UK to New Zealand - The Brunts Big Move

Four Seasons In One Week

2011-08-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

I know this is a bit late as the snow disappeared over a week ago now. However I have once again been "snowed" under with work and life in general. So here are some belated pictures of the snow in Whitby.

Not sure if Whitby has ever looked this cold and white.

It snowed during the week and on Sunday we had this glorious spring day. Time for a picnic and walk at Battle Hill.

Finally getting the hang of my new camera and the fast shutter speed. I managed to get an unposed photo of A!

A quick rest looking down onto Transmission Gully where, I think, they are eventually going to relocate the SH1. It will be a very sad day when that is done.

Some cows and the forest behind. A beautiful spot.

I have just put this picture in because I love Pukekoes. They are one of the weirdest birds I have ever seen and I loved they way they were all strutting snootily along this fence.

The Continually Increasing Cost of Living.

2011-08-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Just been around our local New World (the equivalent of Waitrose or Sainsburys, likes to think its a cut above the other supermarkets) and was shocked that I managed to spend over $110 on just "a few little bits" that I needed to pick up.

I had been watching the news reports complaining about increasing prices and had filed it away in the part of my brain labelled "things I'm not very interested in". However today it hit home that food prices really have gone up and perhaps I should be looking at the prices of the items I am blindly chucking in the trolley. Its not just the food prices that are going up over here. The price of petrol has been steadily increasing since we arrived and our electricity and gas direct debit has been sneakily going up each month. Although that is more likely to be because I have been having the heater in the lounge on constantly the last month or so, as I resent the fact that if I don't I have to wear so many layers of clothing it becomes difficult to move.

So I thought it would be a good idea to do a bit of a review of food prices in this country. Well over a year ago I posted a cost of food comparison between the UK and New Zealand. I think this now needs updating. So here is my shopping list from this morning and how I managed to spend $110 in about 10 minutes.

ACT popcorn. 1 packet $2.35

Toilet Duck $3.99

6 Eggs Free Range $3.05

Friskies Cat Biscuits $7.06
30 Sandwich bags $3.44
2 loaves of sliced bread $8.52

Listerine mouthwash $8.77

Pack of 4 Cup of Soups $2.67

Porridge Microwavable Packets $6.84
Toilet Tissue 18 pack $9.99
Tinned Pineapple chunks $1.29
Raspberry Jam $3.25
Ricies Cereal $3.68
Twisties crisps $1.99
Cheerios Cereal $5.36
Whiskas cat food $8.33
Lean diced beef 0.350kg $5.95
Beef mince 0.378kg $6.42
Meadow lee margarine $ 4.14
Butter $5.99
Grapes 0.334kg $3.34

Please don't judge me on my healthy eating habits! Based on this we live on a diet of beef, grapes and cereal. I can assure you we do eat a reasonably balanced diet and I stress this is a just a few bits I needed to pick up. Honestly!

Anyway I hope this proves useful to anyone out there looking for information on prices and cost of living out here. At the moment it seems to be increasing and I think I need to start keeping a closer watch on what I am spending whilst going round the supermarket. Instead of trying to think what would be the quickest dinner I could produce so that I can stop the kids moaning at me and proclaiming that I am starving them.

In order to save some money we opted to do our own baking, which is much more fun than simply buying cakes from the bakery. Even if it does make a lot more mess.

An Absence of Loneliness

2011-07-30T21:13:00.000-07:00

The loneliness epidemic

It was great and unusual this half term to have time to read and surf the net. I came across this article about how loneliness is reaching epidemic proportions in the UK. It is rarely talked about and people are often unwilling to admit that they feel that way. Apparently it is particularly common amongst women with children and it brought back many memories for me.

When my youngest was born we had just moved in to a new estate in Wiltshire. We were one of the last houses to be occupied and the estate was full of young families like ours. I went to all the local play groups and library groups in an attempt to make friends. I met a few people I could chat to whilst the children played but the friendships never went beyond that. It never extended to a suggestion of coffee or a play date for the kids. I feel I must point out at this point that I am (honestly!) not weird or smelly and I don't have any noticeable bad personal habits that would prevent people from wanting to be near me.

I am however reasonably shy and so would be unlikely to make the first suggestion or invitation for coffee. However I was friendly when approached and was a bit disappointed when not one of my neighbours commented or congratulated us when we arrived home from hospital after the birth of our second child!

Since moving to the other side of the world I have strangely, not felt lonely once. Even though I am about as far away as it is possible to get from all my family and friends. In this country, or possibly in this particular area, it is impossible to feel lonely. I think expats can often feel isolated, homesick and alone in a country with a different culture and sometimes a different language. New Zealand has a very similar culture to the UK and apart from getting frustrated and continually being corrected when trying to pronounce Paraparamou and Paekakrikie, I have not felt any sense of isolation.

People in this country are very friendly. We cannot make a visit to the local shops without meeting someone we know and having a conversation. It is lovely to be invited to meet friends for coffee and have a conversation with neighbours. I can't help thinking that the UK has lost some of the community spirit and openness, that thankfully, New Zealand seems to have held onto.

We visited the beautiful Queen Elizabeth Park this weekend. So I was testing out my new camera again.

It was a bit windy!

But very sunny.

Cold, Cold, Cold!

2011-07-24T13:34:00.000-07:00

I am sitting typing this with two jumpers and a large pink and extremely fluffy dressing gown on. It is freezing. We were warned on the news last night that a wintry blast was due to travel up the country from the south and it has well and truly arrived this morning.

The girls are very excited as you can see snow on the hills across the valley. Its just cold and wet in Whitby itself but it does look a bit like a winter wonderland across the top of the Puatahanui hills.

We are no longer equipped as a family to cope with this level of cold. When we first moved here from Brussels over two and a half years ago now, we left behind a foot of snow on the streets of the Belgian capital and arrived in New Zealand to the last rays of a hot summer. We have since had little need for our multitude of woolly hats scarfs and gloves. However every now and then the wet wintry weather suddenly surprises with a particularly cold blast. This is why the other half was getting very agitated this morning at his inability to find the other half of a pair of long lost thermal gloves and any woolly hats whatsoever.

The climate in this part of New Zealand is not that much warmer than most of northern Europe. Don't get taken in by the local populations ability to continue wearing shorts and jangles even though the temperature is in single digits. It can get cold and the houses are extremely chilly, as I have repeatedly stated many times before!

I was having a chat with a group of friends a few weeks ago when the subject of "Earthquake weather" came up. Now having gained a Geography degree many years ago I was adamant that the weather has absolutely no influence on earthquakes whatsoever. However the locals where unconvinced. They began to swap stories from childhood ,when they knew earthquakes would be more likely to occur in wet windy and blustery weather. Hogwash, rubbish and just plain nuts. These were the thoughts that went through my head. But I was far to polite to voice them!

But...several times now we appear to have had earthquakes in just this weather. Last night, as the house was being shaken repeatedly by gusts of wind, Indiana Jones and the the last Crusade was rudely interrupted by a magnitude 5.2 earthquake. Perhaps there is something to this "earthquake weather" theory. However when you google "earthquake weather" it seems to suggest that they should occur in calm, clear days not blustery cold windy ones. According to that theory, we should be fine in Wellington. I can't remember that last calm clear day we had!

Article on Earthquake Weather

Photography in the winter sun

2011-07-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

The girls and I headed out to test out my new camera at the Pautahanui Wildlife Reserve this morning. The light is amazing in this country. The clouds and colours of the vegetation were combining to produce some beautiful landscapes.

The girls brought their own cameras and enjoyed messing about taking hundreds of photos of each other.

We hid in the huts and searched for wildlife.

A is clearly a dedicated and determined photographer.

If only this picture was not at this angle it would be great.

I love the colours in this one.

The one and only bird shot I was happy with.

Six Months of Big Changes

2011-07-17T19:42:00.000-07:00

If anyone out there in the world wide web is still reading this blog I feel I must apologise for the lack of posts in the last six months or so. I have been unbelievably busy and not had any time or energy to post anything online.

It has been a year of big changes and it feels like real life has just caught up with us down under. Work, school, money, kids and all the extra baggage that comes with being an adult has just been snowing us in as a family and I have had no time for life's luxury's. Like having five minutes to read the paper or an hour or so to mess about blogging on the net.

Anyway, half term is here and the kids have friends round, so are occupied pretending to be fairies and monsters. So I find myself with an hour to sit down and have a look at my long lost blog.

This blog was originally set up to inform people about what it is like relocating to New Zealand and to keep my family up to date with our day to day life. Well, we have now fully settled in and this place has now become home. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else at the moment. Both my girls have broad Kiwi accents (or "kay-weay eksent") and I spend most of my time trying to decipher what they are saying.

I have found a job which is just ten minutes down the road and seems (more or less) to fit in just right with family life. For those that have not read this blog before I am actually a teacher and have managed to get a job teaching in New Zealand. It seems that there are an awful lot of British teachers out here. In my school alone there are four. Clearly there is something about the Kiwi lifestyle that appeals to them. It certainly is not the pay as teachers in NZ are no better paid than they are in the UK! However I do love my new job and hope to be there for some time to come.

The girls are loving school and Kindergarten and enjoying the outdoor lifestyle. My youngest has now spent more than half her life in New Zealand and has no memory of the UK. Neither of them realise just how lucky they are to be living out here. I will be very interested to see what they make of the UK when we finally do make the visit back.

It is the middle of winter over here at the moment and we have woken up several times to a white out. Not snow (as that is almost unheard of in Wellington) but a very heavy frost. Since houses over here seem to have almost no insulation and double glazing is unheard of, this has meant is has been a chilly 7 degrees in our house some mornings. I am considering investing in thermal underwear. I am that desperate.

My other half has just brought me a very snazzy new camera which is another reason for me resurrecting my blog. So I thought I would post some pictures of a sunny winters day in Whitby.

One of the indicators that we are well and truly settled here is the new member of our family. Carrot arrived in February this year and is now considered to be just another Brunt sibling. Cats appear to be very popular pet in New Zealand despite the devastating impact they have on the local bird life. Carrot is proving to be very adept and catching the mice that live under our house and so far seems to be ignoring the local flying wildlife. Hopefully it will stay this way!

I am hoping that I can now get back into blogging regularly as I have missed keeping an online diary and my new camera will help me keep motivated.

One thing I love about this country is that even in the depths of winter you still get bright sunny days and it is always green.

The first sign of a Kiwi Summer

2010-11-27T22:03:00.000-08:00

Whilst everyone in the UK is doing there best to keep warm and coping with some heavy snow falls, we have been enjoying some great early summer weather. I love Kiwi summers and have really been looking forward to the first summer sun. This weekend we enjoyed some typical Kiwi pastimes.

Messing about in the river.

A picnic and nap in the sun.

We had our first barbecue of the season.

Waikani swimming pool is great. You can bring a picnic and spend the day eating and skipping between the three pools.

All the swimming lessons are paying off!

Paraparaumu is always great on a sunny day.

Its not even December but the sea is already really warm.

Gunpowder, treats and pop!

2010-10-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

I have always loved Bonfire night in the UK. As a child we used to go to the big Bonfire that would take place on the village green where my grandparents lived. It was an exciting, dramatic and almost mystical event which I used to look forward to for weeks in advance.

We all got wrapped up in as many layers of clothing that would still allow us to move freely but would keep us warm. It was often a fine balance. Then you would gather to join the procession which was by far my favourite bit. We would parade around the village holding burning lanterns which would then be used to light the bonfire. This was before the days of over bearing health and safety concerns so no one used to bat an eyelid at a handing someone who is only just over three foot tall a huge stick with a burning oil soaked rag on the end. You had to be really careful who you stood in front of during the procession or you could end up loosing some hair.

I used to love every minute of it. There was a pig roast, hot soup being served and then the finale when the fireworks would be let off. So it is always at this time of year that I tend to get a bit homesick for the bonfire and fireworks festivals that the south east of England seem to be able to do so well.

This year we thought we would give the Kiwi version of Bonfire Night a try. We headed to Trentham Park in Upper Hutt to see the fireworks. It is spring in New Zealand at the moment so there is not exactly an abundance of leaves to make Bonfires with so the evening promised some Fairground rides, a large screen playing music, hot dogs and fireworks at 9.15.

We took a picnic, our camping chairs and torches. I didn't think it would be cold as, after all, we are in Spring not Autumn as in the UK. I began to think I might have miscalculated when I spotted people walking towards the park with sleeping bags and woolly hats on. It was fine for the first hour but then it became rather chilly. We survived by all huddling under our picnic blanket.

Fairground rides and woolly hats.

The glow sticks and lights looked great after dark.

Spectacular fireworks as good as any display in the UK. A fun night was had by all.

Fishing for Sun.

2010-10-23T22:17:00.000-07:00

Its Labour Day weekend and we have been looking forward to some long awaited sunny spring weather. The forecast promised us good weather for the whole weekend but this Sunday morning we awoke to sheets of depressing grey cloud once again.

We have found that the weather in Wellington can be very fickle. If you travel as little as 10km north or south you can find that you can move from rain and drizzle to bright sunshine just by turning a corner. So with this in mind we decided to explore the Rimutaka Rail Trail. This was a railway line opened in 1878, running from the Hutt Valley north across the steep Rimutaka Mountain Range to Featherstone. It apparently used the same type of Steam Engine that is still used to climb up Snowdon in the UK so must have been an amazing rail trip. The track was closed in 1955 when the Rimutaka Rail Tunnel was opened.

There are stunning views around every corner.

It was a beautiful walk but next time we will be taking our mountain bikes and we will see if we can make it to the tunnel.

It was the other half's birthday earlier in the week and we decided to buy him a fishing rod. So this weekend we have been attempting to learn how to fish. Both of us are complete novices and so on Saturday we rather optimistically headed out to the Hutt River in an attempt to catch some fish. This led to about an hour of tangled lines, lost hooks and wading out into the river to collect stuck lines (and not a small amount of swearing) before we gave up and headed home. We then consulted some instructional videos on You Tube and the next day managed to cast off without getting completely tangled lines. We felt very proud! Give us a year or two of practice and we might actually manage to catch something.

The girls were more interested in paddling and throwing stones into the river than helping Dad fish. Their combined efforts are probably partly responsible for the fact that we failed to catch anything!

Messing about on the river!

Holiday Up North - Part 2. Bay of Islands

2010-10-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

We only spent one day exploring Auckland and then we decided to explore further north and headed for the Bay of Islands. This area has been described as the birth place of New Zealand as we know it today. It was once a bustling seafaring and political base and is now a very popular tourist destination.

I can thoroughly recommend Beachside camp site. It is located in it own private cove with its own beach and amazing walks directly from the camp site.

We took the ferry in the rain across to the historic town of Russel. It was the first European settlement in New Zealand and the first seaport. The local Maori population were keen to encourage ships to anchor in this area as they were able to trade food and timber. The town soon developed a very bad reputation as there were no laws or any form of real government. So prostitution and liqueur was widely available and the town became known as the "Hell hole of the pacific".

Russel now only has a population of about 820 so is not exactly a large settlement. It is a great place to spend an afternoon wondering round and looking at what remains of the "Hell hole" it once was. The local museum is really interesting and you can look at photos of the first European settlers in this country. Reading some of their dramatic and often tragic stories you have to wonder what prompted them to take the risk and leave their homes to travel to the other side of the world never to return again.

Russel's defences. I am not sure if they are still in working order!

Walking through the swamps looking out for the trolls.

Mangrove swamps only occur in the tropics and sub-tropics so growing up on the south coast of England I have surprisingly never come across them before. They were amazing to walk through and quite beautiful when the tide comes in and submerges them up to halfway.

We took a boat trip around the Bay of Islands which is really the only way to see the area fully. The trip promised to see some wildlife as well as to take us through the famous "Hole in the Rock".

Passing through the Hole in the Rock.

Dolphins are not easy to photograph but they are mesmerising to see in real life.

Holiday Up North - Part 1

2010-10-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

We never went camping as kids so I think my parents are somewhat puzzled by our sudden enthusiasm for sleeping under canvas or in a metal box on wheels with a built in toilet. They are not into the outdoor life after the sun goes down or sleeping a good 500 yard dash in the cold from the nearest shared toilet facilities. To be honest I can understand where they are coming from but here in New Zealand camping seems to be an annual event for most families I have met. K-Mart becomes full of sleeping bags and collapsible picnic tables at this time of year and Warehouse is now full of camping stoves and those totally useless half an inch thick sleeping mats.

So this year we decided to go camping in the half term and explore some of this small but vastly varied country. We initially wanted to head down south and explore Queenstown but luckily (as it had heavy snow just before we were due to leave) we thought we would head up north were we hoped it would be a lot warmer at this time of year.

We flew from Wellington to Auckland and picked up our camper van from there. After a rather terrifying few minutes on State Highway 1 we managed to find our first camp site in Takapuna.

This was the amazing view from our camper van in the morning. The sun rising over Rangitoto volcano.

Our fantastic camper van parked right next to the beach.

We took the ferry from Devonport to the centre of town which is a great way to see the city and harbour.

We met the penguins at Kelly Tarltons which is this amazing underground sealife centre. You really get to see the penguins close up but I can't help feeling sorry for the animals themselves who don't appear to get to see daylight at all.

Walking underneath the sharks.

These fish appeared to really like A and swarmed around her.

J at the top of the Sky Tower and looking towards Rangitoto Volcano in the distance. Auckland is an amazingly beautiful and potentially very dangerous city.

As we were sitting having a coffee near the top of the Tower a woman suddenly dropped down and was hanging outside the window waving at us. A few seconds later she had dropped again and disappeared. Some strange people like to jump of the top of the tower attached to ropes. They seemed to be doing it every few minutes so clearly there are a lot of mad people out there. As you can tell this doesn't appeal to me at all.

A view towards one tree hill from the Sky Tower.

The Brunts are finally given Residency!

2010-10-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

We have just returned from a two week holiday which I will post about later and explains the lack of updates on this blog. I apologise to anyone who may have been wondering why it hasn't been updated recently but I do have some big news!. We were greeted on our return from our much needed break by a letter from immigration stating that we have been granted residency in this wonderful country!

All we have to do now is send our passports off and pay the migrant levy. I am honestly very happy and incredibly relieved that this is now over with. It feels like we have had to jump through numerous hoops and that our identities, qualifications and health has been scrutinised to such a degree that our immigration officer must now know all our inner most thoughts! Okay a slight exaggeration, but not much.

I thought it might be helpful to post a time line to give everyone an idea of exactly how long it has taken us to gain residency.

27th February 2009 - Arrived in New Zealand on a Work to Residency Visa.

March 2010 - Put in Expression of Interest (initial request for residency).

May 2010 - Invited to put in an Application for Residency.

June 2010 - Residency application submitted.

October 2010 - Residency granted in principle.

Written down like this it doesn't seem to have taken that long at all. It has however been quite a stressful process. The medicals were very thorough and lengthy with mountains of paperwork to complete. The forms required paperwork from decades ago to prove qualifications and work experience. I would like to thank the kind Welsh ladies at our University who having informed us that most of our degree records were not on computer then presumably trawled through all the paper records to produce our Transcripts. I would also like to thank my husbands old colleagues who gently pushed along his old Human Resources department from 10 years ago to get a statement of employment from them which was apparently impossible for them to initially produce.

All in all it feels like it has taken a mountain of paperwork and a lot of stress to get permission to stay in the country. However I have no regrets it is definitely worth it. To think that we now know that the kids can stay in their schools and with the friends that they have and we can offer them the kind of childhood that I don't believe we would have been able to give them in the UK. As I sit and write this I have a view across the valley to the sea and we can watch the weather coming towards us across the water. My husband no longer has a 4 hour commute into London every day and can be a part of his kids lives rather than just an occassional visitor. I am able to return to work without horrendous childcare costs and we are working to live rather than living to work.

So I am now off to pack yet another picnic lunch and we are off to have a mini trek through the forest at Katoke again. This is why we moved here and why I am now delighted that we can stay.

The Impact of the Christchurch Earthquake in Wellington

2010-09-11T21:38:00.000-07:00

The first we heard of this big earthquake was when we woke up and looked at the flood of enquiries awaiting us on facebook. "Are you alright?", "Can you let us know if you're alive?", "Can you take some pictures", "Is your house still standing?". These were just some of the messages we received. It was a bit embarrassing when I had to inform all these kind people that yes we were all fine, in fact we had actually slept through the whole thing.

It has been quite a wake up call for us here in Wellington. Watching the news footage has been quite unsettling. I have found myself glued to the multitude of real life lucky escapes and heart rending stories of homes and livelihoods that will be lost forever. The boy that had he not jumped out of bed would have been trapped under the falling wall and the woman dragged from her bed just in time as her floor collapsed beneath her. It is miraculous that there was no loss of life and had it happened at a different time of day it would have been very different.

I find myself continually wondering whilst driving to work or washing up, what would happen now if Wellington suffered an earthquake at this moment. Where are my kids, what would they do. Would P be okay in the centre of Wellington. How would I get to them if roads were blocked or there was a Tsunami? It has certainly brought home the reality of living in a Quake zone.

Strangely all this worrying has not made me want to return back to the UK. Despite the horrendous news footage and constant reminders of the ever present risk I still don't want to live anywhere else. I am not sure whether its the subconscious belief that "It will never happen here" which is obviously ridiculous as it will one day. Or perhaps its the belief that we will get through it. After all no one died in Christchurch?

I am obviously not the only person that has been re-alerted to the risks of living on an active fault line. Local newspapers in Wellington reported that during the first few days following the earthquake in Christchurch the supermarkets here sold out of all their emergency kits. Clearly other Wellingtonians felt that they had better stock up in case this meant the big one was on the way.

They Mayor of Wellington is also clearly concerned as he states that 600 Wellington buildings may need strengthening in order to withstand an earthquake of the same magnitude that hit Christchurch. http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=27497

Apparently the council has recieved hundreds of calls from people concerned about the buildings they work in and wanting to know what to do should the big one hit. Its rather worrying that it has taken an earthquake close to home to make people wake up to the fact that at some point in the near future Wellington will be hit by a large quake. Its not a question of If but When!

Birthdays and Mindless Violence.

2010-09-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

We awoke late today as we always tend to do on a Sunday. Well my husband and I do. J and A tend to awake as soon as the first rays of sun peak over the hills. They spent the first hours playing in their bedrooms. This enables us to gradually come too against the background noise of various stuffed animals talking in high pitch voices. Its a perfect and leisurely start to a Sunday morning.

Unfortunately this Sunday morning was spoilt when we opened the curtains in my daughters bedroom and glanced across the road to our neighbours house and saw that their post box had been smashed off the stand and was now lying on its side in the middle of the pavement. We then rushed down to check our post box was still there. But no, ours had also been knocked off its post and was now smashed up and lying forlornly on its side.

A friend of mine volunteers for the local community watch and I have sat and listened with great amusement to her various tales about what bored local youth will get up to. She has told me several times about how they like to drive around the estate at night hanging out of the window with a baseball bat to see how many post boxes they can knock down. Well I imagine this is what they got up to last night as a quick trip to the shops revealed that quite a few houses in our street were obviously visited by these deranged moonlight vandals with a fetish for knocking down post boxes.

I suppose I shouldn't really complain as this is the only crime we have come across in our 18 months in New Zealand and its not exactly a major crime. In the UK I had to make sure all the doors of my car where locked as I drove home. Two men had opened the back door of my car as I stopped at a junction and grabbed my laptop bag from the back seat. That was very frightening and resulted in a tug of war between me and one of the men as I vainly tried to cling onto the bag. The police didn't even bother turning up for a statement.

It has been J's 6th Birthday this weekend and I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who sent presents and good wishes. We brought her a camera and she has spent most of the weekend taking pictures so here are a selection of her photos.

Her little sister.

Some fruit and veg.

Our local cafe in the rain.

The meat counter in our local supermarket.

Straw Bales and Soccer.

2010-08-21T14:05:00.001-07:00

I first discovered Whitemans Valley last Christmas when I brought my daughters bike through Trade Me from a lady that lived there. In order to reach the valley you have to climb up a very steep and somewhat dangerous road from Upper Hutt. Your passengers will tell you all about the amazing views which you can't look at because you are too busy gripping the steering wheel and trying to stay on the road around the scarily narrow and sudden bends.

Once you reach the top you turn a corner and find yourself dropping down into a beautiful green and enclosed valley. Its only a 10 minute drive from Upper Hutt but it has the feel of a small rural hamlet surrounded by agricultural lifestyle plots and woodland. Its the kind of place we want to live eventually. Somewhere we can have a small plot of land with a few Shetland ponies to keep the grass down, some chickens and a pig called George (yes I have already named him!).

This weekend we visited the Short Straw Cafe which is in Johnsons Road. I was not aware that this cafe even existed until I mentioned my fascination with Whitemans Valley to a friend of mine and she told me about this great family cafe.

The cafe itself is one of the first buildings built out of straw in New Zealand. Obviously not just straw. I think the girls were somewhat disappointed when we pulled up to a building that clearly didn't look like the straw house built by one of the three little pigs. However the thickness of the walls gives you a good indication that the building was indeed constructed out of stacked bales of hay. This must give it great insulation but is probably let down by the fact that like all buildings out here it doesn't have double glazing.

It is a great family cafe. The food is delicious and clearly home cooked. The garden out the back is perfect for kids with a slide, swings, big building blocks and plenty of space to run around in. We loved it so much that we have booked J's birthday party there.

J has been having soccer skills lessons at school and so is now convinced she has a future playing for the All Whites. So this weekend we purchased the Brunts first ever football and had a game in one of the parks in Upper Hutt.

A sense of not quite belonging

2010-08-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

I have been getting a bit homesick this week and it has all been down to one particular song that they keep playing on the radio. The lead singer has a distinctive English accent. Its the accent that I was surrounded with for the first 20 years of my life and the song is very Brit pop-ish. It just reminds me of sitting on the pebble beach in my home town and eating fish and chips late at night. We used to sit and watch the storms roll over from France. It also reminds me of getting the train from Charing Cross Station and the smell of coffee and bored sweaty commuters on their way home from another boring day in the office. It has been making me nostalgic for afternoons in country pubs nursing a glass of diet coke for hours on end. Listening to the Eagles repeatedly on the Juke Box and watching the children run riot in the pub garden. So generally just missing English stuff this week.

Its not that I want to go home, I love it here! I have just been feeling like I don't quite fit in. I have been working with a lot of people who every now and then will swap between English and Maori. Obviously my knowledge of Maori is non existent and so this has left me out of the loop somewhat. Everyone is very nice and friendly but it is obvious in so many ways that I have only been in New Zealand for 18 months and so I don't understand the traditions and language of quite a large percentage of the population. It feels like its going to be a very steep learning curve.

My eldest daughter can actually sing in Maori and is being taught all about the history and traditions of the original settlers of these Islands. Her Kiwi accent also means that she will always be automatically accepted as a New Zealander. My (apparently quite posh) English accent is unlikely to ever go away so I will always be identified as a non Kiwi.

We visited Te Papa again yesterday and ended up in the section about immigrations to New Zealand. How people in the Nineteenth century were brave enough to get on a ship to the New World knowing that they would probably never see home or their family again is unbelievably brave. New Zealand is a country that has been populated in relatively recent history by a series of immigrations. Firstly the Maori about 1000 years ago and then far more recently with European settlers. So I guess I could count myself as being amongst the newest wave of immigration. So essentially I am not that different to everyone else in New Zealand. I just happen to have arrived only a relatively short time ago!

Re-entering the world of paid employment

2010-08-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

I have been too busy to blog again. At least I have a decent excuse this time. I am now gainfully employed and have spent the last few weeks arranging childcare and starting my new job.

It has been about four and a half years since I was last part of the paid workforce so this has all been a bit of a shock to the system. But it has also been great fun and I think I am going to thoroughly enjoy my new job.

Arranging childcare was a nightmare in the UK and used to eat up the vast majority of my wages. In New Zealand you are entitled to 20 hours a week free childcare which is great. However you are only allowed 6 hours of free care a day so this can restrict you a bit.

I decided that I wanted my youngest to continue to go to Kindergarten and so needed to place her with a child minder (or Home Educator as they are called here) who could take her to and collect her from Kindergarten. I went straight to "Porse" who are a large organisation which will attempt to match you with a Home Educator in your area and who matches your child's needs and parenting style. You can then go and check them out in their own homes and see if you like them. We have been unbelievably lucky and A is now going to be looked after partly by a lovely lady just up the road from us and the rest of the time by an equally lovely friend of mine.

So far I am really enjoying going back to work. Its great to be able to do something I love that appears to fit in with family life. However as soon as you start back to work it is almost guaranteed that one of the kids will get sick. And sure enough on my third day of work A comes down with a bad case of the flu! So I had to phone up and explain that I couldn't come in. Not a great start but luckily they seemed to understand. Hopefully this coming week will run a bit more smoothly.

July in Wellington

2010-07-25T00:15:00.000-07:00

Although this is the middle of winter it has still been surprisingly sunny. So I thought a few photos of what New Zealand is like in the middle of winter might be a good idea.

On the train to Wellington.

Feeding the animals at Lindale.

Digging up dinosaurs.

On the swings at Plimmerton.

Taking in the view at Te Papa.

Cheeky monkeys in the trees at Tunnel Gully.

A wintery, windy beach.

Its a busy life!

2010-07-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

I have sorely neglected this blog and have been feeling a bit guilty about it. However in some ways I suspect it is a good thing. Our lives at the moment are extremely busy with barely a minute to spare.

We are still waiting to hear about our residency application and I am getting more than a little bit impatient with the whole process but hopefully we will hear something positive this coming week. J and A both had a great half term and we filled it by seeing the local sights and had some great days out with friends enjoying the winter sunshine.

Last week I had a job interview for the first time in about ten years. I have been desperately trying to get back to work having had a career break. When they rang on Thursday saying could I come in for an interview the following day it was a bit of a shock to the system.

I have been at home with the girls now for almost four years and in that time we have lived in three different countries. Its not as though I haven't been busy in that time but its not quite the same as being in the world of work. Your skills at wiping noses, changing nappies or dealing with toddler tantrums are not called upon in most places of work and I am still not entirely sure I can even remember what it is I used to do!

I agreed to go to the interview the following day and from the moment I put the phone down butterflies appeared to take up permanent residence in my stomach and I could feel a major headache creeping up behind my eyes. I think I went into panic mode. It wasn't until my other half came home in the evening and the kids were in bed that I finally managed to think logically and calmly about the whole thing.

I may have mentioned before in this blog but in (what feels like) the dim and distant past I was a teacher, so I have been trying to get back into teaching in New Zealand. This is not as easy as you may think. You have to get all your previous qualifications assessed by the New Zealand Qualification Authority who will require all you certificates and Academic Transcripts to be sent to them. Then you have to register with the Teachers Council who again need all your qualifications and police certificates from every country you have lived in. You then have to work in a school for a year to get full registration in New Zealand. It is not an easy task. So now I have to persuade a school over here that it is worth taking me on and mentoring me through my first year of teaching in this country.

My interview seemed to go okay but I am not sure if they are going to take me on. I keep reminding myself it is all good experience. It was a fantastic job and the school felt exactly like the one I used to work in back in the UK. I had to stop myself getting down on my knees and begging them to give me the job. Luckily I managed to hold myself back! I am not sure a desperate pleading English woman is quite what they were after!

Anyway here's me, keeping my fingers crossed that I get some good news on either the job front or residency next week.

Winter Sun and Scottish Songs

2010-07-03T00:52:00.000-07:00

It has been a beautiful day today. Clear blue sky's and bright sunshine encouraged us to head out towards the Kapiti coast. We took the girls to Queen Elizabeth Park for a splash in the sea.

Apparently this is a piece of expressive modern art depicting mans constant struggle against nature! Whatever it is A and J thoroughly enjoyed constructing it.

The Lindale Farm has re-opened for business this weekend so we decided to have a look. The pigs and rabbits were extremely popular with the girls but I have a very soft spot for the donkeys and Shetlands!

Hungry, cheeky goats.

The Paraparamou Scottish Pipe band were performing at Lindale and did a particularly good version of "Over the sea to Skye". I still find it weird to see so many Scottish traditions so far from Scotland but it is a good indication of the amount of Scottish immigration there has been to New Zealand and the cultural impact it has had.

Wet Wintery Weather and Frustrations.

2010-06-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

It is cold. Very cold. OK maybe not as cold as it gets in the UK but still pretty chilly. We have had frosts, hail, bright sunshine and rainbows in the last week. Currently I am watching the rain slowly flood the valley below us and the girls are cycling and scooting round and round in the garage in an effort to expend some energy.

This week has been a somewhat frustrating one. I have been trying to get back to work. In my previous life, pre relocation down under and pre child number two, I was a Geography teacher and Head of Department. That all seems a world away now. I previously, rather naively thought that it would be fairly easy to go back into teaching in New Zealand. It is not, and as with everything else there are a huge number of hoops to jump through.

Firstly I had to obtain a work permit. This was relatively easy but I did not realise that in converting my visitors visa to a work permit I would no longer be able to leave the country without it expiring. Never mind we hopefully will get residency soon!

Then you have to get your qualifications assessed by the New Zealand Qualification Authority (NZQA) who will assess whether or not your qualifications are valid in this country. If they are they then issue you with a certificate. Once this is done you have to register with the Teachers Council of New Zealand. These nice people once again assess you qualifications and check your police record in all the countries in which you have lived. Eventually they will hopefully issue you with your registration which will be provisional to start with. Once you have been teaching in New Zealand for a year (under supervision) you will be granted full registration.

I have completed all the steps in order to begin teaching but I just need to find a job. Being a Mum I was under the delusion that I might be able to return to work part time. Clearly this is not going to happen as unfortunately Geography Teachers are surprisingly not that in demand! There are not even any full time positions advertised at the moment. Supply teaching is an option but do you pay for childcare in advance and hope that you have some work that week? It is a very frustrating position to be in. It was also rather depressing to be informed by the chap at the teaching agency that there was not a lot of supply work about as a lot of the civil servants had been made redundant recently and they were now flooding the supply teaching posts. Short of knocking off a few existing Geography Teachers or encouraging some into early retirement I am not sure what to do!

I am not unique in being frustrated at the difficulties people face when trying to return to work post children. I have been chatting to a lot of my friends over here who are in similar positions. Sitting around my dining room table we had a teacher, IT proffessional, accountant and HR specialist. All of them having taken a break from their careers for a few years to raise children and now facing the difficulties of returning to work. I believe that businesses and organisations should be crying out to employ Mums (and Dads!). The skills you gain as a parent are unique and valuable. The ability to juggle so many needs and wants, the ability to diffuse difficult situations and arguments and the ability to remain calm when faced with a toddler tantrum and nappy explosions in public places are so valuable!

Language Problems

2010-06-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have those weeks when it feels like life is hurtling by at such a fast pace and you are just managing to cling on by the tips of your fingers? That is what the past few weeks have been like in the Brunt household. We submitted our Residency application two weeks ago and have been waiting hopefully and somewhat apprehensively for any news from Immigration. This week we get a phone call to say that we can collect our original documents (birth certificates and the like) from Wellington as they have finished with them. Yippee I think, maybe they are going to make a really early decision. No such luck. When I collect the documents there is a letter inside saying that they need the Police Certificate from Belgium translated into English. Fair enough I suppose but I think it was unfair to let me get my hopes up!

Then on arrival home I find a message from our Case Officer with a long list of other documents that they now require. Proof of a stable relationship (marriage certificate and the same surname on all documents is not enough), Academic transcripts (degree certificate not enough) and letters from previous employers stating start dates and finish dates (contracts of employment and staff appraisals not enough!).

Now I can understand they need to be thorough and I suppose none of what they asked for is unreasonable, although it is a repetition of evidence that we already sent. It just makes me feel like they are unwilling to believe the evidence as first presented and that they in fact think we are presenting ourselves as something that we are not. It is not nice to feel that you have to prove who you are and have someone doubt that what you are saying is the truth.

However our Case Officer had ample opportunity to find out all about us when she rang the other day. My three year old answered the phone and had a long conversation with her while I was hanging out the washing. I have no idea what she chatted about but based on previous experience she probably got our life stories. Three year olds like to tell everyone in great embarrassing detail all about their lives and exactly what their Mummies and Daddies have been doing.

Nevermind - I am sure it will all be worth it in the end!

I think Immigration will have a hard time not giving my eldest residency status. She is already sounding so much like a Kiwi I am having trouble understanding what she says. We no longer have fish and chips it "Fush and Chups". Ten is pronounced "tin" and everything is "Awesome!". I am still waiting to hear that things are "sweet as" but I am sure it will not be long before that is added to her reportoire.

Scorching Bay on a Cold Day

2010-06-05T00:57:00.000-07:00

We have had a difficult week dealing with building societies, banks, residency applications, flu (well Man flu which is clearly much worse) and nits. So we were all really looking forward to this long Queens Birthday weekend. This morning the sun was shining and the sky was a clear blue so we decided to head out along the marine drive in Wellington to Scorching Bay for lunch.

There is a great cafe there on the beach front and we had lunch huddled inside on one of the fiercely fought over tables. It appears lots of people had the same idea as us and it was simply too chilly today for people to sit outside on the beach front tables.

Oyster catcher. Never seen one of these before and we saw two today, the girls were suitably unimpressed.

Even though the sun was bright it still felt like mid winter.

Pictures in the sand.

A Word of Warning for Expats renting out their property in the UK

2010-06-01T22:57:00.001-07:00

Just under three years ago we moved to Belgium (before ending up in NZ) and started renting out our property in the UK. This was and still is our family home and we own no other property. We informed our mortgage company (Nationwide) and they said it was fine and would not affect our 10 year fixed rate mortgage. We received no notification that this would alter our mortgage in any way and had to sign no forms or any other correspondence.

We set up the appropriate letting insurance and everything else was organised by our letting agent. We assumed everything was fine and have been lucky enough to rent out our property fairly continually for the past few years.

Now we took out the fixed rate mortgage so that we knew exactly what we would be paying each month and could plan finances accordingly. Everything was going swimmingly until yesterday morning when I received a letter from Nationwide in the post. They are now putting up the rate of interest on our "fixed rate mortgage" by 1.5%.

Apparently as we are letting out our property we are going to cost them more money and are somehow a greater risk. Therefore if we had originally taken out a buy to let mortgage we would be charged a higher rate and be making the company more money. So in order to address this shortfall they are going to put the interest up on our "fixed rate" mortgage.

I do not understand how they can legally do this. Surely they should have informed us when we initially told them we were intended to let our home. If they had we would have reconsidered and may well have sold the property then. Now we are faced with a large increase in our mortgage payments. The rent on our property does not cover our current mortgage payments so there is no way it is going to stretch to this sudden increase.

I realise this is not like my normal blog postings but I feel this issue is something other expats may want to be aware of. Needless to say I am in contact with Nationwide and fighting my corner. I am currently awaiting a copy of the clause in our contract which allows them to change the terms of our 10 year fixed rate mortgage in this way.

A VERY ANGRY EXPAT rant. Thanks for reading :)

Accidental Accidents and the ACC

2010-05-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

This week I had that terrible experience that all parents live in fear of. The time when their children put themselves in danger and hurt themselves potentially quite badly.

Winter weather appears to have arrived this week and during a rare dry period I took A and a mate over to Plimmerton to the local play area there.

Play areas in New Zealand do differ slightly from the ones in the UK in that they can appear to be highly dangerous. They have all the spongy safety mats and bark strewn around but they also involve horizontal ladders with massive drops underneath them and wobbly rope bridges. The girls love these play areas but I have to stop myself from following them round with a safety harness and cushioned mattress.

For the first few minutes the pair ran manically up and down the slide and demanded to be pushed higher and higher on the swings. Then A decided to climb the ladder to the top of the big slide. She reached the top rung (which was as tall as me) and her foot slipped and she fell sideways hitting her head on a wooden platform on the way down. At this point my stomach feels like its jumped into my mouth and I just grabbed her and held her until she stopped yelling.

Being able to yell extremely loudly is obviously a good sign and having examined her it appears that the only obvious damage is a large expanding bump appearing on the side of her face. Head injuries always scare me and so I decided to see if I could take A to see a Doctor.

This is where the differences between health care in the UK and New Zealand really become apparent. I rang up out local Doctors Surgery and after a quick conversation, during which they assessed how urgent it was, they told me to pop down to the surgery immediately and they would have a look. In the UK when a similar thing happened we were told that if she hadn't lost consciousness she was probably OK and if we where really worried then we could go to Accident and Emergency at the local hospital, but we would probably have to wait for a few hours before being seen!

Well 20 minutes after the fall we were seen and A was thoroughly examined by our local Doctor and reassured that she hadn't broken anything and was likely to be fine. Now I realise we have to pay for this service (only $10) but I was really impressed. They filled in a form for the ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) which is the sole and compulsory provider of accident insurance in New Zealand. Everyone in New Zealand is covered by the scheme on a non-fault basis so that anyone no matter how they where injured can get emergency health care and no one can sue. This is our first encounter with the scheme and it appears to provide us with a bit of security in a similar way to the NHS only just for accidental or life threatening injuries or illnesses.

It just highlighted for me the differences between health care in the UK and New Zealand. There is no massive queue in our local surgery and we are not rushed out and dealt with as soon as possible. Our Doctor always has a friendly chat and the lady on reception already knows our girls and gives them a friendly welcome when we visit. Its a whole new experience getting a caring and friendly health care service, its just a shame we have to pay for most of it!

Star Gazing in the Southern Sky.

2010-05-21T23:47:00.000-07:00

I have been vaguely aware that the stars on the New Zealand flag represent the stars that make up the southern cross in the night sky but so far I have been unable to spot them in the actual night sky. Well, not any more!

We visited Carter Observatory today and now I feel (reasonably) confident that I could find the southern cross and even point out Orion's Belt. And even more importantly, if I suddenly find myself stranded at sea in a small boat with no navigational equipment to hand, I could find south using the direct line between the stars in the southern cross and another the bright star (which I have temporarily forgotten the name of!).

I would really recommend a visit to this observatory, it is well worth the hike to the top of the botanic gardens in Wellington. The shows in the planetarium are quite spectacular and kept my two girls amused. Ally still insisted on talking loudly throughout most of it "this isn't real is it Daddy?", "Is that spaceman cold Mummy?", "Why is she doing that Daddy?" I think she still enjoyed it, I am just not sure whether everyone else in the auditorium appreciated her constant narration.

"Dr Ally Brunt stepped into the Quantum Accelerator and was gone"

The James Cook telescope.

J and some space rocks.

"I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me ....."

2010-04-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

Autumn is here. Its getting dark by 5.30 in the afternoon and we can no longer go round in just t-shirts and shorts (although a significant number of rather odd people seem to be immune to the cold and wear flip flops and shorts year round).

This week has been extremely busy. Having put in our Expression of Interest a few weeks ago, we have now been invited to apply for residency. So I have been organising medicals, police certificates and all the other information that immigration needs to check that we are who we say we are and we are not going to cost the health service loads of money.

All these things cost loads of money. If you are planning to apply for residency be warned! It will be a significant strain on your bank account. I was shocked to be quoted over $1000 for our medicals. This does not include the cost of the X-rays that are needed to check we have not caught any nasty diseases in the time we have been in the country. We had all this done only 14 months ago just before we arrived in New Zealand but apparently it all needs to be done again.

I have been repeating the mantra - "It will all be worth it in the end!"

New Zealand is a long way from anywhere else. Although I knew this when we first moved here it has been driven home this week.

Any visits home will always cost a fortune. We accepted this when we moved here and planned for it. However the unexpected always happens. I have a very important family occasion this September that we had been planning to go back to the UK for. However we need to apply for residency sooner than expected and the cost of it has been a bit of a surprise so we have had to postpone our visit.

It has been a really difficult decision and I know that we have disappointed a lot of people but it appears that these are the kind of decisions you face when you move this far from everyone you care about. It is, I guess, one of the biggest pitfalls of living in New Zealand.

We introduced the girls to the joys of Wagamama and a bit of Japanese food. They weren't very impressed with the food but they liked the chopsticks.

Residency, Visas, Permits and all the other hoops!

2010-04-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

This week I have been mostly filling in forms!

I thought I had completed all the steps in order to teach in this country but I was sorely mistaken. Not only do you have to send off all your qualifications and proof of your work experience and get them checked by the New Zealand Qualification Council (cost $200), plus get a work permit or visa (cost $200), but you also have to pay another $200 to get registered with the Teachers Council. I understand the reasons behind it and think that all these professionals looking after children need to be thoroughly vetted but blimey - its a lot of paper work.

We have also begun to complete our residency application forms so we now have to start getting medicals, more police certificates and the rest. I just keep reminding myself it will be worth it in the end.

To remind us why we love this country so much we took the girls to Belmont Regional Park and took a walk to Korakora dam.

My girls have been obsessed with finding bugs and anything small and creepy. So my husband, who helpfully has been equally enthusiastic, found these lovely exoskeletons from (we think) cicadas. Lovely aren't they!

Jungle explorers studying bugs.

My two intrepid mountain climbers.

It was a long walk for the girls but the view at the end was well worth it.

Autumn Sunshine and stalking cows at Battle Hill

2010-04-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. The air is fresh and crisp but the sunshine is still warm. We took the girls to Battle Hill Farm again today but decided on taking a different route and completed the "red route".

This area is the scene of one of the last battles between the Government forces and Maori led by Te Rangihaeata in 1846. The Government forces outnumbered Te Rangihaeata's men by over 200 but still no one can apparently claim victory. Eventually Te Rangihaeata fled north to Levin and the land was sold for farmland. In 1987 the land was sold to Wellington Regional Council when it became the Farm park it is today.

I like cows, I think they have beautiful faces but I also find them slightly scary. They tend to follow you in a menacing and somewhat threatening way. Its as if they are sizing you up. If they think you are looking at them in the wrong way they will squash you like the tiny flies that constantly surround them. My husband thinks I'm nuts and he is probably right but i still find walking through fields of cows very nerve racking. This cow decided we were really interesting and stalked us for a good twenty minutes. Very scary!

The Swampy Gully.

Taking a well earned break.

Celebrations as the summit is reached.

Lift off in Levin

2010-04-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

This Saturday night we braved the traffic on the SH1 and headed out towards Levin to watch the Balloon Night Glow event. The Levin Balloon festival is on for the whole of the Easter weekend and involves mass ascensions, splash and dash games and other events to highlight the balloonist (balloon pilots?) skills. We decided to go and see the Night Glow as it sounded spectacular and we weren't disappointed.

It felt rather risky watching the balloon's inflate. We were allowed really close and were told to just run very fast if at any minute it looked like it was going to move in our direction. Really good safety measures!

I am not sure if A really understood what was going on or why we were sitting in a field watching very big balloons being blown up, but I think she enjoyed it.

As dusk fell the scene became surreal as all the balloons began to inflate on mass.

The small wicker baskets do not look at all secure or strong enough to me.

I was really surprised that we were allowed so close to the balloons - what with the huge flaming gas jets everywhere!

It was clearly a late night for everyone!

Beautiful and somewhat alien looking shapes in the night.

The Importance of Being Playful

2010-03-25T23:45:00.000-07:00

My girls are genius's. Obviously! Today J came home from school with a very nice certificate for being a "caring, friendly and hardworking member of the class" and A came home with her record book from Kindergarten full of photos of her exploring water, sand and ice.

They have settled in so well into the system over here I cannot fault it at all - so far.

J went to maternelle for a short time in Belgium where the kids start at 2 and a half. They troop in there at 9am with their little ruck sacks on their backs and stay a full day until 3.15. They sit in a classroom environment from such a young age it seems like their childhood ends far too soon. I am so happy the A has the opportunity for free play at Kindy. She seems to spend most of her time there dressed as Dorothy the Dinosaur and being chased around the sandpit by her best mate Noah who likes to dress up as a Tiger. That's what childhood should be about.

It has been a busy few weeks for us as J has been going swimming with the school three times this week and will be going three times next week as well. She has also been having swimming lessons each week after school as well this term. So she has been rapidly turning into my own little mermaid.

The way our school has handled the swimming has brought home to me some of the differences between schools in New Zealand and the UK. J's amazing teacher (for the purposes of this blog we will call him Mr X) has developed a class blog which he updates daily describing what the class has been doing. He has put pictures of the kids at the swimming pool this week which is great not only can we see what J has been up to but so can her Grandparents in the UK.

This would just not happen at a school in the UK. Taking pictures of other peoples children and then publishing them on the net would not be allowed. The ubiquitous and media hyped fear of the wrong type of person taking advantage of our children in the UK has meant that things that would have at one time been thought of as perfectly normal have now become unacceptable and dangerous. One dad in the UK was questioned by police after he was taking photos of his own children on the swings in the park. Another parent had reported him as she felt that he shouldn't be taking photos of children in a public place. I find this so sad. I hope New Zealand does not go down this route.

Residency and the Outdoor Life

2010-03-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

So far this Sunday, myself and the other half have been sat around the dining room table attempting to fill in our Expression of Interest for Residency. I think the decision to stay in New Zealand was made last year when we sat on a bench above Eastbourne looking across the bay to Wellington and P turned to me and said that he could imagine living and growing old together here. Bearing in mind it was rainy, cold and incredibly windy at the time I am not sure what prompted my other half to make that particular statement at that point! We have lived in 9 different houses together all over the UK and in Europe and this is the first place that we have really wanted to stay.

So this week we have been getting organised and started filling in the applications for residency. Blimey it is complicated. We completed our Work Visas is a huge rush as P had to start his job as soon as possible. These forms are far more complicated. We are currently surrounded by birth certificates, passports and academic certificates. I find the whole thing incredibly stressful knowing that (however unlikely) they might well turn around and say we are not welcome in this country!

Yesterday we decided to make the most of the late summer sun and headed to Otari-Wiltons Bush. Its apparently the only public botanic garden in New Zealand dedicated solely to native plants. It is quite beautiful and some of the information boards dotted around the place provide some really interesting facts about the weird and sometimes quite bizarre natural plant life of this country.

Walking through the tree canopy is spectacular.

The girls insisted on searching for Goblins in the roots of all the trees. It took us ages to walk any distance.

Otari-Wiltons Bush Stream

A Northern Rata

The information board that J is hiding informs you that the large tree shown above started life as a windblown seed that lodged high up in the branches of another tree. It then grew, sending shoots down towards the ground which eventually grew into a separate trunk that would support the new tree when the original hosting tree died. Amazing to think that such a large tree develops in this way!

This plaque was placed overlooking the gardens and surrounding bush.

I don't think Leonard and Maud should worry too much. Judging by the amount of people at the gardens this Saturday - this sanctuary is very highly prized indeed.

Happy Birthday Whitby

2010-03-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

Our little town of Whitby will be 40 years old this year. Its is really weird to think that when I was born this area had only a few houses built on it and the shopping centre had only just been completed. Photos in the local paper taken during the early 60's show open bush and bare hill. This town, like most of New Zealand is extremely young in comparison to any village, town or city in the UK. I can only really compare NZ towns to places like Milton Keynes in the UK, which were planned settlements and have only been around since the 1960's. I have to say the town planning in New Zealand is far more impressive than in the UK (unless you like the concrete cows and multitude of roundabouts in Milton Keynes). Whitby has masses of open spaces and walkways, the roads are wide and the development still has many mature trees and areas of natural bush.

Our Whitby in NZ was named after James Cook the pacific explorer who came from Whitby in Yorkshire. All the roads in the area have a nautical theme. According to the article in the local paper Whitby was intended to be a large settlement of 100'000 people with large commercial and industrial areas. Thankfully this never materialised as there was a sharp decline in migration from the UK and the local economy shrunk. Now Whitby is a much smaller settlement of just 11'000. That's the way I like it!

It was the Kindergarten "Wheelathon" this week. The children were sponsored to ride around a small course as many times as possible in order to raise money for a new conservatory. They also had their faces painted, ate lots of sweets and generally enjoyed themselves in the late summer sun.

Waiting for the starting gun!

J having her hair sprayed a variety of different colours.

Kindness of Strangers

2010-03-11T19:19:00.000-08:00

So my baby has turned 3 this week. She has started Kindergarten and seems to be growing up more and more each day. There is no trace of the baby she used to be and almost all her toddlerisms have disappeared. She is fast maturing into a little girl.

Last year we arrived in New Zealand 12 days before her birthday. We were so busy finding somewhere to live and sorting out those sort of practicalities that her birthday was postponed for two weeks and even then it was rather a subdued affair. We knew no one and had no furniture so couldn't exactly throw a party.

Well this year couldn't be more different. We have been to a friends house this morning where A and her three best friends have had cake and ran round the house, back garden and up and down on the trampoline. All at very high speed.

We then popped into the library where the lady who does the Toddler Music group admired A's Tiara and gave her a little pressie and stamp. (hand stamps are highly prized by three year olds!)

Then in the local supermarket we bumped into the "Nice lady on the till" as she is collectively known in our house. Once again A's new dress and Tiara was admired and she got another stamp for the other hand.

At pick up time at the school several of the other Mums came up and wished A happy birthday and she paraded in front of all the other toddlers and generally enjoyed being the centre of attention. As we walked past Kindergarten she yelled at the top of her lungs to get the attention of her Kindy teachers. They gave her a wave and once again wished her a happy birthday. All in all she has been thoroughly spoilt.

We haven't even celebrated her birthday yet at home. We still have all the numerous presents to open that have arrived in the post from the UK and France. She is a very lucky little girl.

I guess the point that I want to make with this post is that in only a year we have been made to feel a real part of this community. We can't visit out local shopping centre without bumping into someone we know. People are so friendly and welcoming that it continually shocks me how willing people are to help you out or just have a chat.

I lived in our last house in the UK for a year and in all that time I didn't know any of our neighbours names. I gave birth to my youngest in that house and didn't even receive any congratulations from any of the people in our cul de sac. Here our neighbours have popped round to borrow flour and the kids come round to play. People lent us furniture when we had none and friends offer, at the drop of a hat, to look after each others children. Its a community rather than just a housing estate.

I know I am doing the right thing but....

2010-02-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

I know we are doing the right thing by living in New Zealand but it doesn't make it any easier when it comes to saying goodbye to people when they have to fly home. My parents have been here three months and last week we had to say goodbye again at the airport. I am sure Wellington airport is used to crying children and teary faced adults but it was treated to quite a scene when my youngest daughter realised that she couldn't go through security with Nan and Grandad, and no she couldn't travel in the suitcase either. At that point I was considering climbing inside one of the suitcases as well!

Having to say goodbye to people is a big downside of living here. As J's teacher helpfully pointed out you cant really get any further away from the UK than New Zealand. In this blog I am trying to point out all the aspects of moving this far, so I have to state that saying goodbye to my parents again was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. Its like someone cuts of an arm and expects you to carry on playing the piano like before.

I think I am probably being a bit overly dramatic here. The great thing about living on the other side of the world today is that I can actually talk to, and see, my Mum and Dad every morning (and evening if I want!) for free via Skype. So my girls talk to their Nan over WeetBix and toast in the morning and I have chat in the evening. It is so easy to keep in touch that I probably talk to most of my relatives more than when we lived in the UK.

So this week we have been keeping busy and reminding ourselves why we moved this far from home. We decided to go camping at Kaitoke. It was one of the first places we visited when we arrived almost exactly a year ago. We spotted people camping there then and immediately decided we would have to do that as well!

Putting up the tent was easy and A and J helped enormously as you can see!

J in her snazzy hat.

Kaitoke really is a beautiful spot!

A Marine Drive and a Visit from Bluey

2010-02-13T22:28:00.000-08:00

It was a very exciting night this week when J became "Star of the Day" at school and earned the right to bring Bluey home. Bluey is the class bear and you have to write a short story about his adventures at your house. As you can see from the photos below Bluey had a good time at our house.

He took part in a bit of Wii Fit!

He met lots of new friends.

This is the last weekend before Mum and Dad go back home so we decided to take them on one of the most spectacular drives in Wellington. We headed out towards Scorching Bay and Breakers Bay along the coast road.

Its amazing the way the huge Ferries negotiate such a narrow entry into Wellington Bay.

J watching the Ferry at Breakers Bay.

Looking for pebbles and watching the surfers.

Planes coming into land at Lyall Bay.

Finding the Flag for New Zealand

2010-02-07T21:31:00.000-08:00

This Waitangi Day the New Zealand flag was flown all over the country in celebration of the signing of the the Treaty. In Wellington and many other towns and cities the Tino rangatiratanga flag (Maori Flag) was also flown alongside it. According to wikipedia 'tino rangatiratanga" means absolute/unqualified chieftainship and is used to represent Maori independence.

This move has sparked a debate about whether or not New Zealand should have a new flag that embraces all the people, of all races and has less emphasis on the link with the UK. Feelings have become so heated in some areas that the current flag has been burned. One member of the Republican party who was part of the flag burning in Hamilton claimed that the current flag is a fictitious creation bearing no relation to the people of New Zealand today. Other people, such as John Key seem to take it less seriously famously saying this week that he had other more important things to worry about!

I think the choice of flag is actually a very serious business. If you choose the wrong one, a symbol that everyone can't unite beneath, it can lead to massive division. If you allow your flag to be hijacked by one section of society and used to represent something that the majority do not agree with it can also cause massive problems. In the UK the Union Jack has been used by many far right (neo nazi) groups and even the BNP and has now become so associated with them that most people would be ashamed to fly the Union Jack. It no longer represents the the country as a whole.

I like the fact that schools and often individuals house round here fly the New Zealand flag and I hope that this doesn't change.

I think that there is an obvious solution to this problem and that although I like the link New Zealand has to the UK it is probably time to drop the British Flag from its prominent position. I think all Kiwis could unite under a new flag that has neither the colonial connotations or is solely for the Maori people. I like the silver fern used by the sporting teams and, I believe similar to the Maple leaf in Canada, it could come to represent this country really well.

I will climb down from my soap box now!

Waitangi Day Celebrations in Wellington

2010-02-05T23:36:00.000-08:00

This Saturday we decided to head into Wellington again to join in with the Waitangi Day celebrations. This day marks the signing of the Waitangi Treaty on February 6th 1840. The Treaty was signed between representatives of the British crown and various Maori Tribal Chiefs and gave New Zealand a British Governor and provided Maori with all the rights of British citizens. It also recognised Maori land ownership and gave Great Britain sovereignty over New Zealand. It is considered by many to be the founding document of New Zealand.

The Treaty was written in two versions, one in English and one in Maori. This has led to various problems as the two versions actually say slightly different things so there is no definitive consensus as to what was actually agreed at Waitangi. Nevertheless it is obviously a very good excuse to celebrate by dancing a lot, listening to some good Reggae music, eating a lot of ice-cream and watermelon and generally having a good time in the sun.

There was a really good drumming group that got most of the crowd dancing.

The boys really got into doing a their Haka dance.

Some really beautiful dancing.

It was also the Rubgy 7s in Wellington this Saturday. This meant that as we wandered along the waterfront we kept being passed by people dressed up in a wide variety of weird and wonderful costumes. It seems to be the tradition to dress up in order to watch the 7 minute rugby matches.

The girls were delighted by Batman and Robin in flip flops, a whole troupe of bright red crabs, Roman Centurions and a group of Crusty the Clowns. It made our walk back to the car extremely entertaining!

A Kiwi Summer at last.

2010-01-30T23:45:00.000-08:00

I have decide that I am extremely British in that I have an obsession with the weather. Living in New Zealand suits me as the weather here changes from hour to hour and is highly unpredictable. At this time yesterday we were paddling in the sea watching the crabs crawl over our toes. Today is grey and cold with driving rain and we are sat huddled inside watching commando guinea pigs on DVD.

This week has given us our first real taste of a Kiwi summer and its been great. We have been swimming and building numerous sandcastles on the beach, horse riding and cycling. If you love the outdoor life this is the country for you.

The only problem with this hot sunny weather is the fact that I have to continually smear sun cream on the girls every few hours. The sun is so strong over here that if you fail to do this they will go bright red in less than an hour. This has been proved unfortunately by the odd red patches I have on my arm from where I failed to spread the sun cream evenly enough. I also seem to always forget to spread cream on our feet - so we all look a bit freaky at the moment with our incredibly bronzed feet.

Due to my obsession with the risk of sunburn I insist that the girls both wear their wetsuits on the beach no matter how hot it is. I am clearly a very cruel mother!

A doing a bit of body boarding.

I have really begun to notice the influx of tourists to this area this week. We spent the day in the city this Friday and travelling in on the highway towards the city we noticed the large cruise liner docked in the harbour. Once in the city you could immediately see the impact of this. There were tourists everywhere. They were easy to spot - all looking a bit lost and wondering slowly around looking in the shops or queueing for the tram ride up to the Botanic Gardens. This was in sharp contrast to the other bunch of people who had come to watch the ACDC concert at the Westpac stadium the previous night. They were all nursing coffees in the cafes and trying to recover from the night before.

Wellington is a great city to roam around in and people watch. We were amazed by the number of people jumping off the waterfront into the harbour.

People climbing up having jumped in the harbour. The bronze crouching figure in the centre is a statue - not a rather depressed Wellingtonian!

The Inter Island ferry in the back ground and the helicopter giving trips over the city.

I love New Zealand in the summer. The countryside and outside activities are so easy to access. The beaches are clean and safe. Everybody heads out in the countryside and the beach with their boats, canoes and kayaks in tow. Every evening this summer the Pautuahanui inlet near us has had several cars parked on the beach whilst their owners mess about on the water with their jet skis. It really is the ideal way of life. I love it!

A Summer Road Trip

2010-01-24T23:14:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I have had time to sit down and write this blog. However I am determined to get back into blogging regularly, now that my extremely kind and giving husband has brought me a new laptop.

We have been experiencing our first summer in New Zealand and it has been fantastic. Although the weather has not been amazing (the worst summer for many years according to the media here) we have been exploring the country and generally enjoying the outdoor life we moved all this distance for.

In New Zealand kids are off school from a few days before Christmas until the 3rd of February. So J has had a nice long summer holiday which has included Christmas. She was upset at first when she realised she wouldn't be at school for so long but has since been so busy swimming, cycling and exploring the countryside she hasn't had time to miss her mates. Both the girls, despite being smothered in sun cream, have now got healthy tans.

We booked a "Bach" (a small holiday home or beach house so called because they used to be used by bachelors for the types of thing bachelors apparently do!) near Lake Taupo and spent a few days exploring the area. I had never been any further than Otaki along State Highway 1, so it was with great excitement that we finally left the Wellington region.

I had heard tales from friends and seen pictures on the news of, what is known as, the "Desert Road". It is notorious over here as a road with absolutely nothing on it and can be dangerous particularly in winter when people can get stranded in the snow. Its at a high altitude, 3520 ft above sea level, and is very exposed which can lead to quite bad driving conditions. So I made sure we were prepared and knew when to fill up with petrol so we wouldn't get stranded. I might have gone a bit overboard with the first aid kit, emergency food rations and sleeping bags!

In the end I discovered that the Desert Road is actually only 52km long but it is still spectacular. If, like me, you are used to concrete underpasses and fields of cows as your main scenery when travelling on motorways, this road is completely different. Within a few hundred metres of entering the desert road Mount Ruapehu suddenly rises up on your left and you are confronted by a scene straight out of Lord of the Rings. Alongside the huge volcano is Mount Ngauruhoe, a slightly smaller, but more cone shaped volcano which doubled as Mount Doom. At any moment you expect huge eagles to fly over on their way to rescue Frodo and Sam. This area is like nothing I have ever seen before, quite an Alien landscape when you are used to the rolling hills of Sussex and Wiltshire.

The road goes on to twist and wind through the volcanic landscape which I imagine is similar to Nevada. There is nothing for miles and miles apart from straight stretches of road with heat mist causing mirages in places and then it twists into small tight valleys with rather scary 90 degree turns. I can easily imagine why the road becomes so dangerous in winter.

The road trip was made more exciting by the fact that unlike the UK there are no purpose built service stations or Little Chefs dotted every few miles along the route. If you need to stop for refreshments you have to stop in one of the small towns you pass. These settlements occur every 20-30km along the road and tend to be heralded by the boards on the side of the road advertising the cafes and facilities offered. The two cafes that we tried out where great and one in particular called the "Soul Food Cafe" has the best Hot Chocolate I have ever tasted. I found it made the trip even more interesting to stop and explore these towns and villages along the route with there cowboy style shop fronts and sun shades.

Some of these towns have really interesting names and clearly try to distinguish themselves from the next town by building something big that you cant miss. Like the town with the giant Wellington Boot (gum boot) built for no obvious reason I could see in the middle of the high street. Or there is the really interesting town called "Bulls" that we drove through with, I suppose understandably, many large pictures and a statues of Bulls littered throughout the high street. Unfortunately, try as I might I didn't manage to catch a picture of these many interesting and unique sites - So I'm afraid you will have to make the trip yourself. I would highly recommend it.

Our final destination. A beautiful little Bach surrounded by countryside.

The Upside of the Downside.

2009-11-24T18:53:00.001-08:00

The only real downside of moving to New Zealand has been the fact that we are so far from family and friends. Sometimes you forget just how far away we are from everyone, especially when you can chat face to face over breakfast to everybody via Skype. However nothing compares to seeing people in person and being able to give someone a hug. So we have been absolutely thrilled that my Mum and Dad have made it over to us in time for Christmas.

We have been in New Zealand almost 9 months so its been a long time since we last saw them. Waiting at the airport brought it home just how far they have to come. For the previous day I was bombarded with questions about where Nan and Grandad are now, as if I could give them exact grid co-ordinates describing where the plane was at that particular point in time. In the queue at Pack N save "Wheres Nan and Grandad now?", "Er somewhere over North America". "Wheres that then Mum?"....and so it went on for 26 hours!

Waiting at the airport gate it was clear that the plane was loaded with Grandparents as there were other children waving banners with slogans like "Welcome Gran and Pops". Its clear that New Zealand is full of everyones grandchildren. I felt a bit remiss at not making a welcome banner myself but the girls gave Mum and Dad a great welcome and I thankfully managed to hold back the tears. We have been so busy over the last 9 months that I haven't had time to remember just how much I miss everyone.

The one good thing about living so far away is that when people come to visit you they have to come for a decent length of time. It costs so much and the distance is so great that you can't exactly just pop in for the weekend. This means that the time that my parents get to spend with their grandchildren is fantastic quality time and far more than they would likely to get if we lived around the corner from them. J has introduced Nan and Grandad to all her teachers and school mates. She will be taking them in for Show and Tell next! Of course it also means that my parents can come over for the summer weather and get to see New Zealand at the same time.

I must admit that I love having the extra help around the house and live in babysitters which has meant that P and I have had our first night out in over three years! The only thing that I am not looking forward to now is having to say goodbye to my parents - that is not going to be easy. However we are already planning our trip back to the UK next September so at least we know when we will see everybody again.

Nan & Grandad Arrive in New Zealand

2009-11-19T19:31:00.000-08:00

After nine months of talking to the grandchildren on Skype the day finally arrived when we would see how the two girls were surviving in their new home, New Zealand. As we circled Wellington the pilot advised there would be some turbulence as we approached the airport, having seen the various horror videos on U Tube we braced ourselves and checked the seat belts.

Unfortunately we had arrived on one of the many days that Wellington experiences gales and after the first drift to the right and then the left everyone fell silent and white knuckles were the order of the day. I can only say the videos on U Tube do not do the landing justice, it is much more terrifying!

Even when the plane came to a stop the wind rocked it gently back and forth. It was really interesting to watch two burly porters trying to hold onto an elderly lady in a wheelchair as she appeared to kite surf off across the tarmac.

All I can say is, it was well worth it to see the family and the old hearts need a bit of kick start now and again.

First impressions are good and we like being asked if we have good day, the Kiwis have a way of making it sound genuine, must be the rising inflection at the end of the sentence. Not too sure of some of the favourite sayings, such as ‘too right mate’ or ‘no worries’, but my favourite so far is the one used by Kiwis women during most conversations ‘ I was gutted’. Somehow they manage to slide this one in regardless of the subject under discussion.

It is great being referred to as a ‘guy’ in restaurants and shops and you soon feel relaxed and at ease, nearly as laid back as the average Kiwis.

The access to the countryside is amazing and you cannot help but be blown away by the landscape which is every bit as beautiful as the tourist guides indicate. It was not long before we were off on our first hike into the forest following the adventurous route across rope bridges and paddling in freezing cold streams. We watched as our daughter and son in law show the children what fun it is too paddle in the river, the resulting sand flea bites which consumed several tubes of antihistamine cream over the next week were an unexpected hazard.
Oh it’s great to be old and wise!

If you visit any country park it soon becomes apparent that public enemy number one is the poor old Possum, an Australian the Kiwis would evidently prefer had stayed at home.

Warning signs abound advising all visitors that poison has been laid to kill the Possum. Something called 1080 appears to be the poison of choice but I notice not all Kiwis agree with the use of this chemical and there is rising concern over possible unknown side effects of such wide use.

Visited Wellington for the second time this week and cannot help but be bowled over by what is a really interesting city, clean air, great facilities and a great variety of people. It is a real mix of cultures that integrate in a way you rarely see in other cities in the world. The city has obviously had to adapt to the change and develop facilities for new business and commerce, but to and independent observer it has done this sympathetically without losing its character or heritage. The waterfront development is a good example of the changes implemented whilst retaining the heritage too which Wellington owes so much.

Had lunch on the waterfront yesterday, never seen so many joggers of various sizes and shapes using there lunch hour to repair the damage of late nights and good food. Could not quite understand why two elderly joggers were wearing life jackets, but perhaps they had fallen in the harbour on previous outings.

We are hear for the next three months so we hope to see more of New Zealand and if I am lucky M may let me use her Blog again to report on how we view life in the new world.

Why Kiwis are called Kiwis.

2009-10-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Its been another busy week in the Brunt household and the weather has gradually been showing signs of improvement. So much so that J has to wear a sun hat whenever she goes outside now at school. This seems to be the policy in all New Zealand schools from Labour Day onwards. It appears that NZ is renowned as being a country where you are likely to get sun burnt really quickly - so all the Mums I have met tell me. My two girls certainly caught the sun last weekend when I forgot to take sun cream and hats on our walk.

So I decided to do a little bit of research on the affects of the sun in NZ. (In other words I googled!). I couldn't find a great deal of info, but what I did find suggested that you have to be very careful of the sun in this country as you can get burnt remarkably quickly. NZ has very clean air with very little pollution to filter the suns rays. There is also apparently a small hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica which, at certain times of the year, can affect New Zealand. This can lead to heightened levels of UV radiation in the atmosphere and also means you have to take extra care in the sun. So as a result I have stocked up on sun cream and extra wide brimmed hats in the vain hope that eventually summer will arrive!

I have finally found the answer to a question I have always wanted to know. Why are New Zealanders known as Kiwis. I have been reading "The Listener" magazine this week and there was an interesting article by Sarah Barnett on the Kiwi (the bird) as it has been voted "Bird of the Year". In the article she states that "we became known as Kiwis in World War I, when New Zealand soldiers, cooling their heels in Wiltshire waiting for ships to bring them home, carved a 6000sq m chalk Kiwi on Beacon Hill".

All the time we lived in Wiltshire we never spotted a large Kiwi carved on the hillside so I assume it has now disappeared. I think thats a great shame - it would have added an international and exotic element to the scenery in the area.

I like the response that the author of the article gives to the question of whether New Zealanders like to be known as Kiwis. "Of course we like it - its one of the few birds in the world with two functioning ovaries. In other words, a national emblem with balls. Go Kiwi!"

Sunshine and Shows.

2009-10-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy over the last few weeks that I have not had much time to do any blogging so I thought I would make myself sit down over this long "Labour Day Weekend" and catch up a bit.

"Labour Day" in New Zealand (according to Wikipedia) is always the fourth Monday in October and apparently commemorates the agreement of an eight hour working day for tradesmen in 1840. For us it is a great excuse for a long weekend of picnics and walks in the sun.

We really need this long weekend and after, what has been for us, a year of winter we are in desperate need of some sun which has finally deigned to appear. In fact it was so warm yesterday that the girls needed sun cream and hats. Our first taste of New Zealand summer I hope! We spent it walking along the beach in Queen Elizabeth Park and eating Ice Cream on the seafront in Paraparaumou.

A writing in the sand - with a very long stick.

All the flowers were out. I keep forgetting its Spring not Autumn!

Its a serious business building sandcastles.

J has been extremely excited over the last week as she has been appearing in the WOW show at her school. This is the World of Wearable Arts show and involved the children making costumes and outfits out of recycled material and performing a fashion show. It was a great way of allowing every single child in the school to take part and be involved. It was fantastic and the kids all thoroughly enjoyed it. The light show and stage production was really professional and A's favourite bit (which she kept reminding us for hours afterwards) was when an Aliens eye fell off and bounced on the stage. This is obviously really amusing and memorable for a 2 year old!

Staglands, Tsunamis and Robots.

2009-10-02T20:05:00.000-07:00

My youngest daughter has gained fame at a young age. She was in the local paper this week along with her best mates from next door. Our local playgroup had a Wearable Arts day where we were invited to construct some sort of wearable art work together with the toddlers. We decided to make robots but some of the ideas that people came up with were quite innovative. We were surrounded by mermaids, princesses, aliens and warriors.

The World of Wearable Arts (WOW) show is held every September in Wellington and attracts and audience of 35000. Designers from all over the world submit designs to the Judges and 150 are selected to compete for a prize of over $100'000. I thought our Robot designs were fairly good and maybe next year we will enter the show! First the local paper - then the world....

We awoke earlier in the week to Tsunami warnings on our local radio station following the earthquake in Samoa. It was quite a wake up call in a way as the threat of Tsunamis is not something we have really thought about before. We can see the sea from our house but we are fairly high up and probably not at risk. However P works in Wellington and travels on the train that passes directly by the low lying coastline.

In the end all we saw of the Tsunami was a 40cm wave by the time it hit Wellington, not really that impressive. In parts of NZ people were actually prevented from going near low lying and exposed beaches. There were numerous articles online about scores of people heading down to beaches to see if they could see the Tsunami approaching. Even though I recognise that this is rather a dangerous activity, I have to admit that I would probably be one of those people if the opportunity arose!

This Saturday, as the weather is still frustratingly not good enough to go camping, we went to Staglands. This is a wildlife reserve in the Akatarawa valley to the north of Wellington. Its is a fantastic day out even though you have to drive along another twisting, winding, sheer drop on one side, road. They seem to specialise in these type of roads over here. If you suffer from a fear of heights, New Zealand is not a good place to drive.

The valleys in this area was apparently logged extensively in the past and it still appears to be going on in places. Thankfully it has also been heavily reforested in recent years.

J and A sitting in a replica logging station.

This Ram refused to move or let us pass until he was fed, he then followed us around until we ran out of food.

An amazingly hungry pig.

Spring is clearly a good time to visit as all the baby animals are available for cuddles.

Life takes over.

2009-09-26T22:41:00.000-07:00

I have decided that one of the signs that you have truly begun to settle in somewhere is when you are rushed off your feet and have no time for things like blogging. The last few weeks have gone by in a blur of school drop offs, coffee mornings, application forms and late nights.

J has really settled in well at school. Her new teacher is very nice and she is beginning to make good friends amongst her new class mates. I think the transition from Kindergarten to School has been harder on me than it has on J. I have transformed into one of those very pushy Mums who wants to be involved in the school so they can keep an eye on their precious first borns. I have now volunteered to help out in the classroom and come in to do reading with some of the children. I really need to get back to work!

I think, from what I can tell so far, that school in NZ is not all that much different from the UK apart from the fact that they are far more relaxed about access to school grounds and the classroom environment is slightly less formal. I can just wander into the school at any time to help out in the classroom and no one stops me. There is no intercom or high fences as you see in many inner city UK schools. J has been told just to stay behind the red line in the playground, that is all that stands between her and freedom!

It is however a bit disconcerting when you come to pick up time. They are all just released from the classrooms and no one checks whether parents are there or not to collect the little ones. J has been instructed by her teacher to return to the classroom if no one is there at pick up time. At this stage however I am making damn sure I am there on time as I am not sure I trust her entirely to return to the classroom and not panic. I am probably worrying unnecessarily. The fact is that everyone outside the school knows each other. Its such as small place that in two weeks I recognise everyone waiting at the school already, so hopefully if J ever wandered off there are plenty of people who would look after her. The trust, freedom and responsibility that is placed on these children at such a young age can be a bit difficult for someone coming from the UK to get used too.

Spring is apparently here but its not coming soon enough as far as I am concerned. We have had two winters consecutively and now we are desperate for some proper sunshine. We have seen fleeting glimpses of summer but not enough yet for us to try out our new tent. So the last couple of weeks we have made do with some good local walks.

Pauatahanui wildlife reserve is on our doorstep and is a great place to see wading birds and other wildlife. I didn't manage to get any decent pictures of birds this time so here is a picture of A with some sheep we met on the walk.

There are hides dotted all around the reserve which are ideal places to spot birds from - providing you don't shout out every time you see a duck.

Pondering the complexities of life.

Looking towards Whitby.

Endings, Celebrations and New Beginnings.

2009-09-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

It has been a momentous week in the Brunt household. Our eldest daughter has had her fifth birthday, her last day of Kindergarten and her first day of school. She is thoroughly exhausted and so are we. It was all far too emotional and her birthday party which was great fun, was also very hard work and mentally and physically very trying!

Thursday was Js last day at Kindergarten and they have a "Celebration" ceremony which involves making a special crown, being in charge of ringing the bell and stamping everyones hand as they leave. This is clearly a very big responsibility and J took it very seriously! It was actually a really nice way to say goodbye to her friends at Kindy and we were given a fantastic record book of her time there. It was filled with photos of J taken since she had started at Kindy and showed her playing with all her friends and all the different activities she had taken part in. She loved her time there and is really going to miss it.

Friday was then her first day at school. This was a very big deal, especially for me! I still think she is far too short to be starting full time education. But J was very enthusiastic about the whole thing and couldn't wait to go in the morning. She has to take a packed lunch as the school doesn't have a Kitchen and she had a new bag and (thanks to her Great Grandparents) a new outfit.

When I picked her up she was limping and looking a bit sorry for herself. She had apparently fallen over at lunch time and she very proudly told me that she had needed "two whole plasters" to make it better. Her teacher came out and told me that she had been very happy all day apart from the falling over incident and seemed to be settling in well.

The school is not a very big one and all the staff are very approachable and friendly. It is much more open than most UK schools as you can wander into the school without having to go through reception and you are welcomed into the classroom at the start of the day. I really like the fact that the start of the school is made such a special event and all the children I have met are really looking forward to starting. J was welcomed by her teacher, her head of department and the Head Teacher himself. All individually came and welcomed her. It was a really good start to her school life.

It was Js party on Saturday from 2-4pm, and that was definitely long enough! We had jointly decided on a Dinosaur theme. So we had spent all week cutting out numerous dinosaurs and footprints to decorate the house. Everyone we had invited turned up so we had 8 very excited little girls and one brave little boy running around the house at high speed. We are now experts in party games and can recommend the bursting dinosaur egg game (balloons with tiny dinosaur babies inside), hunt the cake (T-Rex stolen the cake which they have to find using photo clues) and the dinosaur egg and spoon race (decorated hard boiled eggs). One very important tip is to not scare them too much. We made a dinosaur cave out of a large cardboard box which I introduced by saying that they had to crawl through the box in turn and if they were in there whilst the music was on they would be eaten by the T-Rex. This, I now know, is rather scary for 4 and 5 year old girls and so they all refused to crawl through!

The party in the end was really good fun and as you can see from the photos, I think everyone enjoyed themselves!

We created a "jurassic atmosphere" with cartoon dinos and lots of footprints.

The birthday girl.
The amazing cake!

A view of NZ from 3 and a half feet.

2009-09-05T15:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend we were lucky enough to borrow a kiddies digital camera from our local Toy Library. So my two girls have been busily recording our Sunday using the camera. The photos below are just a few of the hundreds of photos they took between them. I think it gives an interesting look into their world view!

It took me ages to figure out what this is a picture of. See if you can guess.

Yes my daughters are gorgeous.

Gosh that's a nice pink dressing gown.

Some feet and the dishwasher!

Rather a good portrait taken by the younger artist.

The younger "artist".

Some feet!

A self portrait.

A back seat view.

A child's view out of the car.

Yes, we are determined to use the barbecue as much as possible.

Interesting garden views.

They managed to take a lot of pictures of their tongues!

Sheds and Schools

2009-08-30T14:49:00.001-07:00

I have decided that I our house is essentially not that different from the tree house that my Dad built myself and my brother and sister. It moves in the wind and the rain thunders on the roof. You can also feel the gusts through the windows just like in the tree house which had no glass. Double glazing seems to be unheard of over here.

We have been having some very windy and wet weather over the last few days. The gusts have been between 100-140km/hr and the rain has been falling in sheets. I was lying in bed last night and I could feel the whole house rattle and shake. It was like sleeping in a rather rickety old shed. I now realise why all the curtains in the house are so well lined, its obviously to keep out the drafts, a kind of linen double glazing. This morning there had been another landslide across the rail tracks causing delays into Wellington again and the sea was a murky brown colour as opposed to the glittering blue/green it is most days.

I have not been able to post over the weekend like I normally do as we have all been getting ready for my daughters first trial day at school. She gets to go to school for an hour today, Tuesday and Wednesday, to meet her teacher, class mates and get used to the routine. This happens for two weeks until she actually starts school on her 5th birthday. I think I have said before on my blog that I really like the NZ way of starting school on your birthday as it makes it all very individual. Well after the next month I will be able to confirm whether it works as well as I think it will!

This morning we picked up J (my oldest daughter) from Kindy just before 11am and took her across to the school next door. We were taken from the school office to her classroom. It was break time so there were kids milling around everywhere. Her teacher Ms Griffin introduced herself and showed J were to put her coat. J then met all her class mates (there are only 13 in her class) who came up to say hello. Most of them she already knew as they had been to her Kindy. J was led away by a nice girl called Holly and taken to do some drawing at a desk. From this point on it was clear I was no longer needed. So I tried very hard not to show that this was somewhat upsetting and took my remaining baby to have a hot chocolate and a fluffy in the local cafe.

When we returned an hour later the first thing J said was "can I not stay the whole day Mummy!". I am now obviously completely redundant!

This afternoon we went shopping to get a new school bag and lunch box.

A Royal Beach and Barbecue

2009-08-23T00:03:00.000-07:00

The sun came out this weekend and so we headed off to the beach at Queen Elizabeth Park.

"Kids in paradise" is how the man we met on our walk described this photo - I tend to agree.

Rolling down hills is always great fun!

I have decided that I am slowly turning into my parents as we have started to tour DIY stores on a Sunday. This weekend we came back with a barbecue. Despite the fact that spring has barely started it appears that we are not the only lunatics buying barbecues at this time of year. There were loads of other people loading them into the back of their cars.

My husband got lots of help and guidance putting it all together.

Unfortunately having taken a few hours to put the thing together, the sun had gone behind the clouds by the time it came to cook. However the sausages tasted great even though we ate them indoors. Hopefully this was just the first of many barbecues this year!

Six months in and what do you think?

2009-08-15T19:47:00.000-07:00

It has been almost exactly 6 months since we first set foot on New Zealand soil. My husband stood on the deck and asked me if I could remember why we had first made the decision to move 12000 miles . I replied that I think it we had agreed for him to apply for the job and then if he got it we would see what happened. Well, 8 months later here we are standing watching the clouds catch on the mountain tops in the distance.

I think its safe to say now that we made the right decision. Life is good over here. The girls are the happiest I have seen them in a long time and although my better half is working hard at the moment he is slowly settling into the NZ work culture.

For myself I have finally discovered that Kiwis are actually just as reserved as the British and it takes a while to form friendships but I have now developed such a busy social life that I am barely at home during the week. We have playgroups, coffee mornings, kindy gym, music groups, dance lessons and play dates to arrange. Its a social whirl!

Okay, I realise that this is actually my daughters social life that I am tagging along on, but I have actually made a few good friends among the other Mums and they are able to remind me that I am still capable of adult conversations every now and then.

I have also finally put in my qualifications to be assessed so that I can teach over here. It took quite a while to get all my certificates and Academic Transcripts in order. It involved lots of late night conversations with a very nice but quite elderly welsh lady at my old University while I attempted to explain the urgency of the situation and could she please do the copies before going on her holiday to Spain!

There are still many things that I miss and I still have dreams of driving along familiar roads in Sussex and Wiltshire (and rather oddly the stretch of the M4 around Bristol). My family are the one thing that I really wish we could bring over with us. I am not sure that will ever get any easier but thanks to Skype I am able to talk to them every day. The girls demand to talk to Nanny and Grandad over breakfast most days and I would allow them to do this if it wasn't such a rush to get to Kindy on time.

Well this is my summary of our findings after 6 months living in New Zealand - Lets see what the next 6 months brings!

The girls about to go to their first ever disco. There were an awful lot of Fairies, Princesses, Batmans, Spidermans and even Buzz Lightyears at this disco!

For the first time ever we have made our own lemonade from our own lemon tree.

Licking the bowl clean is still as popular as ever.

My daughters manners have not improved over the last six months.

Signs of Spring

2009-08-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

We have had a glorious weather for almost two weeks now. Its been fab. We have been out on loads of walks and to numerous parks and beaches. All the sunshine makes you feel so much better after the cold wet and rainy time we had before.

People have given me varied views on whether this means spring has sprung. One rather depressing view was that this was just a brief pause and colder wetter weather would soon return. Another person (who's opinion I prefer) says this weather is the start of better things to come. I certainly hope she is right!

I thought I would post some of the photos I have taken over the last two weeks which I think definitely indicate that Spring is on its way.

All this fresh air can be very tiring on little legs.

There is a great play area in the Botanic Gardens which was extremely popular when we went.

Coffee in the sun in the Rose Garden.

Lambs - very springy!

Snow capped mountains in the distance from sunny Wellington.

There is a lot of blossom around, which I am convinced is a sure sign of Spring.

Blossom at the Botanic Garden.

I am writing this having listened to the rain pounding on the roof this morning so it seems this weekend is not going to be quite as sunny as the last one. However my mini weather station does seem to think its 18C outside so perhaps things may still improve!

Horsing Around (Angels on horseback)

2009-08-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

Inspired by reading another Wellington blog (http://www.chezlee.co.nz/) we decided to try the girls horse riding this weekend. We went to the Country Club Riding Academy (http://www.horsetrekking.co.nz/page/home.aspx) in Oharui Valley about a twenty minute drive from us.

The girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves and as it was their first time on horse back where surprisingly unfazed by the size of the pony or the speed when trotting. Our pony was called Duchess and she was very calm (bordering on half asleep) and seemed to want to spend most of the time in the corner of the arena where the sun was shining. She kept walking around with us and as we entered the sunny corner, would become unstoppable and head straight onwards towards the fence and halt with her rear end facing into the sun. Having said that she really was the perfect horse for the girls to have their first ride on. She was very gentle with them when they tried to give her very passionate cuddles at the end of the ride.

The riding centre looked fantastic and caters for all types of riders. So next weekend I may well be going on a trek myself.

Very little people on a large stubborn pony.

Views of Wellington City

2009-08-01T21:04:00.000-07:00

I have, for quite a few years, been intensely jealous of my brother and sister who live in Brighton. For anyone who doesn't know this city its lively, trendy and quite beautiful in places and located on the south coast of England. Its surrounded by the stunning Sussex countryside but still has all the culture and facilities that you would expect from a big city whilst only being moderately sized. Needless to say we have never been able to find jobs that would allow us to live in the area so I have had to put up with being envious from afar.

However having moved to the other side of the world I think I have finally found an area that has that magic combination of good access to the countryside and open spaces, but still contains all the best things that urban areas have to offer. Wellington is the kind of city that I think you can fall in love with. The approach to the city along the highway from the north is stunning on a sunny day with amazing views across the bay. The city itself, although not very big (Wellingtons population is only approximately 179'000 which makes it about the same size as Bournemouth in the UK) has all the facilities that you need and all are fairly easy to reach.

We took a walk around the centre of Wellington City this weekend and explored Cuba Street. This area has a very trendy, bohemian feel to it and is full of very interesting looking book shops, trendy clothing boutiques, coffee shops and odd stores filled with objet d'art. We would love to have spent a few hours investigating some of these stores but having two young children with us meant this was simply not a wise idea and we had to do a speedy review of the area instead.

Cuba street reminded me of a cross between the 1960's city centres of Swansea, Eastbourne and parts of Slough in the UK. I must admit the $2 shop doesn't have a very bohemian feel to it and this area in the photo below could be a street in Bracknell! I don't think my photos really do this area justice and I was unable to really take appropriate photos in this area as I was accompanied by two very tired and apparently starving individuals who moaned almost continually.

Traffic in the city is fairly bad particularly at peak hours - but that's the same in any country.

A Floating Orb!

Looking towards the harbour.

Climbing around on the waterfront.

Towards the container port.

The view from the waterfront.

Not another photo Mummy!

A Trip to Te Papa

2009-07-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

The weather forecast told of frequent showers this morning so we decided to head into Wellington City and explore Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. We had been to the museum and Waterfront in Wellington before but it really warrants a second trip. I really like this museum as it always reminds me what a unique place New Zealand is. One of the last places on earth to be populated by man and with a unique set of animal life and natural hazards. A Geography teachers dream location!

The Moa found only in New Zealand and thought to have become extinct in about 1500. They were hunted by the Maori and by the Haasts eagle.

The Weta - found in its largest form in New Zealand can apparently grow up to 90mm. We have only found one about and inch and a half long on our bathroom window. That was big enough. The name derives from the Maori "wetapunga" which roughly translates as "God of Ugly Things". Appropriate I think!

Designing a Squid.

The girls standing in front of some distant relatives.

The girls explore a Whales heart - and yes it is actual size!

I took this photo because the Geographer in me couldn't ignore this amazing visual display of the damage done by human settlement on New Zealand. The green on the maps indicates the forested areas before man, after Maori settlement and subsequent European settlement. There is a stark difference as you can see.

This photo doesn't do this story telling stage justice - the carvings and figurines were amazing.

A house just the right size for the girls.

"Do you know sheep have bottoms Mummy?"

2009-07-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

Following the extremely windy and stormy weather we have been having this week Saturday came as a bit of a surprise. It was bright and sunny and despite the chilly southerly wind it was reasonably warm.

I had to leave the house uncharacteristically early for a weekend morning, as I had volunteered to help out at the fundraising clothing sale at the Kindergarten. I headed down all enthusiastic and brimming over with helpfulness, only to be told that they had enough people and I could go home if I wanted. So I turned up back home, having woken up early on the weekend with nowhere to go. So we decided to head to Plimmerton and take the girls rock pooling on the beach.

The crabs obviously heard us coming but we did find lots of interesting shells.

Battle Hill Farm Forest Park is the site of one of the last battles between Maori and early colonial forces in this area. Its only about 10 minutes drive from us so we decided to go and explore the area this Sunday. The park itself appears to be run partly as a working farm, educational centre and environmental restoration area. It is stunning and we will definitely have to return in the summer although I would imagine that its is significantly more crowded than it was today.

We had to pass through fields of sheep and subsequently sheep poo. It was at this point that my youngest came out with the classic question "Do you know sheep have bottoms Mummy?". "Well yes they do and they tend to be furry!" was my response - not much else you can say to that really.

Its always surprising how green the countryside is even though its mid winter.

A constant supply of chicken nuggets and doughnuts kept the girls going.

The park contains part of the area known as Transmission Gully which is the proposed new route for State Highway 1 (SH1). It has been a very controversial proposal as SH1, which is currently a rather dangerous winding road which at points goes directly next to the sea, desperately needs improvements. However the route through Transmission Gully will be expensive to construct and goes through an area which is extremely beautiful. Having walked in this area I think there must be a way of avoiding destroying all this beauty.

We completed the Wetlands Walk through Swampy Gully Paddock - the name says it all really!

Looking towards Transmission Gully in the distance.

Windy Wellington and Cakes for Kindy

2009-07-23T01:43:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning to the thunder of rain on the roof and the constant knocking of the back garden gate in the wind. We knew it was windy in Wellington before we moved here. Researching the area, we found almost all the videos on You Tube of Wellington are made by people filming the effects of the wind on their back garden or local area. Well sticking with this trend, below is a video of our back garden taken this morning. The weather has been rather rough all day and the drive back from the train station this evening was rather treacherous due to the sea breaking on to the road in places and flash flooding. It was a rather exciting ride.

Kindergarten is having a fundraising clothes sale and in an attempt to help out I rather rashly volunteered to make cakes for their stall. So the girls and I spent the morning baking.

There were plenty of volunteers to lick the bowl.

The cake mixture was very popular so hopefully the cooked cake will taste just as good.

The finished product!

A Summer Birthday in Mid Winter.

2009-07-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

It was my birthday this week and in all the thirty-ish years before this, it has occurred at the height of summer. I would normally have spent my birthday going for a picnic and lunch sitting in the sun by the sea. However being on the other side of the world and the fact that it is mid winter here meant that we had to change our plans this year. My girls, with a little help from my husband made the amazing cake shown above. It was delicious and subsequently didn't last very long.

Luckily for the first time in a couple of weeks the sun decided to come out this weekend and we headed out for a walk in the sunshine with the "elves" at Rivendale in Kaitoke.

According to my daughters the elves use the picnic benches for their lunches and dinners!

Even in mid winter the river looks magical.

The girls insisted on doing a bit of paddling before we left.

Lots of interesting stones!

Dropped off the edge of the world...

2009-07-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

Wellington is 1378 miles from Sydney and 11'713 miles from London. It will take you 3 hours to get to Fiji our nearest neighbour and a whopping 26 hours to get from Wellington to London. That's a long way from home and sometimes it feels like we live in a very different world. However at other times we might just be living in a quiet seaside town on the south coast of England as things are so familiar. It is very difficult to explain to people who haven't been to New Zealand how some things are so like home whilst others can be quite alien.

People over here do apparently speak English but sometimes I wonder. I can at times get a bit stuck when people ask me things in shops and it takes me a few seconds to work out what it is they are saying. Its the vowels that cause the problem. A sounds like E and E becomes I. Also, like the Welsh, all the sentences tend to end as if a question is being asked with an upward inflexion. There was a brilliant article by David Killick on the New Zealand accent in the Dominion Post. He quotes Arch Acker's 1996 book "New Zild and How to Speak It".

"It includes such classics as "Air mice poster" ("Air mice poster sleep while you keep making all that noise?") And the answer to the question "Do you speak English?" "Ear sick horse!" (Yes, of course.)"

My eldest daughter is already picking up the accent from Kindy. She has been heard to say "I wuw" for "I will" and "dress" is now "driss". I think its rather cute and I am rather pleased that my daughters will hopefully become proper little kiwis one day!

I was driving back across the hills between Lower Hutt and Porirua where the you pass golf courses and fields of sheep and I had a moment of confusion when I suddenly thought I was back driving across the Somerset countryside and the Mendips. The countryside was so familiar looking. The radio was playing the Eagles and I could have been listening to Radio 2. Its very bizarre how you can be 12'000 miles away and things are so very similar.

However I then got home and began adding the remaining items to our emergency pack before putting it back in the garage. This is something you just don't have to think about back in England. There is a distinct lack of Natural Hazards in the UK - many other unnatural hazards, but not many earthquakes or volcanoes!

Watching the latest episodes of "Torchwood" over the Internet and seeing all the familiar landmarks in Cardiff and London made us both rather homesick. We have both worked in London where you can't help but feel at the centre of things. Out here on an Island on the edge of the Pacific (where even U2 don't come on tour!) you can feel somewhat out of touch with the rest of the world. We still keep in touch with world events via the BBC news website where our part of the world is rarely mentioned. Its like we have fallen off the edge of the world.

However I still don't want to move back. The population of the UK is estimated to be about 61 million, 11 million living in London alone. New Zealand, which is a similar size to the UK, in total has a population of just over 4.1 million. It feels like a country that is just beginning its journey and is full of possibilities. People are generally optimistic and are looking outward for opportunities. The great "overseas experience" is part of the culture. Almost everyone you meet has spent time abroad and brought that experience and world outlook back with them. It is not an insular country and welcomes the diversity of its population. It obviously has its problems as all countries do but after 4 and a bit months here I don't want to return to the UK yet and hope that we can all eventually become Kiwis. "Uzza toe kay"?

Mid Winter Health Scares!

2009-07-09T19:23:00.000-07:00

It has been the first week of the mid winter holidays and we have certainly been missing the sun this week. My eldest daughter has been desperately missing Kindy and my husband has been suffering from a bad dose of flu. This meant that the first half of this week has been spent trying to convince him he should be staying in bed and cancelling various play dates we had arranged just in case it was Swine Flu.

We have had our first experience of the health care system in New Zealand this week due to daughter Number 1s ear ache. Luckily we are now registered with our local GPs surgery as we have been on the waiting list for three months. I rang them up in the morning and explained that my daughter had been in tears with ear ache for the last hour and they gave me an appointment at 12 o'clock. Something that would never have happened in the UK - we always had to wait at least a day or two to get to see our last UK GP.

So I gave my daughter some Ibuprofen and we headed down there at twelve. Parked the car and hopped out and my daughter announced that her ear was no longer hurting. She skipped all the way to the Surgery and chatted to the receptionist looking the picture of health. I found myself sounding very unconvincing when the Doctor could see nothing wrong with her ear and I was saying "honestly she was in tears earlier from the pain"! Typical four year old behaviour!

The Doctor was very nice and I certainly felt we had more time to see him than in the UK - it was less of a conveyor belt service. But then we do have to pay for it here. I still feel somewhat uncomfortable handing over money to someone who has your, or your child's health in their hands. I feel (unreasonably I know) that people should provide your health care out of the goodness of their hearts, rather than charging money. I guess that's the result of growing up with National Health Service!

The Doctor asked if we had any health insurance and I had to be honest and say that no, we hadn't thought about that yet. I suddenly felt like a very poor parent, moving to a foreign country with no kind of health cover for my children. We had researched it briefly before we moved and knew that we were covered for emergencies and we had come across the statistic that 70% of people in New Zealand do not have health insurance. This reassured us somewhat and thought we would organise it when we got over here. Of course life overtakes you and its something we haven't got round to doing yet - but clearly according to this Doctor we should do something about it now!

So obviously the first thing I do is have a chat with my neighbour about it. Her summing up of the health service in New Zealand is not great - she thinks the service is shoddy and the waiting lists huge. She has spent time living in the UK and thinks the NHS is great compared to the services in New Zealand. Oh great - is my immediate reaction. I have never thought that much of the NHS, its overstretched and under resourced in my experience - so what must it be like in New Zealand!

Well luckily we are all reasonably healthy at the moment and hopefully we will stay that way - but just in case we will be researching Health Insurance Policies this weekend!

The biggest news in the Brunt household this week is the arrival of the much awaited new mattress for our bed. We have been sleeping on inflatable mattresses and a futon for the last 4 months - so our first night in a proper bed was bliss! So yes Mum and Dad - you will have a very comfy bed to sleep on when you come to visit - we won't be giving you the futon, no matter how much my husband protests!

Bugs n Bugs

2009-07-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

I think either flu or the dreaded "Swine flu" has hit the Brunt household this week. My poor husband has spent most of Sunday feeling very sorry for himself and wrapped up in a duvet on the sofa. Last time I looked at the news there have been over 229 confirmed cases of Swine Flu in Wellington. I would imagine that there are a lot more cases were people have just been looking after themselves at home without bothering the medical services. The symptoms appear to be fairly mild in most cases and the Department of Health advises people to not worry unless they have an underlying medical problem.

The girls have both had cold/flu symptoms over the last couple of weeks but are obviously feeling better today as they have been dancing around the living room to Abba hits all morning. They have spent the last week examining bugs and insects in the back garden and attempting to identify them in the "Big Book of Bugs" that we've borrowed from our local library. We have a slightly more interesting array of insects in New Zealand than in the UK. At least things seem to be made rather larger over here. Luckily there are only two poisonous spiders in New Zealand and they are both very shy and rarely seen (the Katipo and Redback Spider). There has not been a confirmed death from one in the last 100 years. I still told the girls not to touch any spiders in our back garden just in case!

We found some rather spectacular stick insects and what I think is some sort of Mantis on our front door.

The girls would also like to say a big thank you to Great Nan and Grandad who sent the teddy, doll and sweeties all the way from the UK. They were both really pleased to discover the parcel in the post box yesterday, and as you can tell from the pictures they were very happy with the toys. Thanks Nan and Grandad. XX

In Praise of Fluffies!

2009-06-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about New Zealand for kids is the invention of the Fluffy. This is a drink that you can get in most of the cafes and coffee shops in Wellington. It consists of frothy milk in a cup and saucer and is often drizzled with chocolate sauce or powder. It also comes accompanied by two or three marshmallows in our local cafe, this makes it irresistible to the girls. Its so popular with my youngest I can use it as a bribe to get her to help Mummy do the shopping (which is normally absolute torture!). This Sunday prior to our walk on the beach we warmed up with Fluffies and coffee first.

It was a bit of a grey day but the views on Paraparamou beach were still stunning.

Despite the grey weather the girls loved paddling and searching for shells.

The Brunt women.

Lots of birds!

We were followed by a lot of gulls and I was quite surprised that my camera managed to get this shot.

TV in New Zealand

2009-06-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

The weather has been awful this last week and the girls have both had snotty noses and nasty colds. This has led to us all being in the house a lot more than usual and we have ended up watching far more telly than I would have liked!

I can now officially say that I really miss the BBC. One of the most annoying things is the fact that you can't watch a programme for more than 10 minutes without it being interrupted by adverts. To be fair we only have the TV channels available on Freeview, as we used to in the UK, so I do not know if there are some amazing programmes that we are missing available on the various subscription packages such as Sky.

We have the Television New Zealand (TVNZ) channels that are free to air. These consist of TV One, TV2, TVNZ6 and TVNZ 7. We also receive the fully commercial channels TV 3 and C4. TVNZ is a government owned corporation television network. Around ninety percent of its funding is from commercials and merchandising and the rest from the government. This makes it rather different from the BBC and it offers far more commercial and rating grabbing content (light entertainment, overseas programming and reality TV shows). The schedules are full of American sitcom repeats (Friends and Two and a Half men), soap operas (Shortland Street and Coronation Street) and reality TV (Grand designs and Shipwrecked). Some of the programmes are unbelievably old and things I haven't seen since I was a child. I remember watching the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" when I was a growing up and "Home Improvement" which is shown at 5pm on weekdays must be over fifteen years old.

However having discussed this with my other half he concludes that he would much rather watch TV on a Saturday night over here than what is likely to be on BBC1 and 2 in the UK. They do have some good new films on in the evenings and they have many American shows like "Lost" (how I hate that programme!), "Greys Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives". They also show some other good dramas and mini-series from overseas but very little made in New Zealand.

There are some documentaries and I was really pleased to spot Louis Theroux's Wierd Weekends is being repeated, and some of the local documentaries and arty type programmes are quite interesting. There are also a lot of the more sensational documentaries made by Channel 4 in the UK reappearing over here. Programmes on "Extreme Plastic Surgery" and the child preachers in America

I honestly never thought I would admit this but I really miss Cbeebies. It was a nice safe channel I could put on for the girls and not worry about it. There are no adverts and the programmes were vaguely educational. Over here on TVNZ 6 they have children's programmes until 4pm everyday, which unusually don't have any adverts in between them. A lot of these programmes seem to have originated in the UK, like Postman Pat and the Numberjacks for example, but they clearly do not have as much money to spend on kids programming as the BBC. There is one particularly annoying programme called "Party Animals" with 4 alien teddy bear creatures and a very annoying theme tune which the girls inexplicably love. But then I have to remember that the programmes are not aimed at thirty somethings!

There is only one poor bloke presenting the children's programmes daily from the early hours of the morning until 4pm. He obviously does not have any sort of life and spends his days pretending to be a robot and various animals in between introducing the programmes. Actually it looks like quite a cushy job!

There is very little home grown content and I don't understand why this is. There is plenty of Kiwi talent out there. Flight of the Chonchords is a good example of this but I can't see any sign of them or many other home grown shows on the Freeview channels, and this is a great shame. I can only conclude that people in New Zealand don't watch as much TV as we do in the UK. Which really is not such a bad thing!

New Zealand driving licences and smashing the car up - yet again!

2009-06-21T23:06:00.000-07:00

In New Zealand you are legally allowed to drive for up to a year on your UK licence. So I was not worried about sorting my licence out until later in the year. That was until I found out that I had a $800 excess on my car insurance whilst I still had my UK licence. This would be reduced to $4oo as soon as I got a New Zealand licence.

So last week we searched out the local "driver licensing agents" which turned out to be our local AA shop. The AA (Automobile Association) unlike in the UK, doesn't just operate over the phone and from their mobile fleet of yellow breakdown vans, but has shops in most towns. These shops seem to operate as driving licence agents and a general centre for AA products.

We made a memorable entrance to our local AA shop when I went to pick up the application form for my licence. My two year old daughter managed to get herself tangled up in the rope separating the queue and brought down the two metal poles onto her back. She consequently screamed the place down and gave me a heart attack at the same time. I managed to extract her from the poles and despite my imagination picturing her being in a wheelchair for life, it turned out there wasn't a mark on her. I think we rather disturbed the people who appeared to be filling in theory tests in the booths and I felt like asking if they could get a few extra marks for having the distraction to deal with!

Anyway despite the embarrassment I was very brave and returned to the AA shop again this week to hand in my completed form and get my licence. This time however we had to wait in the queue 40 minutes before being seen. Thankfully a miracle seemed to have occurred and my two girls were extremely well behaved and sat quietly for the entire time.

You don't need to take a theory or practical test if you have a current UK licence but what I didn't realise was that you have to have an eye test to get your New Zealand licence. They have a machine on the desk which looks like a cross between huge binoculars and a magnifying glass. You have to look through the top and read the letters appearing in rows, just as you would in a normal eye exam. I looked through the top and found that I could see the letters OK, at least I could see the general outline, but I was unable to see which letters they were. All very embarrassing as I had to admit I couldn't see a thing, and once again there was a huge queue behind me. I had to trudge back to the car with the girls and collect my glasses and take the test again.

I must be having a run of bad luck when it comes to cars as only a month ago someone backed into me and today I managed to back into a post and break my back light. Its going to cost me $200 to replace. When I phoned my husband to let him know the good news he responded by saying "don't worry, I know you were feeling a bit dopey this morning". Not patronising in the least!

Cost of food comparison - UK v New Zealand

2009-06-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

Having been talking to my Dad about the Farmers protests that have been going on in France (they have been burning shopping trolleys in supermarkets - their blog is at the bottom of the page if anyone is interested) it has got me thinking about the cost of living over here. Since there are basically only two big chains operating the four main supermarkets, there is a bit of a monopoly over here. So does this mean that we are paying over the odds for our weekly shop, and was it cheaper in the UK?

I thought I would do a cost comparison on the main products a family of four uses during a week. This is not a very scientific study as we tend to shop at Pack n Save and New World and I have used Tesco prices to represent the UK, but it does give an idea on what things cost in New Zealand.

All the things shown below show the price in New Zealand first followed by the price in the UK. Its just a selection of some of the stuff we buy as an average family of four.

Fruit and Veg.

Cucumber NZ $3.68 UK £0.70

Cheery Tomatoes Sml Punnet NZ $2.84 UK £1.49

Potatoes 2Kg NZ $4.98 UK £2.00

Carrots 0.5Kg NZ $0.80 UK £0.70

Bananas 1Kg NZ $2.84 UK £1.49

Apples 1Kg NZ $3.78 UK £1.75

Dairy

Flora Margerine $2.48 UK £1.28

Edam cheese 250gr $3.98 UK £1.50

Milk 3L NZ $4.64 UK £2.98

Meat

Beef mince (750gr) NZ $5.80 UK £4.00

Lamb Chops NZ (Approx 1Kg) $15.33 UK £10.00

Chicken breast (Approx 1Kg) NZ $20.00 UK £8.49

Cupboard

Watties Baked Beans NZ $1.50 UK £0.63

Tinned tomatoes NZ $0.98 UK £0.59

Hygiene

Colgate Advance NZ $4.48 £2.60

Nappies Pck 15 NZ $6.98 UK £5.94

Toilet Roll Pck 18 NZ $4.98 UK £6.25

Household

Finish dishwasher powder NZ $6.45 UK £8.00

Surf Powder concen. NZ $1.98 UK £2.24

Cost of total shop in the UK = £62.63

Cost of total shop in NZ = $96.84 (Approx £34.45)

This, admittedly rather rough survey, seems to indicate that it is cheaper to shop in New Zealand. Of course everything is relative and the average salary over here is a lot less than in the UK. This is a quote from an article in the NZHerald today;
"The average salary in New Zealand was $28,427, compared with $65,841 in Britain, but the average cost of a home was only $293,000, compared with $592,000 in Britain."

We have come across to New Zealand earning about the same amount as we did in the UK and we do find it financially a lot easier over here. However we have found a few nasty surprises such as the fuel bills for gas and electricity are certainly no cheaper and with the lack of insulation in the houses over here, tend to be on the high side.

Another quote from the NZ Herold - "New Zealand has been described as a "paradise" by British expats who moved here for a warmer climate and cheaper cost of living.". I don't agree with the bit about a warmer climate as its bl**dy cold here in Wellington at the moment. However I do think people from the UK move over because Kiwis have a better more relaxed approach to life and the work life balance is much better!

On the general theme of food - here are some gratuitous shots of the girls planting some rhubarb and beetroot in the back garden. Its the start of our self sufficiency dream!

If anyone can identify the herbs growing next to the girls we would be grateful as there is masses of the stuff and it could just be a weed. It has small purple/pink flowers and we think it might be thyme.

Paddling in Porirua

2009-06-12T23:23:00.000-07:00

We were determined to get out of the house today and get some fresh air and exercise. So even though the sky was rather full with grey ominous looking clouds, we decided to head out for a walk around Porirua Harbour. We drive by the harbour daily and it often looks stunning as the water can look like a mirror reflecting all the coloured houses around the edge. We kitted the girls out in wet weather gear and gum boots (wellies!) and promised them a McDonald's on way back if they didn't moan to much. In the end the bribe wasn't needed as they thoroughly enjoyed splashing in all the muddy puddles and paddling in the harbour.

This is the commuter train into Wellington. It has slightly better views than some of the commuter trains into London.

Its a serious business searching for trolls under bridges.

Even on a day like this you can see the reflections in the water.

Looking across the harbour towards the highway.

It might have been raining but the girls didn't seem to notice - they were too busy spotting all the suitable puddles to paddle in.

Heading towards the Pautahanui Inlet and the marina.

We spotted this bird and think its a New Zealand Kingfisher. It dived into the water and came out with a tiny fish. Amazing to watch.

Grass is not greener.........just more fun to mow!

2009-06-10T00:39:00.000-07:00

From what you see on programs like "Wanted Down Under" you would think that when you move abroad life suddenly becomes amazing and you never have to deal with the mundane everyday business of work, washing up and wiping snotty noses. Well of course its not like that. You still have to go to work, you still have to get the kids up and washed and scrubbed in time for Kindy, and you still have to pay the bills.

It has been a reminder this week that life can still be, at times a bit of a slog, even in New Zealand. I have had some kind of sore throat, coldy type thing and generally feeling like I don't want to get out of bed in the mornings. The girls have also been feeling under the weather. My youngest has been waking up at three in the morning and climbing into bed with my oldest and waking her, and us up in the process. My husband has had to work late several times this week and is tired and grumpy. I blame the weather. It very hard when you are sitting watching the rain thunder down and 12000 miles away in Brittany your Mum and Dad are describing how difficult it is coping with the heat wave they are having.

This week has been hard and it has highlighted the fact that when I am feeling less than 100% there is no one here who can give me hand and there is no family to lean on. Its also difficult and hard work making friends in a new country. People are extremely friendly here and go out of their way to help you and make you feel welcome. It can still take time however to form friendships where you feel fully at ease and don't worry whether the joke you make might be taken the wrong way or whether they will understand a reference to Dr Who (it comes up a lot in conversations, honestly!). It could just be me who worries about things like this, but it can take a lot of time to form good friendships and networks of people you can turn to when things get tough.

However, having had a good moan, I think I should point out that I have no regrets about moving here. I just have to look at how happy my two girls are. My oldest has made so many new friends at Kindy and is desperate to get there every morning. My youngest loves exploring the countryside and beaches. We all get to see a lot more of my husband who we barely used to see in the UK as his commute was so horrendous. I am slowly but surely beginning to make friends amongst the other Mums in the area and should be able to start back at work soon. The other thing I should mention is how lucky I feel every morning when I look out the window and see the sea.

Searching for Seals

2009-06-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

I was woken up this morning by a very wet lick on the nose. This wouldn't have surprised me if we still had our dog, but as she was unable to come to New Zealand with us it was a bit worrying. It turns out our 2 year old had decided that she was going to be a dog this morning and thought the best way of getting Mummy to wake up was to lick me on the nose!

This Sunday we are all rather tired, as we decided yesterday to yet again try and find these elusive seals which apparently can be spotted off the coast of Wellington. We ended up at Tuarakirae Head on the other side of Wellington Bay. Its a beautiful spot and the sky was so clear you could see across to the South Island and the snow capped mountains. We had a great walk all the way to the marine reserve but failed to spot any seals. I imagine that my two girls loud and repeated renditions of "Wheels on the bus" might have scared them off!

It was the start of winter on the 1st of June so it was surprisingly warm and sunny.

Lots of sheep!

Arty sheepy shot!

A Peaceful Nation of Kiwis

2009-06-03T01:07:00.000-07:00

New Zealand has been named the "Worlds most peaceful nation" in a survey carried out by the Australia based Institute for Economics and Peace. In contrast the UK was back in 35th place out of the 144 countries ranked. This survey places NZ alongside countries like Denmark, Norway and Austria.

I have noticed that NZ feels a lot safer than the UK. Kids are out walking to and from school on their own and out playing in parks. The kindergarten and schools have none of the security measures and checks that you have to get past just to get collect your own child back in England. I have never felt the need to switch on the central locking on my car when driving in Wellington. I used to automatically back home ever since my laptop was taken from the back seat as I slowed at a junction.

As I walk back from kindergarten with the girls its often feels to me like I have stepped back in time. The area in which we live reminds me of England 15 or 20 years ago when I was growing up. The kids out playing and people stopping to say hello and have a quick natter about the weather. Its a nice friendly, peaceful place. Long may it stay this way!

Four Seasons in One Day

2009-05-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

We have been busy unpacking this weekend and watching the weather pass by our living room. The forecasters predicted snow and so far we have seen bright sunshine, hail, rain and snow. We have rather a good view from our lounge and can see the hail pass from east to west across the valley below.

I am wondering if our cheap Ikea furniture is now more valuable as we have shipped it twelve thousand miles and there is no Ikea in this country? Probably not!

Nothing can describe how pleasurable it is to actually be able to sit at a proper table and eat your breakfast after 3 months of sitting on the floor and eating off your lap.

Naughty toads on the balcony!

Watching the hail fall is fascinating when your two!

Hail in our back garden.

Ten minutes after the hail and its bright sunshine again. This is the view from our balcony towards Pautahanui inlet.

The girls thought it would be a good idea to helpfully point out all the mistakes Daddy was making when putting the shelves together.

According to my girls the empty boxes make excellent pirate ships, cars, buses and many other innovative forms of transport.

Would you pay £6000 to transport this lot 12'000 miles? ....Er yes actually I would.

2009-05-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

Our furniture has finally arrived. Almost exactly 3 months after we waved goodbye to it in Brussels. All our belongings are now surrounding me packed in cardboard boxes and bubble wrap. Its going to take us weeks to unpack it all but I don't care as I am just so glad to see all the little treasured possessions (read cheap souvenirs we collected at odd times) that make me feel at home.

I unpacked our headless "Wallace and Gromit" alarm clock and sat looking at it. I thought that people would probably think we were mad bringing this 12000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. But I don't think I am. Its items like this that make a house feel like home. Its the tatty teddy you've owned for thirty years and the table that you brought for a £1 on Ebay that no one else wants but mean something important to you. This makes it worth while paying to bring things all the way to the other side of the world. At least this is what I will keep telling DH every time he unwraps another bit of odd "objet d'art" and asks "why the hell did we bring this?".

Living for three months without any of your possessions, makes you realise just how little you actually need in life. We have survived on the clothes we brought with us in our suitcases, some inflatable mattresses, duvets, a set of saucepans, cutlery, a kettle and my laptop. It makes you wonder why it was so important to you to go and spend a couple of hundred on the latest games console or the new picture for the lounge or that coffee maker (with the horrendously expensive sachets). Why do we need all this stuff?

Well I guess I'm back to where I started - we need all this stuff to make it feel like home. Just not necessarily all of it!

Toys - obviously the first thing we unpacked!

The TV - the first thing we got working!

Wind, Rain, Aliens and Monsters.

2009-05-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

Its been a very wet and windy weekend so we have been unable to take one of our usual treks into the New Zealand countryside. So we decided to "boldly go where no parent of a two year old has gone before" and attempt the cinema with the girls. There is a big cinema in the shopping mall in Lower Hutt so we decided to go there. I wanted to see the new Star Trek movie but the girls were unlikely to be interested in how James T Kirk got the T in his name so we opted for "Monsters V Aliens".

It is a great film and surprisingly I got to see quite a lot of it. Dd2 managed to watch most of the film sitting in her own seat. She only got bored in the last half an hour when she started walking between myself and DH and tipping the remaining popcorn over the seats in artistic patterns.

The girls review of the film is shown below.

Kiwi houses are "bl**dy cold"!

2009-05-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

Well I guess the title sums up this post really. It has been really cold here the last few days, not cold by British standards but pretty cold when you are not expecting it to be. The sun is out and shinning brightly but the wind is biting cold, blowing antarctic air and its absolutely freezing. The weird thing is we haven't had any frosts but our house at night has been really chilly (It was 8C in our lounge this morning!). People told me that houses in New Zealand were like this but I guess I didn't really believe it would get this cold.

I obviously grow up with nice insulated, double glazed and centrally heated houses and I think this must of made me a bit soft by Kiwi standards. But really I didn't expect to feel the need to put a hat on at night and several layers of clothing on my kids before they go to bed.

I have been moaning about this a fair bit and my husbands kind response is "what do you expect we are living in what is basically a wooden shack". And I suppose he is right. Its a lovely new house with all the modern luxuries and there are no obvious drafts. However it only has single pane glazing and virtually no insulation in the walls of the house. So I imagine that most of the heat is just lost through the walls.

Central heating is unheard of in New Zealand. Some lucky people might have wood burning stoves or fires but most don't have any form of heating other than the electric fires and storage heaters which you can find in all the shops at this time of year. We have a DVS system in our house which is not a heating system but a way of keeping the house dry by making sure the air circulates and the moisture is removed. It does have a heating element which you can switch on and this slightly heats the air coming into the house. We used this for the past month but will not be using it this month as our electricity bill was enormous.

A friend I have met recently has just had a heat pump installed in her house. This sounds like a good idea as its theoretically fairly economical. It works by extracting the heat from the air outside the house (its the same principal as a fridge extracting the cold air) and then circulates it in the house. Apparently it works really well. So when we get our own house we will be buying one of those.

Until then we have invested in slippers from the Warehouse shop. This was very popular with the girls. I am keeping an eye out for thermal underwear and woolly hats!

This is a photo for my Nan and Grandad - to say thank you for the colouring books. As you can see the girls made good use of them.

Eastbourne in the Drizzle - Butterfly Creek

2009-05-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

We are determined to get out and see as much of our local area as possible, whatever the weather. So this Saturday we headed off towards Eastbourne which is on the opposite side of the bay to Wellington City. We were really curious to see if this Eastbourne bore any resemblance to the one on the south coast of the UK.

Well Eastbourne in New Zealand is by the sea and does have a mini pier like structure where the ferries come in but that appears to be where the resemblance ends. There is no promenade, Arndale centre or Treasure Island on the seafront. However the views across the bay are fantastic and the scenic drive along the coast is breath taking.

We didn't actually stop in Eastbourne itself but headed towards Butterfly Creek which lies in the hills just behind the town.

The photos do not really do this area justice as the climb up gives you amazing views across the bays but unfortunately the weather was a bit dodgy and the clouds and rain obscured the view.

We had to bribe the girls with gingerbread men!

The paths through Butterfly Creek were cut out during the depression by unemployed workmen through the sheer bedrock by the look of it.

And once again it was fairly windy!

What do we miss?

2009-05-14T15:41:00.000-07:00

It has been another tough week as we still all have colds and to top it off some silly woman backed into my car. This made me rather upset and since I couldn't get hold of DH I ended up phoning my Dad up in France. It was only 5.30am in the morning in France but I think my Dad handled it very well. Having a 33year old grown woman ringing him up in tears from the other side of the world and moaning about, what turned out to be, a minor scratch on the car, is something my Dad can obviously take in his stride!

So I thought it was time we reminded ourselves why we are here. I have asked everyone why they like living in New Zealand and what they miss about the UK.

Things I like about New Zealand.

1. The weather. Very changeable and exciting. (4 seasons in one day - as Crowded House said).
2. The countryside and the accessibility of it.
3. The people. Very friendly, welcoming and easy going.
4. Kid friendly environment. Excellent schools, facilities for kids.
5. Roads/Driving. Apart from the recent incident a great place to drive.
6. DHs commute. We get to see a lot more of him.
7. Potential for me to go back to work. Should be fairly easy hopefully.
8. Earthquakes and Volcanoes - very exciting geography!

Things I miss about the UK

1. Family - Its not quite the same talking on Skype - and it is very difficult when people are unwell and you can't just hop on a plane as the price from 12'000 miles away is just too prohibitive.
2. Friends
3. Doctor Who - OK there are a few programmes that I really miss - the TV here is generally dire.
4. Custard Creams.
5. Radio 2 - Terry Wogan in the morning. Bit young to be a tog really.

I asked the girls what they liked about New Zealand and what they missed about the UK.

Snotty Kiwis at Wellington Zoo

2009-05-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

It has been a bit of a tough week in Wellie this week as we have had our first bout of colds and snotty noses New Zealand style and the Autumn/Winter weather has really begun. We have had lots of heavy rain and high winds which has meant we can't get out much and it has been a bit grim stuck in an almost empty house.

Dd2 has been getting her back teeth through and they have been keeping her up at night and both myself and Dh have caught a heavy head cold. No its not swine flue although we have thoroughly checked the symptoms online just to make sure!

The weather improved slightly on Sunday although there was still a cold southerly wind. So we decided to have a stroll around Wellington Zoo. Its located near the centre of Wellington City and is quite compact but is still a brilliant day out.

DD2 and a Terrapin.

It was cold so chips and hot chocolate were a necessity.

The Chimpanzees had a commanding view over Wellington city and appeared to be watching a rugby match going on in the stadium next door.

Giraffes, obviously!

DD2 and some wild dogs from Australia.

You could get some really good views of the animals.

DD2 meets the lizards and the lizards meet DD2.

DD1 and the baby chimpanzee. He was only six months younger than DD2 and we noticed lots of similarities in behaviour!

The highlight of the day was meeting a real "live" Kiwi. They are nocturnal animals and unfortunately rather rare now in New Zealand and so you are unlikely to see one in the wild. They are the most fascinating and bizarre creatures I have ever seen. You can easily see why they are unlikely to have survived or evolved anywhere else other than New Zealand as they have no defences against any mammals and would be easily wiped out if not protected.

They have a nocturnal house in the zoo where you can see Kiwis in there natural night time habitat but they also give people an opportunity to meet a one legged kiwi called Tahi (which means "One" in Maori). He used to live wild in the forests near Auckland but was caught in a Possum trap and lost his leg. The man who set the trap found Tahi and took him to a vet who amputated his leg and he ended up at Wellington Zoo. They made him a prosthetic leg (in the hope this would help him to breed as he couldn't get his balance right) which he used for a while but he prefers to hop around on one leg.

Are you prepared?....Er ......no not really.

2009-05-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

The earthquake last week has got me thinking that maybe we should have taken all the leaflets and booklets about preparing for emergencies a bit more seriously. When we moved into our house there were several booklets left in the kitchen draw about being prepared for emergencies and getting an emergency kit ready.

Its easy to forget that New Zealand forms part of the pacific ring of fire. It lies on the active boundary between the Australian and Pacific plates and is one of the most seismically active places in the world. North of Wellington there are a number of active and potentially active volcanoes in the Taupo volcanic zone.

The last major earthquake (magnitude 7.8) in an urban area occurred in 1931 in Napier, Hawkes Bay when 256 people died . Since then there have been earthquakes of just over magnitude 7 in 2003 and 2004 when no one was killed - both these occurred in relatively rural areas.

With all this history and potential for natural disasters perhaps I need to take all this advice to be prepared a bit more seriously. The people who own our house obviously are prepared as there is loads of bottled water stored in the garage and the gas and water off switches are very clearly marked.

This is all a bit different from the UK where the most dramatic thing we had to worry about was a bit of strong wind blowing a few tiles of the roof and a bit of flooding. Dd1 surprised me the other day when she told me about the earthquake drill she had at school when they all had to hide under the table. I think she rather enjoyed the whole thing.

In all the local communities that you drive through there are sign posts to the local "Civil Defence Centre". The following is an extract from Wellingtons Emergency Management Guide.

"In a major disaster or emergency Civil Defence Centres are activated by volunteers. The centres are situated in primary schools or other community locations like community centres.
In an emergency listen to your local radio station to hear which Civil Defence Centres are working.
The centres collect information about the impact of an emergency and inform the Wellington Emergency Management Office. There is very little equipment at Civil Defence Centres, so residents should plan to be self-sufficient.
It's a good idea to keep a note of your nearest Civil Defence Centre location in your home survival kit."

It all sounds very serious and very different to anything in the UK. I particularly like the bit about residents being "self sufficient". I think I had better get prepared.

So next week when our furniture arrives I will be getting a box and putting a torch and radio in there along with a first aid kit and camping stove. I also need to start storing some tinned food and toiletries. So providing a major volcanic eruption doesn't happen in the next few weeks we should be OK.

Our First Earthquake in Wellington

2009-05-01T01:17:00.000-07:00

It was brilliant! I was sitting on the floor in the lounge (our furniture has still not arrived) and I thought someone was driving a bulldozer in the back garden and making the wall shake - then I thought it must be a very large underground train. Then I remembered we weren't in Brussels anymore and realised it must be an earthquake. The girls unbelievably failed to notice anything as they were to engrossed in Barbie singing on the TV.

It occurred at 5.16pm and was magnitude 4.1 - so not that big but still noticeable. Apparently there are 15000 earthquakes in New Zealand each year but only 250 are big enough to be felt. So I am looking forward to the next one - as long as its not larger than magnitude 6!

A Wet Week in Wellington.

2009-04-29T20:20:00.000-07:00

Well its certainly been raining this week. It has been raining so heavily at times that it has been waking me up in the middle of the night as its pummeling so hard against the roof. Thank god we don't have a corrugated iron roof like some of the houses around here as that must sound like thunder! We have even woken up to flooded fields in the valley below us - its been quite picturesque. I have been assured by the other Mums I have been chatting to at Kindergarten that this weather is normal for Wellington and I am going to have to get used to it.

The girls have quite liked it as it has given them a good excuse to wear their new wellies (or gum boots as they are known over here). DD2 has "pirate wellies" as she calls them with skull and cross bones all over them. She has been wearing them solidly throughout the week, rain or shine. I can see a tantrum brewing when I have to try and get her back into her normal shoes.

The rain has meant that we have been stuck in the house more than usual this week which is somewhat tricky when you have no furniture yet and very few toys or other entertainment. I have had to use all my skills and patience to prevent myself from being driven slowly round the bend.
So far this week we have made cards with glitter and glue, completed numerous sticker books and made fairy cakes. Making fairy cakes with no cooking equipment other than knives, forks, spoons and a saucepan is a highly impressive achievement I think you'll agree. They did end up all sinking rather in the middle, but still tasted OK and the girls liked them.

We have also been to the Toy Library and the Book Library as well and in between rain showers we have been going outside to splash in puddles!

To round off a wet week, when the sun did finally come out we went on the "Wet Foot Track" in Belmont Park. This is an excellent track which follows the stream up through the valley ending at a waterfall. You cross the stream in many places and even have to walk up the stream itself at times. It is a great walk and the girls loved it. However its not a good idea to attempt this walk after a week of heavy rain as we found the stream very fast flowing and couldn't follow it all the way up the valley.

Picking up stones and seeing whats living underneath them is great fun.

Its not easy negotiating the "rapids" with a large rucksack on your back!

Walks in Wellington - Red Rocks.

2009-04-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

It was a warm Saturday in April so we decided to take a walk along the coast to see the "Red Rocks". These are some coastal rocks which have turned red due to the iron oxides in them. We were also hopeful that we might see some seals as they apparently come on shore in this area. We parked the car in the entrance to Taputeranga Marine Reserve which is where the walk starts from.

As you can see from the picture it was a little bit windy when we set off.

The beach in this area is covered in wood washed up by the sea. It was so windy that while we were sitting there a mini whirlwind whipped up the beach debris and started throwing it at us.

The Red Rocks. It had got more windy by this point and the wind was actually picking up the sand from the beach and chucking it at us with great force. We had to shield the girls faces. It made for a very exciting walk back.

It might not have been the most pleasant of walks - but the views are spectacular and if the wind had not been as strong it would have been great. Unfortunately we never made it to the seals - it was just too far for a four year olds little legs.

This is the view looking back to the car park at the Marine Reserve. The only thing that spoils this area is the fact that they allow 4x4s to drive along the beach to see the seals. It seems like a really odd thing to do in such a beautiful area. Unknown to us, we were followed along the track by several 4x4s and I think they enjoyed our rendition of "Wheels on the Bus" before I turned around and spotted them and we hurriedly got out of their way.