iwannagotonz: First week in New Zealand

This photo was taken at the airport as I walked from the international terminal to the domestic when I changed planes. The date was the 27th of April, 2011.

On Friday, the 29th, before we watched the Royal Wedding we went for a walk in on of Darfield`s tree plantation. The berries on this plant were beautiful. we went home, made and ate some dinner then sat down to watch the show. Sue served fizzy wine at the appropriate time.

Below are the Alpacas from the same farm we visited last time we were here. T hey had their hair-cuts in January, around about the same time they give birth.. The Suri alpacas have their 'bangs' cut.

I am now pretty much settled in Christchurch. I picked up my car the other day , then spentt an hour or so driving around with my host.

I have now handled several roundabouts, including the largest one in Christchurch; I am by no means confident, but am improving. I am living in Papanui with a wonderful couple, Rick and Lynn.

Mike and I met them last time we were in New Zealand visiting with Phil and Sue.

They are originally from Wisconsin via San Diego, and have been living here for six years; their ministry, evidently, is hospitality. They have three houses in this subdivision and although two are now being lived in by people left temporarily homeless by the quake, they are generally used for folks from outside of NZ who are travelling through, frequently to the Antarctic. Rick is an excellent cook, and I have already learned a couple tricks from him, and have taught him my roast garlic and kumara recipe (very similar to sweet potatoes) and also the cabbage salad recipe that I make which is a bit different from my sister’s.

We had stuffed chicken and dressing with sweet potatoes and beans the other night, followed by ice cream. I decided to try “Kiwi Surprise”, a lemon/chocolate blend that has little chocolate kiwis mixed in. The chocolate kiwis were cute, but the lemon/chocolate blend was only so-so. Lynn, who is still working, is an absolute delight and is quite happy to let Rick take care of the cooking. There was a young man here who just left the other day—Isaiah was over fly fishing for several months. Last day of the season was Sunday, May 1st. Apparently, it has been the worst season on record, but I understand it is more about tramping the waterways and lugging about all the equipment. The girls are leaving shortly, and then there will just be the four of us; the fourth is a young man from Nelson, NZ who is a teacher here – his second year – this year he is teaching what we would call junior high. Kieran gets up very early as school is from 8-1 since they are share a building with a school that had to close due to the damage it sustained during the earthquake.

The family circle is rounded out by two delightful dogs a yellow lab, Ollie, and a Norwich terrier puppy, Wilma.

Wilma will not get much bigger, good thing she has the energy for three dogs. Ollie actually purrs almost like a cat when he is patted.

Sue picked me up to go driving yesterday afternoon when we had both finished work. It was another good run. We went to downtown Christ church, by passing the city centre, but able to go by Hagley Park. I stopped at a vegetable store to buy some fruit and veggies; Phil works just across the road from that store in the temporary diocesan office so we collected him at the same time. We then went to the grocery store to pick up the chocolate and Tim Tams for Mike and Yvan. Sue will be delivering them when she goes to Canada later this month. The downtown is not easy to move through. Lots of streets are closed, but crews are working to get them open.

When we got back to Papanui, there was buffet birthday dinner going on for a friend of my hosts, and since Sue and Phil and I had been invited earlier, we were just in time for another super meal. Rick makes a great guacamole, and another guest had brought crawfish canapés in Mary Rose sauce. A big ham dinner followed, more than enough to feed the army of 30+ people.