Good Bye, New Zealand!!!

Tomorrow is our last day in New Zealand and what an amazing time we have had!

We are sad to go and wish New Zealand was closer to Oregon. I never thought I would ever live in another country and have it feel like "home." Well, New Zealand stole our hearts.

Dunedin is a beautiful city and I will truly missing walking around town. I think I will even miss the hills!

Sophia is going to miss her friends, and her fantastic teacher, Mr. Roche. She absolutely adores him, and he is one of the best teachers I have ever encountered! (I did say one of the best)

Leah has settled into Kiwi life quite nicely and has found a nice group of friends. She has loved playing netball, and thinks it is the best sport in the world.

The girls have also enjoyed many play dates, and one of their favorite places to visit our friends, the Cotters. Charlotte, Hamish, Lucy and Grace was very friendly towards the girls and they spent hours together running around.

Stas has had some great experiences at the "Uni"- with his Kiwi colleague, Jim. He has been able to do some top quality research, in addition to advising the Willamette students.

We had a great time with the Willamette students, with several of them coming and going through our house at some time or another. They were great to have around, and they have really become part of our family!

I was able to just enjoy this experience. I have met some kind and wonderful people here, and I hope I will see them again some day. I spent hours in museums learning about New Zealand, and enjoyed reading book after book from the library. I experienced new foods (most of them great) and did some experimenting in my own kitchen! Most of my experiments were actually edible!

We have already had tears from Sophia, and Leah has already said she wants to stay until November (she still has netball and camp to come). That tells me this was a positive, enjoyable and memorable experience- which is the best outcome!

Fun with Good Friends and Puppies

The girls have loved playing out at Roka and Kerry's house- there are horses, puppies, and lots of land for running around.

Kerry was a brave man, and took 5 dogs (3 puppies and two other dogs) and both girls out for digging for cockles. We call cockles- clams, and the clams they gathered were used in a chowder less than 1/2 hour later.

Whew! A very busy weekend!

It has been a very business weekend around here, as we are winding down our visit to New Zealand.

Friday we were invited to drinks at one of the neighbor's house. We had a delightful time, and they also have a 2 year old dog named, Millie- which have a the girls a great "friend" to play with!

A couple of Stas' students came up for an impromptu dinner, and ended up having a sleepover at our house! Shaffer then joined the girls and I for clamming early Saturday morning, and Elena watch the World Cup for most of the night!

After clamming we heading to our friends, Roka and Kerry's house, for a traditional Maori meal. Indian fry bread, clams, seafood chowder and a taste of mutton bird were enojoyed by us all. Roka, Kerry and their family have become dear friends, and we so appreciate their kindness, hospitality, and good company.

Saturday night we went to a comedy play called 39 steps which was quite lovely. The girls has another one of Stas' students as a babysitter- and of course played lots of games with Victoria.

Leslie, the last of the students here in Dunedin, was feeling a bit left out of the sleepovers, so after the play she stayed Saturday night at our house (along with Elena who is living here during soccer!).

Sunday we were invited to another neighbor's house, the Wyatt's. They have been so nice to us and we have enjoyed their company. In the States we have wonderful, dear neighbors who are like family to us. It was so nice for the girls to have neighbors here that reminded us so much of home. And, of course, we could not leave out Mrs. Wyatt's shortbread!

We climbed out way into bed early last night, to begin our new week!

Maori Learning Center

We were lucky enough to be able to spend a weekend at at Maori Learning Center, a few weeks ago.

Kerry, Roka and their family are some of the kindest, warmest and giving people we have encountered here in New Zealand. We spent the weekend learning about their story of being Maori, their language and beliefs. We ate together and spoke of politics, raising of children and of Mother Earth. We learned how to weave, while watching children run around playing.

The girls ran around the country with other kids, played with puppies, ate mutton bird and were lucky enough to ride horses. Leah got to ride one of the horses on the road home!

Ricky, who is Roka & Kerry's son, has taken over running the center and is also a jack of all trades. He is an artist, the main cook, hunter, and keeps the place running. Ricky and his daughters were very gracious to arrange to time for the girls to go and ride the horses. Ricky is telling Sophia how to greet and talk to the horse before climbing on for a ride.

Birds

We have had a wonderful time enjoying all the different birds in New Zealand. The local birds that do not fly north (yes north, no south) for the winter rely on city bird feeders to keep them fed.

We have had Tuiis, bell birds, silver-eyed birds, black birds, sparrows and starlings at our bird feeder. There are goldfinches that eat the from the lavender bushes in the front yard. We also see wood pigeons (Kereru) in the nearby trees. Wood pigeons are one of New Zealand's pigeons that look like a pigeon on steroids. They are HUGE!

Netball

Leah has signed up for netball and she is loving it. What is netball? Well, we are still trying to figure it out. I will at least give you some of the differences between netball and basketball. There is no dribbling in netball, there is no contact (really, no contact), only certain people are allowed in certain areas of the court, there is no backboard, and you can only shoot in a designated area. Oh! They also play in skirts.

Leah has made several baskets and has had a great time. She also has NOT dribbled during the game, which we consider a success!

Leah and I were also lucky enough to go see the professional netball players about a week ago.

Here is a small video of her- one bad pass followed by a good pass that ended up with a basket. I think this is her first assist!

The time is ticking down

It is hard to believe that we have less than a month before we head back for home. There are mixed feelings about leaving.

As winter, and the cold approaching, I am looking forward to the end of our visit. The weather has kept us inside more, and we are doing less traveling.

However, I adore Dunedin and I will miss it. This is a great walking town, and I will miss the 10 minute walk to downtown. I will miss the great old houses, the stained glass windows, and the many birds we see out our windows. The view from our conservatory is amazing, and it will be hard to leave. We have met some wonderful people here, and hope to come back again soon!

I am excited to go back and start "working" again. I have bought a few treasures here, that will be packed (very carefully!) in my suitcase so I can take them home. My etsy shop is calling my name, and hopefully someone will love the laboratory glassware I found!

Cadbury, here we come!

Mom and Dad took us to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory for a tour. I have to admit I had been to Cadbury before Mom and Dad's visit (okay, I had been there several times), but a person can never go to Cadbury too many times.

Shell Heaven!

This beach had amazing shells! Tons of them! Big ones, little ones, and clams that were still alive!

Unfortunately, we forgot out bags and plastic tubs. However, Mom still had an extra clean hankie to use!

The birds are everywhere. Here are pictures of a blue heron, shags (cormorants) and an oyster catcher.

Sand Head Beach

Another lovely day and drive out exploring with Mom, Dad and Stas. This is about 20 minutes away from our house. The tides were out, and the water was calm.

Movie Set of Narnia

Just outside Oamaru, there are some huge rocks in the middle of nowhere. Actually, they are in the middle a some farmers' fields. The are called the Elephant Rocks. Apparently, if you look just right at them (or not quite at them) they look like elephants. This was also where some of Narnia was filmed, which got the girls all excited!

"What's in the bag?"

What's in the bag? Nothing. Let me see it. Nope. Are they hidden behind my back? Yes? Okay then, smile for the picture. There is NOTHING behind my back. I am NOT collecting shells. Sure, Mom......

Yellow-Eyed Penguin

We finally got to see penguins! I realize the pictures are horrible, BUT it is proof that we saw penguins.

Cheeses, Cheeses and more Cheeses!

This was another cheese store we stopped at on the way to Oamaru. Sophia REALLY thought we should buy the big round piece- no worries that is was 1 food in diameter!

In Omaru, we went to a third cheese shop, and actually got to peek in the windows to see some of the cheese being stored.

We are going to miss this view

Here are some early morning sunrise photos taken by Stas.

Happy 7th Birthday Sophia!

Sophia was lucky enough to celebrate her 7th birthday here and even had Poppa and Gramma here, too!

Her birthday came a day earlier than in the States, so that also made her pleased.

Of course Poppa and Gramma brought the best present of all- a tiara. It was hand-carried in Gramma's carry on so it would not get broken. The tiara was worn to school and admired by all!

Autumn has arrived in Dunedin and so did the $541 electric bill!

I have been hearing for months how cold winters are here in Dunedin. They are miserable. However, Kiwis could never tell me why they are so bad. Do they get lots of snow? No. How about ice? Not really, just some frost. Large amounts of rain? No, it is quite mild. So what is the problem?? The cost of electricity is the problem!

We just received our electricity bill and it was $541. Ouch! Why was it so high? Well, first I should explain about the building codes here. There is not any insulation in the houses here, and the windows are single paned. In addition, the houses do not have central heating. Finally, there are several windows which are louver glass and never quite close! So, from the get go houses are drafty, damp and a bit chilly.

However, our rental house has 7 free standing heaters that can be used to heat up the rooms. Last month when it was a wee bit chilly, we plugged them in. Hence the problem.

Apparently, those heaters are really expensive to run, thus the $541.00 charge. Kiwis usually only use one heater, used in the room they spend most of their time. They do not heat the bedroom or any other room. Instead they put on more clothing layers!

Now I finally get why winters are so miserably cold in New Zealand.

Tomorrow I will going to buy some wool long johns!

Orokonui Ecosanctuary

Late Autumn has come to southern New Zealand and with it has come the birds. We have a marvelous book that we received from our neighbors that has many of the birds that can be seen around the city.

At last count, we have seen 30 different birds!

While Mom and Dad were here, we went to a sanctuary to see some of native birds. We decided we saw more birds each morning on our back deck! It was nice to seen the native plants and trees (said Mom).

Taiaroa Head & Albatross Center

The pictures are dates a wee bit mixed up, as there are pictures on both Stas' and my computers. So, we shall travel back in time and see more pictures from earlier adventures!

This is at the Tairaroa Head, which is where the is a large albatross colony. There are also many shags here, we call them cormorants.

There is huge amounts of seaweed in New Zealand, and I love to see it dance with the waves. It reminds me of a mermaid's hair flowing in the water.