Ho, ho, ho!

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year to everyone!


Thank you for all of your concern about us and the earthquake that happened in Christchurch 2 days ago.  We are fine and it was about 6 hours south of us, so we didn't feel it at all.  With that said, our heart goes out to all of those that did experience it right before the holidays.

We miss everyone so much, especially on this day, but hope everyone has a beautiful holiday, and we can't wait to spend the next one home.

We also hoped to blog a bit more before we left for our journey to the Heaphy track, but we chose an unconventional hostel called Shambhala, which was like a yoga retreat, and they were about 2k off of the road on the beach, and had no internet.  It was a lovely place to spend Christmas eve but it would have been nice to talk to some family before the hike.  Now we are sitting in a parking lot to grab some internet quick to wish everyone a happy holiday.  We are leaving in about a half an hour, and will return in 4-5 days!  Talk to you then!

Cheers!

Chapter 2!

So we have decided to go our separate ways, Jeff and I, and Beth, Adam, and Nick.  We moved out of our house on Atawhai Crescent this morning, and it was sad to leave a warm bed, and hot shower behind, but this is chapter 2 of our trip, and it was off to a great start with a Pizza Hut pizza and Jeff's and my first viewing of "Ghost".  Super cheesy, but hard not to love.

Jeff and I both had work today,  he in the orchards from 7-5, and I at the airport from 7-2.  I don't like working at the airport during the day, with all of the very bossy bosses, but I reckon it was my last shift there.    I was called to work 2 more days at the Nelson City Council Cafe! I am so excited!  Ironically enough though I was asked to Christmas lunch at 623 with my lunch buddies from the Council on Thursday, but cannot make it because I will be working at their cafe!  Most of them will be there Friday to have lunch with me before we head south, but I think Lorraine (my former boss) and Jillian (her super sweet sister) will both be absent.  I am just so happy to have been asked to work.  It's an extra $150 before we leave Nelson, and it gives me something to do while Jeff is in the orchards, because the alternative is quite boring. (Side note:  All people working in New Zealand receive holiday pay either annually or at the end of any contract.  Holiday pay is 8% of your earnings in that position, so I will receive another almost $200 from that!  Yahoo!)  Because we are out of the house as of today, Jeff and I opted to camp at a nearby site for the next 4 nights while we finish up work here.  That means tomorrow, Wednesday, will be spent puttering around town until Jeff is done work.  I might go to yoga or for a nice long hike, but we are not sure what the shower situation is at the camp site, and working out 3 days before you'll see your next shower is never wise.  Needless to say the library offers free wireless, so I will use the extra time to send out some e-mails before the holidays, blog before our Christmas hike, and skype with the family.

So we finally have our itinerary for the next few weeks (this is mostly for my parents who can refer back to this if they begin to wonder why they cannot get a hold of me for a few days at at time! Love you!)

• Wednesday - Friday of this week:  we are finishing up work in Nelson and camping by the Maitai river.  
• Saturday the 24th:  We will drive up to Golden Bay that evening and stay in a hostel Christmas Eve so we can finally shower and cook up a nice, big meal before our 4 day hike!
• Sunday 25th - Wednesday 28th:  Hiking the Heaphy track.  It is 4 days and 3 nights camping in the forest so I will not have any form of contact with the United States these 4 days, but the night of the 28th we should be staying in a hostel, so I should have internet then.
• Thursday 29th - Friday 30th:  We are hitchhiking (don't worry is is super safe here, and a lot of backpackers see the entire 2 islands by hitchhiking) back up to Golden Bay, so this may take up to 2 days, hopefully not.  Jeff's motorcycle may be in Nelson so we may drive back there to pick it up.
• Friday 30th - Sunday 1st:  Headed to Greymouth to meet up with our friend Markus and celebrate New Years at his hostel, and do some exploring of the area, and for Jeff's sake hope we come across some giant waves for him to jump in.
• Monday 2nd - roughly Thursday 5th:  Heading down the West Coast for some beach camping and frolicking and other tourist stops along the way.  We hope to also stop to see the Fox Glaciers (I believe there are other glaciers on the coast as well), and maybe so some sort of hike around them.  They are supposed to be amazing, but very touristy as well.  We plan to be in Queenstown by the 5th, and settle into a place (and find an awesome job) by the end of the week! :)

I am so looking forward to a new adventure despite the fact that the sunshine has returned to Nelson.  Knowing that we can come back to Nelson is a great feeling.  Telling the temp agency I was leaving made us both very sad, but it is time to move forward, and we can always holiday in Nelson just like the real Kiwis.

Final, random note:  New Zealand has something called Ginger Beer.  It is my new obsession.  It is sort of like ginger ale, but way better.  It is more opaque, but still has carbonation, and has a really strong ginger taste.  It is amazing and addictive.  It is unique in that it is the only non-alcoholic beverage here that is brewed by many beer companies, but the best of them isn't from a beer company, it is called Bundaberg Ginger Beer.  I am not sure if you could get anything comparable in the states, but I may have to bring some home.  Please tell me if you've seen anything like this at home!!!... (update: after looking online it looks like you might be able to find ginger beer in places like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods!)

Cheers!

Coffee for Dummies

I stumbled upon this article (actually using stumbleupon.com), which highlights some of the seriousness that I was trying to convey about Kiwis and their coffee.  The middle gets a little dull, but towards the end there is an informative list of drinks that I tried to explain in a previous post.

Kiwi Coffee Link

Rain, rain go away!

It has been raining hard here in Nelson since Tuesday afternoon (It is now Thursday night).  At first I thought that Nelson Kiwis were just afraid of the cloudy, wet days, but I soon realized why they are so frightened of the rain.  When you are living in valleys and along rivers a little rain goes a long way.  The rain, which would be harmless in Delco, PA, has caused really bad mudslides that have blocked roads and ruined homes.  Here is a link to some pictures, but I hope to get some of my own tomorrow Flood Pics.  We aren't in any danger, but it has been awful for some Nelson residents, and Jeff hasn't had work for 2 days because of flooding of the orchards.  The rain has slowed, and hopefully will cease tonight, so everything can start to return to normal, and Summer can come!

So i mentioned before I took pictures of Nelson last weekend to give readers a glimpse of what the streets are like.  On my Flickr site there are pictures of the view from our house and views of the Port of Nelson, and all of the beautiful bodies of water that surround us, but these following pictures are of the several streets that intersect each other to form the "city centre".  (Note: These pictures are taken during a Christmas parade, the buildings, not the pirate, are there all the time)

Very cute eh?  With about 40,000 people, its sufficient.

It will be a little sad to leave this place behind.  Jeff has his basketball team and I have my yoga studio, and we've met a lot of people who we really like here.  The only thing making this place worth leaving is the promise of more beautiful things to come!  These include the 4 day Heaphy trek, spending New Years touring down the west coast, and making our way to Queenstown!  Queenstown is often deemed the adventure capital of the world, and has the second tallest bungy jump in the world.  We hope to get into Queenstown in a few weeks, and find a place, a job, and settle down for a couple of months at least.  It has been described to us as a tourist town, and "kind of like a ski town, like Veil or something".  It has affordable living accommodations for a couple, although we have been warned that most things are quite expensive there.  Apparently every turn offers a beautiful, new view.  Queenstown is located a bit south of the middle of the South Island and is on a very large lake,  Lake Wakatipu.  We hope that Queenstown offers us another side of New Zealand, because if we love it as much as living in a coastal town, we will be right at home.  If you want to see/know more this link will take you to the wiki page: Queenstown Information.

When talking to a friend from college, he mentioned a book about nutrition he had been reading, but "recommended with caution".  I was very interested considering he, knowing my background, felt like he should caution me about the books contents.  I found it at the Nelson library (score!), and the first couple of pages I realized where the caution was coming from.  The book is called "The China Study".  It came out in 2007, but I had never heard of it, and what it has to say could be quite disturbing to many.  It's core message is that a whole foods, plant-based diet can not only prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer, but reverse it, and that animal proteins (meat, eggs, milk) should be avoided.  It's hard to swallow really, but it is backed up by hundreds of peer-reviewed articles published in some of the most prominent scientific journals in the world.  It has convinced me enough to try a somewhat vegan diet, and it has been going very well so far, with switching my milk to soy products and eating meat about 1-2 times a week, and loading up on veggies.  This book isn't really about me though, it is about a message that can benefit anyone who reads it.  It has led me to some other great books, such as "Anti Cancer", written by a University of Pittsburgh student/employee.  I don't really want to talk about how it has effected me, but I do want to recommend both of these books (especially if you know someone suffering from either of these), but with GREAT CAUTION.

It's dinner time, and I'm starving, but hopefully the sun will emerge for the weekend, and we can do some more birding and hiking in Nelson before we leave!  Missing everyone and all of their delicious Christmas cookies!!!

Weak-end

The title does not indicate and weekend that was in fact "weak", rather it is in reference to how weak I apparently am, which translates into a tough hike for me come Christmas time.  Jeff saw this as an opportunity to encourage me to "train" for our hike.  Seeing that our first day (and first 15 miles) is mostly uphill I had to seriously consider busting my butt for the next 2 weeks to make this hike a little easier.  So it began Friday with a 75 minute vinyasa flow class that was really tough.  That was enough for one day, and it was only day 1 anyway.  That night Jeff was exhausted from 5 long days of picking baby apples so we watched "Mulholland Drive" that we rented a few days earlier from the library.  Jeff fell asleep and I would have liked to know it was supposed to be somewhat surreal before going into it, but it wasn't horrible.  It kept you interested, but left you with many questions.  I would give it a 4 out of 10... Jeff would give it 2 eyes closed hahahaha... not funny but I had to...

Jeff had another early day ahead of him at the orchards on Saturday, so I went to the Saturday market by myself.  We are saving for or future plans so I got the essentials:  broccoli, asparagus, and this amazing hallah loaf we discovered a few weeks ago.  It was about 1 pm and I had put off "training" long enough, and decided to do the 1.5 hour hike to the "Center of New Zealand" by myself.  Jeff and I have done it before so I knew it was safe, but it is also pretty challenging if you start from Founders Park.  I did it in the allotted amount of time, and jogged a bit on the flat parts, but it was really hard, and I had to take a couple breaks, but I did feel stronger (and very sore) afterwards.  I could tell 6 days in the orchards weren't exactly energizing and exciting Jeff so I suggested we try the Founders Organic Brewery and split a bite to eat, just to get out for a little while.  Upon arrival we saw an American boy on Jeff's basketball team (he and his girlfriend are doing the same thing we are) and his girlfriend having a beer in the courtyard.  They invited us to join them so we grabbed a couple beers and talked to them for a bit.  The beer was really good, but Founders was closing so we couldn't grab a bite or continue to sit in the courtyard, so the other couple suggested we grab a beer somewhere else.  We went to the beautiful restaurant Harry's in town.  It was a bit pricey, but the beers were apparently really good (I had cider), and splitting an entree is pretty cost effective.  It was wonderful having a night out with this couple.  The girl and I sat and talked about shopping, careers, and the States, while the boys jabbered on about business and sports, and whatever else boys talk about.  It was a lovely night, until the ride home, where we turned right into a D.U.I checkpoint. (I think the legal limit here is about .04%)  They make you count to 5 near a wand-thing and it tells you whether you have alcohol on your breath.  Of course mine said yes, but this guy was so confident I'd be fine, as was I.  I pulled over and instantly had to be breathalyzed (something I have never done before), and I don't know what it read but it was low enough to pass, as it should have been considering I had a small beer and a cider within 4 hours, but still it was scary as hell.

Sunday was a bit less eventful, with Jeff being able to sleep in and slow morning of cooking breakfast and reading.  We went into town to take some pictures to give friends and family an idea of what Nelson is like (coming on a post soon!) and it happened to be the Santa parade!  It was exciting to see what seemed like the entire town gathered on the streets for a parade of singing, dancing, and SANTA!! It was a beautiful day so Jeff suggested something outside, preferably to help aid in my "training".  the choices were the bird sanctuary hike (which is harder than Center of New Zealand, I think, but so pretty) with my filled pack on or jogging the sanctuary hike.  I opted for the jog because my back was a bit tight.  It was indeed beautiful, but really hard, and super frustrating when I hear Jeff (too far to see him) 100 meters up the hill encouraging me.  grrr.  Thank god Monday was rainy because I wasn't doing too much moving around.

To continue my training I did a 3 mile run along the Maitai river in Nelson.  It was breathtaking and the grass had just been cut, loads of flowers were blossoming, and I saw my first Starling and Bellbird in New Zealand!  It wasn't too tough of a run, but has a few challenging hills.  I do feel stronger though, and feeling results really does motivate me to work even harder.  Hopefully by the 25th, getting up that first 15 miles of hills will be a piece of cake! :)

I have work today at the airport cafe or I would write more, but expect a post about books, Nelson, and Queenstown on Thursday!

Cheers!

Looking Ahead

So it has been an entire week since my last blog post, probably the longest interval since our arrival in Nelson.  I have no excuse really except working and reading quite a bit, as well as (as the title indicates) planning for the near future.  I will start with a few things I have observed in New Zealand that I had previously forgotten to include.
 
   1.  Squirrels - I may be one of the few humans on earth who has a profound love for watching squirrels, and who finds them super cute, but New Zealanders are never even given the opportunity to form any opinion on this little rodent.  There are no squirrels here!  It is something I noticed initially, but didn't recognize again until very recently.  There are plenty of friendly birds to watch while you're sitting outside though.

    2. Coffee - Something we noticed from the get-go, but didn't come to understand until, well we may not even fully understand it yet, is that coffee is horse of a different color here.  Apparently "New Zealanders take their coffee VERY seriously" (ref. Landlord).  It would be rare to see a typical American coffee maker in the house of a kiwi.  Your options are instant coffee or espresso (which they call coffee).  The typical kiwi coffee order is a flat white, mochaccino, latte, cappuccino, long black, or short black.  They are all made with what Americans call espresso.  The flat white, latte, and cappuccino are espresso and milk (and even after watching "coffee" being made and serving it for months now, I still don't know the difference).  The mocha is the same as home, and the long black and short black are 2 shots of espresso, except the long black has a bit of hot water as well.  There is no grinding of the coffee beans and filtering coffee here! You either go big or go home, and sometimes you'll see a kiwi have multiple long blacks in a single sitting... whew!  Coffee drinking is definitely not a cheap habit here either.  If you thought Starbucks was expensive at home, try paying $3.80 for a long black, and that is the cheapest, with a flat white at $4.50 and up.  I am fortunate enough to get free "coffees" at work, but I definitely am not paying money for them.

    3. Pretzels - So oftentimes people will go to the grocery store and find themselves in front of a wall of bins filled with nuts and candy, so they can mix and match, and they are generally charged a bit more than if they were to buy a sealed bag.  This is about the only way to purchase pretzels in New Zealand.  They don't sell them in sealed bags, and they don't sell them as a cheap snack.  You'll see a bin of almonds for $1.99/100g and a bin of pretzels next to it for $1.89/100g.  It is just abnormal for a person who goes to pretzels as a moderately healthy, cheap snack.  I hypothesize their rarity is due to the lack of flat fields for growing wheat and grains here.

Okay, so in the past week I completed my temporary position at the Nelson City Council cafe, which was sad because I really enjoyed the relaxed environment, and the super friendly and informative people.  Friday night a friend, from Finland, of ours we met through ultimate frisbee, Markus, came to stay the night because he had a flight out of Nelson Saturday morning, but was currently living south in Greymouth.  It was nice to catch up with him and see how he was fairing farther south.  We dropped him off at the airport Saturday morning and headed again to Golden Bay, this time to check out the rock climbing.  Before getting to the rocks we stopped at the highly recommended Pupu Springs.  They are these beautiful pools of crystal clear spring water with amazing flora around them.

  Once we actually arrived in Golden Bay, we were exhausted and realized that the rock climbing site we chose to visit was a little bit above our skill level, so we headed to the beach, hoping Sunday would offer more motivation.  Pohara beach was beautiful, and the tide was ideal for some wading.  As we came back to shore there was a man standing at our towels.  He basically said "hey is that your Volvo in the lot across the street?" and we confirmed and he proceeded to tell us we needed to move it because it was a piece of crap. After a quick moment of confusion between Jeff and I he tells us that that is the car he has given his son-in-law Stu to sell for him in Nelson!  2 hours away and in the middle of nowhere (to be fair, New Zealand itself is in the middle of nowhere) the former owners spotted their old car.  They said they had it for 17 years, but we were told they upgraded because the wife had her hip replaced and needed something a big higher off the ground.  They praised the car, and said how much they missed it, and said its made many trips down south and that it should treat us well.  It was so nice to hear that, and confirm all of the things that Stu told us were indeed true, Blueberry had been owned for many years by people who took good care of her.  The sun started to set, which meant it was time for... ice cream.  Actually, anytime is a great time for ice cream in New Zealand because it is just sooooo good.  Then we headed to a campsite recommended by our Landlord as a cheap, neat site.  It was a rock climbers site (they don't ask if you actually climb) and it was only $10/night, which is about $3/night less than most in the area.  Rain struck as we finished up eating our dinner, and didn't stop for the next 2 days basically.  Needless to say, we woke up to pouring rain, folded the tent up in a downpour, and drove home early Sunday morning for a relaxing, dry day home.

Monday was my first weekday off in a while, but Jeff was back at the orchards. I cleaned up what I had been putting off the past 2 busy weeks, and then was finally home on a weekday so I could skype with a college friend, Conor, for a bit.  Usually when I get home from work, it's bedtime in the States.  Monday I got a call from Coverstaff asking me to work at the airport cafe 7am-2pm Tues, Wed, and Thurs, and of course I said yes, but man 7 am is quite early, despite the fact that I am the last person to leave the house in the morning.  It began raining hard Tuesday and I was worried about Jeff and the motorcycle in the rain.  Not so surprisingly when I got home, Jeff was already home with a bunch of wet gear.  It was nice to have the rainy afternoon to spend together and he agreed to go to his first yoga class ever with me!  It was super fun, and there was only one other person at the class which I think made Jeff more comfortable.  He has done p90x yoga, and that's pretty legit, so it wasn't anything too abstract for him.  (Laura you'd be so proud)  I really enjoyed having him there.  Wed and Thurs were a lot of work, a lot of reading, and a bit of fatigue.  I'm sure I mentioned our library membership, but I must repeat how much I love having it, and I've read about 3 books in the last week. They have a great nutrition and brain/psych section, so I have plenty of reading to do.  I will miss it so much when we leave Nelson.

Speaking of leaving Nelson... Jeff and I have made the executive decision to leave Nelson once he is finished in the orchard, so December 24th.  We have booked a series of campsites on the Heaphy Track in Kahurangi National Park.  It is a track that begins in Golden Bay and goes through the national park to the west coast.  It is approximately 80km (50 mi) long, and will take us 4 days and 3 nights.  Its uphill at first and then mostly downhill, and the last 25km is mostly flat and beaches.  Here is a link to the track profile: Heaphy Track.  We will spend Christmas on the track, so I hope to wish everyone a happy holiday before we depart.  Until then I will be working for dollars and working for fitness... This is definitely more than I bargained for, but it should be a somewhat fun challenge, at least maybe in retrospect.  I know I sound mildly pessimistic, but really I am excited, and the site notes some awesome things to look out for on the trail.  (note: showers and bathrooms don't appear too frequently).  More on this adventure soon.

Will post more about some interesting literature I have stumbled upon (or has been recommended to me) in the very near future, but for now I must get some sleep.

Hope everyone is keeping warm at home.  Sunset was a 9pm today and the high was 68, SOOO if anyone is sick of the winter weather already, please come visit!  This is only the beginning of Summer!

Cheers!

My Life as a Kiwi

So it is the end of my American birthday, and the day after my New Zealand birthday.  It's as easy as travelling across the world to be able to celebrate 2 birthdays!! My birthday was pretty wonderful.  I will start with late the night before when Jeff surprised me with an amazing bouquet of flowers he secretly purchased.  They are freaking beautiful.  The next morning I woke up just as Jeff was leaving for fruit picking, and on the table was a pack of Tim Tams from Bethy (yummm), and a note from Jeff,  I got in the car and had another note saying that we could go together and pick out a special New Zealand Pandora bead! There was another note, but the directions said to read on the ride home from work ONLY!

 I got to work in a great mood even though we had events to make finger food for a group of 150 and a group of 70! (We usually do a small, daily lunch, and then events for 5-20 people).  We got it done with the help of a really nice kiwi (They are all nice).  I had made a flourless chocolate cake (and by some birthday miracle it ended up amazing!) for our lunch table. (Side note: our lunch table is composed of about 6 ladies and 1 man who remind me of my parents, the Aunt Marys, and Aunt Ranie, and some funny ass guy (so uncle Larry, Rich, Paul, or my Dad) but in 10-20 years, so a bit more tamed).  The lunch group enjoyed my cake, and gave me a gift!  It was definitely one of the most thoughtful things someone has done.  I was almost in tears.  They bought me a book of New Zealand slang, and they all signed the inside of it.  They have made such an impression on me in these past 2 weeks, and I hope to stay in contact with some of them.  They have gone out of their way to tell me all of the best places to see around nelson, the best ways to do it, and even helped Jeff and I find a place to live for Christmas and the following week.  One of them offered us their motor home for the weeks following the end of our lease.  The kindness is just so refreshing.

The note on the way home was basically reminding me of our plans to go to dinner that night at a neat looking restaurant called 623.  It was even more exciting because we really haven't gone out to eat once in New Zealand (other than pizza and take-aways).    It was all you can eat pizza night, and we had to oblige.  We started with a chicken, cranberry, and brie pizza. (They don't really eat plain pizzas here)  That was enough on the savoury side, so then we got a banana chocolate dessert pizza.  It was pretty delicious.  The waitress seemed unimpressed that we could only eat 1 savoury and one dessert pizza, but we were stuffed and passed out shortly after getting home.  It was really nice to get dressed up, look like a girl, and enjoy really good food with my best friend.


So Tom, Jeff's brother, had posed a series of questions about what it's like to be a kiwi, so I am going to answer them on here to give everyone a better idea of how I feel about being an American kiwi after settling down a bit in Nelson.  I hope that Jeff will post with his answers soon too.


 What do the kiwi people think of you? Hmm, well I would say that those that I have been able to talk to and have a conversation with generally like me, or at least don't mind that I am an American either traveling or working in their country.  Sometimes I do get a vibe from a sales person or someone I breifly encounter, that doesn't seem to appreciate that there is an american asking about products, or more so taking their order in the Nelson, New Zealand airport.  Generally though, people ask where I am from and why I am here, and are very neutral about my presence.


Do they work strictly for financial gain like here in the US? Is it a 9-5 like daily routine? Is it laid back?
Well they certainly aren't working for fun, but, at least in nelson, it does not appear that they are as competitive, and business is certainly nowhere near as evolved or present as it is in the US (Jeff would be better at expanding upon this topic).  Their work weeks are almost strictly 9-5, with even retail stores only being open until about 5:30.  The only stores in the entire city open after 5:30 are select restaurants, the grocer, and the warehouse (like Target).  Most retail stores are open on Saturdays, and most aren't open on Sundays, but if they are they have very short hours like 19-1 or something.  Let's just say you can't get any kind of food/snacks after 10pm, except MAYBE a gas station.  In terms of a work environment, it is very laid back.  One woman at the cafe even said to me "This is not a race, just take your time, and it will all get done."  At my current cafe job we have 11 am tea for about 15-20 minutes, and 1:30 lunch for 30 minutes, and I leave at 2:30, but people who work full time get another afternoon tea at 3.  So during their 8-9 hour work day, they spend an hour drinking tea/coffee and eating.  The cafe even has a tv and pool table for the employees.


Are you guys hanging around the locals after work drinking beers together? We don't drink beer with the locals, not because they don't hang out after work and drink, I presume they do, but because we don't drink out often.  Beer is its cheapest at about $5 a pint, and that's really low, and my cocktail last night was $14 and was tiny.  It would be nice to have that disposable income, but it isn't practical currently.  But if the question is whether they drink socially the same way we do in the states, then yes they definitely do.


 What is different about the living accommodations you're used to in the States? Hmm well we don't have cable but we get the same stations you would get if you could still use an antennae in the states.  The TV isn't too bad, except Tuesday nights, but I don't watch it much anyway.  The scenery is much prettier.  The houses are generally one-story, and have toilets and showers separate (which is quite convenient).  Almost everyone dries their clothes on a line, rather than in the dryer.  You don't see big houses.  They are basically built for utilitarian purposes and only have one living room, and no, extra rooms or large foyers.  Of course, there are exceptions but this seems to be the vast majority.  Everything just seems much simpler, and people don't have much more than they need.


Have you felt a tiredness to the scene? Will it get old? Do you see yourself preferring to live there over here?  I have not felt tired of the scene.  You can always go to the beach hire a bike, enjoy amazing coffee, read a book, or go for a nice run, or anything outdoors in the neighborhood.  Within a 2 hour drive is more amazing beaches, hundreds of hikes varying in difficulty and length (up to 5 day treks), rock climbing, kayaking, and tons of other water sports.  I think it would take years to tire of the scene.  I do not see myself preferring to live here.  Although it is beautiful, and offers everything I could ever want in the way of leisure activities and social life, it lacks careers in Neuroscience, and most sciences in general.  If I had my MD I could possibly have a job, but I don't so really my degree is useless here.  Also I deeply miss the dining out experience of the US.  I know it sounds simple or silly, but grabbing some apps or brews and catching some sports game out was one of our favorite things to do at home, and here it is way too expensive, and THERE ARE NO GOOD SPORTS TO WATCH :(  We would need some kind of NFL football package for the TV.  Lastly, we are missing the most important thing of all if we stayed here.  OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.  They are absolutely the only thing that could make this trip, and this location, any better.  We miss you!!


Hopefully that will suffice, but I love the feedback and welcome more, and I will add anything that pops into my noggin.  Also, Jeff will probably respond soon.  


Cheers mates!  And thanks to everyone for all of the thoughtful birthday wishes!  It makes me feel very special!

Another Wonderful Weekend

Just got home from another yoga sesh, and a little sad that my 30 days for $30 is over this week.  Now I have to pay proper money for classes... boo!  But its definitely worth it.  I love the teacher, the classmates, and the  environment.

So Jeff and I both had off work Saturday and Sunday, and both put in about 30 hours this week.  (I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a lot to us because we are so used to being on holiday).  Friday night we were beat and just lounged around.

Saturday we spent the morning browsing the Saturday market in town.  We picked up some fresh veggies, some boysenberry jam, and some lavender infused honey (so delicious!).  We spent most of the day reading because it was much too windy to be on the beach, and then decided to take a motorcycle ride to Rabbit Island.  Rabbit Island is about 25 minutes from our house, and is barely an island, but is a big, long, beautiful beach.  We just took an early evening walk down the beach and headed home to try our hands at making shrimp scampi!  Shrimp is cheap here, so we've been trying to find as many ways as possible to cook it up.  The scampi was a success despite the face that we could not find red pepper flakes to save our lives, so we did without.  Later that night we literally ran through the Countdown (the grocer) for a last minute, late-night Cornetto (sort of like a drumstick).  They were totally worth the rush, as all ice cream in New Zealand is.

Sunday we had received a few texts about ultimate frisbee in the park.  It was looking like it would shape up to be a decent game, and we ended up getting 7 others to play!  It was a great turnout.  There was 1 Kiwi, 4 Germans, and 2 people from California.  The game was good, and the competition was pretty fair, but the wind started to pick up, so we sat and talked for a while in the field.  I can't get enough of other people's travel experiences and perspectives.  We left the park in time to make it to the library to grab a Sunday night movie and some good reads.  We decided on Forrest Gump because I have never seen it, and everyone else on Earth has.  I really enjoyed it.  It was quite funny and more feel-good than depressing, which i didn't expect, and I am glad I waited so long because I don't like the idea of not having any classics to turn to on a chilly Sunday afternoon.

My birthday is coming up, and my co-workers claim that it is New Zealand custom to bake a cake for your birthday to share... I think they just want cake.  Either way I am trying out a flourless chocolate cake recipe from SCRATCH.  I will let ya know how it goes (if it goes well).

Jeff's brother posed some interesting questions about New Zealand on a previous post's comment.  My next blog post will answer those questions (and i'm going to try to make Jeff answer them too).

For now, cheers!

Happy Turkey Day...Speaking of Birds...

So its been Thursday all day here, but it hasn't been Thanksgiving at all, if that makes any sense.  It is now officially Thanksgiving in America, and I am completely jealous of every single one of you.  Not only do you have off work, but you get to go out partying Wed night and eat tons of awesome food and watch football all day Thursday.  I know it sounds awful for me to be kind of complaining, and I realize I have many Thanksgivings in my future, but no one here acknowledges it at all (and by no one I mean Jeff).  I can gobble my little heart out and all I get is a "It's not a holiday here".  He is at basketball tonight so I will eat CHICKEN and mashed potatoes in front of the computer.  Any other night this would be awesome, but not on Turkey Day.

Okay so enough complaining... onto other bird species... I know a few people who will appreciate a "Birds of Golden Bay" blog post, and for those who aren't interested, the pictures are pretty sweet anyway.

So there are 2 very similar Oystercatchers in Golden Bay.  There is the Variable and the Pied Oystercatcher.  I know I have seen the Variable because it is the only one with an all black phase, but this one also has a pied phase.  The book says the difference is the the border between black and white on their lower chest.  The Variable has a "smudgy" edge, whereas the Pied Oystercatcher has a sharp edge.  From the picture I believe that those photographed on the Farewell Spit are Pied, but the pictures aren't perfect.

Above I believe to be the Pied,  the "smudgy" border looks smudgier than this picture.  Below is the Variable Oystercatcher in his black phase.

Now I know some of these pictures are pretty blurry, and its because I cropped and zoomed them to death, but this next one was easy to identify despite the distance it was taken from.  This is the Royal Spoonbill. (ahh it looks so small on blogger, but I think it gets bigger if you click on it, and i'll eventually get all the bird pictures on Flickr)

This next bird gave me so much insight into my childhood in a very strange way.  When I was a child, Nickelodeon played a cartoon called Doug (most of you are probably familiar), and he had a alter-ego named "quail man"  Picture of Quail man and Quail dog.  He wore his underwear outside of his shorts (I suspect to relate the a child's sense of humor) and a belt around his head.  It was not until I saw the California Quail at Totaranui Beach that I understood the reason for his belt (and the corresponding name "Quailman").  Also we saw the male and female with their babies running close behind.  Soooo cute!

Quail Man

And the babies...

The best is still yet to come.  Jeff and I were sitting in the tent layering up for night fall when this awful screeching came from what sounded like right outside our tent.  I open the rain fly only to see a Weka right there!!  There was a slight problem though,  the camera was in the car, and Weka's can run like hell.  They are flightless though, so I sad that on my side.  I slid Jeff's boots on, hobbled to the car with lightning speed, and chased the Weka to get as  close as possible before he snuck into the bush.  Jeff claims this was very funny to watch.  It was no doubt a Buff Weka.  He ran quickly, but he was a little on the chubby side, probably from not being able to fly.  

I have now identified and photographed 20 bird species here, and I think I saw a Bell Bird, but I didn't get a good enough look, and they are far from the only bright yellow, small bird in New Zealand.  I hope to continue seeing new species regularly now that Summer is about to begin.  My must-sees are the Kiwi and the Fiordland Penguins!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! As cheesy as it sounds, I am thankful for all of you who have supported Jeff and I throughout the idea and fruition of this adventure.

Goggle gobble :)

Golden Bay

So I've been a little busy, and slacking a bit on my posts, but I will make this one very informative.  I'll start with this past weekend.  Friday night we headed up to Takaka and found a campsite before sunset.  It was a small campsite, but offered great amenities.  While setting up tent we were approached by a man our age offering us some beers.  It was very kind of him, but because beer is terribly expensive in New Zealand we took a walk into the small town and picked up some beer of our own.  Joe was travelling alone through New Zealand before he was flying off to Spain.  His father was a Kiwi and his mother was a Brit and he spent a couple of years also in L.A.  He was able to offer us a lot of perspective on our transition into New Zealand and the differences between the three ways of life.  We spent a few hours drinking/talking, but retired to bed somewhat early because we had booked a horse riding adventure in the morning!!

We got very lucky to have booked a horse trek in Cape Farewell on the Farewell Spit on a beautiful day.  If you don't know what the Farewell Spit is, its basically, uhhh, a landform, and is long, thin, and growing.  Farewell Spit Image  It is also supposed to have over 1000 bird species in its very small land area.  Our horse trek was supposed to be for beginners, but it was actually somewhat challenging as we galloped up and walked down hills.  It was very enjoyable to cross some streams and ride on the beach though.  We went with a group of about 10 people, and they were all great company. We had booked 1.5 hours for $65, which was a great deal for such a beautiful location, but the trip ended up being 2.5 hours for the same price.  It was a great experience, only intensified by the satisfaction in Jeff's face when he first got on Scooby.  The night before he looked at me and asked "do you think the horse will feel me?"  (or something of the sort) , referring to a spiritual connection he may experience with this large mammal.  I tried to be optimistic saying that they would be best friends after the ride, but I began to worry he would be let down as he talked about sharing his snacks with his new best horsey friend during the hour ride there.  This was not the case at all.  Jeff and Scooby were like brothers.  Scooby kept trying to eat and Jeff would let him because he was a push over, and Scooby would only run if Jeff really kicked and begged.  They were so cute together.  (As I am writing this Jeff begin to read and says "yeah he was like a big brother") hehe

The ride was a huge success, but it was exhausting so we headed back through to Takaka and then a bit north the a DOC campsite on Totaranui Beach in Abel Tasman National Park.  we spent the rest of the day running into the water really fast, running out really fast, playing frisbee, and reading.  We decided we would wake up to see the sunrise because it would rise right over the beach.  While setting up tent we were approached by an older Brit couple who offered to share their fire (neither Jeff nor I brought matches or a lighter for a weekend of camping).  We obliged and ended up talking to them for over an hour.  They were travelling just as we were, but were not working, and their vehicle was a bit nicer.  They had just completed a 4 month bike tour of Europe, which Jeff and I quickly decided would be our next trip (don't worry mom we'll need a few years to save up for that one).  They were fascinating people, but we had to get to bed to avoid the bugs and get some sleep.

I was awoken by Jeff at 5:45 that the alarm went off, and I could tell he was somewhat hesitant to get out of the tent, but we unzipped the door and saw the most beautiful firey red color flooding the sky.  I don't think I've ever run faster before 6am in my life.  Throwing on shoes and grabbing the camera, Jeff and I ran to the beach (approx 150m away) to photograph and watch in awe as the sun rose over distant mountain of the Marlborough Sounds (you couldn't even see these mountains the day before...See Flickr pictures)

It was still quite chilly so we retreated back to the tent for a couple more hours of sleep.  We had a hike to a waterfall planned that day so we needed our beauty rest.  At around 9 we woke up again and headed to Wainui Falls in the Abel Tasman.  It was a pretty easy hike, about 40 minutes each way, and absolutely beautiful.  I bought some Santa hats on Friday so we could work on getting a good Christmas pic, and this is one location for our prototype.

After the hike we took the 3 hour, very windy (full of turns) ride home.  It was so nice to take a hot shower, eat hot, tasty food, and get a warm night's sleep.

At 8am on Monday I started my new job at the Nelson City Council Cafe.  It is just me and an older lady named Loraine.  She reminds me a lot of my grandmom, which makes me sad sometimes, but she has been teaching me a lot about baking/cooking.  It is a wonderful job where I spend 6 hours preparing sandwiches and dessert dishes, and we take a tea break every morning, and a long lunch in the afternoon.  She feeds me muffins and delicious lunch dishes...yumm.  It is probably the best job ever.  At lunch we sit and talk with a small group of employees who are all about my parents age.  They all interrogate me about being young in the USA and talk about life in Nelson.  I enjoy hearing their perspective of America and about the differences in culture.  They also have give great advice about places to see in Nelson.  

So I have a bunch of new bird pictures/identification, but I will do a separate blog entry on that tomorrow mostly because I am exhausted.  Until then, Cheers!  Oh and Happy Turkey Day!  I am super jealous of all of you Americans scarfing turkey and pumpkin pie on Thursday.  

ps. check out more awesome pictures from the weekend by clicking on the Flickr link on the right!

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

So a few random thoughts before I forget.  So one, small disappointing aspect of New Zealand is that the toilets flush down.  Like I said, it is small, but I admittedly was excited to see the toilet swirl the opposite way when flushed because we are located south of the equator.  It does not here in New Zealand.  It only goes straight down.

Now onto something amazing about New Zealand, there is NO TRAFFIC, at least in Nelson.  I drive 15 minutes to work about 5 days a week and it does not matter what time of the day it is, it always takes me the same amount of time.  It is a wonderful feeling, and decreases my daily stress level by a lot.  I attribute most of the lack of traffic to the traffic circles.  Basically no matter what direction you want to go you are initially turning left and yielding to the cars on your right.  Maybe we have these in the states, but I’ve never seen them, and I’m not entirely sure they would work, even in the busy suburbs of Philly.  Needless to say, I only go through one stoplight on my way to work.  I estimate this same ride, but at home would have about 4 stoplights and take 25 minutes, maybe 30 with traffic.  Life is good.

Third random thing about life in New Zealand (sort of), one which I hated and grew to love, is the fact that I generally do not have a cell phone.  Jeff and I share a cell phone, but usually it just sits on the dining room table, and we only ever get a call from the temp agency, and it’s not like we really have too many friends to text.  Jeff uses it to text basketball friends, and I text one lady about work.  At first I would reach in my purse to check my cell phone constantly and now I am usually wondering what the loud noise is coming from my pocket.  I would say my cell phone use has decreased 98%, and it’s a good feeling to be able to live without it, but I do find myself wishing I could share parts of my day with Jeff or people back home.  I guess that’s what the blog is for.

I can’t remember any more random things, so I’ll go on to describe my week.  I haven’t written in a while, but honestly not too much happened this week except working my butt off.  I strained my back on Sunday when we went to the bird sanctuary, so I had been taking a few days off yoga, but I went to a vinyasa flow class this morning and got my butt kicked. 

This week I worked at the airport café Mon through Thurs and had my first day of housekeeping work on Wednesday.  I really thought I could do anything for 6 hours a day for a month or two, but this housekeeping job was at a five star resort, and it wasn’t that the work was too physically demanding (although quite rough), but they were so meticulous that it drove me insane.  I think I am meticulously clean and neat, and I understand people pay a lot of money to stay at these places, but I decided that I cannot care enough about a smear on a granite wall that I just finished buffing enough to do that for 20-30 hours a week, especially for minimum wage (This is part vacation after all).  I politely declined further employment at the hotel, and did a little employment damage control… I know in the coming weekends I will have catering opportunities for $15/hour and I have been getting pretty steady hours at the airport café (which I love) so I thought quitting the hotel would be fine.  I went to talk to my temp agency lady (Cynthia) to tell her I have more availability and she said that I could be the main airport café person from the temp agency (her and I are like bff).  And then it got even better, she calls me shortly after this conversation to send me on an interview for a position managing a small café, with one other lady, for 30hr/week for 2 weeks while the head chef is away.   The boss there offered me the job and I start Monday!  I am very excited because I will get the chance to work in a commercial size kitchen baking and cooking, but also talking to customers (a huge improvement from cleaning rooms).  Once these 2 weeks are up holidays and summer will be in full swing and I can pick up more hours at the airport café.  I am pretty much the luckiest person alive to have gotten that position at the small café, because I was worried I would quit the hotel and all my jobs would die off.  I guess New Zealand wants to keep me for a little while longer J

It’s Friday here and my first day off since last Sunday.  Because the house we rented is also advertised as a holiday home, it is being rented for the weekend.  It sounds unusual, and it is, but we basically get paid $15 a night each to go away for the weekend while other people stay at the house.  We’ve been out of the house since yesterday morning and stayed in a hostel in Nelson last night because Jeff had a job today doing relocation (moving boxes around).  Tonight we will head to Takaka (about 2 hours north-west of Nelson) camp there, do some activities, then camp in Abel Tasman and do some more activities (I don’t want to spoil the future blog topic, but we booked a very cool activity for tomorrow!)  then return home Sunday night.  We’ll see how Bluberry holds up on the “Takaka Hill” which is basically a drive over a really windy mountain.  (The first time I ever realized the windy and windy were spelled the same was here in New Zealand).  You’d be surprised at how many times I was expecting a gusty ride through the mountains rather than one with a lot of turns haha

I’ve gotta go find some sunscreen before we head off into the wild because the sun is so much more brutal here than in the states, and I’m willing it to be a sunny weekend.  Hope everyone is looking forward to the holidays and the time off!  Miss everyone a ton and its great to hear from those who write!!  Love and hugs!

Cheers!

Oh Sunday!

Today was a pretty great Sunday if you ask me.  And it was a pretty great Sunday even if you don't ask me, because whether or not I am posed the question, I think that today was a great day.  Since Nicole has found some temporary work around town now, it was nice to have a morning where she could sleep in.  The sun was shining bright from the get-go and it seemed like a perfect day for a hike to capture some bird pics and a beach trip for the evening.

Due to the beautiful weather, we decided to take the "Ladybug" (motorcycle) for the day rather than the "Blueberry" (Coles old car).  Motorcycling around a this beautiful town is so amazing that I can't effectively put the feeling into words.  Plus the lack of traffic really makes the bike a rather safe transport too.  So we were off before noon to the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary where we planned to do some light hiking and catch some bird pics.  For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the idea of a wildlife sanctuary, it is basically a plot of land that is being intensely preserved to prevent invasive species of plants and animals from taking over.  Since New Zealand is loaded with fancy birds, some of which are flightless, the possums and rats steal the bird eggs and eventually eliminate them.  If anyone can explain why trying to prevent the theory of Darwinism and the whole process of natural selection is such a worthy cause, please do...So what did we see?

The walk was a little bit more of a hike than we imagined, but it was along a small stream that had plenty of waterfalls.  The amazing thing is that the sanctuary is literally a five minute ride from downtown Nelson. It is like a hidden gem of nature right next to the "city".  The hike was beautiful, but the birds were non-existent.  Apparently, the birds are currently nesting, so we were unlikely to spot them for pictures but we were able to hear their calls.  It's quite amazing that an animal so tiny can produce such a loud and unique sound!  So while the pictures were limited, we spotted a couple of good looking ducks with 6 or 7 baby ducklings.  Since I am too traumatized by what occurred on the hike back, I am going to let Nicole write about the incident....

I can understand why Jeff didn't want to write about the incident, but I will preface this short tale with the fact that we googled the incident, and it appears baby birds can fall from great heights with little injury.  So like Jeff said, we spotted a family of Paradise Shelducks on the first stretch of our walk.  We were looping back around when we saw them again, but this time at the top of the largest waterfall.  I started to pictures of the little guys, when all of the sudden they started drifting toward the edge, and one by one went over the waterfall, with no regard from their parents.  Jeff and I looked at each other in sheer sadness.  We contemplated trying to go to the bottom to find them, but figured it would be too dangerous or disappointing.   We left the park hoping the fall was not fatal.  After some research it does not appear that it would hurt the birds, but it was a very upsetting scene to the amateur bird watcher.  Back to Jeff...

So, next we cruised over to Tahunanui Beach, which is our local beach around here, to just soak up the sun for a little while.  I keep being told by the locals that Summer has been getting here later and later every year.  While it used to be in November, now they say it won't be getting real warm here until X-Mas time.  Definitely looking forward to it warming up so that we can swim every day.  We arrived home to just relax on Sunday afternoon and mentally prepare for another week half way across the globe. Cheers!

Ps. I'll post the pictures from today on Flickr

Ahh so much can happen in a few, short, beautiful days... I got the car that I saw online.  It is a deep blue 89 Volvo 760 GLE. She's not too glamorous, but she is in great shape, and she was a mere $1200.  I named her Blueberry.

I also has had my first day of work at the Nelson airport cafe.  The airport only has 5 gates, and one cafe.  It is a decent job, although I don't always understand what the kiwis are ordering, the other staff is really helpful, and it's nice to be out of the house.  I will work there Friday, Monday, and Tuesday as well.  It's an easy job, close by, decent pay, and they make me hot chocolate, and feed me muffins... I can't complain.

I am just about to post some amazing sunset pictures that I took when we had our new Fin friends over, and they brought a girl, Sara, from Sweden.  We spend the night drinking, eating, and Dan played guitar, while Jonas played harmonica.  It was really fun, and great talking to people who are doing what we're doing.  They're now heading south, but we hope to catch up with them soon! (Subtle hint to check out the Flickr)

I got a response to the "what aren't eggs refrigerated here" question.  My friend Laura FB messaged me with her conclusion... " so when chickens lay eggs the egg is covered in a protective coating that protects the egg from going bad. In the US, eggs are washed before theyre sold and washing them removes the coating so then they have to be refrigerated to stay fresh. When we used to get eggs straight from the chicken we would usually wash them bc they were covered in all sorts of stuff (straw, feathers, dirt, etc) from being in the chicken pen and then we would just refrigerate them, but if we didn't have room in the fridge or something we just wouldn't wash them until right before using them."

I love the responses to all of the complicated Kiwi lifestyle questions.  

More birds... so I haven't been looking as aggressively recently because of work and other adult stuff, but I have big plans for this weekend.  My yoga instructor said that there was a bird sanctuary in the area, so i'm hoping to get over there in the next few days.  Today i'll start off with the bird I saw yesterday at Tahunanui beach.  He basically wanted to be best friends until he realized I didn't have any food.  He is the native Red-Billed Gull.  

This next photo was taken the day after we arrived in New Zealand, in a town outside of Auckland, called Devonport.  I had to change the picture quite a bit to get enough color to identify him, but I did get a better look in real life.  It is the Australian introduced Eastern Rosella, and I can't wait to see more like him! (side note:  you may not be able to see him very well, if at all, but he is in almost the middle.  If you click on it it should get bigger)

So I did yoga, ran errands, replied to e-mails, ran a couple miles today, so I only have energy for one more bird tonight.  I saw these little guys outside the Te Papa museum in Wellington.  Usually I deem every duck I see a "Mallard", so I was surprised to find out these were Grey Ducks.

Miss everyone! Hope all is well! Cheers & Love!!

Frisbees Can Make Friends!

Sunday afternoon, the 5 roomies and I headed to the park to play some frisbee, and to see if our flyers worked.  Everyone was very skeptical, but I wasn't too surprised to see 2 guys waiting for us at the park.  They were 2 guys, about our age, from Finland.  Markus and Jonas were a great asset to the teams, and had really great attitudes. They are doing basically the same thing as we are doing except they are currently staying in a hostel, so tonight we invited them over to hang out and maybe play some poker.  Viola!  Frisbee + Optimism = New Friends!!  Hopefully even more people will show up next week.

More great news!  I currently have 3 jobs, and it may sounds awful, but it is great news to me.  Through the temp agency I signed up with, I will be working 14 hours at the airport cafe this week.  I also will be doing weekend catering like I mentioned before, but I also got the job at the Grand Mercure, which is this beautiful holiday hotel of sorts.  It reminds me of a beautiful, sophisticated, Disney resort.  I will be cleaning rooms 3 days a week at $13.50 an hour, from 9-3.  Its basically working for minimum wage, but its the right amount of hours for me, and they are good hours.  It's like a small weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  Now I just have to find a car.  There is one I really want, so cross your fingers it's still available (the first one I made appt to look at was sold like an hour after I called).

Jeff also had some luck today!  He called a few orchards in the area, and oddly enough each orchard basically said "we don't have work now but here's a number to try", and it led him to an interview.  It too provides him with a decent schedule, decent pay, and is only temporary.  The best part of these jobs is that they let us make a bit of cash then head down the coast after Christmas to find another place to live and explore.

So I guess its back to the birds... We left off at the Pigeons, next are two of the coolest birds I have seen so far, and both pictures are pretty good.  First is the black swan.  They are so beautiful and plentiful in Rotorua.  The second is the Pukeko, equally as beautiful, and unlike anything i've ever seen before.  He was also the easiest to identify.

These birds are in no way in the order that I saw them.  That would probably have been a good idea, but I am too impatient, and was way too excited about getting a picture of the Tui to not put it up right away.  The next two birds are found in the U.S. in great numbers, so they weren't a super exciting find, but its nice to think that maybe they are related to the House Sparrows and Black Backed Gulls at home.

This next one was pretty difficult to identify, mostly because the picture was initially from really far away.  After doing some zooming, I was able to most accurately identify it as a the New Zealand native, the Little Shag.  There were other shags in my book, but this appeared to be the only one that had a yellow beak.

The most uncommon bird (what the book identifies as the most uncommon) I have come across so far was a bird that Jeff and I stumbled upon while taking a walk on the beach Monday night.  The two Variable Oystercatchers, listed as "uncommon endemic", would not let me get too close to them, but I'm pretty positive I figured them out.  I decided it was the Variable Oystercatcher rather than the Pied or Chatam Island Oystercatcher because it was the only species that appeared to have an entirely black phase.  (Note: This picture was digitally enhanced to better see the colors and size).

Jeff and I saw this next one on our hike to "The Center of New Zealand" yesterday, and it was a chase, and somewhat of a failure, but after consulting the hand guide, I have it narrowed down to the only two Raptors in the Nelson area. It only really looks like one of them from the bottom, so I am going with the Australasian Harrier for this next photo.  He was amazing, gliding all around the mountainside.  (I am also posting our hike picture on Flickr today too, great views of Nelson!)

I'll end the post today with a simple bird that everyone should be able to guess, as most of you will be enjoying it later this month.  

   Yep, the Wild Turkey!!

Cheers!

12 Birds Down!

So the ever exciting employment update: I kind of have a job!! I went to an interview this morning at a vineyard about 30 minutes from my house, and came back semi-employed! I will be a "food & beverage consultant", so basically I am doing catering for events (mostly weekends) at this beautiful vineyard, on a casual basis. I am happy with this, and they will pay me $15 an hour, but I am still hoping for another, more consistent, position. The only problem is now I need to purchase my own car. Beth, Nick, and Adam are buying Jeff and I out of the Rhino so that they can use it to their total discretion, and Jeff and I can purchase something of our own. I like this idea, I just really do not want to go through the car buying process again. oh well, it's not like I have anything else to do.

I have very few bullet points on my "things that make me feel like a bad ass" list, but today I was able to add one, and probably the biggest of them all. Today I drove a motorcycle! Yes I sat on it, turned it on, put it into 1st gear, and rode it in straight lines until my legs were sore from turning the bike around. It is amazing how cool/scary/badass it feels to drive a motorcylce, and i really didn't drive very far. After seeing that it was much less complicated that I previously thought, I am considering getting my junior licence in NZ and learning here.

There have been commercials recently advertising for a movie called "The Inbetweeners", and it looked hilarious. Dan, the British roomie, explained that it is a movie that stemmed from a British comedy series of the same name. He wanted to see it, and despite not seeing the series, we wanted to see it too. It was the funniest movie I have seen in a while. Yeah it was post-high school, pre-college humor, but in a quirky and unpredictable way, in some way different than in the states. The reason I put this in here is because if anyone ever comes across it in the States I would definitely say give it a go. The series is supposed to be even funnier as well.

Now for the birds. As very few of you may know I was a member of the University of Pittsburgh Birding & Ornithology Club. I didn't attend too many trips (as they were very very early in the cold morning), and I attended most of the trips for the fast food we'd be consuming on the road and the remote location away from Oakland, but I did see that birds did deeply interest others, and that made me think that if I was actually going to make my dues worth it I was going to do it in New Zealand... so, after weeks of weak attempts at photographing birds ::drumroll:: I was able to photograph (some very poorly) and identify 12 different birds! Now I realize this is nowhere near my goal, but for me it is an encouraging start to a long list of birds I will one day see. Up until today my watching has been passive, and I have been taking the "let the birds come to me" approach, but I have started to step it up a bit. For example, today I sat in my yard on a log for 10 minutes in boredom (aka silence), and all of the sudden i heard a series of clicks, whistles, and screeches, and sure enough it was the bird I've been chasing around with a camera at every national park, and now he was in the tree right next to me!! It was the Tui!

Now I definitely expected to see a Tui in my yard, but not exactly in the spot I was sitting. I expected to see the Tui in my other spot in the yard near the Tui feeder I made a few days earlier. Despite the overly sweet water I filled the feeder (aka poorly cut milk jug) with, and the welcoming text, no birds have visited it to my knowledge.

The Tui is one of the more obvious native New Zealand birds, but for all of the other birds I used "The Hand Guide to the Birds of New Zealand" book I borrowed from the library. The following birds are identified to the best of ability, but I would like to be corrected if i'm wrong please!! The book was able to identify the other bird I saw on my sit today as the Black Bird; A bird brought from Europe, and also seen in America.

You may have trouble spotting the bird, or seeing much detail, but after zooming in I was able to see enough detail to confidently choose a correlating title for all of the birds. Although it would be nice to have beautiful pictures of every birds, my main goal is just the photograph the bird well enough to identify it. I have to admit it is fun to go on a hunt to match a bird with it's name. It was the beak color that allowed me to distinguish the Feral (rock) Pidgeon from the New Zealand Pidgeon, who is only found in New Zealand.

hmmm so i think there may be a limit on how many pictures I can upload in one blog entry, so the rest of the birds will have to wait! I'll put them up asap though.

Right now it's ultimate frisbee time... we'll see if anyone shows up, other than our friends! Cheers!