Interesting things...

Ok, there are some things that are quite different and unexpected here. There are big US sized fridges but the average ones are quite small and the openings in the kitchens of every rental house I looked at were for these little fridges. People who have the big fridges sometimes put them in the dining room! Here we are looking at an average fridge. It was $2199.00!!!! Really?! WTF?! AND it was made in NZ. So they can't say there were import costs. 

This is what they told me was an automatic ice maker. You have to pour your own water in and then flick the knob to get the ice to come out! Another WTF moment for me. For $2000 I want a flippin' LCD TV in the front of the fridge, not a built in ice tray!

Note the price on this slow cooker (aka crock pot)! Sticker shock was the theme for appliance shopping. (for any shopping for that matter!)

At the grocery I was so happy to see these. Even if I never made hard tacos in the states, it made me feel better to see them in the store. No luck finding corn tortillas though. Lucky for me, my MOPS group gave me a tortilla press as a going away gift! I only have to drive 25 minutes to buy masa. Don't even ask what that costs!

  

Another shocker: unrefrigerated eggs. And they sell them not just in 6's, 12's, and 18's, but also in 5's, and 10's and 15's. so comparing price is nearly impossible. They are all brown (hooray!) and one of Erik's friends was surprised to hear that white chicken eggs even existed. But none of them are as big as the jumbo US eggs  - probably because they aren't stuffing the NZ chickens with antibiotics, chemicals, sheep brains for food... So I just use 2 eggs when there is one called for in a recipe.

Below is an awesome, big playground at Bunnings. It's like Home Depot - even has orange signs and logo. Parents leave their barefoot kids here (despite a sign saying not to) and go shopping. Adults and kids walk around inside stores barefoot. Being a tiny bit on the germ-a-phobe and paranoid about accidents (cut feet), I am still freaked out about it when I see it. 

I took these two photos for Mom. She grows these in Colorado as ground cover but they must be a slightly different variety because these kind were on their way to being a bush - not ground cover at all. 

They are so pretty!

It's not a "trash can", it's a "rubbish bin". ;)

this is what they use to keep the kids in some of the shopping carts (some stores do have proper plastic clips). These might be Kiwi-kid-proof but they are not Maggie proof. She figured out how to get this off in half a shopping trip. It's velcro! (And yep, they make Huggies here but they are "nappies" not diapers and they measure the kids in kilograms! So it took me a minute to figure out Maggie's size. The first time, I just chose diapers with a picture of a kid that looked about her age on them! lol!)

This is the road to a beach/cliff town called Sumner. It's a gorgeous little town and I go there every chance I get. But there is a creepy road that goes right between the Pacific and these big cliffs. The cliffs started to fall down in the earthquakes and some of the houses fell off the cliffs and some are half up there and half at the bottom of the cliff! So the roadway people are protecting the road from falling rocks (and houses) with these shipping containers. The only place I have ever seen more of these things sitting around was at the port in Marseilles! 

A teetering house. 

Nope, I did not buy these. They were pretty amusing though. 

This is a flat-white. They are awesome! You can get lattes and cappuccinos here too, but these are my new fave. 

This is the beer selection at the movie theater. And they have assigned seating at the theater. They always try to give us seats in the back row! Somehow that is where they keep telling me are the best seats?! They think I'm crazy when I ask for smack in the middle of the theater - but here's the good part - now that I know to ask, I always get the middle because no one else wants it! So, now I think assigned seating is a good thing - as long as no other Americans get there first! :) 

Yet another wonderful Kiwi custom! There are parking spots at many stores for parents. My grocery in the states had ONE space for pregnant women but nothing for parents. Here, there are 5 or 6 of them at my grocery and I ALWAYS get to use one. There is always at least one available. I will be bummed when I feel like Maggie is too big to be a reason for one of these! :)  

Can you say lawsuit?! Yep, there would NEVER be one of these zip lines (they call them flying foxes) at a public park in the states. Unattended, no helmets, just a fabulously loooong rope going down a steep hill with a deck at the top. Even Erik and I went on it a few times. (We needed to make sure it was safe for Caty.) ;) It was like flying! They don't worry about accidents here much. And never about law suits. If you get hurt in an accident, the government pays for your medical treatment and then you can't sue. This could be a good thing, or a bad thing. No one seems to worry about making things safe, then again - this zip line is AWESOME! So I guess it's buyer beware. :)

The deck at the top of the hill. 

We decided Ben was too small to go alone so Erik went with. Good thing too because Ben let go at one point.  

Giant tree stump at Hagley Park. Being from AZ, I am just loving the huge, green trees. I can only imagine how big this monster was! 

Very cool idea that we should start using in the States. These are yogurt containers but this is tomato paste in them. Lightweight, recyclable. Pretty cool.

On the anniversary of the biggest earthquake every construction cone in town had flowers in it. And there is no shortage of construction cones. Even cooler: days later, the construction workers would move the cones around but never touched the flowers. 

Flowers in cones as far as you can see. 

Pumpkin season is in March/April! And the pumpkins are greenish-grey. (They are orange inside and taste pretty close to ours.) The orange ones aren't round. They're all bumpy and shaped like a yam. 

Flash-back! At first I thought it was a one-off but I have seen these towel dispensers all around. Erik and I can't remember the last time we saw one in the US. Maybe some gas station out on some lonely road in NM or somewhere! They are alive and well here! Germ-a-phobes beware!

They have lawn mowers here but they are double what they cost in the states. So we went green with a reel mower. I used to have one in Lake Charles and this one works fine. Erik hates it. But I just love it. The neighbor guy, Grahame, comes over to ask if I would like to borrow his motor-powered mower when I'm out with this one. I just smile and decline and explain it's good exercise. My lawn looks kind of natural and pastoral. His looks like a golf green. I'm sure it's hard for him to watch me walking behind this little guy. He's awfully nice (oh hell! I did it - I have let Kiwi-ese creep into my blog!) Before we moved here, I would NEVER have typed or said "awfully nice"!) Anyway, he's pretty nice but you can see that he wishes I would take him up on his kind offer. Erik says I should have! But Ben does a great job with this one and I don't worry nearly as much as I would with a gas mower (or electric).

Maggie loves Vegemite. It's like Marmite only less sweet - and for those of you who are still mystified here are some informative links:
What it is
Marmite shortage 
Ad campaign - these are pretty funny, they are all around town.
Maggie is less discerning and will eat Marmite or Vegemite. No one else in the family will touch it. :)

I really wish I could get Bud Light but this is nearly as good. There are lots of fancy-pants beers here but nothing that tastes good to a girl who likes Bud Light. So, I pay waaaay too much for these ($20 for a 12 pack) but once a week I sit down and really savor one of these. Erik has to get his own beer - these are mine!

I have learned to make flour tortillas. They cost a lot at the grocery and Ben lives on quesadillas. The grocery ones are not great - they are like the Old El Paso brand in the states: doughy with a funny after taste. Anyway, my tortillas ROCK! And yes, I use lard. Lard is what makes them fabulous - sorry Jilly, my vegan sister - it's true. This was my first batch. I am getting better at making them thinner and more round. Now, if I could just get my hands on Monterrey Jack... Funny story: in the grocery Caty asked me if we could get Colby-Jack cheese. I said, a bit louder than I meant to, "They don't have Jack in New Zealand!" Oops! that sounded wrong. I looked around and was getting some stares. Too funny!

Ben has been getting into the kitchen with me a lot. He has a gardening apron he never used and wears that to cook. He climbs up on the step-stool and muscles in on whatever I'm doing and says, "I'm a cooking-man!" and insists on helping me. It's tiresome sometimes but I went through it with Caty and now she can make her own grilled cheeses, scrambled eggs, and read and follow a recipe. (Plus it helps with fractions homework when they get to that in school.) Ben made this hot cross bun at preschool. He was very proud of it, so we took a picture of it. :)

This thing is what heats our house. We have an electric "heat pump" but it is really just a wall mounted space heater. It heats the living, dining, and kitchen but costs a fortune to run. (Electricity is about twice what it was in Phoenix.) So, wood is cheaper. Still, it only heats the same living space. BUT it also heats the water in the electric water heater. So if it's on, the water from the water heater in the closet behind this wall is routed through the wood stove and is heated. How cool is that?! Plus, it's fun to watch the fire. But, being from Phoenix, we started using it in Feb (like August in the Northern Hemisphere). It's not warm here compared to Phoenix. Erik has friends who haven't started using their heat. We bought oil-filled electric radiators for the kids' rooms and an electric forced air space heater for our bedroom.

Ok, there are a million other cool, weird, and annoying things to post but that's it for this post. More soon! 

Castle Hill

A while back we drove west to the middle of the South Island to Arthur's Pass. On the way there, we stopped at Castle Hill for a short hike. It was gorgeous! Beautiful! Honestly, it was difficult to take in all the beauty. Sounds corny, but it's true. It was just breathtaking!

After all that, we stopped at a roadside pub and hotel. Although I should mention that it was more like THE roadside pub and hotel. We hadn't passed a town, gas station, pub, or any civilization for more than an hour. Nor had we any cell service. We were starting to think we would have to drive to the other side of the island to get some lunch. (We have since learned that Kiwis hardly ever eat out and when we go on day trips, we generally pack all that we will want to eat and drink for the day.)

Ben had fun playing on the steps down to the cabins and there was a playground too. Near the playground, a sheep was tied up on a very long rope. He was munching away at the grass but Ben needed to "check him out" and went over to see him. Ben got really close a couple times but would squeal with delight and finally the sheep head-butted him in the stomach and knocked Ben on his bottom! Erik and I roared with laughter and the sheep just went back to eating. Ben was freaked out but this but after a minute of thinking about it, decided maybe it was a fun game and proceeded to go over to the sheep and get head-butted a few more times before Erik and I felt bad for the sheep and put a stop to it. I'm not sure what sheep-etiquette is when the sheep is actually a lawn mower for the playground... ?

Above was the view from the playground. Not too shabby. But I have no idea what people would do if they stayed at the hotel. There wasn't anything happening around there. Just sit at the pub and drink beer and look at the view I guess.
Below are photos Erik took as we drove home. Driving outside of town is quite an experience. The speed limit is 100 km/hr (62 mi/hr) which sounds slow for wilderness driving in the States. Oh no, not here! It's way too fast. There are no Interstate-like roads at all on the entire South Island for sure, and maybe not any up north either. So, the roads that connect towns are more narrow than your average suburban street in the States with no shoulders and wind back and forth over the hills instead of going directly through them. And they are really steep! Roads here make that windy part of I-17 south of Flagstaff seem positively straight! But this does not slow down a Kiwi driver, whose nerves are made of steel. They whizz up, down, and around the roads at speeds above 100 km/hr while I am pushing it to get the car to 80 km/hr (49 mi/hr). And then there will be a few hairpin turns followed by a single lane bridge! Can you believe it?! Single lane bridges?! Plural. I can't even remember how many there were. And long ones too. But we did survive.
I drive everywhere, otherwise I get horribly car sick, even in the front seat. So Erik got to lean out the window and take some really great photos for us.

Mags and Ben just couldn't stay awake all day. Too many exciting adventures to dream about. :)

Our first days in Christchurch...

We arrived so jet lagged and exhausted it just wasn't funny but after 24 hours we were more or less alright again. It took a couple of weeks to truly sort ourselves out, but part of that had to be that little earthquakes kept waking us up and it was suddenly Summer here so the sun didn't set until 9:30 or so! One of our first days here we went to the local beach. You can see from the photo here that although it is Summer, it is not especially warm. We had long sleeves on. The locals were in bikinis! Brrr! But man, it's beautiful here.
The kids were so excited to be at a beach and not cooped up in hotels, airports, planes, and our little rental townhouse with no yard and no carpet - just polished concrete floors. (Someone remind me later to tell the story about Maggie breaking her front tooth on that floor.) They played and dug in the sand and tried to get in the water but it was too cold for Erik and I. :)

All these photos and the next ones are from our Facebook pages so if you're on FB, some of these you may have seen before. But I had several encouraging emails from friends and family reading the blog after the last post and I thought I'd get going and just start doing a bit every day instead of all at once - which is the daunting task I can never get through. :) 

Note: I can't figure out what I did wrong to get that text along the side of the photo like that. So frustrating!

Shortly after we arrived, our realtor told us to check out a place called Willow Bank Wildlife Reserve with the kids. I'm so glad we did. We saw some great animals and beautiful scenery. We liked it so much we got a membership and have already been back once. The photos below are from Willow Bank. 

There is boardwalk to keep you on the path and get you over all the water. The green, lush vegetation was quite a change from Arizona. I'm sure I said: "It's so green!" about a thousand times on this trip.

Hmmm... Not sure what a "tame" eel is. Probably more like over-fed. But they did come when you stood at the bottom of the pier. We bought a little plastic container of raw meat - yep raw meat - to feed them. They made short work of it. The kids loved it. I, however, prefer my "tame" eel smoked and wrapped in nori.

Ben fed nearly all his "bird feed" to this hungry deer-thingy while the pigeons went begging. The antlers were fuzzy like they had been flocked!

Once again: It's so green here!

Nope, it's not a kangaroo, it's a wallaby. And they are not supposed to live here. Except some Aussie must have had one tag along because I gather they are here now.
Interesting fact: there are no mammals native to New Zealand. Think about that. Just birds and bugs and amphibians (is a lizard an amphibian?). Anyway, you get the idea. Of course the lovely Brits brought all kinds of mammals here and they got away and ate lots of the local species. Many of which are extinct now.

I had a bad experience with one of these mean buggers on a Duke of Edinburgh expedition once so I don't care for them much. Plus, one of my aunts told me they are bad luck. Caty saw it but it didn't have it's tail feathers up so I told her it only puts them up if it sees a girl-friend or if it thinks you're a bad guy. (I know, over-simplified. I'm not a biologist so I don't talk like one.) Caty's little gears were turning in her head and she ran over and roared at it. She was rewarded with this display. Maggie and Ben were thrilled! Mr Peacock, not so much.

And one last time! It's so GREEN here! 

More soon. Next post will have our trips to Arthur's Pass and Akaroa. 

Busy times...

We made it to NZ on December 30th 2011. And it's only taken me two months to get a blog post out! Oops! Honestly, I've logged on a dozen time to do it and something always comes up. Plus, we have a pretty crappy Internet connection. So I've been mostly posting to Facebook but I know not everyone can see those posts. I was going to recreate the FB posts on here but it's honestly just too much downloading and uploading and I'm paying for Internet by the MB!
So we're here and safe and sound and I'll try to post more often!