September 29, 2009

Well, it is September and almost spring here in NZ. That sounds weird! I thought it was fall. How is the great spring weather, you ask- well remember this past June? Yes, it's just like that. The sun seems a bit shy this spring so the clouds and rain are covering it up often. The locals say this is unusual! We are hoping to see that sun more often.

We just added some pictures of the town. There is a beautiful park about 2 blocks away, so Chris and I went in there and had a great time taking pictures for our blog- as you can tell! Otherwise, we have been keeping busy with work ( for Chris) and job hunting (for me) and enjoying our new surroundings! I think Chris' favorite part of NZ is his commute- about a 12 minute walk! My favorite part of NZ is the overhead waves! Not! The surf here can be a bit large! We went surfing on Sunday and it was a great experience. We got to use our new boards and enjoyed the head high waves! Now we are looking for a camper van. There are tons to choose from and we want to pick just the right one so we can travel around this beautiful countryside! We'll keep you updated and send some pictures (especially for Uncle Jimmy)of our new van when we find it! That's it for now! More to come soon!

Happy spring

Good morning from New Zealand. It is Sunday 8am. We have just had daylight savings time, so we are now 17hrs ahead of all you folks in New England.

First week of work in the books. I started to see my own patients on Wednessday, taking them from the Urgent care que. I am allowed to take as much time as needed to deliver care. The computer system and all drugs having different names has slowed me considerable. However, the patients here are very understanding and just glad to get in. This area has had a terrible shortage of physicians and some patients have been waiting 3-6mo for an appt.

I will get the hang of it and the group is very supportive. All my Ma's and Nurses would love to see me fumbling over my own Blood pressures, temps and rooming my own patients. I miss my old office.

Amie is working hard to find a job, lots of resumes going out. There has been good response and she was even offered a postion with 5-6 yr olds. Not really what she is looking for, but nice to know her skills are sought after.

Ok, so for the important news. We got surf boards yesterday. Found a great shop and picked up two boards. Long board for Amie, she got a great 9'1" Mctavish. I picked up a short board. Now we just need waves that work for us. Yesterday was beautiful with Head to Head and a half size. Big Hallow waves, but too much swell, had to sit this one out. We are getting the lay of the land though and will find a good spot for each day soon.

Ok, we are heading back to the water. We will take pics of the town and our house and add them soon.

Hey a Happy Birthday to my Nephew Leo.

Cheers.

Chris and Amie

Saturday

Chris and I have finally stayed at home for more than 2 minutes to update our blog. Our Flickr account got a little mixed up, so our photos were deleted by accident but will be back soon!

We can't believe we have been here for only a week. It seems like a month has gone by! Our new photos include pictures of our new place, the view of Mt Taranaki from our front yard, hiking up Taranaki to the ski fields and tramping around the central north island.

The other day, we drove up the coast to new Plymouth to check out more surf spots and do some errands. On the way back, we saved 2 dogs. They were in the middle of the highway and almost got hit by a truck. As we went door to door looking for the owner we again realized how nice all the New Zealand folks can be. They gladly helped us find the owner. Much to Amie's dismay we did return them. Don't worry Emma, you are still number one.

Chris is very excited about the new Pearl Jam album he picked up the other day. Non stop Pearl Jam now. We will be traveling to Auckland and Christchurch in November to see two shows. Its is the summer of Pearl Jam, sequel to the summer of phish.

Of to a pub to see the All Blacks play tonight. Very serious business.

Thursday Am.

Hard to believe we have been gone only a week. I think the Jet lag has worn off, but I am still exhausted by 8pm each night.

We are in our house. Great little place. Three bedrooms, a very open living area with big glass doors. We have a garage to turn into Man town! The back yard has a lemon tree and a small garden, well actually an area of dirt, but we plan to plant a garden.

The Kiwi's are very nice, but not ridiculous. They tend to leave you alone, but once you start a conversation it's over. We spent two hours in the phone store yesterday and Amie ended up with a Kiss from Simon. I may have to keep an eye on her, the Kiwis seem to like her.

Surf picture is developing. We spent a few hours turning down every road leading to the beach looking for spots and trying to figure out swell direction and wind. Finally I got to Opunake, and a surf shop with two great guys. They handed me a book that has 450 breaks across New Zealand labeled and explains breaks and conditions. 20-30 of them are within 45 minutes from our house. Most of them explain unbelievable L and R point breaks, but they also describe Rocks, rips, and multiple other possible complications. But there are also gentle beach breaks.

For those of you who use Skype, our name is amieandchris. WE would love to communicate via this method if anyone wants to contact us.

More pics to come.

One week in New Zealand. Today we head to Hawera for our first view of our new home. Ran into our first issue with our shipping. Currently the bikes and camping equipement is in Amsterdam. Not sure when it will arrive, but the shipping company is very helpful.

Spent a night in Raglan, great surfing town. We stayed at old style hotel circa 1890 in the old west.

Surfed our first day. Only 8 people out at the second point at Raglan. Locals thought it was too small. I will take the waist to chest high surf any day. Caught a handful of waves, long left over visible rocks. Amie chose to paddle around and get a feel for the place first. She misses her surfing partner and is not sure if following me is such a good idea.

Mr. Steve Sofronas would have been in heaven. (I did get one very big DROP, you would have been proud).

The Beer has less variety, Stienlager is my favorite so far. I am not sure if this would have keep Uncle Jim satisfied. The wine however is quite good.

Ok, so off we go to Hawera. We will be leaving the home of Martha and John, who have been wonderful to us, and may therefore have no internet for a few days. Enjoy the pictures and we will speak soon.

Cheers

Chris and Amie

Ok, we are here. It is Sept 12th. We arrived in Auckland with no issues. Flight was easy, we slept 8.5hrs of it. Day one was just spent adjusting(sleeping). Day two has taken us to a village called Waitomo Caves and and amazing trip underground.

Thus far the people are all as expected, very friendly. We have friends at a bike shop in Auckland, some other folks in Waitomo who guide tours. Today we head up to Raglan to get our first look at the surf.

I have not killed anyone on the road yet, but I have freaked out some poor Kiwi's as I often start on the wrong side of the road. Every time I try to to turn, I put on my windshield wipers instead of the directional and I cont. to hit my head on the seat belt as I try to look over my R should when backing up.

Amie is doing better behind the wheel, except that she continually drives off the L side of the road because she is freaked out by cars coming at her on the right.

Kiwi money is much like Canadian, 1 and 2 dollar coins, so I have already tipped 4 dollars on a 2 dollar coffee.

The Flat white is a new favorite, some form of latte with a big hit of caffeine, likely the only thing keeping me awake these last four days.

Ok, thats it for now. Hope all are well. We will keep you all updated.

I still have very few Blogging skills, but will try to work on pictures and more.