Goodbye 2008, hello future!

It's 7:40pm on New Year's Eve. We just got back from a little trip on our new Christmas gift: a Vespa-style scooter.
And check out the helmets, look familiar?


Have a gander at all the places we went in the last week...

Breaker Bay

Princess Bay

Island Bay

Not sure what this bay is called.

In other news, there was a quick rain yesterday and a gorgeous rainbow manifested itself right outside our door:

Have a truly HAPPY NEW YEAR! Peace out from the Southern Hemisphere!

Happy Christmas!

The Pohutukawa tree. Known as New Zealand Christmas Tree because its large red flowers shower the country in festiveness this time of year.

Christmas time in the southern hemisphere takes a little getting used to, because of the marked lack of... winter.
No biting cold, no ice storms, no snowball fights, and no $250 heating bills. Instead, people wearing floral-print board shorts and santa hats stroll the sidewalks, sometimes barefoot. Trees and plants put on brilliant displays of flowers to spread good cheer. Of course many people mostly see it as "pollen". But no matter, it is Christmas time in our part of the world and that means one big thing:
Well sure there's the Jesus thing. But I'm talking about...
VACATION!
Time off work. Holiday. "Reccie" as people of the British persuasion may deny that they say.

Let's take a moment to guess what Wellington city does for Christmas day?
Nope, no big tree in front of the court house. The Beehive doesn't spiral garland across the parlaiment building. That would be cool. But no. They don't even have an outdoor skating rink. I'm giving my grumpy face right now knowing full well that it's not physically possible to have ice skating in 67 F degree weather.
No christmas lights to speak of, nor ice sculptures, mangers, snowmen, etc. But what they do have, is pretty darn exciting.
I'm talking free.
Public.
Transport.

So we took off Christmas morning, hopped on a bus (any bus), went to the train station, and caught the train up to the end of the line: Parapaumu Beach

View out the train window.

We arrive!

Creatures! >>>>

A lion?

Dog doing a backflip?

Cute little pod critters spreading their wispy arms. Doing a choreographied dance?

Wonder what Santa will bring?

Music on the streets of Wellington

Buskers! Buskers are artists who perform on the streets, usually for tips. One of the hottest locations for these performances is Cuba Mall. This is not a mall in the American sense - it is actually a wide brick road for pedestrians (no cars). The buskers in this city are often extremely talented. But this weekend, one young hippie girl brought street performance to a new level. Check it out!

It's snowing, it's snowing! At least I hear it is in Indiana. Enjoy those snowball fights!
It's Christmas time, nearing summer here in New Zealand, and that means three things:

• Beautiful weather
• Sun hats
• Tourists

In no particular order. But let's get down to brass tacks...
it's awesome here!

Our neighbor's cat, lounging on our balcony.

The view from said balcony.

What's new for us since we last blogged?

• We got the internet, so now blogging will be more frequent.
• We've met several new, wonderful friends.
• We are trying to "suss out" a spot for a possible hammock in our backyard.
• Christmas lunches, social outings, and sightseeing, and that's just on weekdays!
• Exploring, adventuring, or chillaxing on weekends.
• Jason has been working on comics!
  
• I made a dress, found a model, and had the first Thimblescratch NZ photoshoot yesterday:

Have a lovely week!

Fun at Island Bay, 30 November 2008

Life's a "beetch"

Sorry about the non-fastidious blogging, but we've been very busy!

Two weeks ago, we were job hunting. It didn't take long for us to score work, in fact both of us had job offers in hand after our first interviews.

So now I work at Inland Revenue, which is the NZ equivalent of the IRS. I do computer work there of course and everyone is friendly, laid-back, and good at what they do. J is working at a job very similar to his last one, and he is really digging it.

We were eating bread and ramen noodles for a while, until our first paycheck. PAY DAY! Like water in the desert. Now we can actually EAT at some of those restaurants we walk by and longingly stare at menus...

So yeah, everything is going really well here. We are having such a fantastic time!

But it's not all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows.

I have to admit, there are a few things here that are less than fantastic.

For one, most sinks have both hot and cold water, HOWEVER, there is a faucet for each and they are separated – cold water on one side of the sink and hot water on the other. VERY hot water. The plumbers must have had a seperatist movement, and the result is there is no such thing as WARM water. Either hot, or cold, or else be fast and switch between freezing and scolding your hands to trick yourself into thinking that it's warm water. It's not. You've just got frostbite and burns at the same time is all.

And since we're on the topic of temperature, surely you have already read elsewhere that New Zealand homes don't have insulation. Well, it's true. Very true. Yes, nights can get down to 50F and sometimes even 45F. But this is not a huge issue, because while the kiwis think that is cold, it's barely cooler than the climate of a cave. Which would be pretty sweet to live in. But unfortunately for now we live in what many would consider a “hole”... and no, that's not close enough!

Another quirk is that they use the British pronunciation of “aluminum” which comes out of the kiwi mouth as a completely non-phonetic “al loo minnie um”. That's a whole extra syllable!

They call a stroller a “pram”... never heard that one until just the other day. The elevator is of course a “lift” and if you are on a computer you are probably going to surf the “weeb.” They often say "cheers" instead of "thanks" and "mate" instead of "friend". "Realise" is not spelled with a "z"but don't call it a "zee" because it's a "zed." The grammar police probably have me on their terrorist watch list already. Or maybe that's just an American thing.

Or perhaps I should ask "maybe that's just an American thing?" because nearly every sentence ends in a higher intonation, sounding much like a question. So it can be hard to tell when someone is just stating a point and when they are asking you a question. Imagine the difficulty in translating "I like you" - is it "I like you." or is it "I like you???" Clearly quite the conundrum.

As you can see, life is not a beach. But it's certainly not a "beetch" either. To hear the kiwis say (and pronounce) it, it can be hard to tell the difference. All of these things make New Zealand life so very, very challenging, as you can imagine. But we will persevere.

Life's not a beach, or is it? This picture is foreshadowing so you decide.

One of the things that keeps me going in these trying times of extra syllables is the local fashion scene. The scene is not so much a scene, as it is a map. A map larger than just the tiny country of New Zealand. Which is to say that the fashion is really all over the place. But three themes tend to emerge time after time, at least in this city: boots, 80's, and wool coats. I suppose that is the jet-stream that weaves the diverse clothing climate together. Everything else is, well, just everything. Which is like fashion candyland. And luckily that means that the fabric stores are like the most wonderful candy shops in all the land.

Beautiful, soft, colorful candy - the cravings for which induced my first Thimblescratch NZ purchase: a $5 sewing machine. I can't seem to get it to work quite properly yet though, but as soon as I do I will be in “beesness” (do you suppose we got the term “bee's knees” from the kee wees?)... I bought an entire bolt of fabric from Salvation Army for $30, so I'll be making dresses and shirts as soon as my stitcher is tensioning again. But for now it's just a toilet paper holder.

Maybe it does work and I'm just not threading it properly.

And speaking of Thimblescratch... is it just me or are starving artists not able to afford to buy books they are published in? Because as I was browsing the local library's display (the theme for it was GREEN, as in, my favorite theme, and also as in what my dad would call “GREENAGE!”)... in the center of the display, between "Guerrilla Gardening" and “A Slice of Organic Life” was...

Cool Hunting Green

It's an Australian book also published in the states. I was thrilled beyond belief to see it. I was shocked to see it sitting the middle of the display. For this book, I have heard about, and I have been wanting to see it...

Because my Plasticoat is in it!!

I was, as they say in kiwiland, “positively chuffed”!

Secret Garden

The Secret Garden

Now that we have established a place to stay and getting in the groove of living in the city, now we are exploring the area. We typically walk down into Newtown daily for groceries and to browse the shops. But one day, we went out the back door, and instead of heading into Newtown, went the opposite direction.
As soon as we stepped off of the Pickled Parrot Lodge's property, we saw a trail.
That's right a trail. Among trees. A footpath. Among foliage! AND TREES!
And it is literally in our backyard.
But oh where will it take us?

Into Kilbernie of course.
What's that blue? Why, it's the BAY!


You might notice from the pictures that everything is green and ... not dead. It's WINTER.



It's about 50F every day since we've been here. It gets close to 60 on nicer days. There has been some rain but most days are simply GORGEOUS.

It looks like I photoshopped this photo but I didn't!

Winter in Wellington. They complain about the weather here... I think kiwis are spoiled!

First night in the ol' Pickled Parrot Lodge (and the day after)

We lay there in the dark room breathing in turpentine fumes (no, we were not huffing, it just smelled that way strongly) when it occurred to both of us – really at the same time, which of course led to one of those goofy sitcom moments where two of the characters turn to each other and say the exact same thing even down the inflection and tone – that there was a perfectly good lounge area where we could presumably lounge around (a.k.a. sleep) until the next day and perhaps even the next night as we were not going to be IN the room until Sunday and it was Friday (for a couple more hours anyway).

So we made sure our stuff was secure and safe and we snuck upstairs from our basement hidey hole and into the lounge were we proceeded to make ourselves comfortable – or at least as best we could (as both “couches” were more like those little couches that they give children than actual couches).

Now we're a bit warmer and not breathing turpentine, so we're feeling even better! But as tired as we were, we were not to get too much sleep as we were far too excited to finally be in Wellington.

That and it really is difficult to fall asleep on a couch the size of a large cat bed.
The next day, we checked on our stuff (all okay) and decided that we are going to go down and do some townlunking (which is like spelunking, but above ground in a town).

This town is very awesome. And I mean in the classic sense of the word: as in inspiring awe. There is quite a bit to see, but we haven't brought our camera down to the CBD quite yet – though we shall soon. We explored a small slice of the city, eat at a tiny little Cafe/Sandwich Shoppe and made our way back home to rest our weary legs.

As we arrived, we were greeted by Paul who informed us that he had a room for us to stay in Saturday if we liked.

If we liked?

Why, yes, thank you we'll move our stuff right away! And we did. That very second.
Huzzah! We have a room! With a bed (double)! And a desk! And a dresser! And PILLOWS!

As the parlance is now: whoot.

Huka Falls

That's Huka as in "hooked" not "hookah." My mistake.

Fate happens.

SOOOOOO....... what to do now?

We have a place on SUNDAY, but the car was due back that very day. Where would we stay until then?

Some would crack under the pressure in this (or a similar) situation.

But we did not. We soldiered on.

This is probably because as we were getting the Sunday accommodations resolved, our new landlord, Paul tells us that if we were willing, he would let us sleep in a little basement utility room – or at the very least put our stuff there.

This was wonderful news!

Our plan until that moment was to keep our little car for one more day so as to sleep in it if no other form of accommodation presented itself. Now we wouldn't have to pay for another day for the car, as that would eat into an already straining budget.

We quickly and excitedly agreed to this, for despite it being a tad drafty and lacking in a true bed, we were beggars – as it were – without a begging cup to catch the change (metaphorically, of course, thank you very much – we weren't to THAT point physically). But we were enthusiastic beggars. Very, very grateful and happy beggars.

All this to say that we now had a roof and a building over our heads until Sunday, in which case it would be just a roof.

Paul shows us around what will be our new place and we meet a couple of the other tenants. All very nice so far. On the way out we see a lady shifting stuff (a term, I have come to understand is synonymous with moving stuff) to a room in the building we will soon be staying in.

Being the helpful people that we are, we quickly asked if she needed any help, and as there was quite a bit of stuff to move, she quite quickly accepted our offer.

As we were carrying various boxes of nick-nacks, paddywacks, and house plants, Paul stops us with an:“Ah, just the people I was looking for!”

Uh oh, I think, he may ask me to “take care of” somebody and seeing how he's been such a nice guy I may have to agree to it.

It turns out all he wants us to do is put some heaters together. Whew, that is much better. Plus he promises to take us out to lunch at his favorite pizza parlor once we're done!

We get that knocked out pretty quick (again, we are enthusiastic) and then we're whisked off to the nice pizza restaurant right down the hill.

I think at this point it may be prudent to explain to you what “down the hill” entails by way of showing you where we live.

Directly across the street.

Can you spot the New World grocery store?

Looking down the street.

Looking up the street.

Wellington is a compact city. We live a short bus ride into the city center, known as the “CBD” or Central Business District. This is where the “heart” of the city lies – from the busy nightlife to the corporate headquarters of this and that, to the best shopping and arts vibe in the country. It will take us less than an hour to walk across the whole CBD from where we live. We are equally close to the Bay, which boasts a beautiful walkway and actually has a real live beach. There is a bus stop (with a roofed bench and everything!) one block away from our home. 4 blocks down the hill are the Newtown shops - a variety of stores from a butcher to consignment shops and “dairy's” (fast-food if you will), to the New World grocery store, and much more.

This is why we love New Zealand. Just look at this place - in the middle of the 'big city' of Wellington, the second largest city in the whole country – trees, birds, flowers, foliage! And as I mentioned the bay is right next to us - though we've yet to see it. Savvy readers, you already realize this is foreshadowing.

Foreshadowing (doo doot doooooooo)

Once we return from our delicious and delightful lunch (we met Paul's dear wife) we moved our belongings into our new, if purely utilitarian, digs (in fact our room puts the 'utility' in 'utilitarian'). Then we dive in the car and wind our way up town to Ace Rentals, to drop our adventurous Nissan Sunny off – we have 15 minutes to get there before our two-day contract expires, but we make it just in time.

We walk back home due to accidentally getting off the bus at the wrong stop and not wanting to waste money on another bus fare. But it's not far, and besides - the weather's fine and we don't have anywhere we need to be.

We check out the shops along the way, pick up a scant few necessities (such as food) and finally make our way to our new home.

We lie in the darkness on our makeshift bed – the smell of turpentine and paint in the air – and all we can feel is happiness.

So now we have a place to stay. Now all we need is to get jobs.

And then we will be able to afford to eat at the pizza place on our own dime.

One of the best things about New Zealand is that even if everything costs money, kiwi kindness is all over the place and it's usually free.

Just over the top of this hill...