Christmas Week

Christmas reds:
The pohutukawa trees are in bloom. Some of them have clumps of red flowers and some are more spread out. See photo above.

Sunburned skin - We have been quite sun burnt from brief exposure. People had told us that one could burn in 15 minutes and they are absolutely right. We've got the bottle of aloe vera gel ready and will be much more vigilant with the sunscreen. I ordered myself a rash shirt so my shoulders and back will be covered during days at the beach and pool with Dennis.

Our friends Kurt and Monica arrived on Friday the 19th. They are fellow Chicago transplants who now live in Sydney, Australia (aka Oz, Aussie). We spent Saturday with them and then on Sunday morning they took the ferry to the south island. Then they returned to us on Christmas eve.

Sunday morning our church had a special Christmas service. The kids participated. Dennis read a Bible verse from the Psalms (see photo on right). He did a great job! It was followed by an indoor picnic due to rainy weather.

Wednesday, Christmas eve, we went to Te Papa museum and saw the giant squid. They have a real one set up in a case all preserved. We walked around and had to take a photo in Cuba Mall by the Chicago for Men clothing store. For brunch we ate at Flordita's cafe--yummy salads, eggs benedict and chips with garlic mayonnaise. We decorated our potted "Charlie Brown" tree. Tom made the star on top; Chris and Monica did the rest. While Dennis and Kurt slept, Monica, Tom and I walked down the street to the Anglican church for their late night service.

We had a lovely time on Christmas day visiting with friends. We went to a barbecue in the afternoon and enjoyed tasty pork, ham, smoked eel and desserts filled with cream. This was our second time at Jeni and Brett's. We met and got acquainted with Sian and Neville. Dennis kept busy playing with 4 year old Jared and the dogs.

Friday, Boxing Day, we went to Wanganui for the annual motorcycle race. Monica knew someone in it. We got to see her friend's vintage cycle and sidecar. After the race we wandered downtown and met a coworker of Tom's at Indigo cafe.

Saturday morning we felt a little earthquake--5.1 and the epicenter was about 34 kms north of Wellington. After breakfast Tom and Dennis stayed home and played Ticket to Ride. Chris, Kurt and Monica viewed the Da Vinci exhibit in town. The exhibit showcased models of Da Vinci's drawings. Some were for looks only and some could be touched. We followed that up with some shopping. The wine, cheese and bread supply was running low!

Sunday, we did some Lord of the Rings sites touring. If we didn't get to the exact site we at least got darn close. We visited the Weta Cave, home of the company that did special effects for Peter Jackson movies; their video was a bit commercial yet interesting. During our exploring we discovered a beach and a park worth longer visits. Dennis spent the evening with a sitter while the grown ups went out for Indian food and did some more walking and exploring along Oriental Parade and on Tinakori hill.

Today is Monday and Tom is home on a much deserved break. Kurt and Monica are off to do some more touring on their own. Dennis is playing with some neighbor friends. It is a fine sunny day. The laundry is out on the line, the dishwasher is running. Sounds like a perfect time for a leisurely glass of wine.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! We have been full-on this holiday season between all Dennis' extra curricular activities, Chris' extra curricular activities, and mine as well. Christmas is summer and a time of festive parties here in New Zealand. We have also been busy getting ready for our house guests (Kurt and Monica from Chicago via Sydney) and for Christmas day as well. That is not an excuse for ignoring the Blog. We promise to put a bunch of updates (with pictures) in soon.

Today Chris and I are actually spending some time getting our lives in order for Christmas. Chris has been asking about Christmas music for quite some time now. You may remember that on this very same computer which I am using to write the blog. I recorded all our music. So today I went to show her how to get to the Music she is missing. Well I found all the music I recorded, and yes you guessed it, except for the Christmas music! Turns out I just forgot to copy our Christmas music. Handle's Messiah, Cambridge Singers, Selene Dion, Kathleen Battle, and the others. They were all packed up at the time of recording and are now somewhere in the Georgia In-Laws basement!

The good news is that we found some excellent albums on the computer which are similar in tone. Right now we are listening to the Canadian Brass, their album The Sacred Brass reminds us of the Holy. As that is what Christmas is all about it seems in order. God became man ... that is Holy. I have no idea why he would do it. They say it is because he loves us, that is better than any reason I could think of so I will go with it.

This time of year is special we have often shared it with friends and family. As we were going around to our new Friend's here in Wellington it was bitter sweet. Bitter for we are reminded of the friends we miss, sweet for we are starting to build a life here in this lovely country.

We miss you! And wish you a Very Merry Christmas!

Love,

Tom, Chris and Dennis.

Eight Mice

We bought two mice--two females. It turns out one was pregnant when we bought them. So we now have six baby mice. I phoned the pet store, so I have a home for the babies when they are 3-4 weeks old. Whew!

It will be fun to watch them grow. Now if I can just get Dennis to leave mom and babies alone for a few days.

Wadestown from the inside

A house is so much more than a bunch of pictures. However if you happen to live a continent or two away pictures will have to do. As we all know the hearth is the heart of the home so we will start with the kitchen. You our house is quite well layed out as the kitchen sits between the dining room and a sun room.

Now we will move onto the lounge which is to the left of the dining room (first picture above)

And for the bedrooms. First is Dennis' bedroom. Mom yes you can revel in the justice that my son has the tendencies towards messiness which I exhibited as a child. However you will have to have pity on my wife who takes the brunt of it, as a guy I really don't give a ...

Here is the guess bedroom. We have added a guest bed (futon actually) so please don't let the price of hotels stand in the way of you coming to visit Wellington!

And here is the master bedroom. Notice how nicely I made the bed.

Ouch Chris that hurt!

I will spare you the pictures of the bathroom, laundry room and the two hallways. Suffice it to say that they are both functional and small.

Wadestown from the outside

This is the outside of our Wadestown house.

South side of the house walking towards the front door. Which is right before the green recycling container.


Here is the back yard of the house. The picture is taken from the deck which is right by the back doors.

This is the side yard (north side.) That would be lounge with the chimney and the sun room is on our guest bedroom.

Here is the back yard. It is terraced and quite overgrown.

Soccer in the rain

Soccer in new Zealand is hard to explain. Not the soccer mind you, but the attitude towards the weather. Kiwi's don't seem to mind the atmospheric conditions as long as the condition of the field supports the event. In the case of this particular day there was nothing wrong with the field the rain is what was quite interesting.

That is Dennis with a few of his team mates and his coach in the foreground.

As it was a particularly bad day I choose to wear my foul weather gear. I did get a few strange looks, however the majority of the guys were quite envious at the fact I was dry.

Thorndon House - May to July

Okay I am quite remiss at not giving you a view of our homes here in New Zealand. First we will start with our first house on Patanga Crescent. And as most things New Zealand it is a function of the views. Patanga Crescent had great views!



This is the master bedroom. Not too much to write home about but it was home for a while.

And here is Dennis with Lacey. Now that we have been gone for three months he does not talk about Lacey nearly as much as he use to do so. However the dog was an amazingly good member of the family for the three months we were there.

And this is the lounge. Many an evening were spent here reading to Dennis or to ourselves. The fireplace was a delight. We miss it greatly.

Our thanks to Pete and Tasha for letting us use their home while they were away.

Two Mice are Nice

Dennis saved a mouse from a cat attack a few days ago. We were planning on making it a pet. It went crazy in the nice Habitrail cage we bought. We found it dead this morning. Tom put it in a box. Dennis dug a grave for it with a garden trowel, then he put lots of garden daisies on top of it. So we gave Mousie a nice few days.

Dennis was sad to say goodbye but not traumatized. He had seen the white mice at the pet store when we bought the cage. We went and bought two mice today. Dennis has named them Missy and Sashie. Hopefully we won't traumatize them!

I had a gerbil when I was a kid but it didn't like to be held. In researching mouse care on the web, daily supervised time outside of the cage is recommended.

So Dennis has some pets he can hold and let crawl all over him.

Wilton and beyond!

Today I dragged my family up the hill just beyond Wilton. It is the walk that I did a couple of months ago but this time I turned right instead of left at the top.


The walk up went pretty quick, well that was for the first 10 minutes at which point in time Dennis became quite concerned that we had been walking up the hill for at least 20 minutes. His concern turned into wailing of biblical proportions. As we were half way up the hill at that time and there was no one within gun shot, much less ear shot, Chris and I just started walking faster. Dennis' voice faded in the distance until we heard a faint 'mommmm' at which point we waited for him to catch up.


By the time he had caught up we were within site of our first break, and 20 minutes into the climb. The break was nothing of importance just the milestone I told Dennis to keep him focused on something other than the fact that he wanted to go play with his friends. And this was the turning point of the trip for we gave Dennis the opportunity to go 'off track' as Chris and I walked the ridge line Dennis would take the 'direct' path towards our destination. He actually got winded walking up and down those steep slopes. Neither Chris or I could ever remember a time in his life where he ran out of breath. That boy is in great shape.

We did not make it to the very top. To continue was another good hour and neither Chris or I could handle that with our new hiking boots. So we found a good intermediate top along the way and declared victory. Here are some pictures from the 'top.'

Above is the view looking more or less North. It is just a big valley of farms amazing.

Above you can see the inlet where Makara is located; and in the distance the South Island.

Above is Dennis overlooking Petone and Seaview along the North End of the harbor.

Above you can just see downtown Wellington. It is just above the little bit of water in the picture with Chris.

I have some other pictures of our trip on my cell phone I just can't seem to get them to the computer right now. I hope to get that figured out so I can show you the other wonders from up high.

The holy evening

Yes Kiwi's celebrate Halloween. As a general rule not quite as full-on (notice the Kiwi expression!) as the North American's celebration; however it is becoming more popular these past few years. I saw a few folks dressed up in the cafe's in and around Wellington and was even served a flat white by someone wearing a witches hat early in the morning.

We were invited to a kid friendly Halloween party that required we dress up. Personally I was dreading the fact that I needed to put on some costume or another. But Chris dragged me to the nearest costume store (quite a few of them in Wellington.) After looking at being an over sized Kiwi or bunch of Grapes on the way to the clown (just about as exciting) I saw pirate costumes. I stopped told the sales lady if she can find something my size she has a sale otherwise I am leaving. So without further ado I present the Dread Pirate Thomas and his first mate Chris.

The high point of the party were the coffins. Yes Coffins! Our host Andrew built three of them, one for each of his children. As Andrew and I work together he was keeping me informed of the progress and I was looking forward to seeing them!

The coffins were much more spectacular than I imagined. Andrew lined them with bright red felt; installed rope lights; and hooked up to a smoke machine. (The smoke machine had a remote control so no one knew what was coming.)

For the first half hour or so the coffins just stood there in the room with no mention from our hosts. Andrews children stepped into the coffin then Andrew collected everyone and whilst (in American we would say 'while') he made some speech or another Andrew started up the smoke machine and the kids opened the coffins together. The affect was amazing!

(Above is Andrew's middle daughter Rachael. )

The smoke had the added benefit of presenting a nice backdrop for the laser light show that was going on. Keeping with the theme Andrew's three daughters were dressed as vampires. Actually Andrews whole family was a bunch of vampires costumes made by Cheryl his wife.

It did not take long for all the other kids to clamer to get and and out of the coffins. It took Dennis a while to get the nerve to go inside, you could say that he had a love hate relationship with the coffins for most of the night. I gave up after three of four attempts at coaxing him into the things. It took Andrew to get Dennis. But once it was done there was no stopping him! Poor Andrew was constantly pestered by the kids to turn on the smoke machine. Once or twice children came out coughing as they would not leave when the smoke came to their necks as instructed. Yes Dennis did the same I had to send him outside more than once to get fresh air and recover.

Unfortunately the camera ran out of juice before Dennis got into the coffin so I don't have a picture of him. There were plenty of games which kept the kids busy while the adults chatted. Dennis' favorite was jumping around the trampoline as per the directions he pulled from a hat. Here he is in his Batman suit.

We finally left at 10:22pm, that was quite late for everyone. Dennis layed down in the back of the car and just fell asleep as we pulled up to our house 20 minutes later. A great night was had by all.

Our host Andrew!

John and Lilly

Our neighbours to the South are John and Lilly. John is a Kiwi through and through; having grown up on Dairy farms up by Rotorua. Lilly is a Canadian who grew up in Alberta. John and Lilly met in Japan and have quite a few interesting stories from the various places they have lived.

Well we were invited over for a BBQ on Saturday. Having quite the experience with Kiwi BBQ's I was sure I was up to the task. So I purchased a few steaks, Avocado's and Corn chips. I marinated them in Lime Juice and Garlic (Carne Asada!) and made the Guacamole. The time came closer and we walked next store with the above and a bottle of wine. Only to find that we were at a dinner party for us two families not a BBQ.

How embarrassing for both families. We were welcome but the food was not. So after an hour or so of chatting over appetizers in the lounge it was time to fire up the grill. John and I went for it (the same everywhere) and while in the kitchen I informed him of all the other BBQ's that I have been at and that bringing meat was the norm. (First one I attended I did not know this and felt a bit out of place so I make up for it now!) John told me it was nothing personal just they had planned the meal. I said no as I would rather have the New York strip steak he was preparing anyway. So we laughed and started the grill.

I ran our food back to our house just as the rain started. So when I went back we were standing out under the eve watching the water bead on the griddle as the steaks and sausages were cooking.

The rest of the evening was a great success. Dennis ate a piece of bread and went and watched a movie and the adults had a wonderful conversation. Their stories about life in Japan, Korea and the various parts of New Zealand were delightful to hear. Chris and Dennis left around 10:30pm I left around 12:30am. Wow a wonderful evening it was.

Next morning I ran into John and he was all smiles saying we will have to do it again but this time earlier so Dennis doesn't cut our time short.

I really like my neighbors.

Sunday night

Today we went to another BBQ. Once again in the Kiwi tradition there was say too much meat for the number of people. I suppose there was a salad or two didn't have any myself. Just steak, sausages, and grissles (hamburgers.) I had a great time grilling food in the rain eating chips and dip. Seems a BBQ is the same on both sides of the Pacific. In fact we were commenting on that this afternoon. The host has been at BBQ's in India, I have been at them in Europe and it is al the same. Man has a wonderful fasination with cooking outside. In every case it was the men who were out playing with the fire. Details may be a bit different, like that Kiwi's will fry sausages on a griddle built into the BBQ! I still don't understand that when you can have them frame broiled. Oh well.

As I type this I am sitting in what can only be described as a breakfast nook. For those in New Zealand who are reading that is a room right off the kitchen that generally holds a small table which is intended for ... yes you guessed ... breakfast. We are not using it as a breakfast nook we have a small lounge set up. For those in the USA reading this that would be a living room. Our lounge has a futon sofa which I will have to take apart to get in our guest bedroom. At this time Dennis is sleeping here. Chris is off at a church group. And I am typing away on the computer sitting in a chair next to Dennis. I promised to keep him company and see no reason to leave right yet.

I opened the window at Dennis' request and boy does the air smell fresh! I suppose fresh smelling air is not anything new here. Wellington has the best air quality of any inhabited place in the world. I don't know that for a fact but would be willing to put it to the test. Today's southerly means that the air was over the south pole about a week ago. And has only made its way over the South Pacific and Tasman Sea. Where it dropped any particles of polution that were carried from that barren place. Go ahead try to beat that!

It is just like being on a Sail Boat in the middle of Lake Michigan. You breath deep the air just because you can, your body knows it is good and wants to have more. For those who have not sailed I would describe it like this:

When I was growing up in sparcely populated Western Chicago fall nights after a heavy rain would have the sweetest smelling air in the world. It was clean, fresh, and cool. I loved it! I would open my window and sleep with that air blowing on me all night.

With the exception of the rain smell that is a typical Wellington day. However the nights are special.

Rotorua

We got to Rotorua on Tuesday evening and checked into the Sudima Hotel. It is right along the lake and we could smell the sulphur smell quite well. Lake Rotorua is a big thermal area. One can see steam vapors in many places. The hotel is close to the central business area so we walked to dinner every night. We stocked the mini fridge with snacks and breakfast foods. In the mornings it was handy to eat breakfast in our room.

On Wednesday, Tom headed to his 3-day work conference. Dennis and I headed to the gondola and luge at Skyline Skyrides (top left). The gondola took us to the top of the hill. We put on our helmets and were given instructions on how to stop the luge cars. They are low to the ground with bicycle handlebars. First we took the scenic path that was about 2 km long. It was fun! Dennis was eager to go again. We had to ride a chair lift to get back to the top of the hill. In all we made three trips; twice on the scenic path and once on the 1.6 km intermediate path. We finished up with an early lunch at the cafe on top the hill where we got to see the panoramic view of Rotorua and the lake.

In the afternoon we soaked in the hotel's bath-water temperature pool. Dennis and I had it all to ourselves. The pool was semi-enclosed so we heard the noisy seagulls along the lake shore. The sulphur smell was strong. Dennis called it "pong," a British term he picked up from a library book about a stinky dog.

On Thursday, Dennis and I did more tourist must-dos. In the morning we checked out the Agrodome and saw the sheep show (bottom left). Dennis got to pet the sheep and dogs. I learned about sheep in a short time. In the afternoon we went to the Polynesian Spa and soaked in the pools there. We went to the Family Spa and Dennis found some kids to play with.

On Friday, we drove by one of the Maori style churches (top right). Tom got off early so all three of us went to the Redwoods in the Whakarewarewa Forest. The forest has 15 acres of Californian Redwoods that were planted in 1901 as part of an experiment to find out what trees could be grown for timber in the area. We followed the red path and admired the Redwoods for half and hour in the rain (bottom right).

We ended our time in Rotorua with dinner at a Latin American restaurant called Sabroso. Mexican restaurants are few in NZ, so some familiar chips, salsa, quesadillas and chimichanga were welcome. The salsa was sweet and mild since the restaurant is catering to the Kiwi palate. The chocolate dessert with a dash of cayenne pepper was superb.

We didn't get to a hangi dinner and concert which is a Maori cultural experience. That's something we will have to do some other time.

On Saturday it was time to drive back to Wellington. We left at 8:00 a.m. and got back home at 3:30 p.m. On the way we drove through Palmerston North. Along highway 57 in a town called Tokomaru we stopped for lunch at a cafe off the beaten path. Bent Horseshoe Cafe is a converted small school building. The school slide is still there as well as outdoor seating. We sipped our lattes while we viewed spring green hills with two creeks at the foot of them. What a delightful discovery!

Taupo

On Monday afternoon 13 October, after Dennis and I enjoyed the beach, we picked Tom up and continued our road trip. We drove on highway 1 on the Desert Road and saw Mt Ruapehu (bottom right). You can see in the photo that the desert consists of small scrubby bushes. Mt Ruapehu is a prime ski area and it's an active volcano. We kept driving since our destination was Taupo. This city is on Lake Taupo (bottom left), a lake created by a volcanic eruption in AD 186. It think it's the biggest lake in NZ. Stunning scenery wherever we looked.

We drove on the Thermal Explorer Highway. Along it were some thermal power plants. We appreciated the heat at our hotel swimming pool. We stayed at the Wairekei Resort and the pool was like bath water. This resort is just north of Taupo. Tom and Dennis were a bit disappointed that we weren't staying on Lake Taupo. This was just a one night stop, so we will have to come back.

On Tuesday we went to Huka Falls (top right) and Craters of the Moon thermal walk (top left). Then we headed north to Rotorua.

Vacation First Stop - Wanganui

We made our first road trip a week ago. We drove about 2 1/2 hours on Sunday, 12 October and spent the night in Wanganui. Our hotel was called Burwood Manor. It was a simple, no frills motel. For dinner we ate at Thai Villa in downtown Wanganui. Dennis discovered that he likes prawn crackers; they look like pork rinds but are shrimp flavored. I ate meat and vegetables smothered in a peanut and coconut sauce.


On Monday, Tom went to a business meeting while Dennis and I shopped and explored. First stop was a local cafe for a scrumptuous eggs benedict breakfast. We needed to buy some jandals (flip flops) for our walks from hotel room to swimming pool. After that we headed to the beach. On our way to Kai Iwi beach I had to stop and wait for sheep to cross the road. Dennis greatly enjoyed playing in the black sand and finding pumice stones and other rocks. The playground had an excellent flying fox. The scariest part was getting on it, but once I did it was a blast! It went downhill over a creek/inlet and then came backwards over the creek. Dennis did part of it, but I got tired of pulling him up the hill.

Wanganui is an old city built on the Whanganui River (the wh is pronounced like an f). It reminded us of Dubuque and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We were there for only one day and did not have time to take a riverboat ride. So we will have to visit Wanganui again. It would be a great place for a weekend away.

BBQ Season

We went to a BBQ today. Jeni who works with me at the Ministry of Health sent me an invite on Friday via text messaging (kiwi's use this service on their cell phones almost exclusively.) inviting me to her place in Upper Hutt for an afternoon of feasting with friends.

I have been to a couple of BBQ's already and this was not much different than the others. It does differ from the standard US affair in a two suttle ways. It seems like everyone brings meat, and we are not talking the hot dog kind, in this case we had: Venison Steaks, Pork chops, Lamb chops, Home smoked ham/bacon, Venison Sausages, Tandoori Chicken (our contribution,) and Abalone Fritters (okay not really meat but man were they good!) The second way it differs from a typical US BBQ is the amount of meat we had. Oh my I have never eaten so much meat in my life. This was good stuff.

The Venison Steaks were cut off a huge roast which the host had contributed to the fun. The host also prepared the Abalone Fritters. Basically a crab cake made with Abalone instead. Abalone is called Paua here and is a quite a strong taste which is cut very well by the rest of the fritter.

There were the standards salads, potato, coleslaw, lettuce, and a few others. I used them as dips for the potato crisps (chips) but basically stuck with the meat. Instead of buns the kiwi's put out bread. Just plain white or wheat bread which is buttered. So you grab a piece of meat and throw it on the bread. I personally think the bread is only used to keep your fingers from getting burnt. I adopted the very sensible practice of grabbing the meat with a paper serviette (napkin) instead of the bread so I could eat more meat. I mean given a choice between another piece of fresh venison (did I mention that he shot the animal just last month?) hot off the grill or a piece of bread what would you choose?

There was only one other person from the office, someone I have not spoken with often so it was a great opportunity to catch up. And it turns out that Jeni and I have a mutual friend so it was great to see Pat show up shortly after I did. Wellington is a small world. I have made a few friends and they start popping up in unexpected places, this was typical.

We left when Dennis started to loose it about four hours after we arrived. Quite satiated and looking forward to the next BBQ on the following Sunday. Then before I could even get into the house our neighbors just up the hill from us invited us over to a BBQ on Saturday. We were warned this is the Kiwi way, BBQ's all summer long.

As my father always use to say "When is Rome do as the Romans." I will suffer through this for the honor of my country!

Apologies

My apologies all around. I just checked the blog and noticed that we have not posted in about a month! How rude of us. There you are checking on our life here in NZ and it is silent.

Next time please write or call and let us know!

So now for some postings.

(or as the blog actually puts new postings on top I hope you had to slog through a few to get to the apology!)

Take Me to the Ball

Last Wednesday Tom and I were invited to Sun Microsystems gala event on Saturday. It was a fancy event and I had three days to come up with a dress to wear. Dennis got toted around to some designer resale shops. I found a lovely shimmery burgundy skirt and coordinating jacket with burgundy and green in it. I ran around finding shoes, hose, camisole, and make up to complete the look. Tom wore a black suit, fancy shirt and bow tie. It was Dennis first time with a babysitter here.

We rode the bus to the event. It was at the St. James Theatre. The Theatre is an old one that was restored in the 1990s. The orchestra pit was brought up and the stage set with tables. A band played light jazz. The food was delicious, the people amusing. We heard a live preview from The Sound of Music (coming to the theatre soon). We danced a bit. Around midnight we were tired and took a cab home.

On Sunday we had a family from church over for lunch. Then on Sunday night we sat around and watched movies.

My first Earthquake

It certainly got my attention. The windows rattled and whole house shook, very much like a strong wind hit us. That is what I thought it was at first, when the second wave hit I was sure it was a wind out of the west. Then I remembered that most winds here are predominately north or south.

Suddenly I knew that I had just felt my first earthquake!

Anti-climatic actually.

Early Spring

We got our car WOFed this week. WOF stands for Warrant of Fitness. Our car has to be WOFed every six months since it's an older vehicle. It needed a few repairs in order to be declared fit.

Soccer season finished up this week. On Wednesday Dennis got an award for the most improved player on his team. He did not know about this beforehand so it was a pleasant surprise for him.

On Friday he had his first sleepover at a friend’s house. He got to player soccer, video games and do boy stuff with Dylan.

Tom and I went out on the town on Friday night. We went out for dinner at a delightful Italian restaurant. We were seated way in the back where a mural was painted on the wall to make it look like we'd be looking out over the Mediterranean Sea. I had the recommended pasta with seafood. Tom had a steak. Both of us splurged on creamy desserts. Afterwards we visited with his coworkers at a going away party. We decided to walk off some of our dessert. It took an hour, and half of it was uphill; however, the sweet smell of spring blooms was in the air.

On Saturday we did some exploring! Dennis was still with his friend, so Tom and I went north to Greystown in the Wairapa area. We had to drive through the Rimatuka mountains. It was a fine, sunny day. In Greystown we had lunch and checked out the town. It’s a touristy place with antique shops, arty shops and cafes. I found an outlet store and bought two merino tops (worn like long underwear for warmth); they will be handy next winter.

We met Andy and Lorraine who showed us the house they are fixing up. The house didn’t look very big from the outside but inside was quite impressive with its tall ceilings. The couple are empty nesters who have been spending their weekends sanding and staining floors. Their goal is to be moved in by Christmas. Their section of land is a flat 1.4 acres and on a plateau. One can see mountains in two different directions. It really is a lovely set up. In the US it would be called a mini farm, here it’s called a lifestyle property.

On Sunday Tom and Dennis are attending a soccer game at Westpac Stadium. A coworker had room in semi-box seats. (One step down from box seats.)

I admired the quilts at the quilt show on Sunday. It was put on by the local guild which I am joining. They have monthly meetings which are fun and inspiring. From time to time they have classes and weekends away.

Spring is in the air so I have ordered some vege seeds for the garden. We have some space in the back of our yard that we can dig up and plant vegetables in. I bought a big spade and will get out there this week! Dennis is eager to help and we bought him a set of three kids tools.

Once we turned the calendar to September, it meant spring here, but it also meant that we missed summer in Chicago. We also missed barbeques, sailing, neighbors and friends!

We are planning our first vacation (holiday) for mid-October. We are piggybacking on a business trip Tom needs to make to Rotorua. It's a town known for lots of hotels, geysers, hot springs, mud baths, Maori culture activities, and luge rides. We will have plenty to keep us busy there. It will be about a 6 hour drive.

NZ school holidays will be for two weeks at the beginning of October. I need to figure out what special activities we want to do since we have a break from the usual schedule.

Friends

One hundred forty two days ago we arrived in Wellington.

When we arrived we were met at the gate by Warwick Sullivan, the person who hired me; and Karla Beauchamp, employee at the Ministry of Health. Add to them three other individuals with whom I had spoken on the phone or exchanged an e-mail and there you have it, five people we knew/knew of in Wellington.

Dennis knew even less.

This week Dennis met six kids on the block. It was a gang buster week! This morning as it was raining Dennis asked if he could go over to his friends house. He could not remember his friends name only where he lived. As I had spoken with his parents when I went and collected Dennis last Thursday, I knew Dennis would be welcome, so we sent him on his way.

Dennis had a great time for a couple of hours. After he came home I found out that Dennis was playing Lego Star Wars, something he is very familiar with from his friends back home. After lunch Dennis called Andrew (he remembered his name now) and invited him up here to play. Two hours (and one snack) later they were outside playing on the side walk with another neighbor James.

Watching Dennis today reminds me that friends are what make life worth living.

Andrew is the one in blue just behind Dennis. Dennis still does not know the names of the other children. I know that the boy in green lives next door to Andrew, and the girl lives one house down from there. Yea I met them before I just don't remember their names either.

Three words ...

North

East

West

Rugby!

We went to our first Rugby test Saturday the Wellington Lions hosted the Bay of Plenty Steamers. There were over 10 tries at this test quite the game! With my US football background (yes dad I did learn something all those years) I understood the basic Rugby rules. However there was plenty to keep me guessing.

The vocabulary is quite similar to US Football with only a few noticeable differences. For instance 'try' referees both to the line between the field and the equivalent of an end zone; and 'try' referees to scoring a goal, it took about 20 minutes for me to figure that out. Most everyone who knows Football can guess 'scrum' if you can't guess I will keep you wondering. A 'test' referees to a match. There are 'mauls' and 'rucks' as well, but more on those later.

The basic setup of the game is the same. A bunch of full grown men trying to get a odd shaped piece of pig skin over an arbitrary line on either side of a field. A 'try' is worth five points with a two point conversion. A notable rule addition on the conversion attempt is that the ball is placed on the 20 yard line at the same place (left or right) that it was downed for the try. There are field goals in Rugby and they are three points as well. Two notable changes in Rugby. It does not bother with with pads or helmets, and the play doesn't stop at each tackle instead that is where the fun starts, a ruck.

Once the player is down either team attempts to get the ball by piling on and "rucking" at the ball with their feet until one side has control. The rules around the rucks are strange, the hardest for me to grasp was that you can only enter the ruck from your side of the field. Once a team is able to control the ball the player who has done so becomes the 'quarterback' and the process starts all over.

The play is basically a bunch of lateral passes until you try or are tackled (Remember to try is to score.) The lateral passes are great fun to watch. They throw the ball (underhand only) half way across the field. If the offensive team is not able make sufficient progress they will punt, remember this happens without a down. Someone just drop kicks the ball while running. Once a punt occurs the ball is fair game for anyone to grab. I was shocked the first time someone punted the ball about 15 yards over a defenders head sprinted caught the ball on the bounce and ran in for a try, it was a great play!

The crowd at the stadium was just as crazy a crowd at any major US sporting event, jerseys, painted faces, big signs etc. They screamed and hollered with the best of them. As most fans they are quite passionate and talkative about their team. I asked two of them a bunch of questions which made the whole experience much more interesting for us. Of course the kids wanted hot dogs, french fries, and cokes. We obliged for it is all part of the fun.

Here is a close-up of Dennis and his soccer buddy Tivan. They had a great time!