Thursday, August 31, 2006

Kaiteriteri


I’ve decided to let Angela have the night off from blogging. I guess I’ll make it a practice to post about every fortnight. Recent picture of me.










Anyway, for those of you who remember, this is our favorite beach here in NZ. It is also the starting point for the Abel Tasman National Park. So we took the day a couple weeks back to drive out to our beach. We had intended to explore Golden Bay and Collingwood (if you don’t know where these are, Google them) as well but due to circumstances well within our control, we didn’t make it that far. After getting up, working out, and then stopping by my work we were well on our way by about 12. So we altered our schedule and decided to only go to Motueka and Kaiteriteri. We stopped in Motueka first for lunch. Motueka is a small town (7,000 people) about 18kms from Kaiteriteri. A place I could see living but the job prospects are minimal.
We went to a nice little café for a lunch deal that included fish and chips, salad, and a coffee. We then hit the bakery for dessert – I’m addicted to the latte slice (you’ll have to visit to understand) so much so that I’ve already added 20 pound. Then on to Kaiteriteri to scout out the area we will be spending our entire summer – swimming, kayaking, and just relaxing. We strolled up and down the beach (see pictures) while having our bakery. Next, I decided we should go visit the bed & breakfast that we stayed at in Jan 2005. Diane was outside watering her garden when we arrived. After mentioning that we had stayed there in 05 and that I had referred several others to her place, we had a seat to catch up. She and her husband had just returned from a trip to Spain and Portugal and she was getting ready to head to Wanaka for a ski trip. Long story short, she’s asked us to come back and stay at her B&B for free this summer – uh, ok, no problem for us.

After leaving we decided to drive around the area a bit more to scout out our future home. For any who come, we’ll take you out here to spend a day or two.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Snippets of Interest

*McDonalds is different here. Not like in Europe where they do serve the quarter pounder with cheese as a royale with cheese. No, they are healthier and snazzier here. Some would say, anyway.

They serve coffee . . . no, not gas store coffee, but Starbucks-like coffee. You’ll find it in the McCafé. From the McD’s NZ web site: “Research had shown that customers wanted a separate café experience serving a variety of coffee, cakes, and savoury food options.” So our McDonalds are foo foo. Additionally, they serve deli sandwiches with their DeliChoice line of healthier food. I'm sure it's still all manufactured and engineered to taste like turkey even thought it's not.

This week McDonalds NZ launched a new ad campaign on television that they say uncovers the reality behind where their food comes from, what it has in it, and if it is real stuff or manufactured. Their first ad describes that all their fresh produce comes from New Zealand, except that which the country doesn’t grow—like pickles—so be proud Kiwis, your McDonalds are home grown. We'll learn more as this campaign marches on.

*Rockstar Supernova is huge here. Yes, we watch it. Both nights. But that’s beside the point. It seems to be hugely successful, probably because Tommy Lee and his tats appeal to the little sh** youths who ruin this country daily. We watch it because it’s funny and we want to see all the participants “bring it” each week. Oh, it be brought, baby. But Don and I think they need to step it up, bring it to the next level, man.

*On Friday we officially enter spring. It’s really cool to have two springs and two summers in one year, with only a brief visit in July back to winter. Don went out today sans jacket and I only had one shirt on under a windbreaker. We live in a great place. For the first time we are the people the weather people envy: “Ohhh Nelson, you’ll have sunshine tomorrow, again.” Great to hear that on tellie and know that I live in that place. Makes working for a living not so bad.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

My first two days at the office: Trading Places

I now have a part-time, temporary job on Mondays and Tuesdays, you may have read this on a previous blog. I started yesterday. To recap, I was placed as a temp to do website maintenance for the Nelson City Council. The Council functions much like your local city councils. I am to keep updated and also keep savvy the Council’s website, and also work with other graphic design projects as needed. For those of you interested, visit http://www.nelsoncitycouncil.co.nz/ and you’ll see my handiwork somewhere, though you won’t know it thanks to my perfected seamless style. :)

To give you an idea of my experience going back into the trenches, Monday was definitely Monday, but Tuesday was Friday, so that’s not too bad, right? Best part of the job, I’d say. I mean, let’s face it: work is work. As much as I was giddily looking forward to this new job last week, Sunday night was full of dread. Back to a job, to an office, to computer work, what had I been thinking??

And then the alarm went off Monday morning at 6:30am, UGH. I was to be in the office from 8 to 5 both days, but even with a 5 minute walking “commute” I wanted to give myself enough time. Guess what, I needed it! Short version? Shit happened.

My office happens to be right next door to the city clock tower building, so I learned some 100 yards from the office that I was already late by the last chime. But not to worry, so was everyone else! I waited about 15 minutes for my office mates to arrive to show me the ropes. As I had seen pretty much all over the country, most of the staffers were dressed in black or grey—the unofficial New Zealand office “uniform.” Since I knew this, I had put on my charcoal suit, but with a touch of color in my chartreuse cashmere v-neck sweater and beaded necklace. I just can’t wear black by itself anymore, so dark and dowdy! Oh, I can’t wait for my clothes to arrive—it will be like shopping at my very own mall! Anyway, I digress.

I was finally introduced to my primary co-worker, Jungle. Yes, I confirmed his name three times before seeing his nametag for myself. Jungle Payne is my co-worker and timesheet signer. He is the web designer and creator of most things graphic for NCC, apparently. He is also from Santa Barbara, moving to New Zealand in 1993. Jungle took me to my desk and introduced me to Nan, another workmate. She is a Kiwi, thankfully. I’m meeting so many foreigners, I was starting to wonder if I would ever hang out with Kiwis! (We’d been to a bar last weekend to celebrate Brit friend Dan’s bday with recent German immigrants Stefan and Ina, another British couple who’s names I forgot.)

Jungle, Nan and I are all Communications Advisers. I asked what each did, and they said, “communications adviser.” Okay, so what do you DO? As I said, Jungle is web dude, Nan is a journalist and writer for the Council publications (I was excited about this as Don has become an avid reader of all local news and community papers, particularly LIVE Nelson, a publication of . . . me and my officemates as it turns out!). The woman who sits at my desk on W, Th, and F is Ali and she too is a publications writer, although it’s likely I won’t meet her since we work on opposite days.

We five now make up the Public Communications department of the NCC, except I am not part of staff meetings, I have an anonymous email, “temppc2@ncc.govt.nz” and my name appears nowhere. So maybe I am not really part of the department, the life of a temp: from the top to the bottom, ah well! But I can stay anonymous and in the shadows -- and get some freaking work done for a change! Again, I digress.

Jungle showed me the ropes, pointed me to the web site, gave me a notebook of past-due website changes to make, showed me the restroom, spent my first break with me, and took me through the fire exits and out to the staging area. This first 4 hours sent me into a mental breakdown; in the upstairs cafeteria I saw dozens of people having their mid-morning break. I asked Jungle how many people worked for Council, 200 he said. TWO HUNDRED? I’ve not worked for an office that large for 10 years, I was in total culture shock. This office even had showers in both the men’s and women’s bathrooms, the freaking cafeteria, and a pool table, plus a rooftop patio.

I called Don mid-morning in my shocked state, he was in his own office at his part-time job. He works with two women, one very young, and the other Sarah from Louisville, mentioned previously. He has a mini-kitchen with dirty dishes from last week, barely a bathroom, and not even a copy machine. The equipment is severely dated, the workspace is small, and some days he doesn’t have a computer even to work from. They have two telephones, so “transferring a call” has it’s own meaning. And when all staffers are out of the office, they have to close it down and put up a “be back in 5” sign.

Don and I have traded places!!! He has worked in large offices his entire career, and I have work at least for the last 10 years for very small organizations needing major infusions of technology help. I’ve NEVER had a shower at my office and now I have about 4 laser printers (on my floor alone) to choose from (all named after Hollywood actors: Clooney, Bronson, you get the idea).

This adventure is bringing all sorts of new experiences to both of us. My job lasts at least through November, and you can’t beat a five day weekend. This work schedule will allow for a nice long summer break with several days off during each week to sit around on a beach or hike around Nelson Lakes. Thank goodness, I just can’t handle this work gig too much. What’s gonna happen to me when I have to go back full-time . . . next March? Life’s tough, eh, bet you are crying me a river.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

New Zealand history and the Treaty of Waitangi--Part IV (of IV)

A new Maori movement was underway midway through the 1900s led by inspired leaders, including a new spiritual movement and an effort to integrate into politics. In 1943 Maori held four parliamentary seats and in the late 1940s they were instrumental in holding together a Labour coalition to govern. Maori started to receive some of the extra help they needed: there was a higher expenditure on Maori schools, housing, and welfare. Maori pensions amounts were brought into line with Pakeha pensions and unemployment payments were likewise made equal, where in the past both had been lower based on a specious argument that Maori needed less. Some 280,000 Maori lived in New Zealand in 1980, a number vastly larger than ever before. Maori language continued to be taught in Maori schools and universities, community buildings were erected in large numbers and customs became a treasured part of society. Still, the claims of the Treaty of Waitangi continued over decades into the 1980s and 1990s.

An act of 1985 enabled Maori to take complaints about the non-fulfillment of the Treaty of Waitangi before the Waitangi Tribunal, a permanent government commission. Work toward this effort became a strong focus for Maori and the government minister for treaty settlements was equally committed. The first large settlement was about fisheries and Maori rights to fish. The case was argued for years and finally settled in court in 1992.

In December 1994 the government launched a plan to settle all Treaty claims by the year 2000. Settlements were made with iwi mostly over land issues. At June 1998 some 720 claims were still outstanding and approximately 70 new claims were sent to the tribunal each year. The target completion date of 2000 was likely to be passed. By the end of 2003 18 settlements had been made at a cost of about $718 million.

For all political parties, the subject of the Treaty of Waitangi is critical to their election platform. A political stance on the Treaty indicates how you feel Maori grievances are perceived and how claims are to be treated, IF the party believes they should be fulfilled at all.

An interesting news story came out a week ago about one of the settlements. The 1997 settlement with Ngai Tahu, the name of an iwi tribe, was originally for $170 million. This iwi decided to bank the full amount of the settlement and it is now worth some $500 million. Last week the iwi launched its own savings scheme with the settlement moneys. Each one of the iwi’s 37,000 members is entitled to get direct financial benefit from the settlement.

Rather than give out lump sums to each member at the time of the settlement, the iwi decided to provide for future generations. The scheme (NZ uses this term with a positive connotation but it always catches me up!) is called Whai Rawa (pronounced feye rawa, wh=f sound) and registered members who save $1 will receive an equal match for savings from the iwi at the end of every year. Children will get matched $4 for every $1. Savers can only withdraw money during their lifetime to pay for three purposes: college education costs, first home purchase, or retirement. The New Zealand Finance Minister was present at the announcement of this scheme and described Whai Rawa as “social entrepreneurialism.”

Thus concludes Angela’s most briefest ever look at Maori history. For some, it wasn’t brief enough, but I hope some of you enjoyed it . . . I know it has helped me to better understand the culture I now inhabit, a culture that is tied very closely to Maori as well as Western influences. Plus I learned a few nifty new words in a new language.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Another one bites the dust

Just when all the free-wheeling and life of luxury was getting comfortable, I too went and got a job. Part-time, like Don, but still I'll be heading back to an office. Not 24 hours after I submitted my resume, I got a call for a job on Mondays and Tuesdays as . . . a webmaster. Of sorts. My experience with Dreamweaver is sought after and I'll be working for the public communications office of the Nelson City Council for the next few months.

I couldn't be more ecstatic, I've wanted to actually use my MPA and work in local government, so working for the city council office is pretty much ideal. Plus I'm doing something different--web site management and a bit of design--and best of all, it's only 2 days per week and 5 minutes walk from home. Plus my workdays coincide with Dons, so Wednesdays through Sundays will be travel time, farting around time, and maybe try-to-lose-weight time.

Next week we are awaiting the arrival of our shipping container with glee, we are soooooo excited. Then we'll be heading down south in a couple of weeks to the Christchurch area, Akaroa and the Banks peninsula for my birthday. But you'll hear from us in between, NOT to worry!

Thursday, August 24, 2006

New Zealand history and the Treaty of Waitangi--Part III (of IV, almost done!)

Note: please see parts 1 and 2 already posted to get up to date.

Due to the mid-19th century wars and the loss of land and livelihood, apparently there was an expectation that the Maoris were dying out. But the census told a different story. In 1896 the population was 42,000 but by 1921 there were 56,000, attributed vaguely to a growing resistance to European diseases and better medical care.

In the late 1800s the Maori also set up their own Parliament. It aimed at full implementation of the Treaty of Waitangi, which was interpreted to mean a form of limited self-government. The Parliament wanted the European Parliament to give them control of their land, property and personal rights. Although the European Parliament largely ignored these requests, it inspired Maori political activity and to pursue their own form of government with or without approval.

New Zealand participated in both world wars in the first half of the 20th century and experienced similar economic woes as did the rest of the world, most notably during the 1930s and the great depression. But much like the United States, New Zealand emerged from the decade with an amazing social program and burst of legislative activity under a Labour government. A minimum wage was fixed, a large public works program was commenced, pensions were increased—including those to widows—and an innovative state housing program began to help those with low priced rentals. Most notably in 1938 the Social Security Act further increased pensions, introduced a national health service providing medicines, medical treatment and maternity benefits, all free of charge to recipients. The program was the first comprehensive and integrated system of social security in the western world.

Based on the principle that all men (and women) are equal, the social security program’s intention was to aide all New Zealanders. For Maori, government ministers were desperate to raise their living standards to European levels. Accomplishing this would mean providing more than an equal amount of assistance, and historically Maori had never received as much government aid as Europeans.

The Maori experienced definite signs of growth in the first half of the century, holding official government positions and bettering the farming techniques and efficiencies. Despite their desires, the Maori continued to sell their land, over 3.5 million acres between 1911 and 1929. After that date, sales almost ceased but Maori had only 4.3 million acres left, half of which was very poor land. Nevertheless, there seemed to be a new attitude among the Pakeha toward the Maori starting in the 1930s. Several royal commissions were created to hear the grievances of the Maori and the government agreed to pay financial compensation for unfulfilled promises, for example to grant reserves or build schools, made in earlier days in connection to land purchases. Most important, Sinclair claims, one commission determined that the confiscation of Maori lands during the wards of the sixties had been unjust and substantial compensation was paid to the injured tribes. There is, however, no record of financial remuneration until the 1990s.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

A country of wine

For wine lovers, New Zealand is quite the paradise. Pretty much anywhere you travel in the country you will see vineyards and be able to taste a grand variety of wines. Napa Valley has nothing on this country, and I can personally attest to it!

While the North Island has its share of vineyards mostly in Hawke’s Bay on the east coast and some near Auckland, the best wines are produced mostly in the Nelson/Marlborough region. Nelson has some 20 or 25 wineries but the most famous wineries are in the Marlborough Region near the cities of Blenheim and Renwick, about 1.5 hours drive (on the slow road!) from Nelson. So everyone who comes to visit gets the grand, personal tour with Don and Angela!

Today we visited our first group of wineries in Nelson, those that were open in the winter months. The rest will open in spring, come mid-September and October. We came home today with 9 bottles of wine, mostly Pinot Noirs and a Riesling. We’ll head to Blenheim in a few months and likely get a hotel room for that tour.

New Zealand is known mostly for its white wines, chardonnays, sauv blancs, gewurtztraminers, and we’ve even enjoyed the pinot gris that are made. As far as reds, you will mostly find pinot noirs rather than cabernets or merlots, or even syrahs (shirazes). Besides pinot noirs, you’ll see a lot of cabernet merlot mixes, but not exclusively either. Many wineries also make a malbec and/or a combination of cab/merlot/malbec. But we’ve come to really enjoy the pinot noirs. Today we visited a winery started by an Austrian and he uses some grape called a zeitgeist or whatever and it makes what he calls a Sylvia, a red. I dunno, but it was good.

Most of the wines you’ll find in the country are also sealed with screw caps, not corks. Despite the French not moving along in the area of corkage, apparently screw caps are the wave of the future. With corks, over time air does end up leaking slowly into the wine and will affect it eventually. With screw caps, the air is locked out and the bottle can keep forever. Not every winery in New Zealand is doing this, we’ve learned sometimes due to appearances—premium brands have to look right, and looking right means corking.

So when you visit, if you are a wine lover or aficionado or just a semi-alcoholic, we’ll take you around our wine region! Cheers!

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

More Misc Pictures...

We took a wrong turn on a walk and came across this. well a geothermal park never stopped us before so we forged on...








then we got to this. Danger? Well danger is my middle name so we continued onward to unexplored territory...







whoops, Angela fell into this bit of slop. turns out it's boiling mud. in some countries this is seen as a luxury - I've seen places charge over $100 for 20 minutes in something like this.







Here's a nice roadside attraction. For some reason large amounts of rain have an odd impact on the hills around here. guess that chain link fence they put up just didn't cut it - never would have guessed a mudslide would have broken a chain link fence. Crazy wicked.





Mexican place we tried in Auckland. Wasn't bad. Wasn't busy either. I really wanted it to be bad so I could use the "mexican't" term I've been waiting to use. maybe next time.






Yep, there is a Brooklyn here too - this is a shout out to all you NY folk.








You'll have to enlarge this image to see the fine establishments housed here. This is an example of the art deco buildings in Napier - they completely rebuilt the city after their last natural disaster...not sure if it was an earthquake, tsunami, or cyclone.





sailboats don't use sails down here - fascinating.





Monday, August 21, 2006

Maori Queen’s Funeral and Succession

I am sitting here this morning relaxing and for one of the first mornings I’ve switched on the tellie. The main television channels are all showing live the Maori Queen Te Ata’s funeral—I had forgotten or I would have watched it earlier. The new king just sat down in the throne, a 51-year-old man—once they start speaking Maori I can’t keep up!

Dame Te Ata was queen for 40 years, and before her father was king for the longest reign, 43 years. The new king—I can’t tell you his name right now as I can only hear it and can’t spell it—is in the same family, his grandfather was Dame Te Ata’s father.

The last six monarchs have all been descendants of the first Maori King, Potatau Te Wherowhero, who was elected by 22 different iwi in 1858. The New Zealand Herald announced that the new Maori King is Tuheitia Paki, the eldest son of Dame Te Atairangikaahu (Te Ata for short) who had been expected to be the next leader of the Kingitanga movement (the King movement, see my history blogs about this). He is a cultural advisor for his iwi, and is married with three children. Apparently he was favoured by several influential iwi eager to see the return of a king. Maori women do not have a major role in leadership; in fact the process for this funeral has been for the men to stand in front of all women, the women were placed in different and rear-ward parts of the funeral processions and positions.

iwi are tribes, and yes in lowercase letters. All the iwi from across New Zealand are present for the funeral and selection of the new king. The iwi chiefs met over the weekend to select the new king, as is tradition to do so before the former monarch is laid to rest. Apparently the selection was perfunctory, many feel, as the new king was pre-determined prior to discussion. I am watching the homage being paid to the queen, her laying to rest, and the ascension of the new king. It has never been done before in a public manner, both with non-iwi and Pakeha (white settlers originally, but evolving over time to mean non-indigenous New Zealanders) present, but also with television coverage. The announcers are describing a deeply personal, spiritual chant and ceremony being done and that those present—including Prime Minister Helen Clark of Labour—are extremely fortunate to be involved, as only the closest and most important are usually allowed to bear witness. How lucky that they have decided to televise all of this for everyone to see!

The announcers are naming the Pakeha who are in attendance, many of whom were helpful to the Maori cause over the years in the courts and in politics, helpful in resolving the Treaty of Waitangi and helpful to the Maori generally in helping them to come to terms (in so many ways, politically, economically, personally) with the changes in New Zealand.

But how fascinating that this native peoples tribal celebration makes the national television news—LIVE! New Zealand is not much older than the U.S. and the importance of Queen Te Ata’s death and the selection of her successor to this country and to other Pacific Island countries has been so vastly different than what I have seen in my life. The indigenous people in New Zealand may have their differences with the Pakeha over this country’s history but I have never seen a people treated with more sincerity and honor than I am seeing this morning and throughout the past week. Such reverence!

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Recent observations (i.e., rants) from Angela

**This city, and much of the country that I’ve seen, has a TON of broken glass and trash all over the roads and walkways, mostly on weekends. I’m guessing from all the party-ers out there on Fri/Sat nights. Don and I walk a lot. I am sick of the freaking massive amounts of trash I see and the amount of broken bottles everywhere, mostly in public areas, on sidewalks, in parks, along the river walk, etc. We walked this morning up a quiet, unpopulated country road in the valley and STILL there was glass everywhere on the roads and what looked like McDonalds trash from a car-full of hungry kids scattered in a park. We noticed kids drive up there and park, so I can imagine at night it’s quite the location for doing whatever and being loud and obnoxious. Also after weekends you may find some sort of graffiti sprayed on a new surface in town—surprise!

The good news: the kind, hard-working folks in this town clean up the messes very quickly. Some twit painted our bridge to town with graffiti a few weeks ago and we spotted it on the way to work out one morning. I kid you not, the spray paint on the cement was covered up and the green railing re-painted in less than one hour on a Monday morning. Another morning we saw, again on the way to our pool/gym, a huge pile of shattered green glass from a beer bottle; on the way home, swept up and gone.

I’ll tell ya who cares in this town, anyone over the age of 30. I don’t know what kind of kids are being raised here or how much freedom they are allowed, but I am not backing down from my opinion that the youth of this country are total a-holes. There is a small car lot on our way to town; one morning we saw one of the cars for sale had its windshield smashed in, looked like someone walked on top of the car hood and onto the windshield, crushed it. Nice. Who over the age of sanity (30) would do something like this??

**I suspect many would say the cause of the litter issue I just described probably comes from drinking, and here the legal age limit was decreased in recent years from 20 to 18 in an effort to curb the (ab)use of alcohol by minors. A recent news story argued that it hasn’t been working, and in fact teenage alcohol abuse has gotten worse (binge drinking). Now, I don’t really care when kids start drinking or what they drink, just don’t SMASH ALL YOUR DAMN BOTTLES IN THE STREETS and on the sidewalks and in the parks on your stupid night out, okay??!! OTHER PEOPLE live here.

**Finally, what a great idea!! You can buy envelopes in New Zealand that are already pre-stamped! I went to the office store to buy envelopes the other day and I could choose the regular white envelopes, or I could pre-pay for envelopes with postage already on them, saving me a trip to the post office or where ever I might have to buy stamps. Ingenious.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

New Zealand history and the Treaty of Waitangi--Part II

Please visit Part I several blogs back for the start of this college history essay by Angela.

In the mid-1800s the localized wars initiated by the Maori continued. Finally, in 1863-4 the government decided it should punish the rebel Maori. They would do so by taking their land; a scheme was developed to confiscate Maori land as punishment, borrow millions from England on the security of the profits expected from the sale of the confiscated land to new immigrants, and then sell that land, paying off the debt. “The rebels would thus pay not only for the war but to extend ‘the legitimate progress of colonization.’” Exactly what the Maori were fighting against.

Keith Sinclair (author of the book I'm reading, see Part I) says, “as a measure of Maori policy [taking the confiscated lands] was a crime.” Land was taken disproportionately from different tribes; tribes who fought lost little, tribes who didn’t fight lost more, all dependent on the location of the land. In numbers, the Maoris had already sold about seven million acres in the North Island, and an additional three million were confiscated.

Of course this wasn’t the end of the Maori land loss. From Sinclair: “The land laws, which Parliament passed by the score, became a legal jungle within which the Maoris lost themselves and were preyed on by its natural denizens, the land speculators or their agents and shyster lawyers. Land agents would incite Maoris to apply to the courts for a title and would advance the cost of surveying and legal fees. Only too often the Maoris would discover that they had mortgaged the land to pay for the Crown title. Storekeepers would give Maoris credit to the extent of thousands of pounds, and then force them, under threat of imprisonment, to hand over their land in payment. There was nothing illegal about most of these practices, they were good business.”

Sinclair points out also that the Maori are partially to blame for this process too, they did sell their lands to the English despite vowing not to. They used the land sales as a way to earn income, not keeping up with the English way of industrialization and exportation. The Maori had very little to use to keep up with the economic times, and so always resorted to selling land ultimately.

Colonization continued rapidly into the 1870s. From about 1879-1895 New Zealand experienced its first economic depression, after many years of rising exports in the dairy and wool industries. These exports resumed again come the early 1900s, and Maori history seemed to follow the rest of New Zealand history during this time.

It is worth noting, as an aside, that the late 1800s and into the early 1900s the Liberal political party ruled New Zealand and brought great economic development and socioeconomic change, including passing in 1893 women’s suffrage—just before Wyoming in the U.S. Not Maori history, but women’s history! And also, like much of the rest of the world, New Zealand went through its industrialization period during this time as well.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Amazingly enough, JonBenet is news here

Although my mother was the first to break the story to me the other morning (I think she is on some list that delivers alerts when there is any news worldwide about this case), it seems JonBenet and Boulder Colorado are news in New Zealand. Big news. For the past two nights on the evening news, on the daytime news, and even on radio station news, JonBenet is the story. Gee, what a shock, the pedophile did it. At least we get to see shots of Boulder and Colorado and reminisce for a minute about our last home.

The funniest things are the descriptions of the story, the murder case that has "gripped the US for the past ten years," and the "beauty queen who's murder shocked a nation," etc. While it's true, it is funny to hear how the rest of the world talks about the US.

Oh and if any of you have any questions about the case or any of the details, I can get you in touch with my mother. She is the resident expert of Santa Fe (and Albuquerque nearby) and the former resident expert of Lake Stevens and Everett Washington--still serving in this position as they have not found another with the level of knowledge to replace her yet.

Back slavin’ for da man…

Not sure what the over/ under was for when I would start working again but anything close to 30 working days would be the winner. Actually I’m just doing part-time work (10-20 hours/ week) for a recruitment firm. So I’m still not sure the full extent of my responsibilities but I do know I will be trying to identify the right candidates to fill open positions in the area – reviewing applicants’ qualifications, calling references, and so on. The office is small and only 2 other people work there (receptionist and recruiter). The company is in the process of determining if there is enough business in the Nelson area to hire a 3rd person permanently. I will also say they are very low budget - they get their office furniture from second hand shops and I’m not even sure I’ll get my own stapler. The great part is that the hours are very flexible; I will be able to set my own hours and days. Plus, the office is about a 25 minute walk and should only be about 10 minutes by bike. Anyway, we’ll see where this goes.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

A visitor!!

I just have to share this experience with everyone. It's my macabre side. For those of you with small children in the room, you may want to send them away for a few minutes as the following images contain graphic photos of the disgusting.

We've hinted at our feared cockroach problem. Well, it hasn't really materialized too much, thank goodness. The dozen-or-so dead ones we saw before we moved in seemed to be just that, dead. We had one live one in a windowsill, too close for comfort for many, but not Don and his trusty 6-foot shovel. Thank goodness for the close-by sewer drain, for he wouldn't kill the damn thing. Subsequently we learned a lot about cockroaches on the internet; for one thing, apparently they can live for 45 minutes after their heads are cut off. Killing these bastards was going to take a lot.

This is our bathroom. The tub does double-duty as the laundry room too :) Some of that laundry is on the floor, so what. I'm a slob, I admit it. It's on it's way to the washing machine, chill out! You sound like Don. :)






A closer view of the interior of the shower (see the cleanser stuff there, I do clean sometimes) and you can see we have that fake glass/plasticy stuff for the door, but this panel here was the doorway for a cockroach the other night to inhabit OUR HOUSE!! Luckily we saw him only at night, not during a shower. But he wasn't a dumb roach, he found his way out eventually, only to find Don's evil prison of a glass jar and a spray bottle of environmentally friendly cockroach killer.

This is what our visitor looked like. He (we are hopeful it was a he) is a Gisborne Cockroach, common in the North Island and Nelson. Harmless when it comes to food and infestations, they don't really even like the indoors. They just get lost sometimes from their natural habitat, the bark chips and garden decor that surrounds our house in a 10-foot-wide perimeter. GREAT!

So it seems we will have to deal with these intruders every now and then, but luckily they are harmless and we can feel free to eat our food without much concern. Until the mozzies arrive. The worst part is waiting for the damn things to die, it's really horrific, I cannot look at the thing wriggling quickly and then slowly for what seriously was about 45 minutes! Even if it is an evil cockroach. I should call my step-father Richard who would show absolutely no mercy.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

New Zealand history and the Treaty of Waitangi--Part I

Because I have so much time on my hands, I decided to sit and read an actual book. I hadn’t seen one for awhile, but I’d heard they still existed. After joining the library a few weeks ago, I checked out A History of New Zealand, by Keith Sinclair. Apparently this is a classic text on the history of the country first published in 1959. It was updated twice and goes through the end of the 1990s with the election of the Labour Party government.

I was interested in reading the history of the country for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I have a history degree and love reading history. But I have been trying for more than a year now to get my arms around the issues surrounding the politics of the Treaty of Waitangi, the current government, the political parties, and the Maori people.

New Zealand holds elections every three years. The last election was in 2005, and Don and I watched avidly last fall as the Labour Party was reinstalled for the third time after a nasty, partisan fight. Seems as if the American ways are spreading across the ponds. One of the key issues was the Treaty of Waitangi. I wondered, What is the Treaty of Waitangi and why is it so important? I had no idea, I looked on the web and found nothing. I did learn the basics: the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 and is the official date of the existence of New Zealand, when the Maori tribes signed the agreement to allow English settlers and the Queen to claim the land as a British territory and start colonization.

So why is the Treaty still talked about today, and in the heart of the elections, as a crucial issue? I decided that reading about the country’s history would help me understand. Not that I can recap the 400 years of history of this country—and only in relation to the Maori--in a blog, but I will do my best, and it’ll be a multi-part over many days, like a mini-series! Here goes.

Part I:
New Zealand was “discovered” in 1642. Australia was already being “colonized” by that point, as many of you know, by British prisoners. There had been talk of a great land beyond Oz, and finally Abel Tasman, a Dutch seaman, found it and then later on Captain James Cook actually landed here and took a look around. (The land to the west of Nelson is a national park called the Abel Tasman, so you may have heard this name before.) They found New Zealand. To save time, 200 years passed and included colonization, land purchases, wars, etc.. Finally, in 1840 the majority of the chiefs of the Maori tribes country-wide signed the Treaty at Waitangi and the English claimed the territory.

From my book: “What those who signed or those who refused may have understood by the treaty, it is difficult to say. By the first article, the chiefs ceded their sovereignty to the Queen. In return, the Queen guaranteed the Maoris in the possession of the lands, forests, fisheries and other property which, collectively or individually, they possessed. The chiefs yielded to the Queen the sole right of purchasing their lands. Finally the chiefs were given the rights and privileges of British subjects.”

But then came the laws and the establishment of a parliamentary government, even though centralized government in a decentralized country didn’t really work, for the Maoris least of all who kept to their tribal customs for the most part. Slowly the English government started purchasing a bunch of land from the Maoris for the Queen, and then the wealthy immigrants from England bought the land from the Queen and started new lives in New Zealand. This practice started a class issue, so government decided on a land-buying scheme intended for the poorer of the immigrants to purchase land but resulted in the richer immigrants buying LOTS of land. Same old, same old. This lasted over 20 years and continued to separate the rich from the poor, the Maori from the settlers.

During the latter part of that 20 years, in the late 1850s, the Maori decided to fight back, feeling taken advantage of. They banded together nationwide to fight the change that the white man brought, and they had one goal: sell no more land to the English. They wanted to bring an end to colonization. So they elected a Maori king. And in parts of the country there were localized wars against settlers. The Maori questioned: do we still owe allegiance to the Queen if we have our own king, our own land, and our own laws?

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Don's day at the office...

Monday I was called into assist at one of the recruitment places I signed up at – place where the lady from Colorado is the manager. It was about 8:30am and I was just starting to make my cup of coffee. I received a frantic call from Sarah, the head consultant at Advanced Personnel. Sure enough she needed some help as her assistant was home sick. Well I check my calendar, it was clear (big surprise), and agreed to help out however I could. I was a bit bummed that I was going to miss my morning workout but figured I could catch up on Tuesday.

So I walked in to discover that Monday was not only timesheet day but they also had also just placed several very generic ads in the paper prompting a large amount of calls and walk in business. Sarah had little knowledge of the phone or computer systems and wasn’t really clear on the requirements for timesheet day. She was a bit more concerned with a couple upcoming meetings for applicant placement and a contract with a client for all temporary work. She turned on the monitor for me, gave me the login information, told me how to check voicemail, showed me where a few of the forms were located, and then left for her meetings. She said she’d be back by noonish – it was 10am. Fantastic. So the calls started coming in about the ads in the paper – which I had no information so just told people to come in and sign up. People then started showing up to complete the applications and had many questions that I could only guess at answering.

A little on the office. For one, it was freezing. Not the it’s 70 degrees and the AC is blowing on me but more like it’s about 56 degrees and just damn cold. I also notice the office was lightly equipped on technology side. They have two computers, an old scanner, an old printer, a digital camera, and a velobind machine. That’s about it. No copier. Two calculators (only one of which worked). No paper towels in the bathroom, just a dirty rag. Worst of all, no coffee. Ugh.

I was busy all day but still had a little time to chat with the owner of the car dealership whose building we were sharing. He’s not overly happy with the economy right now and even less happy with the governments’ handling of this. He basically went off on the NZ government. He did say he didn’t want to sound negative to which I replied, “it’s too late.” I also reminded him that I’m from the States and have to deal with the worst president of all time and probably the worst leader of a democratic society. He agreed with that. He went on to say he did a lot better when he was living in Sydney. I reminded him it could be a lot worse (more just a general statement by me to keep him going). He agreed and proceeded to tell me about his total ecologically friendly house up by Abel Tasman (with landing strip) and his own airplane. Seems like a interesting guy – plus he’s got a gold front tooth – cool.

I spent the day answering phones, calling references, greeting applicants, scanning documents, and finding paperwork that Sarah needed. Since I have management experience and I’ve done my share of hiring, I was also able to offer some feedback on the candidates. All in all it wasn’t that bad. Bonus - Angela brought me lunch.

**Slight interruption here – nightly news just had a story on the Erotica parade in Auckland and there were several topless women shown without distortion or cover up (no, this is not cable). Ok, good on them. **

Back on track. I do have several pretty funny stories that I can’t disclose as I signed a NDA and legally I’m not able to repeat. Oh well – your loss.

So I’m headed back tomorrow at 9am to discuss my future with this company. They need a lot of help as they are overwhelmed at the moment. I pushed that they should take me on part time and I could assist as needed. I’ll probably do some part time work over the next couple weeks to help them get caught up. Sarah also expressed interest in getting me more involved with the recruitment, placement, and client management in the near future.

Who knows where this will lead. For now I might have a PT job that will bring in some extra $, get me out of the house a couple days a week, and help me make some local contacts (where better than a recruitment agency).

That’s it for now.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Nelson's Ecofest

Last Saturday we visted the Nelson Ecofest, a show in the local "convention center" for ecological products and environmentally sound solutions. They also had organic foods and an organic clothing fashion show.






This booth featured all sorts of uses for possum fur and skins. Possum leather pillows are just out of the shot. I didn't pick one up for the homestead . . .







Don is speaking with the folks from Latitude who use condensed wool for insulation rather than the pink stuff. Insulation is an ongoing topic here in winter, as you've already heard from us. This insulation would be helpful as long as you are building new, it doesn't appear to be able to be blown into existing home walls.





Students at a local school made a dress and tux out of recycle plastic milk containers. Not sure of the significance, but thought Deanna, my MIL and a former grade school teacher, would enjoy the handiwork of the kids.





This picture is a reminder, as the board says, of how much oil we all wear through synthetic fibers like polyester and rayon. Anyone up for a new wool handknit garment, let me know!











A local cycling group that we've looked into who advocate for safe passage on the roads for cyclists and cycling around town and to work rather than driving.







This is the fashion show. All the entries were made of actual recycled materials and entered into a contest for the most creative creation.







We mentioned we met an English couple who emigrated here about a year ago. This is Clare who is working the fest with her friend.







And this is Dan, with Don. Dan is Clare's husband. We run into Dan all over town several times a week--small world for sure. Clare works at a local housewares store and I even ran into her today, it seems like we see these two everywhere! Such is life in a small town.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Earthquake!!!!

Well we survived our first earthquake. The first one we felt since we have been here anyway. It happened around 4:30pm Sunday our time. We’re just sitting watching TV after another hectic Sunday of Starbucks, the market, working out, and cooking (Angela made a couple different salsas and refried beans). We’re kicking back, loosely watching the E! True Hollywood Story: that 70’s Show (no idea why this was even made), when it hit. Initially felt like everything was just shaking a bit but then it felt like the ground beneath me was rolling (surface waves). I was only a couple sips into my rum and rum with some coke so I didn’t think that could be it. Then I thought it might be a semi idling outside causing the house to shake.

Then it hit me…EARTHQUAKE!!!!...and I quickly went into action. I yelled, “OH MY GOD, WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE” then ran outside and screamed, “THE END IS HERE, ARMAGEDDON HAS ARRIVED.” While this was the first earthquake that I’ve felt, Angela has been through several so she didn’t quite react the same way. The shaking stopped after around 30 seconds so I returned home. I then spent the next hour waiting for the earthquake to show up on the tracking site supplied by the US government (another fine service beyond tracking personal phone calls and financial transactions).

Turns out it was a 5.4 magnitude located at 41.465°S, 173.166°E (about 25 minute drive south of Nelson) with a depth of 75.1 miles (more details: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/usriae.php).

I was disappointed that there was no report on nightly news (i guess they are only deemed news when they are located in the ocean - they might spark a tsunami) – some BS about the Middle East got top billing and something about rocks rolling into a house in Christchurch. Oh well, maybe it will make news tomorrow.

Friday, August 11, 2006

Failed terrorist plot or collapsed airline . . . discussion in the salon

I finally went for my first haircut here, an outing I had been dreading. I looked through the yellow pages for the lay of the land, I walked by salons in town, and I made phone calls to see who was friendly and who wasn’t. All of this to try to find the coolest place in town because my hair is very, very important. I mean, who’s isn’t, right people?

I’d settled on a place called Solo, based on a couple of the above criteria. On Wednesday I walked by to inspect in person; it was in a cute house on a main strip in town, white décor, and a male stylist—I’d always wanted my hair cut by a man! My trip inside to make an appointment was positive, very nice, cool setup, they understood the concept of a razor cut, etc. So an appointment was made for two days hence.

You may be wondering why I’ve started this posting with my haircut after the heading I gave you. You’ll find out, you already know I take the long way around!

Anyway, I went in today for the cut only to learn the shop had just opened on the day I went in to make the appointment! They are new, young staff, and they didn’t like the way salons looked across town, so the male stylist is the owner and he opened up his own shop. All went well, I have an awesome cut and a new salon, PHEW! You know it’s a good cut when your husband notices . . . and even says he likes it!

So to the topic at hand, although it’s not as important as my hair :) . You’ve all sat with your stylist or at the barber shop, all the gossip, the latest news, you cover many topics. What did we talk about in the chair? I figured that the terrorist plot that was uncovered would be all the rage in conversation, after all, Don and I spent the evening prior (when it was first announced while you guys were sleeping) and this morning transfixed on CNN learning about the details.

Nope, when I brought up the terrorist plot, my stylist Mia said, with a wisp of her hand, “You’re safe here hun!” And then she quickly brought the conversation to what is more important here in the land down under: last night around the same time as the terrorist plot announcement was made, the New Zealand commuter airline Origin Pacific closed up shop for good, canceling all flights and dismissing its Nelson-based staff of 260 who spent every day moving Kiwis all over New Zealand. I didn’t realise at first that the airline was Nelson-based, so those lost jobs are mostly in our area. This had nothing to do with the terrorist plot issue, the company just closed up due to lack of profit.

Don went to a dinner two nights ago at which the possibility of the airline closing was briefly discussed, as if it was a remote possibility. His host and our neighbor, Lilly, introduced us the week prior to her son-in-law Ross who is a pilot for Origin Pacific. He actually moved back to NZ a few years ago from London, retrained to become a pilot, and absolutely loves his job. We were planning to see if he would take us up for a flight over the area, as he had offered (in a tiny plane, not the mini jet). No more, he’s likely lost his job for good as he has no seniority. What a shame!

Origin Pacific is basically your commuter airline alternative to Air New Zealand, who otherwise owns the nationwide market completely. Now ANZ is all we have, the word monopoly being used almost right away. To make this even more local, apparently there was an agreement between the two airlines to funnel OP passengers to ANZ flights today and beyond to avoid disruptions. Then a Nelson MP (member of parliament) said something in the media that apparently pissed-off a corporate big-whig at ANZ, so ANZ pulled their offer and now all OP passengers have no travel recourse. All politics is local, all EVERYTHING is local, especially in New Zealand.

This is probably the most local I have felt since I’ve been here; Don and I were so focused on world events and no one here seemed to even care about those global issues. Instead, the local airline scandal has everyone talking. It’s good to have that realisation brought to our attention!

Thursday, August 10, 2006

The center of New Zealand

Yesterday we walked to what is called the Center of New Zealand. It is a walk/hike near Nelson city centre just a mile or so from our house. When we got there, we learned that the actual center of the country is about 55 km away--everything is marketing, I guess! But the hike was about a 20 minute walk straight up a hill, zig zagging the entire way, and getting very steep at times. This is a shot of me on a less steep slope. At the top the views of the Nelson region were incredible . . . They extend out to the Abel Tasman and snow capped mountains to the west.
Here is a view to the south of Nelson. If you consider this is a part of a panorama shot, this is the left photo of 3 photos, see more below.






This is the view above the city and this is the center photo in the panorama, the photo above would be to the left of this shot. The bay extends farther than this photo shows, see next photo.






And here is the right side of the panorama shot, but we didn't get the rest of the bay which extends completely out to the right of this photo. Farther right you'd see all water. Those hills in the background of the photo are the Abel Tasman park and towns leading up to it.




I believe this is the Maitai Valley that extends behind Nelson to the west. Don isn't here to verify for me right now, so sorry if I'm wrong! It follows the Maitai River, I know that--you can see it in the center of the picture along the road. We took this photo from the opposite standpoint as the top 3 photos.

Damn you George Bush!!

I've been listening to KTCL--the Colorado music station that plays actual alternative and new rock--via the internet on and off the past couple weeks because, as I believe I may have briefly aluded to, radio stations here SUCK. So this morning I get online and start to work, open the KTCL site, click on the listen link, and I get this:

We are sorry but due to licensing restrictions we are not able to allow access to the content you are requesting outside of the United States.
If you are in the United States or are US Military serving overseas please fill out the form below so that we can allow access.

WHAT? Why can I not listen to this stream outside of the US? Isn't the internet for the entire world?? I could watch porn and filth all day long online, but not listen to music? I filled out the form, said I was in Westminster, and a note came back that they will "verify this information" or some such phrase. Unbelievable.

A few weeks before we moved, we found out via the nightly news that Don and I are on the terrorist watch list because we've transferred money out of the United States--they can watch your financial transactions and get access to your financial records just because of these transfers!!

Now I am on that darn list (if I say I am a "t" I'll probably get a visit from the CIA) AND I cannot listen to my favorite radio station! BLAST! Damn you George Bush!

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Smoking in New Zealand

While I don’t recall lots of smokers during our vacation in New Zealand, there sure seem to be a lot now that I live here. Walking around town you see them down from the offices on a smoke break, you see them walking around doing errands, and they drive with those cancer sticks hanging from their mouths while on cell phone driving the car (need I remind you about my fear of the Kiwi drivers?). Still, not too different from the states.

Except that the entire country has banned smoking indoors. So bars and restaurants, all clear. Office buildings and stores, clean air. Colorado just went smoke-free indoors too, starting July 1. Just in time for us to leave! Here you’ll still find bars will add a tent-like structure onto outdoor patios, enclose everyone on that patio, and let people smoke out there. We learned this the hard way, meeting our first hopeful friends to watch a rugby match at the pub—only to find the bar indoors was packed but the patio was open, open to all the puffers. We spent 2 days airing out our clothes from 2 hours of that air. Therefore, much like the states, now you can safely stay indoors but if you want to go OUTSIDE, you have to deal with the smokers.

Even still, New Zealand businesses are getting a bit more drastic. Some employers are advertising now that SMOKERS NEED NOT APPLY for their jobs. Apparently the Human Rights Commission agrees! And the European Commission as well, which said last weekend that employers may legally be able to shun smokers because doing so was not covered by European anti-discrimination legislation.

The story made the evening news tonight with discussion of a loophole in the New Zealand anti-discrimination laws that may allow for employers to advertise and select non-smokers for their jobs. Employers in New Zealand claim that smoking is not a human right and they can, therefore, choose to hire only non-smokers. The story referenced the US and how smokers in the states cost employers money due to health problems and daytime breaks away from work: smokers are less productive.

One person interviewed in the story bellowed about what might come next, employers will be able to discriminate against alcoholics because they drink alcohol?? Sound argument, don’t you think? Not quite as sound as the next argument I heard, that a smoker’s rights group might have to get disability status for smokers because, after all, smoking and its related issues induce disabilities and require protections. WHHHAAAA??? Right now it’s only considered an addiction, but smoking as a disability has not yet been tested in court. Go for it, I say!

I remember moving into my office space this past April after working from home for years. The first thing I noticed was the pack of 3 or 4 smokers sitting outside in their chosen smoking area just off the main door—I had forgotten this lovely office sight after years of being away. In fact, both Sarah, my staff member, and I noticed them standing around while she and I heaved heavy furniture from my truck through the front door and into the elevator not 3 feet from where they stood. Did any of them bother to grab the door for us? Not during their break!! And question: Why do the smokers always choose to congregate near the front door? Why not the back door?? Anyway, every day, when I left or arrived at the office before or after some meeting, guess who was there to greet me with a cloudy gift. I never saw non-smokers out there taking breaks.

It’s pretty cool that New Zealand employers have the cujones to take on this issue, at the least it means Don and I will have one more leg up on getting jobs – when we decide to return to work!

Monday, August 07, 2006

Kid photos

Since Don posted the substance in the last post, I'll take the fluff today.








Here are some photos of our cutie girl Livvy. For most of you who had even been to our home in Colorado you'd never seen her and probably thought she was a figment of our imagination.







Yes, she does exist and she is a normal kitty around people she gets to know. And extremly playful most of the time.








The quarantine folks were bummed when we picked her up because she was just coming out of her shell and starting to like them!


















The last few days

Well it’s been a few days since our last post and I’d be lying if I said we’ve been too busy to get to it. We spend most of our days getting up around 8am, having breakfast then heading to the pool/ gym for an hour or so. Back to the house to clean up and have lunch then off to run any errands we have. Evenings usually consist of watching several episodes of the Simpsons, the news, then an hour or two of whatever is on or just reading. Very difficult to get comfortable without furniture – we have a table, 2 chairs, and the air mattress. What I would give for just a sofa or even comfortable recliner. This sure is roughing it.

It’s been cloudy here the past 2 days and looks like we have another before we get clear skies again – rain comes and goes but not really too cold. We took Friday to finally get in the car and explore around a bit. We’ve hadn’t driven anywhere significant in 2 weeks and still had a full tank of gas so we decided to change it up a bit. We drove along they bay out to Rabbit Island and then to Mapua and a couple other small communities just to get a feel for the area.

Saturday we decided to visit a few open houses. They run in 30 minute timeframes here and then the real estate agent packs up and heads off to the next house on their list. We just want to see what our $ will buy and get an idea of potential neighborhoods for if/ when we decide to buy. Based on what I saw the housing market is a bit different than what we were used to in Colorado. For example, we saw several in town that were in pretty crappy shape with terrible layouts (very small rooms) for NZ$300,000 (approx $200k US) – I guess that is the price you pay for being in town. The newer model houses start around NZ$400,000 (small and out of town a bit).

We also looked in the communities northeast of town on the hillsides. The hillsides, as you might imagine, can have amazing views of Tasman Bay and the Tasman Mountains and of the towns leading to the Abel Tasman to the west (I know, that’s a lot of Tasman). At the entry level point, you can get a decent sized (I’d say 1800-2000sqft) older house overlooking the bay for around NZ$550,000 (approx US$350,000). I would think something similar in the States would easily go for over a million dollars just because of the unobstructed views of the surrounding area. Some of the houses we looked at had stunning views from every single room.

Sunday the market was rained out but we had coffee with a British couple we’ve met. They’ve been here about a year after just packing up and leaving England. They traveled the north island looking for a place they might like to live but didn’t find anything that interested them until they reached Nelson. We got a lot of good information about the local scene, jobs, etc. Plus they are nice and easy-going, fun to hang around with.

Off to the pool for a swim now.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

NZ politics at its best!


Headline: "New Zealand First MP in Trouble for Rude Gesture."

From TV 3: MP Ron Mark has apologised for giving National's (another political party) Tau Henare (of Maori descent) the finger during a Parlimentary debate (on August 2)."

New Zealand First is a political party and an MP is a Member of Parliament. Just so you get an idea about this key party--there are 8 major parties here who participate in Parliament--here is what New Zealand First is all about, from Wikipedia (ignore underlines):

"A right-wing, populist, and nationalist party. Its primary goals are reducing immigration, reducing Treaty of Waitangi payments, increasing sentences for crime, and buying back former state assets. Whilst claiming to not be part of the current government, the party's leader serves as the NZ Foreign Minister thanks to a confidence and supply agreement with the Government."

And that Foreign Minister is the same as I told you about in an earlier post, Winston Peters who dismissed the press on his trip to the U.S. with rude gestures and comments, pushing cameras and people aside. A party to look up to, don't you think?? What model behaviour. Gotta love the righties, they do as they say, eh!

For those interested in watching the 4 minute news story, link is here: http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/tabid/67/articleID/11827/Default.aspx

You needn't worry about us any longer

Just a note to share a big PHEW! Our daily walk to town to visit our landlord and find things to buy took us on a new route . . . and we are quite relieved that it tooks us past Liquor King, a fab store with the largest selection of tequilas we have found in the country. Largest, meaning 8, but those 8 include el jimador (a reposado, but we'll manage) and 1800 (an anejo!!), so that will do us very well. Praise be Liquor King! We even asked if they were hiring, we were so grateful (will work for booze). Many of you wrote emails of concern and expressed some trepidation that we might pack up and return over this issue. I can officially say: Fear not, we are staying. Everything will be alright.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Misc Pictures, part 1

Local store here - they sell outdoor clothing. I got a cool Westminster t-shirt and Broomfield Correctional Facility sweatshirt. Just like in Colorado, everything is made in Malaysia.







Here's an example of a quaint coffee house in New Zealand.









Heck yeah pay day is too far away and I sure do need cash now...so I answered yes to all 3 questions so I decided to stop in. It's really cool, you can go sell your stuff at these places and get cash quickly...free money. I use my credit card and buy a bunch of appliances and electronics at a store. Then I take those items here and sell them to these fine characters. I don't quiet get the retail value but I do get cash quickly, you can't beat that.

Here's another awesome invention that needs to get a wider distribution. We used this at an Indian restaurant in Wellington. It's fairly self explanatory. The waiter didn't seem to like in much and actually offered us this one. I got $3 for it at the free cash place noted above - bonus.

Don's observations: part drei

A few more items-

Mortgages: You can get a 30 year mortgage here, that’s not the issue. It’s the interest rate. There are various options on the interest rate over a much shorter length of time. Specifically the longest term you can lock an interest rate for is 5 years. So every 5 years you need to select another interest rate option based on the rates at the time. I’m not sure I like this one bit – it’s like being forced to refi every few years.

Mail delivery: While the rural delivery is done by car, the in town delivery is done by bike (maybe a job for me?). I noticed this in both large (Auckland) and small cities.

Power: The company that supplies our power produces electricity exclusively from renewable resources (wind or water). Ours specifically comes from a hydro generation unit about 60 miles from us. They also operate the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere. Cool.

Financing: They do have the typical financing offers here (i.e. 1 year same as cash, no interest for 18 months, etc) like in the States but the main difference is you need to also pay an establishment fee to participate. This fee is typically between $35 and $50. Forget it. Guess the days of utilizing this type of promotion and borrowing on another’s dime are gone, oh well.

Tea: as Angela and I just learned, being invited for tea in the evening is actually an invite to dinner. more on this in another post.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

More from Angela – does Don post at all??

Just when you thought you’d heard enough from me, here I am again with some small items of interest. First, Don is adjusting more to the life of leisure and he is brewing ideas for a blog, so don’t worry, he will be back! He takes more time, but he has higher quality posts, right?

I love having a smaller house, it is waaayyyy easier to clean. Why did I ever want a mongo house? It was so large I hired someone to clean it, I never wanted to do any cleaning. When we were there and the house was for sale, what a nightmare to keep it clean (don’t ask about if the house sold yet). This small two-bedroom plus one other room house is perfect for cleaning. One day Don will do the bathroom—the only one we have. The next day I will vacuum the main room. Third day he’ll sweep up the kitchen. Next day we dust. You get the point. In the span of a week, we’ve kept the house clean and it was a piece of cake, like a total of an hour for the whole thing!

The food here is definitely prepared differently, mostly with a hell lot less sugar. It is so noticeable: peanut butter, cookies, canned goods, breads, muffins from the grocery store. It is instantly noticeable, especially if you’ve recently gotten a sweet at Starbucks in town. We got chocolate and caramel muffins at the grocery bakery yesterday (just one each, and they make muffins in normal muffin sizes!) and bit right in, you would think chocolate and caramel would be almost too sweet to eat. Not if you don’t load it down with sugar!! It was so good and you could tell it wasn’t weighed down with the sweet stuff, so maybe a few pounds will come off even if I have a muffin every now and then.

I bet none of you heard the big political news last week from New Zealand, but the Foreign Minister of New Zealand, Winston Peters, had a 30 minute meeting with Condi Rice. They sat in that photo op area with two chairs and the table between, fireplace behind and did the photo stuff, but I am also guessing none of you saw those photos! It was big news here, his whopping 30 minutes, to discuss working again with New Zealand. I guess decades ago New Zealand pledged to be a non-nuclear country and since that time the U.S. hasn’t worked with us on foreign issues. BUT, guess who’s desperate now for foreign friends . . . and here’s a hint: it’s not New Zealand.

Spanish group

Can you imagine that I’d still be able to speak Spanish in Nelson, New Zealand with people other than myself? Well, go figure, you bet I can! Don is an avid reader of all the newspapers he can get his hands on. In one of those dailies or weeklies he found a monthly meetings notice section and on the last Monday of every month, if you want to meet up with fellow Spanish speakers at a local bar, just show up. All skill levels welcome!

Last night I went to the get-together—and my trusty bodyguard Don joined me for the walk to town at night—and met up with about a dozen locals who all speak pretty good Spanish. They were very welcoming and all had fairly high skill levels, higher than me for sure. There were two reporters from the Nelson Mail, one from Germany who most recently lived in Columbia. The leader of the group, Dayanira, is from a Central American country (can’t remember which!) but has lived here for more than 10 years and has organized this group for something like 7 years. There were a few newbies like me, one with less skill level (phew!). A Kiwi couple had just returned from hiking the Pyrenees for 5 weeks in Spain. The woman, Margo, had a special Spanish accent--none! She spoke Spanish with her die-hard Kiwi accent and the words coming out of her mouth were priceless!!

Even though I haven’t spoken or even studied in at least 6 months, it was helpful to start speaking again. What I need the most practice doing is speaking, speaking and speaking. This group will be a huge help in that direction, so I am eager to get out my Spanish language materials when they arrive from the slow boat and meet up with these folks monthly. It’s another hobby I’ll enjoy doing way more than working. Yeah, that working thing is going to have to be postponed a bit longer, I’m just not too into it!