-08:00

For those of you anticipating what 2009 will be like, I can tell you. So far, it's great. Perfect summer weather.

The folks who are staying in the hop kiln invited us to join them to ring in 2009. We had a great time. They're from Zimbabwe, so we started out the evening with a braai (barbecue) ...

the men cooked the meat while the women prepared the salad, pap, veggies and rice.

It was quite the feast...

What a treat to have traditional african food here in Upper Moutere...

Quinne has become good friends with Atu, the little six year-old girl...

They enjoy picking each other up. That's an important part of being five or six.

Later on, we danced to some great Zim music. Amy wasn't afraid to get down and show her moves...

I even had a chance to work on my white-man's overbite...

Hope you enjoy your new year celebration also.
All the best from the top of the south.

Christmas from the top of the south

2008-12-26T00:52:00.000-08:00

Beck was the first to wake up and see the toys under the tree...

When Quinne came in, she noticed evidence of Father Christmas. A piece of his coat had caught on the flu, and there were ash footprints leading from the fireplace...

Not only were the stockings filled, but there was a pile of gifts under the tree.

He knew where to find us even down here on top of the south.

Merry Christmas and happy new year from the Webers

A Christmas Poem

2008-12-23T21:28:00.000-08:00

Here's a poem dictated directly from Quinne. She actually dictated it in mid October when Amy wrote it down. Quinne's been ready for Christmas for some time now. Here's how it goes...

Star shines bright
At the ringing of Santa's bells.
As Santa comes down through the chimney.
And soon he flies away,
He flies away,
And soon he flies away.
And they all wake up,
As the light of the stars fades away.
Soon the sun comes up,
And the sun rises a beautiful sunrise.
And in the surprise of the children
There can sometimes be a present from Santa Claus.
In the surprise the children see-
They look under the Christmas tree.
And sometimes find a little gift from Santa Claus
That he has brang.
Yes, dear Santa, you have came.

Merry Christmas from the Webers down under and to the side - on the top of the south.

Santa Lucia

2008-12-14T12:58:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from Santa Lucia day that I've been meaning to post. Santa Lucia was an Italian saint who brought light into the heart of winter with her good deeds. For some reason the Scandinavians have taken this holiday and run with it. I'm right there with them. The children bring coffee and baked goods to their parents in bed on the morning of Santa Lucia day. Not a bad deal. They thought they would surprise me, but I was waiting in ambush with my camera...

Breakfast in bed was good...

star boy was there to help also...

They brought warm light in the middle of, well, summer here...

Santa Lucia according to Quinne...

Golden Bay

2008-12-09T23:35:00.000-08:00

We took the caravan down to Golden Bay the weekend before last. I've been meaning to post some pictures, but haven't caught up yet. All in all, it was an awesome weekend away.

This was the view just over the Takaka hill descending into Golden Bay...

We went on a great bush walk after a relaxing meal at the Naked Possum.

Here are a few things that caught my eye on our bush walk...

We camped at a quiet holiday park on the beach. Here's a scene from our beach...

This is looking the other direction toward the farewell spit...

The weather was beautiful on Friday and Saturday and cloudy on Sunday. It made for good pictures.

The kids had a ball on the beach. We camped next to another family with two kids almost the same age as Beck and Quinne. They were visiting from Denmark. They stayed at our place for a few days on their way back. I used them in a photo shoot where I needed a couple in a hot tub. Here's their family in the hot tub...

I'll leave you with a view from the most northern point of the south island...

E haere rā from the top of the south

wet weather

2008-11-23T15:37:00.000-08:00

We took a walk on the Mt. Arthur track in the rain yesterday.

stop and smell the roses

2008-11-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

We're easing into Spring slowly down here on the top of the south. After some beautiful days, this weekend is chilly and overcast. Great for working in the veggie garden. Amy's been making rose jam with the plentiful rose petals from the many rose bushes around the property. Quinne seems to appreciate the flowers the most.

In her already well developed kiwi accent, Quinne names the flowers and birds she sees around the property. She usually knows the Maori name over the pakeha name, so when some potential customers came by the other day, I was happy to pronounce the Maori name for the wood pigeon that the bride-to-be pointed out flying overhead. I only knew it from Quinne pointing it out to me.

Amy's up to her ears organizing a Christmas market at the kindergarten, and I've been busy drumming up business. The work is coming in, and it's very exciting. There seems to be more commercial opportunities in Nelson than I expected. Networking is key. It's also a good way to meet people. We're all learning tons and having fun.

Beck is making himself very well understood these days, although Quinne has to translate at times. They have their ups and downs, but generally get along well and love each other dearly.

Hope you all enjoy the weekend.

new camera

2008-11-08T22:27:00.000-08:00

We voted this weekend. It's mandatory for all residents to vote here in New Zealand. Isn't that great? It was so simple and easy. That means we voted in two elections in one week.

Just as importantly, I have a new camera. That means you can expect more frequent postings. Let me know what you think of this effect...

Halloween

2008-11-04T19:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Guy Fawks Day!

Given that the house we're living in now is the third time lucky (the other two houses burned down), we're not doing much to celebrate Guy Fawks Day. Instead, we celebrated Halloween the other night. No, we didn't make the kids hike to the next closest neighbor, where they would've received some very confused looks. Instead, the kids dressed up and knocked on each of the doors of our house. Amy dressed up differently before opening the door to offer a treat for their bags. It was a hoot.

We even had an apple bob.

Beck found it easier to use his hands...

Go forth

2008-10-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what goes with this image. Maybe some inspirational quote about "going forth into this scary world", or "what does the future hold", or something cunning like that.

Give us your thoughts.

Amy

2008-10-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

There aren't enough pictures of Amy on the blog, so here's a new one...

What a lady!

Emilie

2008-10-12T20:56:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of a little girl named Emilie. Her parents won the silent auction for a portrait session at the Steiner School Spring Fair. The first picture is painted in Photoshop similar to a portrait for Quinne when she was about two.

Emilie didn't want her little kitten to miss out on the spotlight, but I used photoshop to edit the kitten out of the picture in the next shot...

Here she's having a moment with her kitten again...

Emilie's parents were very happy with the pictures and ordered several prints.

Studio

2008-10-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

We borrowed the neighbors au pair so that Amy and I could have a night out in Nelson. Soraya is from Germany, and she's really sweet. When she arrived, I took her into the studio for a quick headshot. Here's how it turned out...

We really enjoyed our night out in Nelson. I think we need an au pair.

Rainbow

2008-10-07T01:17:00.000-07:00

It's school holidays here in New Zealand for two week, so we took the opportunity to see what the local skiing was like. We set out at 8:00 in the morning to make the 1.5 - 2 hour drive to the local ski area. Something didn't seem quite right though. We'd skied enough in Colorado to know what to bring, but there was definitely something missing. After a little while, we realized what it was; there was no traffic. We saw one logging truck on the same road as us, and four cars going the other way. We're used to the front range of Colorado where the highway leading up to the mountains routinely turns into a parking lot by 8:00. We started wondering if we were going the wrong way when we saw the Rainbow Ski Area sign that led us along the river through exotic beech forests skirted by majestic mountains. The road then turned up a steep valley and meandered well above tree line to the small parking lot of the ski area.

The traffic wasn't the only thing that was different to skiing in the US. This must have been what it was like at Loveland Ski Area thirty years ago. Families were there to have fun. The bunny hill was open to anyone on anything. The feeling was very laid back and enjoyable.

Here's a picture looking down from the top...

This was the first time putting Beck on skis...

He liked riding up the pull rope as much as coming down.

Quinne really enjoyed herself and did amazingly well...

She was very proud of herself (as were we)

Beck turns 2

2008-09-19T02:42:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Beckett!

It wasn't all fun and games on Beck's birthday though. There was yard work to do...

What a Mom!

2008-09-18T01:19:00.000-07:00

Here's to one of the best mothers in the world who was giving birth two years ago to an amazing little boy.

Where we live

2008-09-16T13:58:00.001-07:00

I'm trying to remember to post some scenics of the area. This is a picture of the Motueka Valley...

Eggs

2008-09-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

We've been waiting for our chooks to start laying. They should be old enough now. Well, it turn out they have been. They've been hiding their eggs in a secret spot in a little box in the top corner of their house. We found three yesterday. Quinne was very excited...

(the egg she's holding is not one of the eggs we found. Quinne thought the picture would look better with a bigger egg).

further proof of Spring

2008-09-15T17:42:00.001-07:00

Spring is in the air down here on the top of the south...

The Look

2008-09-15T01:16:00.000-07:00

Here's Beck testing out my home-made beauty dish...

Spring has sprung

2008-09-15T01:05:00.000-07:00

Quick pics

2008-09-13T02:44:00.000-07:00

Here's what the kids look like these days...

Here's Beck's signature look (and hair do)...

Enjoy the weekend!

Matilda

2008-09-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

We haven't introduced Matilda yet. She's the resident cat. She's an amazingly sweet cat. She's not quite sure of Beck though. We're still trying to explain to Beck that he must not pet Matilda using objects. Whiskers and tails are just too tempting to pull for an almost 2-year-old. Poor sweet Matilda.

News Flash

2008-09-03T01:28:00.000-07:00

In the news today;

A recent national poll reveals that a handful of New Zealanders admit to their houses being "a wee bit drafty at times". It was clear, however, that the majority of New Zealanders do not feel that insulation is necessary.

Hottie

2008-08-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

OK, we've almost finished unpacking our stuff. Quinne's been passing some nasty germs from her kindie around, so energy has been low. Spring is here though, and we've been having some magnificent days.

We're learning how to speak New Zealish. It's important to get it right. For example, here's a picture of Quinne and her hottie...

A hottie in New Zealish is a hot water bottle. This is the only type of hottie Quinne is allowed to sleep with until she's twenty four.

Our ex next-door-neighbor, Adrienne told us how she went to the US to work as a nurse. The American nurses talked about how cold they were at night. Adrienne asked them if they had hotties to keep them warm in bed. They passed her some very strange looks. you can imagine how the conversation went...

nurses: Wow! You just got here. Have you found yourself a hottie already?
Adrienne: I brought mine with me.
nurses: Does your husband know?
Adrienne: Of course, he sleeps with a hottie also.
nurses: even when you're there?
Adrienne: Yes, we each have one.
nurses: Wow! You New Zealanders are a crazy bunch.

With the way houses are built in New Zealand, you really need a hottie to keep you warm at night.

From Sydney with love

2008-07-31T02:53:00.000-07:00

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...

Newsworthy

2008-07-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

I’m enjoying a hot cup of tea in the warm kitchen, where we’ve been spending much of our time lately. It’s very cozy sitting by the Stanley wood stove. We were staying in the hop kiln while we waited for our container to arrive. The day it was supposed to arrive, we were informed that it was in Sydney instead. I’m not sure who was more surprised, us or the captain. He must have really bad aim. Wrong dang island altogether. Now they tell us it will arrive in Nelson port next week.

The hop kiln was cold, so we decided to move into our house. We’re glad we did, and we’ve been loving it. The worst of the winter seems to be over, or at least it won’t get colder than it has been. We’ve been treated to several magnificent sunny days followed by cold nights. The wood stove warms the kitchen quickly, and provides a cozy ambiance. With several hot plates at the ready, and a warm oven always on, we’ve been cooking and baking plenty.

Quinne is on winter break from kindergarten for three weeks. She has two more weeks left. We’re enjoying the quiet time to work in the garden and get the house organized. It’s very peaceful here, and the snow on the mountains make them look endearing in their winter attire. Here’s a view from a short walk around the corner from our house.

I haven’t been able to get out to take pictures as much as I’d like. I stayed in yesterday morning and watched the kids playing in the hallway. Like many old New Zealand houses, the hallway of our house is very wide, and runs the length of the house. I scratched my itch to take pictures by pointing my camera at the kids. The light was very interesting coming through our glass-paneled front door. Then I had fun with post-processing…

Amy and I are off in a helicopter to the Kauharangi National Park next month.

Hello All. Amy here. I've come out of my blog writing hibernation to share Oliver's exciting news with you. You see, if I didn't announce Oliver’s news, you wouldn't hear about it. And besides, I want to be the one to toot Oliver’s horn for him.

So, about that helicopter ride in Kauharangi National Park… the reason we get to go on it is that Oliver won first place in a photography competition, and the prize was a helicopter trip for two plus a fancy lunch in a lodge in Kauharangi National Park.

The photo competition was part of the Motueka Festival of Lights. People in town were invited to submit photos in a few different categories. Out of over 450 entries, this photograph of Oliver’s won 1st place in the category “A Portrait In Low Light,” and 1st place overall.

Oliver’s other exciting news is that he had his first story printed in a newspaper. Last week we went to a lantern festival. Oliver took many great pictures, and when we got home he wrote an article about the event. The next day he phoned the paper, asked if they would be interested in purchasing his article and a photograph to go with it. Sure enough they wanted to, and the article ran on the front page of the paper. Here’s the article:

FESTIVAL OF LANTERNS
by Oliver Weber

The Motueka Japanese Garden came to life on Monday evening with a flurry of little people. With one hand wrapped around their parent’s hand, and the other holding their gently glowing lanterns, small children wandered through a magical world of gnomes and elves during the annual Festival of Lights lantern walk hosted by the Motueka Steiner School for the general public.

The melodic procession of bundled children stopped along the way to peek at the displays of mythical creatures gathered among the undergrowth. Under a crystal clear winter sky, a small group of Motueka Steiner School students played the traditional German lantern festival tunes on their recorders to accompany the bobbing lanterns. The lanterns were a perfect symbol of inner warmth that represents the inward turning aspect of winter.

Earlier in the day, families gathered in the Motueka library under the guidance of a group of Steiner School parents to carefully create the beautiful candle lanterns they would later use to light their way through the garden. Due to the popularity of the lantern walk, we can surely expect the gnomes and elves to make future appearances at many more Motueka Festivals of Lights lantern walks.

Oliver back. Thanks Amy for the toot. The funny thing is that I wrote the article so that they would publish the picture, and they printed the article only. They intended to publish both, but for some reason they inserted the article only. I actually wrote the article because the school deserves publicity for the magic experience they create for the little children in the communithy. It’s a wonderful experience for the little kiddies. Here’s the picture the paper didn’t publish…

I was keeping a very low profile so that I didn't ruin the magic of the moment, so I didn't use any artificial light. It's not easy when the only light is from candles in a lantern. The first lantern festival was at Quinne's kindie where I took several pictures of the kids in the garden walking around with their lanterns, and they turned out really well. The local newspaper photographer arrived also to take some pictures. When I told her that the teachers would rather that we don't use a flash, she looked stunned and promptly disappeared. She wrote a nice article, and I let her use one of my pictures for it.

It was really Quinne and I who won the photo contest. I couldn’t have taken the picture without her. I explained that to her, and she was very happy that we won the competition, but expected to be the one to join me in the helicopter. She’s so kind hearted that she understood when I told her that I would take Amy instead, and she happily settled for a fluffy instead.

Well, time to put another log on the fire. Good night from a cozy corner of a warm kitchen on the top of the South Island in the middle of winter.

On the move again

2008-06-21T01:43:00.000-07:00

Quinne and I are back in New Zealand after a few weeks in Colorado. The day before we left for the US, we moved into a new house. Well, we didn't really move in, but we moved our stuff to the new house and spent one night there with our stuff in the caravan. The house we had been renting was not quite what we were looking for. It was great to be in a new house, but it felt more like a hotel than a house in rural New Zealand. We wanted something with more soul, and we found it.

The new place is in Upper Moutere, which is closer to Nelson and 25 minutes from Motueka. The owners put the property up for sale, but couldn't get the price they were asking and decided to rent it instead. There's an old hop kiln that's been converted to a house that we'll manage while they rent it out to holiday makers. That's where Quinne and I are staying at the moment. We'll stay here until our stuff arrives around the 7th of July. Here's a picture of the hope kiln...

Here's a picture of the master bedroom in the hop kiln...

When our container arrives, we'll move into the house. Here's the house...

Here's a closer view with fresh snow on the mountains...

This is taken from the kitchen looking toward the hop kiln...

The bathroom is quite magnificent with the ever-so-important claw-foot tub...

And throne...

We're next to the well recognized Neudorf vineyards. They have a beautiful garden to sip their superb wine and have a meal overlooking the vineyards in. We'll need to get a baby monitor with a good range.

There's also a barn and a studio on our eight-acre property overlooking rolling farmlands with the mountains behind. I'll use the studio for my office and the barn for a studio.

We're looking forward to getting chickens and maintaining the already established veggie garden.

Amy and Beck are still in the states, and will return on Saturday. Amy's in San Francisco staying with her friend Andrea. Quinne and I miss them and can't wait to have them back.

Website

2008-06-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Lara (my loverly and talented sister), the website for Oliver Weber Photography is up.
www.oliverweberphotography.com
Let me know what you think.
We're still working on it, and will add more functionality as we go.

Beck's first haircut

2008-06-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

Beck went under the scissors yesterday for his first haircut. He loved it. The only trouble was trying to leave.

He wanted his nails done also.

On Vacation

2008-06-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

We're on vacation. We're using our return ticket to enjoy a few weeks of summer in the middle of winter. We're in Colorado until the 16th of June. It feels good to be back in summer.

Little Kaiteriteri

2008-05-24T03:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture I took this morning at a beach just down the road.

This is on the outskirts of the Abel Tasman national park.

foggy morning

2008-05-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

Beck just loves his porridge...

It helps to keep his comb-over in order.

Oliver

2008-05-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

Everyone always complains that there aren't any pictures of me, so I took a self portrait last night. Here you go.

The other part of it is that I needed someone to test out my lighting techniques on. Everyone else was busy, so I picked on myself.

There are fresh neighbors to pick on also. Here's the little girl who lives next door. Her name is Celia...

I'm off to see who else I can find.

The Next Big Adventure

2008-05-12T00:36:00.001-07:00

We’re starting our next big adventure. After touring the amazing New Zealand countryside for four months, we need to create our new lives here. This is our opportunity to see if we can make a living without getting a job. We’ve been able to come up with several business ideas that we’re exploring.

Setting up a business in New Zealand is incredibly easy. The first step was to get our IRD (internal revenue department) number. That’s really all you need to go into business as a sole trader. We’re waiting for our number to be issued any day now. You don’t even need to charge GST (general sales tax) until you make $40 000 per year.

We’ve been reading through the literature supplied by the state and not-for-profit organizations about starting a business. Our business plans are underway. Oliver is putting his previous business experience to work. Our scheme is to get several projects going as we go. We’ll reveal our other business ideas as we implement them. The first is to setup Oliver Weber Photography. Until our businesses take off, we’re relying on you to click those ads at the bottom of the page.

We submitted the following ad in the local yellow pages. Loverly and talented London graphic designer, Lara Weber, created the layout. She’s good and comes highly recommended!

The cute little girl is Luna from Quinne’s kindergarten in Boulder. We chose this picture because it encompasses portrait, wedding, family, event, and family. Let us know what you think since we still have some time to make changes.

What do you think of Oliver’s business card?

The website isn’t coming along as easily. Learning Dreamweaver is rather daunting. We’ve decided to find a local web designer to get us started.

We’re also in the process of choosing an accountant. Talk about thrilling meetings with charismatic characters. Maybe that’ll be fodder to hold back for another more exciting post than this one.

We spent the first two weeks getting our house in order. Now we have a telephone, fridge, washer, worms, and other superfluous household items. Yes, you read correctly – worms! Amy is anxious to setup a garden. The first step is to start making compost. The district council pays for half the cost of purchasing a worm bin to use for turning organic waste into compost. Amy mail ordered 250 grams of worms that arrived last week in the post. We lovingly created a home for them with plenty of food scraps for them to start on. So far, they seem to be very happy, and haven’t lodged a single complaint. Beck hasn’t eaten any yet, as far as we can tell.

We also erected a fence around the garden to keep the kids (and the worms) in. The fence was among our bounty of junk successfully scavenged from the local recycle center. Our container of household stuff will leave the US this week. Please help us wish it a smooth and quick journey. We’re getting sick of wearing the same clothes, and we could use a couch.

From a not-that-comfortable outdoor chair, all the best from the Weber hapu.

Kindie

2008-05-06T01:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Quinne on her first day of kindergarten. She loves it. As you can see, it's been unseasonably cold over the last couple of days. It warmed up during the day today though.

Autumn

2008-05-04T02:00:00.000-07:00

It’s been cold during the last few days. The mountains received some fresh snow, and the Autumn colors are quite vibrant…

We decided to adopt the tradition of having a Sunday roast. Amy made a delicious chicken last week, and I made a lamb roast today. I even made Yorkshire pudding. Sunday roasts are probably more instilled in the culture here than in England. It's one tradition we'll try to adhere to.

Quinne starts "kindie" (kindergarten) tomorrow. She’s really excited. She’s growing up quickly.

Not sure if Beck will miss her, of if he’ll be happy to have Mommy to himself.

Maybe a bit of both. Same goes for us.

Down to earth New Zealand

2008-05-01T02:07:00.000-07:00

Rural New Zealand is a country of down-to-earth, jandal-wearing, friendly, laid-back folks (jandal is New Zealish for flip-flops). The wonderful people we met along our journey made us realize just how friendly this open and welcoming nation is. Even busy Auckland was very welcoming and friendly. It seems like everyone has the time to chat.

Here are a few things we learned about rural kiwis while traveling around this amazing country.

Everyone hangs their washing on a line and keeps chooks in their yard (Kiwi for chickens).

There are no city ordinances against leaving your garage door open (like there are in some US cities).

Your neighbors don’t care if the grass in your yard is hiding old undistinguishable utes and caravans (ute is New Zealish for pickup truck).

If you’re doing something wrong, you can usually work it out with whoever is being offended right there and then.

There’s no one out to get you, and most people have the time to help you.

Nobody hesitates to make eye contact with strangers, but you should expect to stop and chat for a while. Everyone has time to chat.

Most kiwis have a veggie garden that they’re very proud of and don’t hesitate sharing their bounty. We’ve received tomatoes, courgettes (zucchini), corn, rhubarb, potatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, pears, feijoas, lemons, and apples from near strangers.

The organic movement is slow to hit New Zealand, but is becoming more prevalent. Many roadside stands advertise “spray-free” fruit and veggies. Farmer’s markets are popular, but so are the large supermarkets. In general, New Zealanders don’t make high wages, and food here is expensive. The younger generations are brought up with US television and movies, and seek out American fast food.

Being predominantly farmers living on an isolated island, resourceful New Zealanders fix and invent things for themselves. They manage to come up with some interesting inventions. Here’s an example of an interesting New Zealand invention we came across during our travels. This is a device for trimming the wind barrier hedges to keep the wind off the kiwi fruit. Attach enormous blades to an extendable arm. Why not? We stayed at these people’s house during our tour. They were incredibly generous and hospitable.

Most New Zealand school children wear uniforms. People talk fondly of their high school experience.

New Zealanders consider it perfectly respectable to tour around the country in a campervan, caravan, or house truck. They probably do so themselves and have the vehicle to prove it. Everyone knows where the closest dumpsite is (and what a dump site is), and a good spot to free camp.

Every self respecting kiwi town has a lawn bowling club, and a golf club. You don’t have to look far to find a playground– one that you can hurt yourself on. If you hurt yourself, it’s nobody else’s fault. I doubt you could find a “flying fox” on a public playground in the States.

It’s compulsory to register to vote, but not mandatory to vote.

All dogs must be micro-chipped.

Most towns have Plunket rooms. The Plunket is an organization set up to assist families with children under five. You can drop by the Plunket rooms to let your kids play with other kids and work on their kiwi accents. Every child between age three and five is entitled to twenty hours of free childcare per week.

The bush (New Zealish for jungle) is exotic and magnificent. The strangest thing about the bush, or New Zealand for that matter is that there’s nothing to fear in the woods. There are no large animals running wild, except for the rare feral pig. There aren’t even any snakes. It feels very strange to be in a dense Jungle Book style environment with nothing scarier than a few birds and the odd spider.

They make up for it in sand flies. At least, anywhere there’s water – which rules in most of New Zealand. Sand flies are one of the reasons function rules over fashion here. You would also wear your socks pulled all the way up to protect yourself from those tenacious sand flies. You might even (gasp!) wear socks with your jandals. Anything goes in the New Zealand fashion world for good reason.

It’s important to know that “tea” means dinner, so invite someone over for a “cuppa” if you intend to only serve tea.

Talking of which, it’s time for tea. Bye for now.

Telecommunications

2008-04-24T02:09:00.000-07:00

We’ve been spending more time than we should trying to setup a phone. Telecom, the New Zealand agency that had the monopoly until recently, required only a picture ID and credit card to setup an account for us. That part was easy. The hip young ladies working at their store weren’t that clued in on the little details though, like what’s included with the phone plans. They kept suggesting that I take the pamphlets home and read them before selecting a plan that worked for me. I had already read the silly marketing brochures, and needed some clarification. When I asked them details about the terms of the plans, they suggested that I come back tomorrow to talk to Dave, who knows about the details. He’s the chubby guy with spiky black hair, and should be in around nine. I told them that I lived the other side of Motueka, and wanted to figure it out today, so I waited in the long, slow line again for someone else to suggest that I talk to Dave. I gave up and walked over to the only other option, Vodafone.

Being a European company, Vodafone require much more information in order to setup an account, but like Telecom, they don’t seem to attract the most intelligent citizens to work in their stores. I waited to talk to Nigel, their resident expert. Nigel also had spiked hair and powerful aftershave. He was the only one who seemed to know anything about the details of the Vodafone phone plans. Nigel asked why I didn’t fill in a telephone number on the paperwork. I hesitated before reminding him why I was there – to setup a telephone number. To that he said, “that could be a bit of a problem, I need to fill in a phone number.” We kept getting interrupted by one of the other Vodafone employees asking Nigel what was included in plan C, or other technical questions like how to turn on the phones. I’m not kidding; one of the ladies working there needed Nigel to show her how to turn on one of the phones a customer was looking at. After holding down the correct button to turn the phone on, Nigel asked how they could contact me, other than via email. I felt like telling him to send us a letter, or use the telephone number that he’s about to give me. He asked for my passport, which I didn’t have with me. I offered him a litany of other forms of identification, but he insisted on needing my passport.

I told him I’d be back in the afternoon with my passport. After driving back forty-five minutes to Motueka to pickup my passport, I returned to Richmond to finalize the deal with Nigel. When I got back, Nigel was sitting across the mall at the food court enjoying his lunch break. I told the other lady working there that Nigel just needed to see my passport to finish up, perhaps she could help me. She made a copy of my passport, but that was as far as her expertise could take us, so she told me to come back when Nigel was off his lunch break. I was hungry by now, so I grabbed some Indian food at a stand within view of Nigel, so I could grab him when he finished his Big Mac and get back home. Little did I know the transaction would take another two hours! Nigel’s computer crashed several times between helping other customers insert their sim cards, or slide on their stylish new lizard skin phone covers.

When Nigel finally managed to log onto his computer, he asked me again for a contact phone number. He said he couldn’t proceed without a phone number. The neighbors had given me their phone number earlier, so I pulled the piece of paper with their number on it and gave it to him. He didn’t mind that it was the neighbors phone number who I had just met, as long as he could proceed to the next step. After standing around looking stupid for another twenty minutes, I suggested that I take a walk around the mall while he sorts my account out. He thought that was a great idea since my account had to be verified before we could proceed. I checked back three times before he finally managed to get my account active. When he finally gave me the device, he told me I needed to buy a phone to connect to it, but they don’t sell those phones there. At that point, I was just happy to have an account setup with a telephone number.

No Sleep Till … Brooklyn

2008-04-21T13:26:00.001-07:00

We’re no longer homeless! That’s right, we’ve settled down. To escape the hustle and bustle, we moved to rural New Zealand. We’ve settled in Brooklyn! Brooklyn, Motueka that is. Just like Brooklyn, NY, it’s on planet earth. Other than that, there’s very little similarity between the two. For instance, it's not nearly as busy here in Brooklyn, New Zealand. No traffic lights at all in fact. The closest town, Riwaka has no traffic lights either. Motueka is the closest 'big' town which has two traffic circles, but still no traffic light.

We’re renting a house in a small suburb in the middle of rural farmland. Our neighbor told us that this little suburb was incorrectly zoned as urban. Our neighbor on the opposite side noticed the discrepancy and took advantage by subdividing his property. Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know.

Our address includes RD3, which stands for rural delivery number 3. I’m not sure where rural delivery 1 and 2 are. They’re probably on the north island. I think rural delivery 3 makes up the south island. We’re not sure what the postal code is yet. Postal codes are a new thing here in New Zealand, and they haven’t taken off yet. Before you send us that big housewarming basket, you’ll need the postal code. ; ) We’ll see if the post office can fill us in tomorrow.

There seem to be swarms of other kids roaming around, so Quinne and Beck will have a blast. There’s a common space behind our property where they can all explore along the riverbank.

The house is brand spanking new. We’re the very first ones to move in. That makes us a little nervous because we can’t blame any damage on the previous tenants. Our landlords helped build the house, so they’ll probably notice the bite marks in the drywall highlighted with crayola crayons. We’ll worry about that when we move out. Now we’re busy trying to move in. Rental houses in New Zealand don’t come with fridges, so we’ve been shopping around for a fridge. In the mean time, we’ve been using the fridge in the caravan.

Our shipment of goods from our previous house won’t be here for another two months, so we’re camping out in the house until then. Amy calls it our Zen house because there isn’t much in the way of furniture. To maintain its Zen status though, we’ll need to get a vacuum cleaner pretty soon. Sitting cross-legged eating off the floor grows old quickly. We’ve been looking around for outdoor furniture to use until our dining room table and chairs arrive. Andy and Erika, who we house sat for, lent us a table to eat at. We’ve been using our camp chairs with the borrowed table. Quinne can hardly see over the tabletop though, and Amy and I feel like kids with the dinner table at shoulder height. It works fine for Beck, who stands on his chair. He falls off ever now and then, but gets back up after a little complaining.

Although it’s been warm during the day, it’s been quite cold at night over the last two weeks. It was 2 degrees Celsius this morning. Even though the house is new, the builder didn’t seem to think double-paned windows were necessary. I asked our landlord about that, and he quickly responded that you didn’t need double-paned windows here. I paused before asking whether he ever used the air conditioner. I expected a tough guy like that to say “no way”. I was surprised when he said they used the air conditioner quite often during the summer. But they don’t seem to think double-paned windows are a wise investment. At least it reassured us that they aren’t planning to move into this house themselves. Surely they would’ve paid a little extra for windows if they were planning on paying the heating bill. They did insulate the walls at least. There’s a wall-mounted electric heat pump in the living room. It makes the living room comfortable, but the bedrooms on the other side of the house get quite cold at night. Read: icebox.

I've added a point on the map:

View Larger Map

House sitting

2008-04-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

We’ve put the caravan out in the pasture to graze for a few days while we house sit a beautiful 150 year-old farmhouse in the peaceful Motueka valley. The farm is about 67 hectares with cattle. The gracious owners, Andy and Erika let us stay on their property as we were passing through on our way to Motueka. Since they were going out of town this week, they asked us if we wanted to stay in the house while they were gone.

Erika is a skilled potter with her artwork displayed throughout the beautiful property…

If Beck gets his hands on some of these unique pottery pieces, we may be spending our time using Erika’s pottery wheel learning how to duplicate masterfully created one-off pieces. Let’s hope not.

The house is cozy and warm, and timing is impeccable. It started raining the day we moved in, and it’s been raining for three days straight. Fortunately we decked the kids out in fresh and fancy gumboots just before we came up here. We wanted to fit in with the rest of the New Zealand farmers. We let the kids choose the style, and I’m not sure they’ll blend in that well, but at least they’ll keep their feet dry and warm. In New Zealand, gumboots replace jandals when your toes get too cold and damp. Like jandals, that doesn’t mean, you can’t wear them with shorts out to dinner.
Here’s Quinne in her new zapatos…

Tell me Beck won’t fit in with the rest of the farmers…

The amazing thing is that he can turn around and casually jive with the GQ crowd without skipping a beat. He makes farming look fashionable…

Beck is happy to be out of the caravan where he can stretch out in front of the fire with a good book.

So are the rest of us. It’s amazing how good a mattress can feel after sleeping on wonky cushions for four months. Little things like washing the dishes in a full size sink seem decadently luxurious.

Andy and Erika offered us the fruits of their abundant veggie garden and fruit trees, and we happily obliged them.

All they’ve asked us to do is feed the cat and the chooks. Chores like feeding the chooks and collecting eggs are more like a special treat to Quinne than a task. Only one egg – since we checked a few hours ago. That’s all right; we’ll wait for them to lay another.

Bye for now, and we’ll be sure to lock the gate so the chooks don’t escape.

Ice Cream Update

2008-04-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

Thank you for clicking on the ads below. As you may have read from a few posts ago, we make a few cents every time one of you clicks on an ad. Although we haven’t actually seen the fruit of the clicks yet (GoogleAds have our account on hold until they can verify our details), our account shows that we’ve made some sweet mula from your kind clicks. To verify our account, it seems we have to go through a background check, police record, warranty of good civil standing, and get it notarized before Google will pay us. If and when they do, we’ll be feasting on some tasty treats.

According to our online statement, here’s what we’ve made so far (pre-tax):
March - $44.56
April - $18.77

That converts to:

March - 11.14 double-deluxe soft serve ice creams with a flake in the middle
April - 4.6925 double-deluxe soft serve ice creams with a flake in the middle

Wow, 15.8325 ice creams. Our mouths are watering in anticipation. If you would be so kind as to click a few more times, we’ll have 4 ice creams each. We’ll keep you posted on our progress.

On The Road Home

2008-04-13T02:04:00.000-07:00

We were so wrapped up in figuring out our route up to the Nelson area, that we didn’t take the time to appreciate that we are on the last leg of our road trip. We realized it, but didn’t really acknowledge it until now. After spending a couple of relaxing nights in the Nelson Lakes National Park, we started down the road to Motueka and suddenly calculated that today will be the last day of this four-month-long road trip. It’s suddenly snuck up on us. Yes, we’ll still be in our caravan until we find somewhere to stay, but we’ve finished our New Zealand wide exploratory tour. One Kiwi termed it our ‘LSD trip’ (look see discover). Well, yes it has been a psychedelic, mind warping experience for sure.

We’re having lunch at a tranquil, free camping spot about 45 minutes outside Motueka. When we wrap up lunch, we’ll be hurtling at 80 kph toward our future life. It’s a strange feeling, like being on the last day of high school. We’re looking forward to settling down and exploring a new community, but we already miss being on the road and exploring this magnificent country. We’re excited about what lies ahead. It’s another thrilling adventure that we’ll continue to blog about.

It took us about three months to settle into the rhythm of being on the road and figuring out how it all works traveling in a caravan. Now everything has a place and a purpose, and we know what must be strapped down and buckled in. We’ve finally figured out how to setup and pack up again, but we’re still not the fastest, or sleekest campers around. That’s not possible with a mischievous ankle-biter, and a pretty little treasure collector. I’m sure we’ve taken on the weight of the caravan again in heart shaped stones, leaves, shells, twigs, and trinkets Quinne found along the way. Some heart shaped stones are too big to fit in the caravan, so Daddy takes a picture of it instead.

Fortunately, Beck has a habit of throwing things out the window. Of coarse, that can also be a bad thing. We’re not sure what we’ve lost along the way, but we can list a few things. At least we’ve kept our minds, and our happy little family joyfully together. There are still little tips we’re learning, but we’re finally comfortable with how life on the road for the Webers works.
We realize that it’ll be such a change of lifestyle and will take us time to adapt to a new way of life in a strange country. Much more than four months. It’s very exciting though, because anything is possible. Wish us luck on our next chapter, but don’t stop clicking on those ads yet ;)

Hanmer Springs

2008-04-10T20:47:00.001-07:00

When we spent two and a half weeks touring around New Zealand three years ago, we spent our first night in Hanmer Springs. We really enjoyed our initial New Zealand experience in this charming little mountain town and took full advantage of the relaxing hot springs. In the three years since we last visited, Hanmer Springs has grown and become quite exclusive. The amount of smart new houses that have cropped up is stunning. We shouldn’t be surprised though, given the serene surroundings, popular hot pools, and the recent growth of the New Zealand economy. Again, we took full advantage of the now somewhat crowded, hot springs.

Unfortunately, we didn’t fill up on diesel before we left Kaikoura for Hanmer Springs. We were sure there would be several petrol stations in Hanmer Springs. We were wrong. We pulled into the only petrol station in the area on a Saturday evening at 6:30 pm. Diesel is usually $1.32 per liter, but at the Hanmer Springs station it was $1.48 per liter! There’s no other station for almost one hundred kilometers. We were on empty and needed to fill up. We pulled up to the diesel pump, removed the hose and attempted to refuel. The pump didn’t turn on, so I walked toward the shop. When I saw the desperate look on the other customer’s face and saw that the lights were off inside the shop, I realized that the station was closed. Now I knew why they looked so desperate. They’ll either be staying in Hanmer Springs, or somewhere between here and where they run out of gas, whether they planned to or not.

Fortunately we had our caravan and were only planning to leave the next day. The other unlucky customers were not as blessed. They wouldn’t pull into what’s probably the most expensive petrol station in New Zealand if they weren’t already on empty. Now they had to stay the night and hope they opened on Sunday. The local hotels probably pay the petrol station to close early in the evening to force weary travelers to pay their elevated hotel prices.

I have to admit that it was somewhat amusing watching the other poor drivers realize the situation they were in. Two girls of about nine and ten, dashed out of the car with the change their father gave them to buy some candy, probably to keep them at bay during the long and windy road trip. When they realized the store was closed, they started whining as if it were their mother’s fault. Their mother was quick to snap back that their delayed candy fix was the least of their worries.

With our trusty caravan (touch wood) we avoided the expensive hotels and camped at the NZ Motor Caravan Association leased land on the outskirts of town. This photo was taken down the road from our campsite. It certainly is beautiful open countryside. The trout fishing is supposed to be some of the best in the world.

Mascot

2008-04-04T21:48:00.001-07:00

Aren’t you glad this isn’t your school mascot?

I’m sure its true, but you’d also sulk if you inherited this mascot. You don’t sulk if you win, so they’re already labeled as losers before they even start. They might as well call themselves the West Melton Losers.

Go sulkies.

Gone Fishin

2008-04-04T21:43:00.000-07:00

Quinne has been very interested in exploring the world famous trout fishing to be had here in New Zealand. Unfortunately she doesn’t have her Nana and PopPop to show her the way, and her parents aren’t experts when it comes to fishing. In fact, Amy doesn’t even eat fish, let alone know how to lure them from the waters.

In spite of this, Quinne took it upon herself to gear up and take to the waters. She took the hook from the new socks Nana and PopPop sent, some yarn from Amy’s knitting supplies, a stick from the ground, and here’s what she came up with…

I’ll let you know if she catches anything. Amy insists it should be catch and release, but I’m not sure she has that much to worry about.

Rock Snot Rap

2008-04-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

Young Chad is probably the only American (other than Sarah) who will know what Didymo is. Didymo is an algae that clogs up the waterways. Although it was introduced into the rivers here in New Zealand from the US, we hadn’t heard of it before. It’s quite a problem here, but we can’t help making fun of the name.

When you’re on a long road trip, you come up with very strange things to amuse yourself. They don’t need to make sense as long as they pass the time and make you laugh. We composed this song while driving along. It was inspired partly by the Rock Snot Café in Murchison where we spent a long afternoon using their Internet.

For you, Chad, we wrote this little ditty…

yo yo
We got a little ditty about Didymo.
It’s probably a ditty you didn’t know
Because you didn’t know about Didymo.
When you’re in the islands way down low,
You’ll see Didymo everywhere you go.
You’ll find it down where the rivers flow.
Now we’re gonna tell you blow by blow,
Why you mustn’t touch it even with your toe.
To make a little bit of extra dough,
They harvested some Didymo with a rake and hoe.
They put Didymo in our cuppa joe.
We ate the Didymo coz we didn’t know.
Because of Didymo,
We couldn’t go no mo.
Now that we know,
We don’t eat no mo Didymo,
Oh no no

Don’t worry, we didn’t really eat any Didymo.

We also worked on:
Do wah diddy diddy diddy di didymo
There we were just walking down the street,
Singin’ do wah diddy diddy diddy di didymo,
Paddling our kayak just as happy as could be
Singin’ do wah diddy diddy diddy di didymo…

Ok, we’ll stop now.

We’re back at the Rock Snot Café to break up our trip on the way up north. Unfortunately their network is down. I asked the lady behind the counter about why it was down, but she was quick to tell me that she didn’t know anything about ‘those things’, referring to the computers. She half looked over her shoulder to ask the other two ladies helping her attend to the café full of us and another lone couple sipping a flat white and long black. The other two café employees, who were looking for things to straighten up, were no more help. That’s one of them in the picture above taking a well-earned break. The only advice they gave was that the computers had been blank for several days now, but they don’t know anything about them. They added that they were surprised nobody had been out to fix them. I wondered if they considered telling their boss that the computers had been blank for several days. Or maybe the owner was waiting for the computer specialist to swing by and reboot the computers and charge her a few hundred dollars for his skills. In the mean time, we’ll finish our cappuccino and fluffy, let our laptop recharge, and look for some Didymo where the kayakers launch their boats.

We can’t go into a café now without ordering Quinne a fluffy. A fluffy is just a small cup of frothed milk. Sometime they throw in two small marshmallows and a sprinkle of chocolate powder to justify charging a dollar or two. We usually ask for a fluffy without the accoutrements to comfort us into thinking we’re just giving her a bit of milk. If Oliver conveniently forgets to make this request, he’s forced into eating the marshmallows and chocolate off the top before the poor deprived Quinne notices. In actuality, we’re falling into the clever café trap that lures innocent kids into the coffee addiction. It starts with a virgin fluffy and soon moves up to chocolate sprinkled fluffies, fluffies with colorful candy sprinkles, alluring pastel marshmallows, and keeps going from there.

Quinne feels quite grown up sitting among the other adults sipping her fancy looking fluffy. Beck now recognizes them and fervently asks for his share, forcing Quinne to remove her airs of superiority and share her distinguished cup of fluff with her childish baby brother. It won’t be long before we find her staggering into the closest café for her fix of double espresso to calm her nerves. And it’ll be all our fault. I just hope we don’t stop off at the café before composing another silly caffeine induced rap.

Ok, it’s time for us to paddle upstream and avoid the Didymo.

Here's what it looks like (in the picture)...

Parson’s Rock

2008-04-04T20:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our campground in the lakes region west from Oamaru.

This thrilling swing gently launched its contents way over the clear turquoise lake.

The lakeshore is beautiful in the morning when the water is calm…

Not far from these lakes, on the coast is the quaint town of Oamaru. It reminded us of a European town with its stone buildings and tree lined main avenue. Oamaru is a splendid town with interesting architecture and quaint shops…

The limestone from the area plays an important role in the architecture and livelihood (for some at least)…

Property prices are still reasonable here. The area is very dry and receives little rainfall, but has pockets of extremely fertile soil like on this picturesque organic farm just outside Oamaru…

Irrigation is imperative.

Not a bad place to live. Beck even has the outfit for it. Perhaps he’ll make a good farmer one day.

Google Ads

2008-03-29T16:23:00.001-07:00

If you would like to support our trip, it’s easy; just click on the adds at the bottom of the page. I think we only make about 7 cents a click, but with all eight of you clicking for half an hour each day, we could rack up some serious cash money. Maybe even enough to buy a deluxe soft-serve ice cream with a Flake inside. We’ve already made $1.30, so we’re well on our way (most of that’s from us clicking). Also, maybe you’ll like what you see on the ads and buy one of the vacation packages to come down here and buy us a deluxe soft-serve ice cream in person. We’ll make this short so you can start clicking away. What better way to spend your time at work while you’re acting like you’re doing something important? YOU can help us achieve our goal (a deluxe soft-serve ice cream). We figure if you’re reading this blog, you’re pretty darn bored anyway. Thanks for your continued support, and happy clicking.

With just 30 clicks a day, you can feed this family (a deluxe soft-serve ice cream).

Our route

2008-03-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

We're in Oamaru at the moment. We're on our way inland to see the lakes before heading to Geraldine.

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Quinne’s New Haircut

2008-03-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

We’ve had a hard time getting our hair cut in New Zealand. Unlike in the US, in New Zealand you can’t just casually waltz in and hope the closest hairdresser can fit you in while you take a shopping break. Getting your hair cut in New Zealand is much more important than that. Here you need to form a proper working relationship with the appropriately suited salon before making an appointment well in advance. One hairdresser wasn’t even taking new clients. Then again, maybe they weren’t taking new clients that loudly accosted the salon with the entire un-kept family in need of a basic shower and dissinfection let alone coiffure. It can be a little overwhelming when the Webers park their caravan outside your beauty salon, dust themselves off, and clumsily descend upon the shop, fleas and all, with at least one kid screaming its head off.

When you don’t know where you’ll be for the night, it’s hard to make an appointment for anything. Besides, we don’t have a phone. We were finally in one place long enough for Quinne and Oliver both to have their hair cut together in Mosgiel outside Dunedin. Quinne was very excited to go to a real salon. They were having such a hard time finding the few hairs that needed cutting on Oliver’s head, they had extra time to spend on Quinne’s do. They even put glitter in Quinne’s meticulously twisted up-do. Oliver didn’t get glitter or a lolly, or much of a do for that matter.

Here’s Quinne’s new quaff…

Even though Oliver watched them cut the hair in the mirror and feels he knows how to repeat it, Amy won’t let him cut her hair (Amy is a smart lady especially since we only have a well used and seldom cleaned pocket-knife). Or Beck’s for that matter, so we need to find another salon for Amy to sneak up on. We’ll try parking around the corner and sending only Amy and Beck in next time. Wish us luck.

Things to celebrate in a small New Zealand town…

2008-03-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

the note says "to celebrate the opening of the new ATM we are offering 20% discount on all outdoor furniture".

You know you're in a small town when the new ATM is reason for celebration.

Kid update

2008-03-27T14:38:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the kids playing in the van. It’s really fun to see them get along. It usually doesn’t last.

Quinne is happy to sit for hours amusing herself with her art projects. She cuts out pieces of paper or fabric and pastes them onto her drawings to make adorable collages. She’s very interested in counting and learning to read and write. I have no doubt she’ll enjoy and do well at school. She loves playing with other kids, and doesn’t hesitate joining a group of kids on the playground. It’s great to see kids of different nationality playing and laughing together without needing to talk. She does seem to be picking up a kiwi accent already though.

She enjoys being a big sister, and realizes that her cute little baby brother attracts desirable attention that could otherwise be hers. When she sees this coming, she swoops in to play the cute big sister role by picking up her unsuspecting baby brother to look after him. Beck usually screams blue murder, but that doesn’t stop Quinne from plonking him down on the nearest chair where she can attend to his urgent needs. She’s cleverly deduced that they can attract more attention as a cute couple than either can on their own. If he escapes her care, she follows him and holds his hand to guide him wherever he’s going. Grannies eat this stuff up. I must admit, it does look cute. When he really does need help, she’s always there first with sincere concern ready to get him out of whatever trouble he’s in.

With his ample mobility, Beck’s into everything and needs a doting big sister to watch over him. He seems to be growing fast. He’s still a skinny little chap, but often eats more than his sister at dinner. He successfully communicates what he wants using his growing repertoire of words and sign language. Going to sleep at night can be a challenge as it is now, especially if he’s taken two naps during the day. Today’s second nap was a late one, so we’re in for it. He knows he must stay in his bed, and protests from there. He and Quinne get up to silly tricks from their bunks behind their curtain when they should be sleeping. It’s hard to be annoyed when their cute giggles sound so innocent and young, and who wants to stop them when they’re actually playing happily together?

Beck’s at the age when he loves to do things for himself. He insists on feeding himself, but doesn’t like to sit still. Without a high chair, he quickly spreads his supper all over the caravan. His spoon has a slim chance of making it to his mouth with anything left on it. He likes to hold a big person cup all by himself, but doesn’t take the time to steady himself before lifting the cup to his lips. Milk everywhere doesn’t seem to bother him, and he can’t understand what all the fuss is about. He takes after his late Gumpy in that way.

He’s just started to pick his nose. I don’t think this will develop too much further though, because when he pulls his finger out with snot on it he complains bitterly until someone wipes it clean. It’s very important for daddy to keep a hanky in his pocket to quickly calm a screeching baby with an outstretched snotty finger. At least he hasn’t figured out that he can smear it on other things. That’ll be the next phase of development, sped up by the fact that his sister is constrained in the next car seat over. Oy, I can just imagine the fuss that will create.

He needs to work a little on his timing when giving kisses. He often anticipates the kiss too soon, and makes contact with an open mouth. He loves rubbing foreheads together saying “ni-ni”.

It’s amazing how quickly they’re growing, and I relish all this time in can spend with them during our travels.

Easter

2008-03-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

Today is Easter. We wish the kids could be with grandparents, but we’re making the most of it anyway. Easter Bunny (Amy) made a wonderful dolly for each of the kids. She spent many hours of loving effort during the few minutes available after the kids fell asleep. They turned out exceptionally well, and the kids loved receiving them. Here they are sitting on the couch…

Quinne left a note for Easter Bunny with some lettuce in a bowl. Here’s what the note said (She copied the writing). (The New Zealand Easter is a bit of a devil).

Quinne woke up on Easter morning and noticed that Easter Bunny had eaten the lettuce and left a basket with the dollies and a note in it. Outside he left Easter eggs around the campsite. Beck even found a few.
Later, Quinne made a pillow for her and beck’s dollies…

Here’s Beck trying to eat his dolly…

and Quinne feeding hers…

We took the rest of the day to enjoy the magnificent sunny weather on Otago Peninsula just outside Dunedin. It’s an amazing place with spectacular beaches and wildlife. We’ve experienced some incredible scenery, wildlife and birdlife along the southern most coastline. Here’s a little sea lion pup…

He was playing with a fish someone gave him…

Isn’t he cute?

When people got too close, he chased them away…

Here’s his mum who didn’t seem to mind how close you got, although I didn’t test her too much…

We’ve also seen unique birdlife…

and even some almost extinct yellow-eyed penguins…

Fiordlands

2008-03-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

We spent three days in the Fiordlands National Park where we saw some of the most spectacular scenery we’ve ever seen.
Here’s Amy and Beck at our campsite…

This is some of the scenery from near where we camped…

The drive to Milford Sound is absolutely breathtaking. You feel like the glaciers hanging over your head could slide off the mountains and onto you at any moment.

This is the view from Milford Sound…

and a few other pictures from around the area…

It’s very important to wear long sleeves to protect against the sand flies, which are ferocious in this area. Also bring rain gear. We were lucky with the weather and saw only a little rain. We plan to visit again to see Doubtful Sound.

Life on the Road

2008-03-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

Here’s what a typical day is like for us while we’re on tour…

Although he’s been getting better about sleeping in lately, Beck is usually the first to wake up. If we’re lucky, we can get him back to sleep in our bed until 7:30. Then he starts jumping all over us until we wake up. That commotion will usually wake Quinne up, who’ll join us in bed to cuddle for a few minutes before the kids force us out of bed.

Next, we make the beds so that we have somewhere to sit. After breakfast and showering, we start getting ready to hit the road. Showering in the caravan isn’t too bad; especially if we’re hooked up to a tap and we stagger our showers so that we don’t run out of hot water. If we’re not hooked up to a tap, we have to make sure there’s enough water to make it through the shower. It’s not fun to fetching water wearing a towel and shampoo in your hair.

Getting the caravan ready takes quite a while. Everything must be put in the right place and strapped down properly. If we forget something like putting the pin in the fridge door, we’ll have a mess in the caravan. The order of tasks is important also. For example, if you put the water container away before connecting the caravan, you can’t wash your hands.

Simple things like throwing the trash out can be challenging when you’re on the road. Amy usually has the shameful task of casually waltzing our bags of trash to the nearest park rubbish bin while I wait in the escape car. The rubbish bin must have a large enough opening to squeeze our bags of smelly nappies and food scraps in. Most cities are onto us, and they make the bins very small with narrow openings. We have to keep our eyes peeled for rubbish disposal opportunities. It always feels good to complete a successful rubbish disposal mission. Amy is an expert with a keen eye and a casual but effective stroll-and-drop technique. Most law-abiding citizens don’t suspect a thing.

We usually hit the road around 10:30. If all goes well, Beck is asleep by 11:00 and stays asleep until we stop for lunch. Actually, lunch is triggered by Beck waking up. When he does, we have about half an hour to find somewhere to stop for lunch before the wheels fall off the bus (i.e. major tantrum). We make lunch in the caravan and take a break from driving for an hour or so depending on where we find ourselves. Then it’s back on the road until no later than 5:00. Amy expertly researches our stopover options. Once we find where we want to be for the night, we need to setup the caravan and start making supper. We have a stove, oven, fridge and sink. We don’t have counter space. That’s one of the things (other than family) that we miss the most in the caravan. No counter space leads to ‘caravan moments’, especially when we’re all in the caravan trying to cook and mind the kids.

By the time the kids are in bed, we’re exhausted and ready for bed ourselves.

If we have the luxury of staying in one place for more than one night, we can go for a run or walk in the morning before checking out the local sights. These are usually our laundry, shopping and email days. We've thoroughly enjoyed seeing the country and I'm sure we'll enjoy settling down in a house soon.

Te Anau

2008-03-16T22:07:00.000-07:00

is a small town on the way to Milford Sound. Situated on lake Te Anau with mountains surrounding it, the town of Te Anau is quite beautiful.

Here’s someone fishing from the dock…

Te Anau is the gateway to Milford Sound, providing tourists many ways to see the Fiordlands. The sea plane must be quite expensive because I haven’t seen it take off yet.

The helicopters, on the other hand, are quite busy. They get started before sunrise.

We're here for a couple of days since our car is getting serviced here. Its overdue.

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Scenics

2008-03-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

Now that we’re on the South Island, I know you'll want to see pictures of the mountains. Here are a few that we took along our route.

We wanted to camp near some hot springs just over Lewis Pass, but we couldn’t find them. Instead we camped at a rest area where I took this shot.

It’s already starting to get cold at night, especially in the mountains. As you can see in the next picture, the leaves are starting to turn colors…

The glacial water is a brilliant aqua color, especially when the sun shines on it.

I couldn't get away without showing a picture of Mt. Cook…

Here’s the view from Wanaka, looking over the lake.

About 22 kilometers from Wanaka is Lake Hawea where we stopped for lunch…

And here’s where we are now in Arrowtown. This is the main drag early in the morning.

Buzz

2008-03-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

Amy has really taken to the bees here in New Zealand. Bees are ubiquitous, and you can’t drive too far without seeing a few stacks of beehives like these on the side of the road...

The honey tastes fantastic, especially the Manuka honey which is supposed to cure what ails you.

New Zealand Driving

2008-03-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

You can learn to drive very early in New Zealand, especially in small farming towns. After getting his drivers license, Beck took a job with the J.D.F.D…

He takes it very seriously…

He even remembers to stay on the left.

New Zealand Education

2008-03-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

We’ve been checking out the schools here in New Zealand. Some small towns take things pretty slow, like this place…

At least they give you a chance to start again. Even adults must learn how to play fairly.

Otago

2008-03-12T23:01:00.000-07:00

Here's where we've been recently:

Christchurch to get our passports stamped.
Geraldine to visit Sarah and Sven.
Twizel on our way to Wanaka.
Albert Town just outside Wanaka.
Arrowtown, just outside Queenstown (Where we are now).

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Lots of beautiful pictures to add after I go through them.

Murchison

2008-03-02T16:59:00.001-08:00

Here's where we are now...

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The North of the South

2008-03-02T15:56:00.001-08:00

Our permanent residence paperwork has finally been processed! Now we have to take our passports to Christchurch to be stamped. Yipee! Then they send us guidelines on how to be a Kiwi, and we’re in.

In our plight to decide where to settle in New Zealand, we made our way to Nelson after hopping off the ferry that took us from the North Island to the South Island. Nelson is where most ex-Boulderites settle, and it’s obvious why. The weather is perfect for outdoor activities, and the town is easy to walk or bike around. This would be a great place to live.

After a few days, we drove about 50 minutes outside Nelson to a town of seven thousand called Motueka. Amy was excited that there was a Rudloph Steiner kindergarten and primary school there. Like Nelson, they had organic food stores and a great feel to the community. This would be an even better place to live.

After Motueka we drove to Takaka, which is over a mountain pass down in the Golden Bay. For some reason, Amy was worried that Takaka would be an even better place to live than Motueka. It seems that her fears are real. Takaka is a small town of just over a thousand three hundred. There’s a fair bit of farming surrounded by lush mountains. This is what the surrounding landscape looks like…

Great bushwalks …

The beach isn’t far. This is on the way to the Abel Tasman National Park, about half an hour outside Takaka…

And plenty of great climbing. There isn’t any skiing here though, so we may have to learn kite-surfing instead.

Nightlife you ask? We didn’t notice any discos, but they have a little movie theater. Here’s what Friday night on the Takaka’s main drag looks like… Okay – Takaka’s only drag.

We had an awesome breakfast at a cool little café called Wholemeal Café. It was expensive, but the food was fantastic.

It’s a great place to sit and relax on a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee.

Takaka is largely made up of people who have decided to move here and make it their dream home instead of people who are here by default, so the community is very engaged. Now we’re off to Christchurch to claim our visas, hoping to return soon.

Golden Bay

2008-02-27T18:59:00.000-08:00

Here's where we are now. Takaka is fantastic. So was Motueka. More to come.

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Greytown

2008-02-25T13:31:00.000-08:00

Doesn’t sound that interesting, but it is. It’s a beautiful little town just over an hour’s drive from Wellington or around an hour by train. Greytown is considered New Zealand’s first country town, and is very well to do these days with plenty of picturesque estates.

The countryside surrounding Greytown is also splendid.

and, yes – they have sheep here also…

Go ahead and count them. Good night.

Waste Water

2008-02-21T21:37:00.000-08:00

English caravans are so light because they have no on-board water tanks. Most caravans have tanks that you fill and empty for drinking water and grey water. With an English caravan like ours, you just use a container that you put next to the caravan. This has its advantages and disadvantages. It works pretty well, especially if you’re close to a tap. We have a 40-liter drinking water container that we drop a submersible pump into, and a grey water bucket that we empty when it’s full. We have a hose that connects to a tap on one end and a valve in the water container that automatically fills up when we use water. It’s like a toilet tank valve. If we’re not close to a tap, we can roll the cylindrical water tank, which has a handle that makes it easy to pull.

There are disadvantages to this external water system, especially if you have a naughty one-year-old. Beck finds things that he can put in the water tank while we’re not looking. I found several pieces of wood in the container today. They were sandy pieces of driftwood. Fortunately the hole isn’t big enough to fit something like our shoes in, and he’s too small to pee in it.

Here’s Beck at work…

The grey water bucket, which is also outside the caravan, is a perfect place to put something like shoes in though. Beck is fascinated with this greasy, soapy, dirty water. He loves to put my shoes in it. I caught him drinking it the other day. He seemed to think it was really tasty. I think Amy was sending dishwater down the drain then.

Valentines Day in Wanganui

2008-02-16T14:32:00.001-08:00

Wanganui is a very cool town of about 50 000 people. There are plenty of interesting little shops and cafés on Victoria Street, which crosses the Whanganui River, where there’s a tunnel that leads to an elevator.

The elevator goes up to the top of the cliff that overlooks the town.

There are many old buildings with beautiful architecture and magnificent gardens around the town. There’s an old restored steamboat that takes tourists down the river, and a group of retirees are restoring a streetcar back into service. Living here, I would have to join the well-established rowing club.

We bought a new cast iron frying pan that needed seasoning in an oven for an hour before we could use it. We were anxious to head into town to see if the immigration agent had returned our email. I decided to leave the pan in the campground kitchen oven on medium while we went cruising the neighborhoods for open wireless internet where we could check our email. The trip to town took longer than we expected. We pulled up to the gate two and a half hours later and were accosted by the campground owner who asked us if we left a pan in the oven. I sheepishly looked around to make sure the campground still existed before I answered. Apparently he got his knickers in a knot when he saw smoke billowing from the kitchen and still hadn’t managed to untie them yet. He spent about ten minutes letting me know. This is what he looked like while he was letting me have it…

I felt like a naughty schoolboy when I guiltily retrieved our frying pan from the kitchen.
The pan was nicely seasoned though, and the Valentines Day morning pancakes were delicious.

I had a hot Valentines Day phone date at 10:00 pm with the New Zealand Immigration agent handling our file. She’s in an office in London, so we caught her at 9:00 in the morning her time. They pay people in London to process the paperwork because they don’t have enough people here to do the work. I don’t think I screwed up too badly, so the paperwork should get processed within the next month we hope.
The drought seems to be coming to an end finally. We’ve had a fair bit of rain during the last few days. We’ve had some beautiful thunderstorms. This is the sunset view across the lake from where we’re staying…

Here’s where we’re perched at the moment…

There’s plenty of room for the kids to run around…

And beautiful light for me to capture them in…

New Plymouth

2008-02-12T13:37:00.000-08:00

We left our beachside campground at 9:15. A few minutes down the road, we saw a sign for an organic brewery. They opened at 10:00, but we though we’d make a cup of tea in the parking lot until they opened. It’s not very often that you find organic beer. The owner didn’t mind that we were early and welcomed us in. The ex-Rhodesian told me all about the ancient process he used to brew the beer and let me try the Mike’s Soft Ale, and the Mike’s Lager. Both were incredible.

He was also selling some berry wine, which is made down the road. He suggested we stop by the winery on the way into town. Since we’d already had beer before 10:00, why not indulge in some berry wine? The boysenberry red was our favorite, but I liked the green ginger also. Amy thought it was a little too sweet. The owner of the winery recommended a holiday park in the middle of town; a good way to checkout downtown New Plymouth.

The holiday park was right on the water near downtown, but we’ve been finding the holiday parks rather depressing lately. They’re convenient, but expensive. This place was NZ$47 a night (about US$45). It’s easy to pull into a holiday park with everything you need right there, but much more fulfilling to seek out something more interesting. At the organic store down the road, Amy read a notice that invited anyone to checkout an eco-community just outside town.
The next morning we drove outside New Plymouth up the hill into the bush to the dwellings of Katikara Eco Community. Getting the caravan up the driveway was a challenge.

Through the cloud of dust and vaporized clutch, we saw a Maori face laughing at our boisterous entrance. We were told to look for Des, who greeted us with a big smile. He was quite happy to have the interference.

After we setup the van, hung our laundry, and ate some lunch, Des enthusiastically showed us around.

This is the community house…

The place was overgrown with blackberry bushes. Quinne picked blackberries until her heart was content.

Beck learned how to pick blackberries also and needed his nappy changed several times soon thereafter.

Des explained that they were trying to get the place back in shape after it had been neglected for a while.
It was interesting to hear from a Maori about their point of view and customs etc.. He introduced us to Soraya, who also taught us some Maori words and customs. Soraya and Ross, her partner, joined us for dinner. Amy cooked a wonderful meal topped with the most delicious blackberry crumble from the delicious blackberries Quinne picked. The berry wine was the perfect compliment.

NZ is in the midst of a serious 30-year drought. The normally lush green fields are now dry and brown. The farmers are complaining bitterly. The poor sheep and cows hang their head down to the dry grass trying to extract whatever nutrients are left in the crispy grass. They’re not setup to irrigate in most areas of NZ, so that’s not an option. The dry and hot weather came to an end here yesterday with some cloud relief and rain last night. It rained hard through the night and is drizzling today. We had our hearts set on visiting the farmers market in New Plymouth despite the rain. We really enjoyed being at a farmers market with delicious fruit, veggies, and grains.

We stopped in across the street at the magnificent library where they had a Maori dance workshop. Oliver and Beck learned the haka, while Amy and Quinne learned a poi dance. At the end, we showed off what we learned for each other.

Wai Iti

2008-02-09T18:22:00.000-08:00

Unable to make it all the way from Raglan to New Plymouth, we stopped just shy of New Plymouth at a small beachside accommodation / golf course / restaurant called Wai Iti. From there we caught our first glimpse of Mt. Taranaki.

We had the local beach to ourselves, after Quinne chased all the seagulls away that is.

Beck was a little cross that he had to view things from the Beck pack.

There’s always so much to discover in the tide pools.

The accommodations ranged from campsites to fancy beachside villas. If you’re on a budget, perhaps you don’t mind staying in a container? New Zealand imports more than it exports, so shipping containers are plentiful. They’re weatherproof and easily transported.

They made use of cinema seats in the entrance hall…

These seem luxurious after being cooped up in our caravan for two months now. The lack of space is getting to us a little. Living in a caravan is like wiping your bum in a phone booth. You can do it, but you miss the space after a while – especially if you’re not the only one in the phone booth. We’ll appreciate a house when we finally settle down.

Raglan

2008-02-06T12:33:00.001-08:00

Beck’s been working on that crazy long left hand break over at Whale Bay.

Quinne went up the road to Manu Beach to strut her stuff on some of the bigger waves.