Jeff & Nicole's Hitchhiking Adventure

So there comes a point in your life when you go on a long hike, you have to hitchhike 400km back to your car, and by the time you get settled in the next city, you're so far behind on your blog that you have to summarize adventures, leave out some details, and get on with reality... Welp that's where I am at.  Too much to put into detail in the blog, but I will try to summarize, and happy to talk about on skype.

So I left off with us finishing the hike and arriving in Karamea (the town closest to the end of the Heaphy).  Basically we had to get up to the car (430km away) in the next 2 days to make it to the Heaphy start and down to our friend Markus in Greymouth (all the way back past Karamea).  It didn't go quite as planned.

The first day we got lucky enough to be picked up by Steve and Laurie (The American couple we met on the Heaphy) outside of Karamea, and they took us all the way to Nelson (approx. 5 hrs)!  After that it took 2 more days and 6 more hitches to get to the car at the start of the Heaphy.  It wouldn't have even helped to get there any earlier though because for the 3 days we were hitching it was pouring rain, and in the last 10km of the road to get to our car there are 3 water passes (basically a flowing stream with a cement road under it to drive through) that were over a meter higher than normal, so even if we got to our car during the rain we couldn't get out of the lot.

Our last hitch was on New Years Eve, around 1pm, and about 5 hours after the rain had subsided, after hitching 2 times earlier that day and walking about 15km already we only had 15km to go and a German kid stopped and picked us up, claiming to have been looking for a waterfall.  We were so hopeful we would end up at the track start before he found his waterfall, but only 3km away from the pickup point was the intersection for the waterfall.  We were discouraged, but the boy, Metaius, was insistent on taking us to our car despite our warnings of the possible high water passes.  We drove through the first one fine, and warned him that the second one is the worst of the 3.  We urged him to drop us in front of the second, but he claimed his brother told him his Subaru could drive through knee deep water and he and Jeff tested the water to be a little below the knee.  Metaius was excited to drive through the water pass!  (and we were excited to be getting a ride).  We kicked it into 1st gear and made it through all 3 no problem.  We found our car right where we left it!  We thanked Metaius and wished him good luck on his travels.

So it was 2pm on NYE and we were supposed to meet Markus, and we had no phone on the Heaphy so he still didn't know if we were coming or not.  We decided that we were too tired to get to Nelson (2 hrs) and grab the motorcycle then drive the 4hrs it would take to Markus (possibly in the dark on some really windy roads).  We charged up the phone and told Markus we'd see him the next day, then drove into Nelson, cooked and ate Cup Noodle in the car, grabbed some drinks, discovered this neat outdoor concert they had set up in town, watched some live music, greeted the new year with open arms, and slept in the car. :)

Sunset in Nelson on NYE

The next day was a long day in the car, and on the bike, but we made it to Greymouth in a little under 5 hours.  Markus gave us an awesome rate on a couples room and we just cooked up some amazing dinner and headed out to the pacific to watch the sun drop off the side of the earth... so beautiful.  The next day he took us to Lake Brunner, where we grabbed a tan and a jump of a bridge!  We decided to stay one more night because we were really exhausted from the constant go go go we'd been doing, but on the 3rd of January we were off to Queenstown!  Unfortunately the windy roads and the constantly changing weather wears on a lonely driver and the biker following her so we stopped to sleep in the city Haast, about 2.5hrs from Queenstown.  It was Jeff's birthday so we grabbed a nice dinner and a few drinks.

Sunset in Greymouth

Finally the day had come!  We arrived in Queenstown.  We instantly stopped at the McDonalds for their $5  coffee and muffin deal (and free internet) so we could start calling places to rent.  We were able to see 2 places the first day, but the first was too expensive and the second was smelly... That night we met up with Dan (our British friend we lived with in Nelson for a short while), and grabbed some drinks and live music. It was great seeing Dan, but sad to hear he might leave Queenstown soon!  The next day I had an interview at the hotel at their pub (I had already had a phone interview in Nelson with the manager), and we were able to set up 2 rooms to look at to rent.  The interview went great and she offered me a trail night the next day and the first place we saw that day we loved, but wanted to hold out until we saw the second place.  The second place wasn't even available until 2 weeks later, so we left and called Lucy in the car asking if we could move in that night.

That brings us right about to reality (although I have a few more stories about Queenstown to add later), but we live with a woman named Lucy, who owns the home we live in, and who is a painter/designer, so the house is beautiful and tidy.  She has an adorable French Mastiff named Marley, who we love.  We also have another guy at the place who rents a room, but keeps to himself.  They are both very nice and we pay a little under a $100/wk (which is less than our last place).  It is in Fernhill (approx. 4km from the center of the city), so it is up a huge hill, but it is great exercise, and Dan lives on the street next to ours, so we have some company close by. As for employment, my trial night went amazing.  I loved the atmosphere and the people I work with, and they wash my uniform every day and I get to wear jeans, and if they have a hole they fix it, they feed me for free, among other neat thins.  They checked my NZ references and I should be starting at the end of this week!  Jeff has been applying all around town and should have no problem getting a job, and there is certainly no shortage in people who say "there are tons of jobs in QT".  I think I just got really lucky with mine!

I may have left a few things out, but i'll check my notes and fill in any blanks ASAP, but I feel better to be somewhat caught up on the blog, and feel like i'm writing about reality.

Really missing everyone at home, especially around that holidays.  Hope all is well!

Cheers!

ps. will take QT pictures soon and post them... it's beyond breathtaking!

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!!!

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!

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!

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!!

If you left it up to me everyday would be a holiday from real...

So although I have about 8 resumes out, I have one interview, and one definite no.  Hopefully the interview will work out, but the other reply said they would not hire anyone with a visa under 12 months.  This seems to be a trend of most of the positions here.  I know that it is only slightly into the second week, and i have no reason to be pessimistic, but i also have to be realistic and think ahead in case I remain unemployed for the duration of this lease in Nelson.  All will work out I suppose...

I've found that the two greatest ways to get my mind off the stresses of life are chocolate and yoga (luckily these two work in a clever balance).  I have been working on the chocolate eating for about 4 weeks now, and have finally decided it is time to restore my personal yoga to chocolate ratio.  I am fortunate that what Nelson lacks in employment it makes up for in yoga practice.  After a lot of research, I was able to find a quaint yoga studio only 3K down the road from my house (On a really good day I could run/walk there).  The owner/yogi happened to be Atlanta, GA born and bred and has moved here with her Irish husband to live a "simpler life".  It was great to close my eyes, stretch, and be guided by someone who reminded me of home.  It was equally as great to speak to someone who understands the frustrations that come along with having to purchase $9 dental floss and overpriced wheat-based products (Note: there are plenty of things that are cheaper here, like asparagus, but a lot of everyday items are wildly overpriced).  Overall, my first New Zealand yoga experience was amazing, and she offered me 30 days of unlimited yoga for $30, which is a drastic discount from the 6 classes for $60 which is advertised on the website.  People's kindness always amazes me.  Another lady in the class spoke with me for a while after class and invited me to join her Brazilian Samba workshop, and although I would probably decline in the states, I think I must embrace holiday and go for it! (This lady also added that she had lived here for 3 years, and it took her 9  months to find ANY job here... sighs)

Last sorrowful Halloween post:  Yesterday we bought a bit of candy to hand out to trick or treaters (I highly suggest trying a Moro bar if ever in New Zealand or Australia), and we did not have a single kid come to the house.  It was bittersweet because we got to eat all of the candy, but we really were entirely without Halloween in 2011 except for Shaun of the Dead, which is barely a Halloween movie.  

Today was the day I was getting a library card, signing out a bird book, and beginning my goal of identifying and photographing 50% of New Zealand's indigenous species, BUT the library is closed until Friday for computer updating, so it must wait.  In the meantime I am hoping to try to enjoy unemployment as cheaply as possible and do some amateur hiking, amateur photography, beach combing, and reading.  I have hardly any pictures of Nelson and am almost done Into the Wild, and would really like to read more like it.  For anyone who doesn't know the story, I highly suggest reading the book, or watching the movie (both awesome in their own right).  If anyone has any outdoors adventure suggestions, or any new must reads, please pass the titles on!

I have heard there is a significant amount of snow in PA, and my only response is "come visit"!!  I hope all is well and I would love to hear some stories from the states!  I'm not sure if I ever mentioned, but if you want to skype with Jeff or I (as many have already) my user name is nicole.wesolowski or my e-mail is nicoleweso@gmail.com

Cheers!

These are a few of my...

Weirdest observation:  Kiwi's do not refrigerate their eggs.  We have been doing as the kiwis do and also not refrigerating our eggs and they seem fine, SO why do we do it in the states?

Best find:  Tim Tams.  Strangely enough Justin Timberlake was on a late night talk show here raving about them (comparing them to Oreos...yummm), and we bought a pack, and ate a pack in less than a day.  Oh yeah two chocolate cookies with a smooth chocolate cream in the center, covered in chocolate.  They should call them Nicole Tams... ha ha hmmm

Most annoying find(s):  The internet here is not unlimited.  I know it's difficult to wrap your internet dependent head around, but there is apparently only one broadband line into the country at this time so they can only offer a max of around 20GB of net per month.  To some it may seem like a lot, and it is, but having 5 people skype, uploading pics, and searching the web makes it somewhat restricting.  Well you're probably thinking "yeah plus all of those American shows they're uploading to keep up on".  This brings me to the second annoyance: No Video Streaming.  Ok, so "No" is an exaggeration, but it doesn't feel like on when I can't use pandora, ABCgo, Hulu, CBS, or any other website that allows Americans to watch tv online.  Apparently it is a licensing law issue, but it's also an issue here because I am way behind on How I Met Your Mother.

Best Aspect(s) of our home:  We are a 2 minute walk away from the water, and a 15 minute drive from one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen.  Come visit everyone! Second aspect:  It stays warm through April :) Third aspect:  Every Saturday there is a market in the city centre, most closely comparable to the Manayunk arts festival, but its every weekend, and it has tons of fresh fruits and veggies, fresh made jams and mustards and dips, homemade liquors, hand stitched clothes and scarves, and food stands with Thai and crepes and stuff!   

So currently we are watching what little programming there is regarding Halloween here.  They don't celebrate it so much here, maybe just a few kids having small gatherings, and nothing like the sugar addicted kids of the states do it up.  Its sad though because I really enjoy Halloween movies, as does the whole crew.  At least they are playing some of the classics; Beetlejuice, Casper, and Halloween.  Also, we made a good friend from North England, and he's currently been crashing with us for a bit, and it's his birthday today so it's a great excuse to bake a cake, scarf it down, and head to the pub!  

Still working on employment.  It's really tough here! (In the country, not just the area we're in), and there is always fruit picking, but I'd rather not.  They say the sun is the hottest here, and there is very little ozone protecting the kiwis, so i'd prefer a job indoors.  I did get an interview for a housekeeping job, but I'm really hoping to get a call back from this close-by swanky restaurant before I have to go to the interview.  We'll see!