New Page

Ok all, the wait is over.  The new page is up and the flickr account works.
Just put, sweetasdownunder.blogspot.com in the web address  and you will be brought to our new site.

For those of you who are confused, up top in the white, should look like this-

http://sweetasdownunder.blogspot.com

Got it Mom and Dad?

Ok, so we start again.

Under construction

Hello all, Merry Christmas. I hope you are all able to dig out from the storm. We miss snow. Can't tell you enough how different it feels here.

We had a Christmas party here this weekend. It helped get the spirit going. Our neighbors and friends together helped us feel like we have a little community here.

So the site is under construction. We lost our Flickr site. Truth be told, the pictures were our favorite part of this, your too probably. I am working on it, but we may have to change blog addresses. More to come on this.

We are heading for a 4 day camping/biking trip for Christmas. We will be out of touch for a while.

Have a wonderful holiday, we will be thinking of you.

Chris and Amie

This One's to You

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

As the Christmas holidays come upon us, Chris and I find ourselves reminiscing about our friends and family more and more. Our skype conversations have become more frequent, and we catch ourselves looking at old pictures while feeling a little tug in the heart. We would like to dedicate this page to all of you who have been so supportive (except Mattie O)of us in all our endeavors throughout our lives.

I would like to thank my mom for her diligence at checking to see how I am. I would like to thank my Dad for giving me that National Geographic Magazine so I could get some great ideas of where to travel around the world! To Mr and Mrs Heatherton-Thanks for being so supportive in the BIG Move, the storage, paperwork.....Kerri, Adam, Stella and Leo- Keep those great pictures coming! We miss you guys! To My Monkey- Emma- for letting me go on this trip and Kate, Doug and Ellie- thanks for putting up with my beggar dog! To my Bakie friends-It's almost vacation! Hang on! Hate to tell you, but I have summer break right now-again! Love it! When are you coming to visit???? To my dog walking buddies- Sue, Becky and Cynthia-Miss our walks and taco salad =( My sister, Dan, Koa, Kai and Kimo- Miss you tons! Thanks for all the skype chats! And a BIG congratulations to Liz-She is expecting! And it's a girl! Finally! hehe! And my brother and his family- Miss you guys! The Lord of the Rings sights are nothing without you! Sue, Jan, Sarah-I wish I were climbing Livermore Road with you! I'll have to wait until June! What's up with that? Miss you! Happy skiing! John- I promise, we will ride next year! Doris- well, thanks for everything! Melanie-Keep catching those waves for me! Auntie- Save a clean waist to chest high wave for me and you! Stevo, Uncle Jimmy and the crew- Miss you! Take care of Howie for us! And a big thanks to all that have made our lives what it is today. We miss and cherish our friends and family so much!

Amie has set a tone here so I guess I should continue with it. Merry Christmas to all the Heatherton and Beck clan out their. I love emails and comments. Oddly enough traveling half way around the world has kept me in better touch than when I lived in the states. Special Merry Christmas to my Cousin Rick. I know this one will be especially hard. Amie sends our prayers regularly.

Kate Heatherton, I will miss your wedding, but I am their in spirit. I am the one dancing with no shirt on. We will catch up when I get back.

Merry Christmas to my Yellow pod and everyone at Concord Hosp.

Ok, we will go do some fun stuff over Christmas so we have more exciting news to report.

A vist from Brad

Hello all. Christmas is closing in. 4 people emailed Amie to show her the snow that you all recently had. I am jealous. It is not the same getting excited about Christmas when the weather is getting warmer and the days longer. It is 20 minutes of 9 and the sun is still out. Our spirits were just lifted as a trailer with a brass band just stopped outside our house. They played 3 holiday tunes for us, very nice. Our town is very cute and New Zealand definitely gets in the spirit. Just hard for us northerners.

Amie and I had a great week. We had our first house guests. Steve Elgert and his daughter Cate stayed with us on Wednessday. Steve was my professor in residency and then a colleague. He and Cate were in the midst of exploring New Zealand and stopped in for a visit. It was great to have folks to entertain. I hope their trip went well. They were dealing with a lot of rain. Yes, the rain was back for a week, but has now cleared.

The weekend was more laid back this week. We had our first Mountain bike ride together. Amie's bike was finally ready, so Saturday we went for a great ride. Unfortunately the ride caused us to get side tracked and we missed the opportunity to head up for a concert in Waitomo Caves. The choral group that our friend, Martha, is in was being taped singing carols in the caves. Would likely have been a very interesting experience, but, no luck.

The pics do not do justice to some of the terrain we rode. We actually ran into the trail builders. They were getting the area ready for a 6hr ride that is coming up. They did great work. Steep runs with varied options. However, their idea of an easy run is debatable. The pictures of Amie sitting in the woods will testify to that.

Sunday, Amie had her prayers answered. The wind was right and the waves were about 2feet, or waist high. She had a great day on her new board. It is amazing how well she can surf when not fearing for her life.

Ok, fairly boring, but everything is new for us and feels like it is blog worthy. Uncle Jim and Aunty will appreciate that Brad was in town Saturday night. NO harm done, but an experience as always. As for the the rest of you, we wish you an early Merry Christmas.

Thanks to my parents who sent over a load of goods including my watch. Also, a great picture of Babs. You look great lady.

Have a great week.

Chris and Amie.

Hope Thanksgiving went well...

Amie and I spent our first Thanksgiving together this year, but on two different days. How is that possible you might ask? WELL.... see I believe that the last Thursday of November is Thanksgiving. Therefore Thursday was Thankgiving. Amie, however, believes that since Thanksgiving is an American holiday, it was not Thanksgiving until Friday, Thursday in America. So, depending on who you agree with will determine how our Thanksgiving went.

Thursday was fairly miserable. We both worked, which felt odd. We then drove 4.5 hrs to Raglan. We ate Turkey on tortilla chips on the way for dinner. We arrived at our campsite at 9:45, settled in (had a beer) and proceeded towards sleep. Unfortunately our air mattress, new four weeks ago, had a hole in it. I lost it, Amie kept a cool head, patched it and off to sleep we went at 11pm. Exhausted!

Friday, that was different. We awoke to a beautiful day. I cooked up some eggs and sausage on our camp stove, made some coffee and packed up. We headed down the road about 5km and pulled up to Manu bay. Big swell had come in overnight. 3-6 feet at 14-16 seconds, for you none surfers (BIG) and clean with light onshore winds. So, not perfect, but good. Amie was still in shock from our last couple of times out. This was evident by her expression when looking at the surf. I am quickly learning that she is not one to pushed, so I suggested we take a look up the coast. Whale bay was suppose to be more gentle. The pic in the upper right hand corner was our view of Whale bay, the tiny black dots, those are grown med. Not a smaller or more gentle wave.

I was determined to surf, but I was almost as equally determined to find surf Amie would enjoy, so our hunt continued. The local beach break was beach pound, one look from Amie and I knew this was not an option.

What to do, well Amie took a breath and opted for Manu bay.

I hope the pictures do it some justice. This point break was fantastic. We watched some great surfers blow right by us. Truth is between the two of us we only caught, 4 waves. But they were great. Amie's confidence is way up. She can go out and knows how to avoid all the large waves and then works her way in for the little ones. I have not learned that lesson.

I sat out with the big boys watching them catch wave after wave, until it happened. That magical set that took everyone in. The rides are long, so before they had a change to get back out another set was in. A huge wave was all mine. I turned and paddled, got to my feet, hesitated and BLAME. That was all she wrote. I fell off the biggest wave I have ever paddled for, then it ran me over. That was the bad news. The good news is that same wave cleaned house, everyone that was trying to get back out got stopped in their tracks. So, I quickly made up for my mistake. The next wave was a little smaller and I was in a little better postion. Thats when I caught the wave of our trip so far.

After about 2.5 hrs in the water we packed up the car and headed to Auckland. Pearl Jam concert was next. Many of you may not be fans, but this show was amazing. The band played for 2.5-3hrs. They mixed the songs old to new. They rocked. They played so long that the stadium put the lights on the field, but they kept playing. I feel I have grown up with band and The performance was one of the best I had seen. Amie even liked the show. I could say more about it, but I do not want to bore you.

Ok, so Friday was the better day by far, but I still do not think that was Thanksgiving. I might put a poll up. All you in Favor of Thursday say "I", those for Friday... actually I know everyone will agree with me.

Saturday was a long trip home. But it ended with a nice surprise. I have been emailing with a fellow surfer from Hampton, Ken Linsman. I knew he was going to be in our area, but we thought our paths would not cross. However, on our way home from Auckland we had to check the surf. We pulled into on of the more mellow spots and there was Ken and his son Kyle and his friend Tom. Just getting out of the water. After a few cordial greetings and then I suggested we check out a nicer wave. We headed to Greenmedows. A spot that has not worked well for us, but the wind was in the right direction for a change and the swell that was in Raglan the day before was also in our region.

There are some great pics that Amie took. A good session. Not as powerful as the boys from back home were looking for, but nice. Ken's son Kyle and his friend Tom can really surf. I think the great thing was that it was just us.

Sunday was more of the same. Surf was not as good, but we all had a good time. It was great to have a little crew around. Also, nice to be around folks from home. Made us realize again how much we miss you all.

Ok, that is my take on the weekend. A great time. No matter what day was Thanksgiving it was my best ever because it was my first of many with Amie. (Aaahhh, how sweet)

Hope you like the pics. I think Amie with have you own entry this week.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Well, here is- almost Thanksgiving and the days are getting longer and warmer. Chris and I have to remind ourselves every once in a while that the holidays are just around the corner. But wait- it's summer, no, it's Christmas....Oh, I don't know what's going on!!

So as you can tell, sometimes nothing is what it seems in New Zealand. Chris and I have compiled a list if differences from the US to New Zealand.

1. If you order bacon, you will get ham on your plate.
2. If you ask for a rubber, you will be handed an eraser.
3. If you go into the blokeswear store, you will find men's clothing.
4. If someone uses the word "drawers" in the conversation, they are referring to your underwear.
5. If you are driving down the highway and see the "100" sign, that would be KPH, NOT MPH.
6. You might say,"Sweet" if you see something you like, but in NZ, they would say,"Sweet as".
7. Don't tell the waitress how you want your hamburger cooked because everything is cooked well. (Heatherton made that mistake).
8. If someone gives you a lolly, you will get any type of candy.
9. To Steve, Jimmy and Christie-westerly winds are NOT GOOD when you live on the west coast!
10. If your crooked, you have an ailment.
11. Don't order take out; order "take-aways"
12. Math is known as "maths" and sports is known as "sport"

Chris and I have been very busy lately working away. We went out surfing last week to a place called Fitzroy and paddled out past the head-high barrels. We forgot the camera, but if we had it, you would have seen crazy waves, extreme NZ surfers and Amie getting crushed by the VERY LARGE waves. All in all, we had a great time surfing while watching the sun set on one side of the earth and the snow capped volcano poking out of the clouds on the other side. This place is pretty special! We hope you can come visit us! My friend, Becky, has already bought her plane ticket for February. Chris' friend, Dr. Steve Elgert, will be here in December. We are looking forward to our visitors and hope we have more on the way!

For Thanksgiving, we will be heading up to Auckland to see Pearl Jam in concert on Friday. Hopefully on Friday morning, we will surf the famous left-Raglan. I am not so sure though, because Chris tells me it might be pretty big that day. We are hoping to get some good pictures for you next weekend. We will miss everyone very much for Thanksgiving! We will be there in spirit and will be thinking about all our friends and family back home.

I Just want to give a quick shout out to my peeps at Bakie! I have been subbing lots and it is a great experience, but not the same as having my own classroom and fellow colleagues to chat with! Jo- thanks for all the great comments! Miss you guys!

We wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!

A typical week

We are late with our post. Sorry for those of you who hang on our every word. We have been busy.

No big trips. I guess we have settled in here in Hawera. We spent this weekend traveling the coast, surfing in bad conditions and trying out the new Mtn. bike trails.

First, on Thursday we visited a farm about 20min. outside of town. Beautiful land. A friend was showing Amie her horses. This particular friend also trains herding dogs. A great visit, some good pics to come. Amie now has a place to go ride. I will stay away from the horses.

The surf was poor. Funny though, even when poor we find a wave or two. Amie is on a new board and very excited. I saw her smile while surfing for the first time in a long time. It helped that the waves were not double overhead.

I went out and found the Mtn. Bike trails on Saturday. Damn Kiwi's, they do everything big. I took a few quick rides and then found an expert trail called "Jump Line". How bad could it be?

Well it was straight down, through thick brush. Single track the whole way. About 100 meters in, around a slight curve was a jump. A 4foot gap jump, no way to go but straight over it. Not that I had time to turn anyway. In Mid air it occurred to me, "this is the country that invented bungy jumping, I should have expected this." I landed it, but the corner that was at the landing did not go so smooth. Have you ever seen pictures of the rain forest? Thick brush everywhere, wet, lots of bugs. Yeah, that was where I landed. I don't even think I hit the ground. Welcome to New Zealand Mtn biking. Overall, great trails, lots of downhill.

Short blog this week. GOT to go to work. Amie says hello.

Have a great week. More pics later.

Big Week for Yankee fans

Hello all!

Can you see the smile on my face from there? Yes, that is right the Yankees have won their 27th title-More than any other professional team in any sport, in the US at least. I had game cast going at work since the games were on mid day for us. The title would have been more satisfying if the Yanks could have knocked out the Red Sox on the way, but what can you do? We will take it! I know, richest team, lots of stars, blah, blah, blah, Yankees are the Champs and the world is back as it should be.

Amie and I have a late entry this week. Busy weekend and a dinner at friends' house last night. Also, we realised we did not have much to say. Things are good and we are settling in. We stayed around the home this weekend, except for one night at the beach. But nothing we have not spoken of in the past.

Let me digress. I will touch on one of my favorite things about New Zealand, actually two. No Police and lots of bathrooms. You may be asking, Why those two things? Ok, here goes.

Saturday we pulled up to our favorite beach, lots of wind, surf was not good. So we waited. We did not pay meters. We did not worry about neighbors complaining. There were no houses on this beach. We have never seen the police patrol the beach. Finally, the wind switched. We jumped in and surfed for about an hour or two. That night, we pulled out the new camp stove and cooked up some steaks. We had wine right there next to the beach. We walked out to look at the surf in the night light. Three different fires on the beach-just people hanging out. Still no police. This is not a camp ground- just a beach. No one needed fire permits. When they were done, they put out the fires and placed trash in the can near the exit road.

The next morning we awoke right next to the beach, changed into our wet suits and surfed for another two hours.. Then it happened, the stomach started to rumble and the coffee was kicking in. That steak had moved through my system, time to go... but where. Here in New Zealand I just went(ran) to the bathroom that is tucked into the woods. The toilets (or as the New Zealanders say 'The Lu")is always clean and has TP. Again, we did not pay to be here. This is just what is at every beach. Actually, here there are two sets of lu's about .5 km apart. The bathrooms don't stand out but instead they are tucked away amongst beautiful trees and shrubs.

We could learn something from the Kiwis. If you relax and have lots of bathrooms you don't need as many police.

I would like to take a second to send out another Hello to my cousin Rick and his three amazing children. I love you guys and I wish I could help. Come to New Zealand if you need a break.

Kapa Haka

The term Kapa haka (kapa meaning 'rank' or 'row' and haka refers to a Māori dance) is commonly known in Aotearoa as 'Maori Performing Arts' or the 'cultural dance' of Maori people. Kapa haka is an avenue for Maori people to express their heritage and cultural identity through song and dance.

A kapa haka performance involves choral singing, dance and movements associated in the hand-to-hand combat practiced by Māori in precolonial times, presented in a synchronisation of action, timing, posture, footwork and sound. The genre evolved out of a combination of European and Māori musical principles. (Wikipedia)

This week, Chris and I were treated to bit of Maori tradition. On Thursday night, we attended the Kapa haka festival here in Hawera. I saw several of the students I have been subbing for. On Friday, one of the principals here in town let me head over to Waitara with the students to see them perform in a kapa competition. All ages and abilities attended. It was very exciting and the children were very thrilled and nervous to compete. The performance was quite unique. The females perform a graceful synchronized dance and song while the males perform more of a warrior dance and chant. It is awesome to see these kids get right into the competition and perform. There is a female leader for the girls and a male leader for the boys. Their (fake) tattoos symbolize who the leader will be for the group.

After all the kapa excitement, Chris and decided to stick around our Tarnaki area this weekend. We have been traveling for 5 weekends straight and decided sitting in the car for several hours this weekend was not what we wanted to do. And plus- the surf was up! And boy was it up! We went surfing Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning was a bit big for me, so I decided to go for a ride while Chris took his chances with the Large waves rolling in! He was only in the water for 30 minutes that morning before he said to himself, "What the heck am I out here for!" as he got tossed by a huge wave and almost made friends with a rock. he said that was it! But the afternoon was a bit smaller (but not much!). We met this nice Scottish girl, Caitie, and surfed with her this weekend.

I have found some teaching positions open, so I will be applying to them. Meanwhile, I have been subbing and getting to know the community. Chris is still enjoying work and has been able to ride his bike to work here and there. The weather has been improving and we haven't seen the rain much. We hear the weather is getting a bit chilly. Feel free to come visit! My friend, Becky, is coming out in February. It will be warm then too! We are also working in our garden and we think we see vegetables growing! Chris bought some sheep poo and spread it around the garden. We are hoping this will help!

That's all for the week. Thanks for all the comments! We miss everyone! Take care!

Labor day take two

Amie and I took advantage of our first three day weekend by taking a trip to the east coast. It was Labor day this week so I had Monday off. Very nice to get two Labor days in one year.
The east coast is known to have a warmer and dryer climate and it did not disappoint.
First, Friday night-One of our local spots delivered the best waves we have seen yet. Chest to a little overhead size and very clean. Amie caught her first overhead wave ever. She disappeared down the face and shot out a few moments later with a huge smile on her face.
It was a perfect Friday night. Surfing at sunset with Mt. Taranaki in the background, absolutely perfect. Shared a beer with a few Californians here on vacation and then home.
Saturday we loaded up the car for our first overnight road trip. We were able to get a mattress in the back of the van. We had made curtains during the week. Amie had rounded up food, a new cooler and some other supplies. Off we went.
We strolled lazily over to the town of Napier. On the way, we took advantage of one of the last surf spots on the west coast. I got some nice long board waves.
We pulled into Napier at a free campsite at about 7pm. The site was amazing. We backed right up to the water. No surf directly out front of us, but as we found out the next morning, there was plenty of fish. Two salty old guys, think Howie in 25yrs, saw the water start to boil with fish and got after it. Amie got some great pics of them running into the surf to get their catch. I have never seen men in their 70's so excited about fish.
While we made dinner on our first night, a little five year old came over and invited us to the camp site next to ours. The people there were great. They only lived 1km down the road, but were camping out for the weekend anyway. Jamie and Hillary were the parents. Great folks. Everyone here is so friendly. We have been welcomed very warmly everywhere we have gone.
This weekend we noticed a whole country on vacation. Everyone seemed to pick up an go somewhere. The Kiwis travel well. There are clean bathrooms everywhere. Showers provided. Information centers in every town. On our drive, there were a few road stops set up to provide free refreshments for tired drivers.
Oh and then there was the California Dreaming concert. On Sunday, we spent the morning at the beach, then hit Napier and the aquarium in the afternoon. On our way back to the campsite, we stopped at one of the many wineries. We picked the one with the California Dreamers concert. There was a group dressed like the Mamas and the Papas playing 60's music. The crowed was made up like hippies. Everyone was drinking wine, dancing and having a great time. Old and young just partying.
Monday morning was sunny and not a cloud in the sky. We had a quick dip in the ocean and then home we went. A great weekend, new friends and SUN. Oh, when we got home it was raining, again.

Amie worked three days this week. A good start to her career here. Work for me is fine. I have had some very sick patients show up for office visits. The kiwis do not use the ER like Americans. They actually go to their GP's. It can be very challenging, but I like it.
So, we know the area pretty well. We have many surf spots dialed in. Amie is getting a mtn bike this week. The car is ready to go. We are now a traveling circus.
Notes from home. It looks like the surf had been good. We miss the surf shack and all who resided there.
The Yankees are going to the world series.. I know I am excited.

Keep all the emails coming. We miss everyone. Hope to start hearing about people making some flight arrangements soon.

Foiled again, sort of...

Welcome to another addition of Chris and Amie vs the weather. What a week! First, thanks to all who have been checking in. It is great to see my cousin Rick has joined up, also my aunt Carolyn along with Amie's Bakie friends. We are pleased to know so many people are keeping up with us and our travels.

This weekend headed back up at Mt. Ruapehu. With a last minute call Saturday morning to check the conditions and opening, we made the 2.5 hr journey again. We took our time. The new vehicle was in no hurry up the 3000 ft elevation climb to the base. We pulled into the parking lot to a glorious view of the 9000ft peak. Snow was limited down low, but the top was still sitting on a 6ft+ base.

Our first hint of what was to come should have been the ticket seller. We thought she was just being polite when she informed us of the money back policy if the weather was not to our liking. We could come down within one hour and get our money back. Yeah, right! It was our first and last day of the season and lots of turns to be made.

Now those of you who know me well, know I tend to be a bit impulsive, just a bit. So, no surprise that I took Miss Amie straight to the top of the active volcano. Heck, she had been Tele-skiing at least 4x now, so she was ready. At the mid station, I did not even hesitate with the increasing wind speeds. I just proceeded to the next chair. Amie came right along, never even asking about the foreboding cloud or the sharp, exposed lava rock.

At about the 6000ft mark the wind started picking up. WIND, the nemesis of my surf sessions here, was now imposing on my ski day. Within two minutes we had winds up to 70 mph, no kidding, no heatherton exaggeration. As we came out of the ski lift at the top, we were blasted with the wind and that cloud, it was right on top of us. Zero visibility, hurricane force winds and.... great snow. The night before had dumbed about 6inches and the underlying snow had warmed into a great spring corn. This may have caused me to move out a little too fast.

"Amie just follow me, there is a blue square over here." or so I thought.

There had been a Blue square(intermediate) slope. Oops! I just missed. So, as the cloud we had been consumed by, moved west, we were left at the top of an expert trail, wind blown and Steep! Did I mention the snow was good.

All I can say is thank God Amie is adventurous. As she gingerly proceeded down the slope, her body quickly remembered the moves for a successful telemark turn. By the time we were at the bottom, she was back in the groove. We charged that run, ran into a couple of friends at the bottom and sped off for another. I was determined not to let the wind ruin the day. Amie did not want a divorce! Things were good. You can imagine our disappointment when, as we got onto the chair, the ski patrol shut the mountain down. The wind had picked up force and thunderstorms were coming in. So that was it-two great runs. I found an off fall-line slope; gullies, drops. Fun snow!

In typical Kiwi fashion they gave us our money back. We tried again the next morning, but the weather was no better. New snow at top, but high winds and a closed mtn. Regardless, we had a lot of fun. We found a great bar for apre ski. Amie found some pics on the wall of the cast of The Lord of the Rings, so we found Frodo, sort of.

This week had other nice episodes. We got out to surf twice. On Thursday, Amie and I celebrated our 1yr anniversary. We had a great surf session and then went out for a great meal with some new friends. We also have met a couple from Texas, Mark and Kerri, who are two towns away. Kerri is a Doctor in the near by town. Mark is a real estate investor who used to own two surf shops. He is now surfing daily. He has become very useful giving us daily surf reports. We had a great night. We added some pictures of the waves.

Work is moving along nicely. We had an orientation this week to the differences in the New Zealand system. Included in this was a very interesting presentation by a group of Maori. The Maori people are not as marginalized as many groups of native people across the world. They are taking great strides to preserve their culture and their language. They are very proud and very spiritual- a pleasure to work with. I am hoping Amie and I will be able to sit in a traditional meal soon.

Amie's turn-School is back in session, so I will be subbing in a couple of schools this week. Should be fun! Thanks to all my Bakie friends for contacting me! It is so good to hear from everyone. The students here have about 9 more weeks of school and then 6 weeks of summer holiday (they call it). We are still waiting for the summer to come. The daily rain slowed down, so that has been nice! We get a glimpse of Mt Taranaki every once on a while. We will miss the snow this winter, but it will be nice to get a bit of sunshine in Dec, jan, Feb, March!

This week, on Thursday, we are to have Tea with the mayor of our town. Yes, we will sit for Tea. The mayor likes to meet all the new Docs in town. The community is very invested in keeping Doctors in this area, so Tea with the Mayor it is! We are looking forward to it.

I found a connection to watch the Baseball playoffs here, so I saw the Yankee's win Game 2 of their series. I was looking for the Red Sox game, but could not find it. HMMMM.

Ok all, have a great week. Next weekend we are up to Auckland to pick up a new Mtn. Bike for Amie.

I am out for now.

No skiing, Mt. Doom and The Ride

Hello from New Zealand. The Sunday night tradition is to wrap up the weekend with a review of pictures and a new post on the blog. I hope everyone has had a great week. We miss all our friends and family. Being away always reminds one how much they are loved and how important friends and family are.

OK, enough of that! Back to the week's events. Work is going well for me. I am having to find my place among my colleagues and figure out the system here in New Zealand. The general practitioner has less autonomy in some respects, such as tests they can order, but needs to deal with a very wide array of illness and trauma. I sutured the largest laceration of my life this week. Wonderful older woman, but I made her very ill with antibiotics.

Amie will be able to get started again this week with the job search. The kids are back from their 2wk holiday. There are some offers, but nothing too exciting yet. I think she should just continue to cater to my every need. She is not too keen on this idea.

On Thursday we had our second Tsunami warning. In typical cautious fashion, Amie and I went for a walk on the beach. No big waves there. I don't know what all the hype was about.

Friday rolled around and I could not be happier. We planned to go surfing after work, but a huge wind storm came in across the north island. Gusts up to 50-60mph with sustained winds of 20mph for the better part of the night rattled throughout the house. Surf was washed out. However, I was greeted by a supreme meal that Amie prepared. That and some wine made the night OK.

So, Friday night's plans got a little washed out, but we made the best of it. We were set to get up early Saturday morning and drive 2.5hrs to the center of the island to catch some spring skiing. All this rain that we have been complaining of has the mountains at record snow levels (2 meters of snow- that's over 6 feet!). We planned to ski Saturday and then head down to Wellington to pick up the new Ride on Sunday. As you can probably tell, plans here in New Zealand are often changed

Saturday morning we realized we had not picked up a Bank check for the car. We had to drive 1hr out of the way to a bank Saturday and pick up a check. We then we headed up to the mountain ( better known as Mt Doom in The Lord of the Rings).

Now, it is hard to explain the how beautiful this drive was. Hopefully the pics will tell the story a little. We drove 2hrs north and then set eyes on Mt. Ruapehu. This is a 9000ft peak, and active volcano. As we set up the mountain road, the weather was still clear with 55 degree temps and partly cloudy skies. 20 minutes later, we were at 4000 feet staring at a closed road sign. AUGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! It is now 12 o'clock and were already dealing with only a half day of skiing. Now we had gone all this way for nothing....or so we thought!

As we parked the car, we decided to wander up the axis road. The snow level increased with every step. All the Kiwis and tourists were making the best of the closed mountain by setting up snowboard parks on the side of the road, having snow ball fights, sledding and generally just enjoying themselves.

As we continued up the road, we ran into a young couple that informed us there was a great hike with a beautiful waterfall just up the road. That was all we needed. With only a pair of tennis shoes on my feet and no socks and Amie only slightly more prepared, we headed off on a 4mile hike, and it was worth it! You should be able to see the pics. The air was 40degrees, but there was snow falling. The sun was ducking in and out of the clouds and we would steel a glimpse of the peak from time to time. We tramped through an alpine field, over a river and back. It was awesome!

New Zealand keeps handing us diversions. I would call them road blocks, but they are not. We are constantly being shown wonders, not the ones we were looking for, but who cares.

The rest of the weekend was great. We found Mt. Doom, from the Lord of the Rings, actually turns out we were in Mordor. Who knew it could be so nice with a little snow.

Our new Car is "bad". Drives nice and has lots of room. We can now start the real road trips. Back at home tonight, we found most of our newly planted veggies still alive, so we have that going for us.

This week may have some surf, if I can just figure out the wind.

Work will be my first one with a full schedule. Should be busy.

I love having all the followers. I am glad folks are commenting on the blog. Thanks for not making fun of my writing. I hope to improve with time.

Oh, in other news, How about those Yankee's. I have to watch highlights, but I am keeping up. I hope the Sox can get their ship right. The world series will not mean as much if we don't beat the Sox first.

Take care all. I think Amie will have something to add to this.

Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed Chris' entry. Well, I just proofed it ( can't help it! It's the teacher in me) and what he said covered about everything! The hike was very unexpected and great! It was true Heatherton style. As we started down the trail, I was laughing at Chris because he had no socks and tennis shoes on. I had just my hiking shoes on, but a pair of winter boots would have kept the feet a little drier. We also had no food or water on our hike, so we just ate snow! Delicious! We were wet and starving when we got back to the car! Luckily, we had packed some food, so we just sat in the car barefoot and chowed down while the heated was blasting on our soaked shoes.

After we dried up and fed our bellies, the axis road was now open, so we drove to the ski area. Lots of snow and the drive was crazy! As we drove down, I took some pictures that we added. Near the top was just covered with snow, but as you drove about 5 minute down the road, you were is a tropical forest.

I have been driving Chris a little crazy with all these Lord of the Rings sightings we must do. After we spotted Mt Doom, there was another Ring sighting I told him we must do. It was near the bottom of Mt. Doom. Another hike! About 5 minutes into our 2nd hike to seek Frodo, Chris was having about enough of my Frodo seeking! But, we ended up finding the trail that Gandof rode in on when he went into the Shire.

It was a fun-filled weekend and it was also great to get a touch of winter since we are going into summer soon! Hope you enjoy the blog and pictures!

Wellington and a new Ride

It is definitely still spring here in New Zealand. It is cold and Wet. As if our spring was not enough, Amie and I have been welcomed by many centimeters, no make that meters of rain. Our garden has flooded. Our house is cold and we have started to rethink our decision....No just kidding, but it is raining a lot. So, to escape we headed to Wellington this weekend.

About 3hrs south, the city sits in the mountains of the southern most part of the North Island. It is the windiest city I have ever been in. It gets 174 days of wind and can experience winds around 30-40mph on an average day and has even had a day in 1960 where winds reached 150mph(rough conversion from KM's).

So as our pics will reflect that we ran into some wind.

We first stopped on our way down and bought a vehicle. It is a Mitsubishi Delica. A 8 passenger van. Diesl, 4wd, Turbo. Pics will be included if I can remember the Flickr password. I do believe Uncle Jimmy will enjoy touring around in this wagon.

We then hit Wellington. As most of you know the lord of the rings films were filmed in New Zealand with many scenes being done in and around Wellington. The maps of Wellington show a Ring to indicate where scenes were filmed. So, we went in search of Frodo.

Our first stop was the highest peak in Wellington, Mt. Victoria Lookout. At this location the scene where Mr. Frodo is first almost caught by those raiders, where he ducks off the trail with those other two hobbits, you know what I mean. Well at least I think that is what we found. Amie is more of a Lord of the rings buff, she disagrees. Regardless, more importantly, in typical Kiwi fashion, the town park which is the highest point in Wellington, is also a Mtn. Bike park. As we roamed for a sign that would signify which scene was shot here we saw Mountain bikers diving down these steep trails. Turns out there are many kilometers of trails, right in the city.

A very cool place. We also had an amazing Italian meal. Great food, with gluten free options. A trio of musicians playing and a wonderful Italian hosts. We stayed in town for cheap. A great get away all in all.

So today I was surprised by a call from the Flanagan family. Great to hear from them. There is rumor that Mr. Umile may be heading to Cincinnati for a visit. Thank you to Phish for that.

Big hello to my aunt Lynnie, our prayers are for you.

OK, we are ready for visitors. Will put up details soon. The calender idea from earlier entries is not working out. SO far the our place is wide open. (Becky, we only have you penciled in until you buy the ticket.)

Hello to all in the clinic I hope Yellow pod is well. I miss my place of work. The nurses here are good to me, but they function on their own most of the time. I have to do a lot of my own work. Amie thinks this is good for me.

Oh and one BIG go Mr. Sophronas........

by all.

Amie and Chris

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.

Here we go...

It is seven weeks and counting. Lots to do. Amie and I have to rent her condo, sell my car, say goodbye to all the friends....etc.
I am going to attach a calender to this blog. I will update it during our time away. The goal is for all family and friends to come visit. The Calender will have dates when folks are committed to coming and give ideas as when the best times would be.
I am also attaching some links to tell you about where we will be. Hawera is in in the Taranaki region. Lots of beaches, a dormant volcano and from what I can tell wonderful people.