iPhone video @Waitomo

Along the walk to a natural arch created by the colapse of a cave
roof, you walk by a creek. The air is cold here, in sharp contrast to
the surrounding area, which is hot and humid. The creek is coming out
of a cave, and along with it the cold air from deep below the earth.

After about a 30 minute walk around the trail you pass this spot
again, the second time is a welcome relief, much like walking into an
air conditioned shop on a sweltering summer day.
So here we stopped in the middle of the forest, to cool off.

The otherside of paradise

Well it's a good thing we went to explore the caves at Waitomo
yesterday, because today is a monsoon like rain storm. We had been
under a water conservation request due to a pipe breaking and emptying
half the reservoir. This will likely put an end to that!
We had planned to take in the lifeguard competition on the beach today
but, we'll wait and see if it clears off this afternoon!

Leaving the Nest

Today is the day we have decided to leave the feathered nest, with housekeeping, pool and unlimited internet use, to go to our own nest - which has decidedly fewer feathers! So, no more internet for us for a little bit. We have applied to get service at the house, however it can take up to 3 weeks for that to all sort itself out :( So, no more blog updates for a bit. No more facebooking, no more email either. Sigh. On the plus side, I start work on Monday and should have some internet access there. Of course, it wouldn't look all that professional to be found facebooking on company time my first week on the job. Maybe next month.

Here's a little 911 on the McLeod's if you need it. Our address is 284 Grange Rd, Tauranga NZ, 3110. Don's cell # is 021 024 40323.

The kids are attending their last day of surf camp. Even my self declared ocean hater, Aidan, managed to get out onto a boogie board a time or two. And they have both gotten sunburns from inadequately applied sunscreen (they have to put it on themselves at the lunch break). Aidan burnt under his eyes and Connor burnt the top of his feet. Good thing we have lots of aloe on hand. They are very pumped to go 'home' today. They haven't been there since Sunday when it was still an empty shell so I'm sure there will be lots of running around and excitement tonight as they get to sleep on their new bunkbeds in a new room.

I went to the doctor's yesterday to get antibiotics for what I suspect is strep throat. That visit cost me $60 but the drugs only $4. Interesting. The meds have kicked in and I am much perkier than I have been all week. It's been a challenge getting all the running around stuff done with Don when all I felt like doing was sleeping.

So that's all from the NZ gang for now. As Tigger would say - TTFN.

V

coming together

Well, today was a big day for the furnishing part of our abode. We took delivery of a brand new queen size bed(on sale) for the master bedroom...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

This morning we put copious amounts of aloe on Aidan's face, apparently on the beach the sun reflects off the sand as much as it does off the water. Under his eyes are a couple of red patches, not terribly burned but a mild sun burn. So today we made sure he had his sunglasses on, and 50 block right up to his eyelids! Now Connor has gotten the same problem on the tops of his feet, not as bad as Aidan's cheeks, but enough to require aloe. We are giving them 50 block in the morning, and they reapply the 50block at noon when the kids have lunch at their beach camp. You really have to be diligent and make sure that you are covered, and reapply often. We are almost out of the supply of sunscreen we carried with us. We now have to source out a new supply, not sure if they have 50spf but I sure hope so!

We are finding that prices are not horrendous, if you shop around you can find deals. For example I found a "coupon" deal at one of the grocery chains for 15 beer for $16.99. I approached the man stocking the beer section and said "where do you get the coupon for the beer?" Well he couldn't have looked more confused..."uh, it's automatic" he says.....so I persisted, as if trying to explain my question/ignorance. "so...you don't need a physical 'coupon' to get that price?" smiling now, he says "no, when it's scanned at the register, that's the price you get" "BRILLIANT!" I say, and walk away smiling.

So I now know that i have to pay attention to the "coupon" specials, especially when it comes to beer because the beer can be expensive if you don't!!!! I am going to forgive them for the virtual nature of their "coupons" especially if the feed me 30 beer for $34!!

Now back to the furnishing portion of our program. After dropping off the kids this morning we went to pickup a set of bunk beds for the boys. They have decided that they want to sleep in the same room, hence the bunk beds. We got the bunkbed off of "trade-me" the New Zealand "ebay" So far we have gotten a toaster, blender, double bed, lamps, and bunk beds and a dining set! So combined with the stuff Victoria posted earlier, we have almost everything we need!

Tomorrow I am putting my bike together and taking it to the local bike shop to get it tuned/lubed and ready for use. I have heard of great mountain biking trails, so i am itching to get out there.

Various pics to check out

Pool fun this afternoon. The kids are in here almost everyday. The awesome alligator belongs to the hotel - quite ferocious looking.

View from the rental this morning at about 11 am. This is obviously looking out over the hills in the area, and not the harbour view that we also get to enjoy. Green everywhere even during a drought.


This is us at the rental house. Lots of room to play as you can see. The people who own the place left behind some games for the kids to play. Here Aidan and I are playing equally bad chess with each other. We are well matched.


Anyone of you read Japanese??? If you do you could win a trip over to NZ (on your own dime of course) to reprogram our Odyssey. Yep, it tries to communicate to us in Japanese. It's an import from 'the main land' and even the buttons have Japanese labels on them. Don has poked around but so far has only managed to shut off the clock, which was set to the wrong time anyways. This is a 2000 model and it has a - wait for it - TV in it!!!! Yes, kids tres impressed. Don even managed to get a blurry jumpy picture on one of the channels. I tell you, the Asian population is holding out on us! On the other hand it only plays cassette tapes and the FM tuner goes no higher than 90 Hz but does extend down to the oh so popular 70 Hz band. Don and I figure we'll be able to stock up on tapes mega cheap at the thrift stores for long trips.

Musings from a woman

Here it is again, the woman's perspective. Got good positive feedback from my last post (Don slightly jealous) and it has encouraged me to try again. First and foremost, it is important to note that those children in the picture to the left are driving me slowly bonkers. No other kids to play with and having to stay with us 24/7 equals WAY too much time with them. They are irritating each other, which irritates me, they are irritating Don, which irritates me, and I swear even strangers are looking at them with a distinct lip curl. However, help is on the horizon! I was reading the local newspaper and read a feature about a weekly beach camp that keeps your kids for 6 hours a day. I believe they get to surf/paddle/box/facepaint etc etc - secondary information to me. I dove to the phone and signed them up for all of next week. So that lovely beach behind us in that picture will be their home for 6 hours every day next week. Thank goodness. Don and I can have some peace and run around to wherever we need without the peanut gallery heckling and rabble-rousing behind us.

You can see from the pic that we are taking sun protection very seriously. Hats and sunglasses at all times and sunscreen applications 2x a day. The weather has been top notch, warm - at least 23 - even on cloudy afternoons or mornings. Tauranga region is in a bit of a drought, driest 2 months on record so the general population is praying for rain but nothing yet. We have only been to the beach once so far but the motel does have a outdoor pool that we have all used a few times. Almost nightly Connor puts on his swim togs (getting into the NZ slang!) and his life jacket and jumps into the pool retrieving the mini football we throw for him. Aidan's less of a water kid so generally hangs back more. At the back of the motel there is a lovely kids' play area with a great trampoline that the boys also jump on nightly. Occasionally they can charm me on to the trampoline to play popcorn with them; one of them sits cross legged on the trampoline while I jump up and down, bouncing them all over the place. Yep, a 911 call in the making. Can't play for long though as bladder capacity severely reduced post-children and I don't think they'd forgive me for wee'ing on their heads during the game.

Have the keys to the rental house now. Honestly people, the views are not to be believed. And the flowers around the property are stunning. Our driveway must be 100 ft long totally lined with hydrangea bushes all in flower right now. Awesome. We have to furnish this house, which we are attempting to do as cheaply as possible (no sense investing coin in furniture that we are only keeping 2 years). Fortunately I was raised by a thrifty (not cheap!) Mennonite mommy so I know the value of the local St. Vincent de Paul, Red Cross and Sally Ann store. So far we have collected 2 arm chairs, a couch, and 2 solid wood dressers for the princely sum of $300. All uglier than sin of course but perfectly serviceable. And if I want beauty I need only to look outside. So those of you planning on visiting take note: I am promising rose garden (comes with house) and extremely ugly furnishings. Next up Don is closely monitoring the national buy and sell sight to get us beds, dining room table and chairs, lamps, a few appliances (electric fry pan) and patio set.

Hope you all are enjoying the relative Canadian warmth where ever you are in Canada. No, that is not a jab! And a special shout out to my friend Sharon in Lancombe AB who actually got off her butt and went out to see the flame as it passed thru her town! Good on ya Sharon (more NZ slang for you there).

Love me

Testing video

This is video I shot from my iPhone on the shuttle from Auckland to
Tauranga

First family walk

Last night after BBQ chicken (1/2 chicken for $5) for supper we headed
out to survey the area,

Which included Victoria's clinic. On the way the kids spotted some
great climbing trees, so up they scampered like a couple of spider
monkeys! This morning we had a good breakfast in the unit, and coffee
on the patio. The sun is blazing today , we have sunscreened up and
after a few errands this morning we plan to head to the beach after
lunch.

The Female Perspective

So far, all these blogs have been courtesy of Don. So perhaps it's time to pull my own weight? Notable moments from the trip thus far:

Connor screaming with ear pain on the AC flight from Winnipeg to Vancouver (Don was sitting with him so Aidan and I got to pretend that we didn't know them).

The lovely international section of the Vancouver Airport. Since it was so late at night there were very few people around so we got to appreciate the water garden section in relative solitude. Truly lovely.

The Air New Zealand Sidney lounge. Awesome. The revolving buffet o'food was stunning. AND I got to take a whole bottle of champagne back to my seat and tipple my way through the afternoon.

The Air New Zealand flight. If anyone if considering coming to visit us, I highly recommend this airline. Even the peasants in the back of the plane (and I say that with only affection) got their choice of hot meals. Such lovely and caring staff. Couldn't do enough for us.

Aidan asked on the way over to the Auckland hotel what month it was. "January" I replied. "No" he says "what month is it HERE". His sleep deprived mind couldn't compute the warm breezes and temps with January. Sweet.

Having our first visitor to our motel room on our first day in town. The woman we are renting a house from looked us up and came in for a friendly chat last night. Such a warm and friendly thing to do!

Buying a car at auction. We attended a vehicle auction today and purchased a 2000 Honda Odyssey. Of course, we sold our Odyssey in Manitoba only last week. The boys are very ticked that we have ended up with the same vehicle and did some serious pouting, but as I pointed out, this is not a democracy. So now, any visitors that come, we have room to haul you around!!!

So there they are, my recollections so far. Next up, BBQ'ing by the pool (hardship I know), sleep, and hunting down some beds for our new home.

Love to all

First full day in Tauranga

Everyone had a great sleep last night! Yesterday after the shuttle
dropped us of I searched for grocery stores near is. Of course the one
located a mere 350 m from us was boarded up. So I hiked 4.5 mm round
trip to the new world food mart, reminded me of sobeys. On the way
back I was asked for directions to the hospital, by an older couple in
a car. Fortunately for them I had passed the hospital and was able to
help. So I guess I'm officially a local now! Today we head out to get
the rental car and start looking to purchase a vehicle. Connor is
happy because they get Nickelodeon on satellite.

Poolside sort of

The kids are up and in a good mood after a nic long sleep. Just
waiting by the luggage for the shuttle

New Zealand Found!

Here we are, I am sitting in the lobby of our hotel in Auckland in my shorts watching the wind sway the plants and trees outside. The door to the lobby is open and i can feel a nice breeze carrying tropical scents past me. The boys are still sleeping, we all slept quickly when we finally hauled all of our luggage from the airport. The clock read 1:30 am local time when i finally closed my eyes.

It's going to take some time to get used to the fact that we are no longer being fed and watered by the airlines. Back to reality and our own dime!

The shuttle service that is driving us to Tauranga is coming at 11am. It is now 10:30 so i better go and start rousting the kids. More from Tauranga.

Pods rule

The kids sure enjoyed flying in the pods! They even managed to get a
good deal of sleep. Landing went very well, and we are now in the
Sydney international lounge, far superior to the Vancouver one.
Right now the kids are at the "make your own pancake" bar!! And mom
and dad are at the make your own good mood bar!

Kids have been great! We have no comlaints so far on their behaviour :)

Another sculpture at the Vancouver airport

I have discovered how to post to our blog from my iPhone, so now I can
add the pictures!

Davinci

We spotted a davinci original!

Vancouver airport

Well the international lounge is a bit of a disappointment. It's under
construction, no ice? What's up with that. Connor's ears have returned
to normal, which allowed him to partake in some bobsledding!

First leg done!

Well the first flight is over! Connor had horrendous ear pain on landing. Luckily there was only 2 other people in executive class. Flying with a cold is never fun, and kids seem to have a harder time of it. We are on a cart at the moment, getting a ride on to the international lounge to kill more time till the long haul flight. I love technology, using the free wifi connection on my iPhone as we ride through the terminal

Airport

Thanks to my big brother, who not only had the Idea to drop off the luggage early, he drove us to the airport. That was a brilliant idea, because it took long enough to do just the luggage this afternoon. This evening has been relaxing, and very easy. So here we are in the lounge. More from Vancouver.

WLast day of school

We have one more "normal" day in Winnipeg. The kids are in school, and we have found enough change to buy both classes a pizza lunch. This has made us very popular. I even had one kid say thankyou befor getting the pizza!
I see that soon after we leave the temp here will be -4. So don't look upon us too bitterly ;)
one more sleep, I likely won't get much actual sleep!

That went by quick

Christmas has come and gone, the new year has arrived, and I am now counting "sleeps" until we board the plane!

It was great to see all the family and friends over the holidays, tomorrow starts with the kids going back to their final week of school in Canada. If they are freaked out about it, they sure are hiding it well! I guess maybe I'm freaked out enough for them ;)

This week we will be reorganizing the suitcases, all 12 of them, and locking down the remaining items in our storage locker.

Tomorrow we are turning over our van and picking up the rental car that will carry us through the week, that will be a big change as well.

Still feels odd to be shedding all these belongings, most of our time is spent acquiring things. I think one thing I look forward to the most is having a place to call "ours" again. The hotel in Tauranga will feel nice, more like a vacation....but the house...that's what I'm looking forward to.
Apparently the people we are renting from have planted us some vegetables in the garden....how nice is that!

Thanks to all that made it out to the going away party, it sure was a warm send off! (pun intended)