so far, so good

Long overdue update

2009-05-23T09:17:00.008+12:00

The highlight of 2008 was what we call our ‘endless summer’. Thanks in large part to the generosity of family and friends (and their respective couches and beds – most notably Ian and Aleisa’s converted back porch), we were able to squeeze in two summers in 2008. Migrating from Auckland as winter in New Zealand approached to Boston we were able to both do research fellowships and dodge an unpleasant winter. We enjoyed our time on the east coast so much last year that we are doing the same thing again this year – this time in New York. Dave is already there and I leave in four days to join him. Our time will be divided between West Harlem, Manhattan and Brooklyn, and all the vegetarian restaurants that we can find.

The first half of the year has flown by working on our studies and hosting the various Egan’s that have visited. It's incredible that we've had 7 family members since December. New Zealand has an incredible supply of beauty and it's always nice to have an excuse to appreciate it. The prize winning visitors have to be my mom, dad, and Seth who were put to serious work - felling trees, cutting trails, pulling weeds and hiking until toenails fell off. I hope they remember their time fondly.

I'm supposedly halfway through my thesis and keep thinking of the quote by Will Durant - "Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." As Dave would say, at least this is keeping me off the streets.

Dave and I (or we should actually say Aaron) put up a cabin in Tairua. We spent our first weekend there a ew weeks ago celebrating my 30^th birthday. The cabin has amazing views and is incredibly comfortable - we slept on the same air mattress that we used at Harvard and marvelled at all the amazing things in our lives that we get to do.

Now, as I write this, I’m drinking another cup of tea in an effort to stay warm and huddling next to the little space heater that I’ve been dragging from room to room. I woke up this morning and saw my breath. It looks like it’s time to migrate.

The P-nut & the Pickle are going to Beantown

2009-01-06T07:47:00.001+13:00

I didn’t think that we’d like Auckland as much as we do. We have been spoiled in the last month with music and socializing and eating out and attending lectures.

In the past week Dave and I have had some fairly significant milestones; Dave finally turned in his thesis (and is no longer absolved of his share in the household duties) and we both got word that we have been offered internships in Boston. After we stopped jumping on the bed and screaming about how happy we are, we started calling family and friends to let them know that we would be in the same hemisphere with them for June, July and August. Again, we’re doing our damnedest to arrange our lives in a way that we can have an endless summer.

Now my favorite refrain is, “what are you looking forward to most?” Next to the obvious things that we are both excited for (with one squishy little nephew being at the apex), we are both ecstatic that we have been given opportunities to work with organizations that we are truly inspired by.

So, beware - if you live within a four hour radius of Boston (either by plane or by car), we will be knocking at your door and sleeping on your couch.

Crazy Larry with his Bum Knee

2009-01-06T07:46:00.003+13:00

My time in the U.S. over the holidays was excellent, but i’m not sure that I will ever get used to living my life in these concentrated doses. It’s like the Brandeis quote: “A man may have six meals one day and none the next, making an average of three meals per day, but that is not a good way to live.” I grudgingly admit that most people live their lives either in the past or the future; however, I would like to average out the two at some point in my life and find a way to live mostly in the present.

As we prepare to move to Auckland and I pack my life once again into neatly (and not so neatly) labeled boxes, I marvel at the fact that over a year and a half has lapsed for us here in Tairua. I wonder if we’re going to miss this place and then, drunk on the ecstasy of knowing that our departure is imminent, I think of all the good times that we’ve had:

Wah baptizing himself in the river at Te Moata or finding out that Crazy Larry (the guy that tried to pick a fight with aaron) has a vulnerable knee that we could use to our advantage in our next altercation. Far too many of my good memories of Tairua involve Crazy Larry. I don’t think that I’ve ever exchanged a word with him, but the image of him riding a tractor through town towing a fishing boat has left an indelible impression on me and I’m sure he won’t soon be forgotten. I might even miss the cranky lady at the corner store.

We will miss the beauty of the Coromandel and the abundant supply of beaches, but like my dad says, I still haven't come across a part of New Zealand that isn't beautiful.

Cree-eepy

2009-01-06T07:46:00.001+13:00

Aaron and Lynsey had a Day of the Dead celebration that included a 15 meter homemade cave that took a year in the making, handmade tamales with smuggled ingredients from the U.S., and more chocolate treats than my belly had room for.

I love Halloween - partially because I don’t think that I ever fully recovered from missing 6 consecutive Halloweens as a kid in Australia (and my mom giving the neighbors candy in advance to give to us doesn’t count). The following are some photos to prove my overcompensation.

Wedding Picture Gallery

2009-01-06T07:45:00.000+13:00

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, you can find our gallery of wedding pictures here:
http://tinyurl.com/77xmpj
Much love to you all, Andrea & David

Honeymoon Journal

2009-01-06T07:44:00.005+13:00

We've finally finished chronicling our honeymoon. You can find our post here: www.nznews.org/wedding+honeymoon1.html

We hope you find it interesting.

Our Wedding

2009-01-06T07:44:00.003+13:00

Full of Awesome

2009-01-06T07:44:00.001+13:00

We seek pitifully to convey to others the treasures of our heart, and quite often feel overcome with how clumsy the tools we wield are. There are so many things within the past few months that literally, at the risk of sounding cliché, have taken my breath away. That sharp inhalation as you try to register the beauty and the love, realizing the fleeting and transient nature of both of them. Like a beautiful sunset, or time with your mom, or your sister’s blossoming little belly, there is no accurate way to really capture the essence of the beauty and the experience, and trying to put it into words is frustrating at best.

The past few weeks have been, as Daði (our Icelandic friend) would say about his obnoxious 80’s shorts, “full of awesome.” I turned 28, which by the way is a perfect number (an integer which is the sum of its proper positive divisors), in style. One of my closest friends from Iceland, Ásta, was in town and her very presence validated me in such a profound and unexpected way. Her friendship is one of the treasures of my heart that I can’t hope to try to accurately convey. For my birthday, Ásta and Lynsey, and Aaron and Daði, and Amanda, went dancing in Auckland. For those that don’t know me quite well enough to have had the pleasure/misfortune to see me dance, I will accede that my dancing skills are lacking. Sometimes when there is a lack of skill I think that people become inordinately fond of the skill in others and Ásta and Lynsey have always inspired my admiration with their dancing skills – and to have both of them dancing together on my birthday was so amazing that it was hard to process.

I was able to go to Utah and Boston for a few weeks and spend some much needed time with my family and friends. I got to spend some time with my sister and my mom in Maine and Boston. I continue to feel so nourished by the time that I was able to spend with my mom, giggling on our plane ride to Boston or with friends, crashing in to a staff meeting at Higher Ground, that it makes the distance feel less onerous.

Before my trip back to Utah and Boston, I was able to go with Dave, James and Amanda to Wellington. With only vague recollections of Wellington as an 11 year old, I was pleasantly surprised by the rhythm and feel of the city. There were too many good coffee shops and restaurants, and movie theatres, and clothing stores; my stomach and wallet could only handle so much.

We are currently very busy planning for our upcoming wedding and honeymoon, and we are getting increasingly more excited as the day looms ever nearer. Our link outlines some of the details and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Now who’s the chicken of the sea?

2009-01-06T07:42:00.002+13:00

So, we spent Christmas kayaking off the coast and exploring caves on some offshore islands. As ever, New Zealand boasts an embarrassment of riches in terms of natural beauty. I think that you’d be hard pressed to find a more pristine and beautiful place in the first world.

Apparently the dolphins that we’ve seen off the Tairua coast aren’t fooling around – check out the front page news in the New Zealand Herald:

Since we wrote last, we’ve moved to a new home on Mt. Paku. The views are amazing – including out to Slipper Island, the site of the aforementioned dolphin revolt.

We had the pleasure of a visit from Beverly and Jonathan shortly after our move. It was great fun showing people the lay of the land; we’d love to show other people around if they’d like a cheap tour guide. While Bev and Jonathan were here we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner replete with local staples (and admirable Thanksgiving stand-ins) kumara and blue pumpkin. No luck with the Tofurkey, however.

The weather has been beautiful – sunny but not too hot, and we’ve had to adjust to people saying, “Have a happy, hot holiday.” It still doesn’t sound quite right.

Despite our homesickness, we enjoyed a few days off from the café (and each of our respective jobs). David quit his job at the IT firm, and got hired on with the District Health Board; he’ll be starting the beginning of January.

For Christmas, we received some beautiful boxes from my mom and dad and enjoyed the treats all day. Our cupboards will be full for a while yet. Aaron and Lynsey bought us all a much needed vacuum, and the feminist side of me cringes at how much joy their gift brought.

The influx of tourists has definitely begun. The café is busier (as are the roads around the Coromandel). We are looking forward to enjoying this beautiful summer and then another summer again in Utah – it seemed like we had one very long winter and we want to drink up as much of the sun as we can.

You don't win friends with salad

2009-01-06T07:42:00.001+13:00

We have started running a café on the weekends and have become a registered partnership and legal tax entity under the name of Pollinate Partnership. Our café mascot is a little honeybee, and in choosing the honeybee it seems like we are inadvertently paying homage to the beehive state that we love and miss.

We are having a lot of fun with the café: creating the menu, choosing the drinks, finding the local fruit and vegetable vendors, and organizing and beautifying the place in general. The café is adjacent to a small winery that specializes in fruit wines made from kiwis, feijoas, and manuka honey; we have created a menu that would complement that, and enjoy the expanse of land that the winery and café is located on.

Lynsey is incredibly adept at making beautiful signs and creating delicious plates. Aaron has made the gardens look incredible, and Dave has created complex algorithms that compute the cost and profit of every item that we serve (even factoring in the cost of the ten toothpicks on our fruit plate). I have been saddled with some of the tedious accounting and company details that I have my dad to thank for my ability to deal with. Although there was an extremely steep learning curve when we got here, my dad’s company has required me to navigate through all this stuff before and I have had the insight from many series of audits to know what to do (and what not to do). It has been an interesting convergence of all of our different skills.

One of the main appeals of our café, in addition to our local and organic menu, is the outdoor seating. The gardens and outdoor area are covered with a canopy of kiwi vines and we spent a good portion of the day yesterday propping up kiwi-laden vines with bamboo. (I wonder if there is a provision in the food and safety guides regarding ripe kiwis dropping on café patrons. I don’t know how many countries there are in the world where that is a legitimate hazard concern.)

When we originally signed up for this project we didn’t realize how much time and work it would take, and we certainly didn’t realize the amount of love and attention a place that had been neglected for years would need.

What had originally struck all of us as quaint and sort of picturesque – cobwebs on the wall, homemade benches, and old bottles – has now lost a bit of its charm and we have attacked the cleaning with a vengeance. We have saved a couple of things for Dave to do upon his return – we want to make sure that he feels included in this project as well. Dave gets back this week and we are anxiously awaiting his arrival.

Is Dave home yet?

2009-01-06T07:41:00.000+13:00

The weekend before Dave left, we participated in the K2. Described as 2,300 metres of screaming descent and possibly the most scenic and challenging one day cycle race in the Southern Hemisphere.

The event is named after Kuaotunu, an enchanting community on the wild eastern coastline of the Coromandel Peninsula. In Maori, the name Kuaotunu means “to inspire fear in young animals” ! The 2 represents the almost 200km that the ride will cover. By coincidence K2 is the 2nd highest, and probably the most difficult to climb, mountain in the World.

It travels in an anti clockwise direction covering the entire peninsula. Starting in Coromandel Town and going on to Thames, Tairua, Whitianga and back to Coromandel. We, however, carved our own K1 and did a 100km loop from Coromandel to Thames and back.

I remember going on a long and arduous ride in Utah last summer with Dave and telling my mom when we got back that I had just hit a wall about 3/4 of the way through the ride. I meant that I had hit a physical wall and felt like I couldn't go any further, but my mom thought that I had actually hit a wall. Again, I felt like I hit a wall about 85km in and allowed myself to be persuaded to hitch a ride with some lovely women that i'm sure felt very sorry for me.

In some ways I think that the experience was somehow analogous to childbirth -- me yelling at Dave, "What did you sign me up for?" and "I don't think that i'm going to make it." And of course there were the requisite expletives in response to Dave's sweet support; I am sure that my behaviour did not elicit much confidence in Dave.

Dave is in Utah at the moment and I am sure that he is relishing all the time with family and friends. We are missing him quite a bit here and a few times every day Aaron, Lynsey or I will whine, "Is Dave home yet?" We, of course, are also missing our families and friends and hope that Dave has enough time to squeeze in all the hugs we sent.

Now we know the answer

2009-01-06T07:40:00.002+13:00

Who ate all the pie?

2009-01-06T07:40:00.001+13:00

Dear Blog,

It has been such a long time that I don’t know what else to say but I’m sorry. It was Dave’s turn and I thought that if I waited long enough that he would break down and write something. However, so much time has passed that I thought I should let you know what’s been happening.

We got a set of New Zealand magnetic poetry this week with strange Kiwi phrases such as: “sweet as”, “naff off”, and “go suck a kumara.” For the first few times that someone said “sweet as” I thought that they were just paying me a somewhat inappropriate compliment. As for the other phrases, any time that I try to get any clarification people just laugh. My favorite phrase right now is, “Who ate all the pie?” which is essentially a nice and blunt way of saying that someone has gained weight.

I am now working for the Thames Coromandel District Council part time. Having never worked before for "the man" quite like this, the hardest part of the interview process was when they asked me what role I felt the Council filled. As I stumbled around and tried to give a coherent answer, I could literally feel my face getting progressively redder. At the end of my unintelligible babble, I had to restrain myself from yanking at my collar and wiping my brow. Regardless, they hired me and I am in awe of the bureaucracy and red tape that exists here. I am certain that this will be a very valuable and interesting job, and I can already see it helping us to achieve our goals. If nothing else, it has helped to expose me to the unappreciated machinations of functioning cities (albeit on a very small scale). I am sure that James, and anyone else that has been to Nepal or a third world country can attest to how wonderful consistent garbage pick up and clean running water is.

We are still adjusting to life being incredibly busy all of a sudden. I think that now that the weather is beautiful and the sun is consistently shining, people want to be outside. It seems like Lynsey and I can't go anywhere without being offered a job. I've been reading about population trends and peak population studies that show the increase in numbers around the holidays -- Tairua, and all the surrounding areas, experience a surge of 5x their resident population. I am a bit taken aback by the pictures of the beach that I love to run on, which usually has about 2-4 people at any given time, with people elbow to elbow during Christmas time. I guess that everyone wants to literally throw a shrimp on the barbie come Christmas day.

We've been asked to manage a cafe during the holidays and we're very excited about the prospect. They have given us a tremendous amount of flexibility and Aaron, Lynsey, Dave, and I are hoping that we could create something very simple with local, organic vegetarian food.

This week Dave and I also met with the pig hunter, Derek Boyd. We were pleasantly surprised by him and did not expect someone whose career is Pest and Invertebrate Control to be so sweet and genuine.

I think that we are constantly surprised by people and levels of trust here. As we read the news and feel heartsick about the misery that is being inflicted upon Iraq, and all the scandals, corruption and consolidation of power, we are constantly reaffirmed in the decision to come to this sweet, little nuclear free country. And, although our homesickness is reaching a painful pique, we are happy to be here and can't wait to share some of this beauty with all the people that we love.

Up With Spring!

2009-01-06T07:39:00.002+13:00

Although I feel like our time here has been very short, I sometimes marvel at the amount that has happened and the amount that has been accomplished. I got a job this week with the Thames Coromandel District Council, meaning that I work for “the man” in New Zealand. Although “the man” here is slightly more benign and less bureaucratic than “the man” that you may be familiar with. Dave and I both thought that it would be a great way to get to know the machinations of the council, especially because we will need council approval for the work that we want to do in the future – AND we get to carpool together.

It is officially Spring here and the sheep and cows definitely got the memo. The amount of offspring that they have produced has almost made me lose my voice because at every turn I involuntarily cry out, “oooooohhhhhhhh.”

We made contact with our neighbors to the north at Te Moata. We are truly impressed with what they have created on their land and were welcomed warmly by the beautiful women that run the facility. We are hopeful that we will be able to cultivate a relationship and glean some knowledge from them about living off the grid and in the bush. We are also hoping to contribute to their dances – as Lynsey and Josh will attest, I have some pretty sweet dance moves. The next step is to get Dave to join in.

Our friends, Aaron and Lynsey, will be here in two short weeks and we have begun planning their welcome itinerary. Unlike the grueling itinerary that I have subjected Dave and my dad to in the past, this itinerary will include a full moon with our own private sand tubs on Hot Water Beach, good food and general merriment. We are looking forward to sharing all of our adventures with them; there is too much beauty in this place for just two people.

Learning which way the East wind blows

2009-01-06T07:39:00.001+13:00

When Dave came home from work and asked how my day went, I had to tell him that I played mah jong and joined the bowls team. It doesn’t really leave much for him to look forward to when we turn 80 if this is the way that I spend my days right now. I have to convince myself that these actions are just the side effects of trying to gain acceptance in an area that was once predominantly a retirement community. In some respects Tairua is to New Zealand what Florida is to the rest of the U.S.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with bowls, lawn bowling is this seemingly innocuous sport that is the passion of but a few white-clad faithful old women rolling grapefruit-sized bowls on the finely manicured lawns right by our house. (I use the term “sport” grudgingly because I think that you should expend more calories per hour for anything labeled a “sport” than you would watching TV or sleeping.) That aside, bowls were once considered a “sport” of gentlemen, but now I have been warned that Dave may not want to come with me – unless he wants to be surrounded by a gaggle of older women. So, I’d like to think that I am joining a sexual revolution of sorts.

Last weekend we were able to spend some time at Wilderlands doing some much needed weeding and soaking in the beautiful day. They have a well established garden and we marveled at the fact that we were in the sun planting watercress in what is ostensibly the dead of winter here.

On Saturday night we slept on the land and were able to see kiwi (and baby kiwi) prints in the mud. However, despite the hopeful weather predictions, it was a rainy and wet night for us.

On Sunday we hiked in the Broken Hills area, once a booming gold mining community. There was a section of the hike that took us through 500 meters of an old tunnel and for anyone remotely aware of the dangers involved in the mining industry in the 1880’s, it made for a haunting and claustrophobic stretch.

This weekend we went to the farmer’s market in Thames and have enjoyed the opportunity to stay in our apartment and relax.

The "real" Pacific Coast Highway

2009-01-06T07:38:00.002+13:00

This weekend, wanting to stay fairly close to home, and dismayed by a five day forecast of rain, we decided to explore a little further north up the Coromandel. The road from Thames to Coromandel Town runs right along the coast and is appropriately named the Pacific Coast Highway. We wound around 50-60 km of it and marveled at the beauty. I have never driven on anything like it and, although awed by the beauty, felt a little bit uncomfortable by the twists and turns. I think that when we started on our 50-60 km stretch of it there was a sign that said the next 46 km would be particularly windy. Still not accustomed to being in the driver's seat, but with no steering wheel, I sat on the "passenger side" feeling oddly out of control. After a couple of times flailing my arms and gasping involuntarily, I had to sit on my hands and let Dave focus on the driving. There were a couple of white-knuckled stretches for me where the road, which was already very narrow with blind curves, became a one lane road -- with traffic in both directions. I felt a little bit like we were back in Hanoi, where people blindly cross the street without looking at the traffic, trusting that other people know what they're doing. I suppose, at the risk of sounding like some flighty character out of a Fitzgerald novel, it takes two people to cause an accident, but that idea provided very little comfort and I kept my hands at bay.

Coromandel Town, once we finally arrived, was truly a welcome surprise. It is a very small town with a few shops, an old saloon, a hotel built in 1878, and all the accoutrements of an old mining town from the 1880’s. There are some towns that just exude a sense of vibrancy and life and, despite the escalating drizzle; Coromandel Town seemed to be one of those.

However, both choices for our accommodations were described in less than glowing terms in our guide book. The first place that we looked at was described as, "whoa, welcome back to the sixties, man, with this African-themed hoste." With two strikes against it and bracing ourselves for an interesting night, I lost a bet and had to run through the rain to check it out. We were pleasantly surprised by the accommodations and slept in, I hate to say it, the “Hippie Haven.” It was really an old caravan that had been converted into a private cabin and as we climbed into bed, content to be warm and dry, it was perfect. Unfortunately the rest of the night was not so soporific; the rain was disconcertingly heavy and in the morning we found the hammock in front of our cabin was entirely submerged in the rising river.

Thankful that we had brought our gumboots, we spent the rest of the day reading and trying to stay dry.

On Monday, when the rain dissipated into a slow drizzle, Dave and I went to the land to plot some GPS points for prospective house sites.

Dave and I finally found some machetes that we could use to hack away some of the dense bush. After a few failed attempts by Dave to find a store that sold machetes, I agreed to ask at the next hardware store. It may have been luck, my feminine charms, or just the lack of a beard and a crazy gleam in my eye, but at the first hardware store that I asked I found a machete. One of the areas that we were hoping could be a good house site, is definitely within the boundaries and we were pleased to find that the views are amazing, it is fairly level and has rich, dark soil around it.

Tempering our frustrations and the legal issues that plague our weeks, it is still so refreshing to be pushed out of our house and into the nature that originally attracted us here and, at the risk of waxing poetic, I can sometimes catch glimpses of our future and it looks beautiful.

Borderline!!!

2009-01-06T07:38:00.001+13:00

So, we've just gotten word that we passed all of our immigration-mandated medical exams. We're one step closer to residency. The exams are pretty in-depth - they included a full battery of doctors visits, blood and urine tests, and chest x-rays. They test for HIV, Hepatitis A, B, & C, Syphilis, TB, diabetes, and quite a few other diseases and disorders. Suffice it to say, it's hard to get into this country (and take a look at the crew of people they've recruited to keep people out).

In honor of our reaching the next stage of our immigration application, I'm posting the description for the TV show "Borderline"; I've bolded one particularly salient line (and we've seen it happen multiple times each time the show is aired):

"Borderline is an exciting new factual series that features behind-the scenes, exclusive access to New Zealand immigration officers working off-shore, at the border and around the country as they deal with the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have targeted New Zealand as the place they want to live, work, or visit.

Some of these migrants or tourists we want, some we're not sure about and some are not welcome here. Deciding who gets in, who goes and who stays, are the men and women of the Department of Labours Immigration Services. Borderline, follows immigration staff at airports and seaports as they assess risks, issue permits, and in some cases, refuse entry.

Sometimes the border is breached: by foreigners staying on illegally after their permits have expired, others falsely claiming refugee status, and some being brought in by people-smugglers to work illegally in the sex industry or on orchards and vineyards.

Borderline shows immigration staff tracking down these overstayers and illegal workers in homes and workplaces around the country including restaurants, vineyards and massage parlours - often in joint operations with the NZ Police. Each unlawful immigrants case is carefully considered, but unless there are compelling reasons to let an offender stay, the result is usually immediate removal from New Zealand.

Department officers also investigate a wide range of suspected fraudulent activity including marriage-for money scams and false and misleading residency applications. Those caught face heavy fines, long terms of imprisonment and deportation.

Borderline also features the departments staff working to solve New Zealands skill shortages by bringing in new migrants from around the world and the series includes stories filmed at Immigration New Zealands off-shore branches in London, Tonga, and Thailand.

New Zealand also fulfills its obligations to the International community by accepting 750 refugees each year, and Borderline features compelling stories about refugees from Iran, Burma, Palestine and the Congo."

We'll be in touch - from over the borderline

Much love to all of you.

The Contrabulous Fabtraption of Professor Horatio Hufnagel

2009-01-06T07:37:00.002+13:00

Even though it breaks up the continuity of our lives, it is nice to be forced out of our house for the weekend, and this weekend was certainly no exception. We were able to get our hands dirty, quite literally, and plant leeks and spinach and brussel sprouts. Every other Saturday we get to spend the morning at Wilderlands, an organic farm in Whenuakite that was established circa 1964. It is really beautiful to get to see what kind of farm these people, who are now 87 and 92 respectively, have created. We are hoping to glean a little advice and some planting tips from them and are anxious to get planting and building on Paul Road.

We also got to do a little more hiking and spent Saturday night camping in Otara Bay. In the morning we curled around Otara Bay over to Sailor's Grave and, because it was not quite low tide, it did require a little bit of scrambling around on the rocks. The hike ended on Sunday midday with Dave carrying both of our heavy packs, one in front and one in back, and peaking out between them to see where to place his feet. On the other hand, I was barely hobbling to the top and buckling under the weight of just carrying myself up a steep and muddy embankment.

We rewarded ourselves with a job well done by going to Hot Waves for a late lunch. Hot Waves is this beautiful little earth brick building that synthesizes contemporary designs with natural building materials. We're hoping to meet with the architect, who is actually our neighbor, next week.

Love in the Time of Scurvy...

2009-01-06T07:37:00.001+13:00

So, we've spent another enlightening weekend around the Coromandel. Our first stop was a farm called "Wilderlands" - which has been organic since the 1960s, and whose employees/residents are probably the greatest authority on Coromandel agriculture alive today. They're growing everything from olives and garlic to pineapple and papaya. We're going to start volunteering with them one day a week; we're hoping to pick up some ideas about what plants will work here, and what we can expect from the climate and soil.

We spent another portion of the day hiking through a Kauri grove that has its trailhead about 2 km from the land. It's quite a rarity to see Kauris of any size in NZ, let alone hundreds of medium and large ones. We'd like to bring our climbing gear over and climb one of the tall ones to get a look over the canopy. If it works, we'll definitely post pictures.

We then spent the night at a semi-closed hostel in a valley north of Tairua. We were the only people there, and it was a little bit spooky. The place, however, was beautiful - more than a hundred years old, set between rivers, and made of Kauri wood. We turned in early as there was no heating and it's a little bit cold in the higher altitude river valleys at night. We hoofed it out as soon as it was warm the next morning.

The next day was truly amazing - we went on a second hike from the same trailhead. It started in the Kauris, and then followed a beautiful stream through some temperate rainforest until it reached the coast. We have a lot of pictures of the hike. I'm including a vertical panorama shot from the middle of the stream.

The hike's midpoint was on the coast, where we were treated to a double rainbow (pictures of this are on the website; they're now sorted with the most recent pictures first). We got back to the car right at sunset, had a leisurely dinner at an Indian restaurant, and then rolled home.

We've been doing some more exploring around Mt. Paku, which is in Tairua and walking distance from our house. We've decided to make it our new running trail, as it's absolutely stunning. It's a narrow trail cut into a moderate cliff face, with the ocean below and a volcanic peak above. It gives the Bonneville Shoreline trail a run for its money.

That's about all of the news for now... Keep in touch.

'Mega' means 'good,' 'store' means 'thing'

2009-01-06T07:36:00.000+13:00

I'm reading a book on the history of NZ (The Penguin History of New Zealand). It's pretty fascinating, and I've included some of the bits of trivia on the list of things we like about NZ. However, it sometimes assumes a level of knowledge of Maori that I think is unlikely for a non-native New Zealander. There are quite a few borrowings of Polynesian words into Kiwi English, and we're still working on becoming fluent in this new variety of English. Obviously, we can communicate just fine, but we don't know all of the subtle parts of the language that a NZ native does. Furthermore, it's odd to be recognized as a foreigner everytime you open your mouth, even if you are functionally fluent.

At any rate, try your hand at this passage from the Penguin History of NZ:

"Effective leaders were kaumatua, while whole hapu would be spoken for at wider hui by rangatira who usually had a whakapapa claim to leadership, but whose acceptance depended also on retaining the confidence of their kaumatua. Major decision-making on community matters was centred on consensus-forming discussion among family heads on local marae. In the South Island, kaika had established runanga in which whole communities were likely to be involved, and which would be chaired and spoken for by upoko runaka. In rare cases, such as Waikato-Maniapoto and Ngati Tuwharetoa, ariki would speak for federations of tribes, but more often tribal spokesmen would be rangatira dominant."

There's no glossary in the book, so your guess is as good as mine.

It's cold and rainy by Tairua standards today. We're going to check out an organic farm that's a few km away to see about volunteering on the weekends, and probably catch a movie in Whitianga.

Further to the last post about the hollow island - we still haven't seen it, but I've found out that there is an island called Whenuakura off the coast of Whangamata (about 20 km south of us) which is nicknamed "Donut Island" - I'll take that as a good sign.

We'll keep you posted.

Cheers.

I won it in a truth-telling contest, two towns over.

2009-01-06T07:35:00.002+13:00

From David:

So, first of all - we've uploaded some new pictures. Some of them are from the Cathedral Cove & Hot Water Beach area (about 15-20 minutes away from Tairua). The bulk of the rest are from our hike up Mt. Karioi on the west coast. You can see Mt. Taranaki (faintly) in one of the Karioi pics. It was the stand-in for Mt. Fuji in The Last Samurai - it's a pretty faint snow-capped volcano in the far right of the background.

We finally got our bikes up and tuned. We've found some pretty isolated loop roads, and went for a spin starting at Hot Water Beach last Friday. It's pretty nice, although it's still hard to get used to turning your head over your right shoulder in order to see traffic. The roads are also a little bit more rough, and the shoulders aren't too wide, but the traffic is exceedingly light, and the scenery is beautiful so it all works out in the end.

We've been checking out several adventure races in the Coromandel Peninsula. There is a ~ 200 Km cycle race (called the K2) around the whole Peninsula, or a ~ 100 Km race (called the K1) that starts in Tairua. They close the roads, and it sounds like a pretty cool day out. Andrea and I are probably going to do the K1 (it's in late October). There's also a ~ 30 Km trail run that they have in November. If anyone wants to check these out and plan a visit to coincide with one of these, the site is here: http://www.arcevents.co.nz/index.html. They also have a race that combines "KAYAK > MTB > COAST/BUSH/RIVER RUN > MINE EXPLORATION > SHOOTING > NAVIGATION > ROPEWORK > AND A MYSTERY ACTIVITY" if anyone's keen. We'll keep you posted.

We've heard a rumor that there's an island off the coast of Whangamata (the next semi-large town south of us) that is a partially collapsed, hollow volcano sheltering a beach on the inside. Apparently, you can scuba dive or sea kayak through a small cave on the outer coast of the island in order to get to the circular beach on the inside. We're going to sort out renting kayaks, and we'll take pictures if we can get in.

Also in Whangamata - I've been looking into volunteering with the volunteer ambulance company. If I can get some of my certifications from the states recognized (or go through the NZ equivalent), I'll start taking shifts. I figure that it would be a good way to get involved with the community, and make some friends. We're also hearing rumors that they're going to open a new ambulance station in Tairua, so it would definitely be good to get on board.

We have medical exams for our residency apps tomorrow. It seems pretty involved, but I suppose that I should be happy about it, as my tax money is going to be paying for their socialized medicine. They have a show on TV that is essentially the equivalent of "COPS" but it only follows around immigration agents deporting overstayers. They're not playing around, either. You'll get deported in a hurry (less than a week from the day you're arrested) if you don't have a permit; furthermore, you can't come back for 5 years. We've even seen people being sent back from the airport because their story didn't check out. It's pretty interesting to see how it works in a country that doesn't just wink at immigration as a source of cheap labor...

We checked out a winery that is about 20 Km from Tairua. Wine grapes don't seem to do too well on this side of the peninsula, but they had quite a few fruit wines on offer. We snagged some Feijoa Liqueur, and sampled some homemade aquavit, vodka, arak, plum brandy, kiwi wine, and a few others that I can't remember for some reason...

From Andrea:

This weekend we also got to spend some time with our sweet little friend, "Happy." Shawn lives in Raglan and for some reason, even though it was raining really hard on our side of the coast, the west coast was beautiful and conditions were perfect for surfing. We spent Saturday evening, much to my chagrin, watching hours of rugby on the tele. When the rugby was finally over we then turned to watch the World Cup of women's softball -- yes indeed, there is a world cup for softball. After that night I would have to say that I have definitely filled my quota of watching sports on the television this year. Yet despite all the sports and testosterone in the air, Shawn has a way of making things amusing.

The hike up Mt. Karioi that Dave mentions earlier was beautiful and we included a shot that had to have been atleast a 5.2 - I'll let Josh be the judge of that though. All in all it was a great weekend and it is always nice to come back on Sunday night to a spa tub, a good book to read, and my wool socks.

Message from a Pig Hunter

2009-01-06T07:35:00.001+13:00

We just received a forwarded letter from the gentleman that has the sole pig hunting rights on our land: "You might like to let Andrea know that there are kiwi on her block --- I have caught six stoats in that block since March of this year which may not seem to be many, but even this number, together with their offspring can have a devastating impact on the bird life, in particular the juvenile Kiwi. Additionally catching these critters before the are able to get into the core of the Kiwi Zone to kill and breed is a huge bonus for the juvenile Kiwi offspring over to the East at Whenuakite. Don't know if I told you but last Summer on a very rainy day out the back of the 1000 acres I tripped ass over kite, fell off the track into some bracken, and a large Kiwi took off uphill into the teatri doing 90. I often hear them calling in the evening late Autumn. The Kiwi was fine but the old coot got a bruised ass out of it. Cheers Boydie."

Durable outer casing to prevent fall-apart...

2009-01-06T07:34:00.000+13:00

So, Andrea and I have been compiling a list of the things that we like in New Zealand - especially those things that have an obvious counterpart in the US. We've been waiting until being granted residency to publish it, because it would be a bitter pill to swallow if we spent a lot of time exulting in our life here, and then were ignominiously forced to return to the states. I am very pleased, for all of the reasons listed below, to say that Andrea was invited to apply for residency today. While this is still somewhat conditional, it is a good sign, and we feel that we are on our way. We celebrated by drinking some NZ-made champagne and going for a walk on the beach (see below).

Most of the things on this list are pretty obvious. Anyone who has been to NZ or the US should understand most of them. All of the more esoteric indices are from the UN-sponsored global virtual university - it's a pretty interesting site: http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/.

At any rate - here's our list, starting with Andrea's top 10. Leave comments if you particularly agree or disagree with anything we've listed (or if we've forgotten something).

1. "New Zealand is the only country in the world in which all the highest offices in the land are occupied by women - The Sovereign Queen Elizabeth II of New Zealand, Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright, Prime Minister Helen Clark, Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives Margaret Wilson and Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias."

2. signatory to the Kyoto Protocol

3. you don't have to die a little inside every time a government official opens their mouth

4. men wear really short shorts all year round

5. socialized medicine

6. excellent coffee with soy milk that froths

7. people say thank you instead of please b/c there is no need to beg when you know that people are going to be nice, therefore you can just thank them in advance

8. the metric system

9. high taxes on gas

10. very very few SUVs or hummers

· almost no billboards

· no highway litter

· no NZ troops in Iraq, but they do have troops in Afghanistan

· no smoking in bars

· school uniforms are nationally mandatory

· civil unions for gays are legal, gay immigrant partners are de facto married if they've been together for more than 2 years

· no tax on food

· strong anti-consumption culture: "Television broadcaster Paul Scott Holmes suffered a public paycut this year when his salary, described by Prime Minister Helen Clark as 'revolting,' was slashed by about $150,000."

· no pennies or five cent pieces; smallest bill: $5

· progressive income tax rates

· wine and spirits in grocery stores

· liquor stores open 7-days and not state run

· proportional parliamentary democracy (coalition government)

· New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act: The Act outlaws nuclear weapons comprehensively from the territory of New Zealand. It also prohibits New Zealanders from manufacturing, acquiring, possessing or having control over nuclear weapons, and from aiding, abetting or procuring others to participate in such activities. This ban extends to New Zealand military personnel performing joint exercises or operations with allies like the United States or United Kingdom.

· accident compensation scheme: "personal injury cover for all New Zealand citizens, residents and temporary visitors to New Zealand. In return people do not have the right to sue for personal injury, other than for exemplary damages."

· social security that isn't scheduled to run out of money

· From the Penguin History of NZ: "New Zealand was the last country in the world to be discovered and settled by humankind. It was also the first to introduce full democracy".

· 0.50 NZD/Kilo kiwifruit

· produce: blue pumpkin, mangosteen, gold kiwi, feijoa, kumara

· New Zealand is rated the second least corrupt nation in the world (after Finland) - Transparency International, 2004

· An avowed agnostic, vietnam war-protesting, female prime minister (the 2nd female prime minister in NZ) - quote: "If the market is left to sort matters out, social injustice will be heightened and suffering in the community will grow with the neglect the market fosters."

· Minimum wage has been raised 6 times in the last 6 years (Now NZD $10.25/hour [~$6.18 USD]), compared to $5.15 in the U.S. with no increases in US since 1998).

· The first minimum wage law was enacted by the government of New Zealand in 1894.

· Indices in which NZ scores higher than USA (UN University, GVU stats - http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/): Agricultural production per capita index, Greenhouse Gas Emissions per Capita, Projected Greenhouse gas emissions - 2010, Target of greenhouse gas emissions - 2010, Current account balance, Inflation rate, GDP per capita annual growth rate - 1990-2001, Net official development assistance (ODA) disbursed as % of GNI (Gross National Income), Net official development assistance (ODA) disbursed to least developed countries, ODA to basic social services, Untied bilateral ODA, Central government expenditures on education, Consumption of ozone-depleting chlorofluocarbons, Ecological Footprint, Electricity consumption, Land area covered by forests, Female share of non-agricultural wage employment, Seats in parliament held by women, Ratio of girls to boys in tertiary education, AIDS estimated deaths, Births per 1000 women (15-19 ys), Central government expenditures on health, Infant mortality rate, Contraceptive prevalence, Probability at birth of surviving to age 65- female, Probability at birth of surviving to age 65- Male, Under five mortality rate, Life expectancy at birth, Urban population (as % of total) - [higher % means less urban sprawl],

· New Zealand is the only country that contains every type of climate in the world.

· give way signs rather than stop signs

· New Zealand is the only country apart from Australia with a national mandatory all-age bicycle helmet law.

· no need for dryer sheets

· no sprinklers/central pivot irrigation

· sustainable country

· hot water bottles

· good hiking

· wool socks for $2USD

· national park infrastructure

· natural beauty

· people in government agencies use the word "dude"

· people in government agencies invite you to stay at their house

· when you buy a car the people that you buy it from invite you in for tea and want you to think of them as your new "mum and dad"

· no tipping in restaurants or coffee shops

· clean air

· George W. Bush is someone else's president, but you can still vote against him and his party

· paid vacation weeks per year

· number of hours worked per week

· amount of maternity leave

· no poisonous insects/snakes/spiders/trees

· no snakes at all

· lots of flightless birds

· no illegal prisons or detention centers

· honors the Geneva Convention

· no embargo against Cuba - cohiba cigars and havana club rum!

· passport doesn't list any countries that you're not allowed to go to

· the government isn't run by the military-industrial complex

· every time you come to NZ an angel gets its wings

· ANZAC biscuits, Wheatbix, vegemite

· dual-flush toilets

· recycling bins with trash pick-up in our town of 1,500

· farmer's market actually has farmers

· your next-door neighbor watches the world cup with you

· golf courses are mowed by sheep

· you can walk on the beach on x-mas day

· it's illegal to charge for incoming calls on cell phones

· raw sugar is the norm

In Tairua at last...

2009-01-06T07:33:00.000+13:00

After what amounted to a quite tumultuous trip, I am back in Tairua at long last. Starting in LAX with a lost ticket and eventually landing 40 hours later with lost luggage, I am glad to say that I am anxiously awaiting a dip in our spa tub. Due to fog and inclement weather, my 12 hour flight from LAX to AKL turned into a 20 hour flight, including a diversion to Nadi, Fiji and 2 hours of circling Auckland, with the possibility that we would be diverted to Christchurch.

Once arriving on the ground, happy to see Dave at long last, I discovered that my luggage was not quite as lucky and had somehow ended up in Australia. I was definitely not the only person that had suffered at the hands of Qantas, and everyone in line had their personal horror stories to share. My 40 hours in transit proved unimpressive compared to others. A poor lady behind me in line had travelled from Boston to LAX, LAX to Fiji, Fiji to AKL (diverted to Christchurch [which was her final destination]), but was not allowed off the plane and then continued on to AKL where she had not only missed her connecting flight to Christchurch, but had also lost her luggage in all the chaos.
In the wake of my trip back to Utah, I am still able to say that it was well worth the trip -- with only a slightly raised eyebrow. Now, easing back into the quiet life that we are building in Tairua, I am able to appreciate the frenetic beauty of having to schedule breakfast, lunch, dinner, and coffee dates with all the people that I love in Utah. I think that my next trip back will have to be slightly longer, and maybe not on Qantas.

...humility enough to submit to a civil rule

2009-01-06T07:30:00.001+13:00

Check out this: Thingy 1

& this: Thingy 2