Kitesurfing?

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This is the beach I've been spending a lot of time on and will be spending a whole lot more time to come. You see, this beach has a few very important properties.

1. It's within an hour's drive to Wellington
2. It's got a long, shallow beach front and tides that extend the beach even further
3. It's on the West coast but is exposed from North all the way through West to South
4. It has steady, fairly strong winds.
   

All this combines to make it the best "beginners" beach in the region for all sorts of wind sport activities. In my particular case: Kite Surfing. I spoke of this wonderful activity recently... It's a relatively new sport which came about by the development of powerkites. Essentially, you get a big honkin' kite, a wake board and a harness, you attach them all to your body, find a good wind and go. It's more similar to wakeboarding / waterskiing then to any other form of wind based activity.



My particular experience so far has been pretty standard. I bought a small (3sq meter) kite to learn kite flying skills. I then signed up for two lessons. The first lesson was to go over the anatomy of a kite, its safety systems and to get comfortable with flying a kite attached to me. This involved a lot of getting dragged (intentionally) through the water by said kite, learning all about the dynamics of power. This was no problem for me, big kites and small work on the same principles.
The second lesson, we added a board to the equation. Now, I've tried to water ski before, not successfully, so I was a little nervous about this. We picked a day that was just at the very lower limit of wind speed, but I still managed to get up on the water multiple time, with a 12 second ride being the day's best. The main problem I was having wasn't getting up on the water, it was keeping from sinking once it slowed down :) My instructor assured me that with proper equipment (a properly sized kite, board and reasonable wind) I shouldn't have any problems given my comfort and skill.

Conveniently enough, he also had a properly sized kite he was looking to sell for a good price. Guess what came next?

So now I've got a 14sq meter kite (a 2008 Airush Vapor II) a board coming in the mail (Jimmy Lewis Model 3 145x42) a proper harness and of course my wetsuit I got for Christmas.

We (Wes, Carly and I) headed out to Waikanae yesterday for a short body dragging session so that I could get used to the larger kite.



Inflating the kite, attaching the lines and launching all went fairly well, with the help of a local instructor showing Carly what to do. The kite in the air was very docile. These kites have a TON of adjustable settings to work with the available wind, allowing you to power up or depower for appropriate wind conditions (and in my case skill levels!)

Once I was in the water, I just flew the kite, letting it pull me down the beach for a good couple of hundred meters.



Going the other direction was significantly harder because of the direction of the wind, and, though I managed a few times, overall it was quicker and easier to just walk the kite back.

We practiced landing, water relaunching (for when you screw up :P ) and generalized flying in all sorts of conditions. Because you're never in deep water (at most chest high) you're never in any real danger of losing control. At worse, your kite crashes and you do some damage. Now, that's not to say it's a completely safe sport, given its reputation as an "Extreme Sport" but learning the basics with an instructor gave me a definite head start.

So what was the net result? A much higher comfort level with my new kite, a sunburn on my head, a bruised up chest from where the harness contact points were and an incredible desire to head back there today, tomorrow and Sunday.

I think this could be the start of a wonderful relationship :)

So Much Going On It's Hard to Remember to Blog!

There's been some not-so-subtle hinting that maybe we've been neglecting our blogging duties of late (the last 10 days or so). Now, looking at it from our dear readers' points of view, it must be quite frustrating. Here we are, announcing a whole bunch of changes and exciting events and BAM! that's the last you hear from us. Apologies all around.

So what has been happening?

First off, Wes. He's here, he's living on our couch, all things point to the fact he thinks this country is gorgeous and very cool. Jet lag is a bit of a problem, though mostly taken care of at this point. The two of us have been going crazy getting our models put together, painted etc. We're really feeding off each other for creativity.

Carly's new job has started. She's posted up a few entries on that topic already so I don't have to cover it here.

I've gotten really serious about Kitesurfing. I've had two lessons, bought some gear (kite, wetsuit, board so far) and have been obsessed with checking the weather to get out to the beach. Watch for another post on the topic soon!

My job hunt has started in ernest. So far I've contacted 4 recruiting firms, but the market is slow. A few jobs have been interesting, but so far no leads. At this point, I'll be staying with my current employer until the end of my contract regardless (there are financial reasons for doing so) but I'd really like to land something reasonable in town sooner rather then later. I think going to an office regularly and having that social interaction would really speed along the integration process. It would also get me out of the apartment which has grown uncomfortably cramped.

A few very cool things happened. First, I got to chatting with one of the authors of a blog I've been reading for a year+. This was one of the few blogs about moving to New Zealand that rang true to the realities that Carly and I were going to be facing. Most of the other blogs I'd read were by families with kids or older couples. Anyway, it turns out there's a dresser that's hanging out in their garage that would fit perfectly in our bedroom. Hazzah.

I got asked not twice but thrice for directions by various people around town. I'd read that one of the first major milestones to becoming a "local" was when people think you can help them navigate the area and you're actually successful in leading them to where they want to go. Granted, these three were looking for fairly simple things (courtney place, Uncle Chang's restaurant and Cuba mall) but still, I knew where they were :)

Finally, climbing has started up again. Wes has always been a big motivator in this sport and since we've both been slacking for the last couple of months, we're hitting the gym more often now.

There. All caught up. At some point I'll actually remember to bring my camera around with me...

What a gorgeous day! lets go to the dump!

Today was simply gorgeous weather. i mean so nice that R. (the teacher i work with) headed out early to pick up his son and take him kayaking. There was no wind so the oceans were glassy flat, not a cloud in the sky, 25C which made the water warm...couldn't ask for a nicer day.

note: folks back home pls don't send me hate mail :P

so what would make more sense to do on this gorgeous day but go to the dump.
i know this is making many of you shake your heads but it all started when R. and I decided to bring all that classroom garbage to the dump (or tip as they call it). so we packed into his car and head down to Happy Valley Road; seriously that is the name of the road.

Now we had found a big old glass display case which hadn't been used, no one wanted it so R. suggested we take it to the Tip shop. in Wellington there are 2 dumps, one for the public and one for the businesses to use. the public one is amazingly well thought out. They have a tip shop where you open your car and drop off anything they figure will sell, in our case that display case. there are huge blue bins of various recycling and a methane electricity station. it burns the methane gas produced by decomposing garbage and fires it back to the grids. then whatever the tip shop doesn't want you drive over a weigh bridge which weighs your car, drop it into a giant concrete bunker which is then sorted again by guys working down there into plant matter, glass etc. the 'garbage' is then pushed down a hole in the back of this bunker which is moved by conveyor belt (using the energy created by methane) to the proper landfill. then you drive your car over another weigh bridge, they check the difference in weight and charge you accordingly.

now R. was explaining all this to me as we drove and i have to admit it sounded like a good system. but nothing prepared me for the shock of the tip shop. It was massive, and the stuff they have. nothing less than 20 tvs, 15 stereo setups, multiple bed frames, chairs, desks, table, housewares stuff, 2 bins of sporting gear, electronics, outside is sinks, toilets, doors, bikes and garden stuff. There was 5 giant olive trees in beautiful wood planters next to 2 giant amphoras (a greek restaurant must have shut down). The top floor had books and clothes and bedding.
and the prices...$20 for a double bed frame with slats, and its a nice looking one too.

and i found cushions...at a $1 a pop, and they're huge ones, and oddly enough they're clean and smell fresh. so i'm going to head back tomorrow to pick up 10 cushions and i'm dragging Blaise and Wes along. we need to find Wes a bedframe and some house stuff.

Tip shop! start there if trying to fill a home from scratch.

Setting up a classroom

So any teacher reading this will understand this title.

R. and I have re-arranged furniture, put a pile of stuff aside for a run to the Tip (dump). I've worked my way through the writing materials, resorted them from the early chaos of last year and thought about a few things i'm going to need to get that area up to snuff.

I'll need to tackle the bookshelf next week and i need to find cushions...yes cushions, big ones for the floor. The reading area is seldom used but the corner didn't have much there to get interest so i've been updating, reno-ing, and trying to figure out how to draw them over there.

a nice thing about Montessori, they have a budget, so i'm told i can buy stuff...huzzah!!!

R. and I are trying to figure out our first 11 days of school, we need to do what is called the Great Key Lessons which talk about universe formation and humans. 11 days only you say? yes because the whole class is going on a camping trip Feb 18-19th. this job keeps getting better.

still need a key and alarm code...keep you all posted.

Carly's Kiwi Job

Well good news everyone! i got a job as a teacher here in New Zealand.
I was offered the 0.5 (1/2) time position at the Montessori school that i posted about early in the blog. This job for 6 weeks during June/July will become 1.0 (full time) while the teacher, R., goes off for training in the US. Also the principal of the school offered me first pick of any and all release/training/relief days for the rest of the school's teachers.

so R. and I worked out that i'll work in his classroom all day Monday and Thursday and from 9:00-noon-ish on Tuesday. Its kind of neat as well because my family and friends know how obsessively i love books. Well R. offered me the entire Language Arts (reading,writing,oral) program to do what i wish but he wanted to use Balanced Literacy. Funny enough i was trained in ... balanced literacy. R. will take all Maths but we'll keep each other in the loop so that i don't lose all my math skills. The other subjects we can do what each of us wants because in the Montessori class you don't do whole class instruction but do small group seminars on a particular topic. "today we're going to look at chemical reaction of baking soda in a variety of liquids" or "i'm going to give a french lesson at 10:30". all in all i'm very excited.

The Long Flight Here.

So Wes (my best friend and evil henchman. The man responsible for Carly and I meeting) is officially in the air, flying across the pacific as we speak to come join us in this wonderful land. Maybe I should change the name of the blog to Three Canadians Escape to Kiwiland?

Wes, like Carly, is a teacher though high school (Secondary for the Kiwi readers). Like Carly, he was having difficulty finding a full time gig in Ottawa. Wes also has the same sense of adventure we do, so when we decided to move, his plans weren't far behind.

What's interesting is he's taking a completely different route to get here. Rather than bet the farm and get his Permanent Residency, he's coming over on a 3-month work visa. The assumption being that he'll find someone to sponsor him for an extension within the first 3 months. He, however, is already fully qualified to teach here and is arriving at the beginning of the school year, so he can hit the ground running as it were.

I'm ridiculously excited, but also a little nervous about his arrival. For one, this is a VERY small apartment we live in. Carly and I have been bumping into the limited space constraints fairly regularly of late so having another person living here will be a challenge. We've (all 3 of us) already agreed that he's staying for a maximum of 3 weeks; I've been picking up furniture and the like for him when he moves to his own place.

Carly and I have developed a good network of friends here. I've got to be careful not to ignore them now that I have Wes here. It's easy to fall into old patterns... not that our patterns were bad, but I'm quite happy with how life is going here these days.

I think it'll be really cool to be the people showing him around. I think we've got a fair handle on Wellington now. We're certainly not experts, but we know some good restaurants, a few "local" spots that tourists don't typically go to and a few cool spots to hang out.

Wow. exactly 24 hours to go.

Foreign languages on food products

After completing the standard grocery run at Pak'n'Save Blaise and I finally decided to visit the Asian Super Market just across the street.

We had always put it off but today being Blaise's Sunday and not having plans we wandered over to see if we could find frozen edamame and bulldog Tonkatsu sauce. There are small asian markets everywhere but we keep finding rice at one, korean at another, japanese at another, etc.

Let me say we have wasted a lot of shopping time; if we had just gone in here we would never had so many shopping issues. This place was packed with everything we needed and more. We kept pointing out stuff and grinning like mad.

Grabbing a basket we proceeded to charge up and down the aisles; "honey i'm getting some rice seasoning for the onigiri" i cried, he shouts back "hey i remember my dad buying this".
"Hey look cheap sushi rice!!!"
"Wasabi powder like back home"
they even had little rice ball shapers which made me happy, i bought a set btw.

but after doing the aisles we still hadn't found our Tonkatsu sauce. Its brown, made with pear (so they claim) and is excellent on breaded pork cutlets over white rice with some eggplant pickles. We walked up to a young asian stock person and Blaise asked for it, he looked confused and then walked over to his boss. The boss, who is the owner, showed us first one sauce and then after a quick explanation by Blaise and a mention of the brand bulldog showed us the sauce on the aisle near the sushi tools.

the young stocker meanwhile was following us to see where it was. Blaise and the owner walked off and i spotted the rice ball shapers at the bottom shelf so i was on the floor rooting through the options. I glanced up to see him holding the sauce bottle with a look of intense concentration on his face. Finally he shouts to the owner "there is no english on this thing at all!" and then he walked away quietly saying "Tonkatsu, Tonkatsu", perhaps a mnemonic device so he would know where to find it next time.

$54 later and very happy with our find and with warm thank yous and "come again" from the owner we went home. Glad i'm not the only one who can't read the labels.

Bug to scream ratio

In most relationships you have one partner who is the killer of the bugs. In our relationship that roll has been delegated to me. Please don't assume Blaise is a screamer, he just doesn't want to go near it in case it jumps at him. So when a big bug is found I get called, and the bug meets the hereafter (or depending on my mood released unharmed into the wild).

In all these years i haven't yet done the "scream"...until today.

I was taking down my laundry from my drying rack off the balcony. The same balcony where my tomato plants are incidentally (which are huge and covered in little green tomatoes) but this has not resulted in an increase in bug levels. I had just finished folding a t-shirt was turning to put it on the back of the couch when i looked down...and proceeded to do a high-pitched scream/gasp. Blaise jumped on the couch "what, what", he shouted.

"huge bug, freaking huge, it got a big ass stinger on its butt (i'm looking at it seriously now), holy smokes i think its a Weta get the freaking camera!!!"



For those of you who aren't sure what i'm talking about a Weta is an extremely large grasshopper. This thing isn't just taking protein supplements its taking form of super grasshopper steroids and shouting stuff like "feel the burn" while bench pressing a possum.

Blaise ran for the camera while i continued to laugh semi-hysterically. "its not moving at least" i said as Blaise frantically snapped photos, "do you think it stings?"
Note: the stinger is actually a sign that it was a lady weta, the female weta's egg laying probe looks like a stinger.

I could tolerate no more "get it off! get a tupperware", there was no way i mushing something that big. Plus it was starting to look pretty cute, yeah it was big and insect-y but it wasn't vicious or moving.

So we grabbed a tupperware with lid and gently placed it over the weta and slipped the lid under it.
Did i mention it was cute...scratch that. Turns out it didn't like its new situation, it threw its back legs up, which had spiky bits, and began to hiss and snap. Intrigued by this new show we decided to keep it a big longer for some new photos.

The weta obligingly kept her legs up and hissing for the next photo session and then i finally took the girl outside to the grassy embankment near the apartment.

Our friends R & A confirmed our photos were indeed of a Wellington tree weta. Turns out we got a very lucky set of photos, the things are: 1)rare now in Welly, 2)usually near old houses and wet forests (how she got up to my apartment is beyond me, 3) nocturnal so finding one in the day is really awesome.

So to get back to the ratio; how big does a bug have to be to make me scream? that big.

Pauanui.

For more photos check out the Gallery!

Pauanui is quite an odd place. Situated on the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula its one of a handful of towns that are a popular summer destination for Aucklanders (primarily) and Kiwis in general. Its not the biggest town that we saw, but its definitely the wealthiest. I'm not sure if there's any others that would match the overall opulence. The houses for the most part are large, modern and well maintained. There's a neighborhood called the Canals where each house has its own dock through an engineered waterway. Most of the houses on this section are architect designed summer homes suitable for magazines.


There's a small airfield that's often used by private pilots to fly in their Cessnas and other small airplanes, though it's also a popular hang out for several WWII fighters that have been converted to acrobatic duties. Impromptu shows of their flying prowess were common most nights, though we sometimes wondered about their sobriety.


In among all the impressive houses are quite a few sections of land that had caravan villages spring up on them. The assumption being that they were people who had bought land to build houses but hadn't got to it yet. There were also some very modest smaller houses that had been built back when the place wasn't the hotspot it now is.


It's obvious what the attraction is though. The beaches are stunning, the water warm (by Canadian standards at least) the waves are strong (The Coromandel is known as a good surfing spot) and the fish bites often. It's got everything a beach town should have, minus a lot fo the tourist industry. That's mostly spread to the other towns we saw (Thames and especially Whangamata seemed to be real partytowns). Pauanui seemed like the type of place you'd buy in if you had a family or were looking for something quiet. The demographic was mostly older couples / families and their children.







Even on a rainy day the place is beautiful. These two photos were taken while driving back from Thames towards Pauanui, about 10 minutes outside of town. Being tucked between the ocean on one side and mountains (likely volcanoes) on the other, it gets the full variety of scenery.

Culinary Discoveries.

Canada, despite being part of the commonwealth, didn't get nearly the British influence that New Zealand seems to have. Whether it be because of the American influence overriding the UK one; or maybe it's the distance and relative speed at which it became autonomous, but Canada's definitely missed out on a few delicious perks from the British lifestyle:

Savory Pies: Beef and mushroom, Beef and cheese, Mince, Curried Chicken... If you can make a stew out of it, you can bet someone's put it in some pastry. And damned if I won't eventually try each and every flavor. On top of being ridiculously easy to find and relatively inexpensive, they are tasty, filling and probably a billion calories per pie. What's not to love?

Fish and Chips: I think I can honestly say I've never experienced fish and chips anything like what I've had here. Granted, my few ventures into the world of deep fried fish in Canada weren't anything to write home about (in this case quite literally) but here... WOW! We had our first fush 'n' chups in Island Bay. It was piping hot, super fresh whitefish in a light, flaky batter, with more chips then we could possibly have eaten had we had 3 meals to do it in. Spray on the vinegar, Tomato Sauce (Ketsup being a completely unknown term here) and a little vinegar and bam. Greasy, deep fried goodness.

Not really of British origin, this one's pretty much uniquely New Zealand:

L&P: Good god this is good soda. "World Famous in New Zealand" is their slogan and they pretty much ham up the Kiwiana content to the max. Sweet As... (an expression quite common here) is the name of their Diet drink. L&P Stands for Lemon and Paeora which is kind of like calling a beer Barley and Moosejaw from where it might have been made. It's a weird carbonated lemonade like taste. hard to describe, but very very tasty.

Getting to Pauanui.

Note: for those of you reading this from Email, I strongly recommend opening this up in your browser because there's tons of interesting links in it :)


As many of you know, we're currently spending our New Years on the Coromandel Peninsula. Specifically, we're in Pauanui (see map) staying with Rachel Alan and their friends S and F.


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We arrived late on the 28th after getting ... misdirected. We knew where we were, we just weren't quite where we wanted to be. New Zealand lacks signage in some places though in this particular place I'm pretty sure it was a case of being distracted by the incredible scenery. We ended up going around the west side of Lake Taupo and found a small lookout that gave the incredible views you can see on the gallery. If you look at the map, you'll see the slight detour we ended up taking: you can see on the west side of the island the rather square path we took around the Lake. That was a mistake :)

As always, there's a gallery of our photos. Here's most of my favorites. Click through to the gallery for bigger versions of the pictures!



Here's Bee all packed up and ready to go.



Mount Ruapehu seen from where the grass is still green. the middle of the North Island is actually as close to a desert as New Zealand comes, it's incredibly desolate. There's about a 75km stretch with absolutely no civilization, no real water, barely any plants and Mount Ruapehu watching over it.




Mount Ruapehu seen from the previously mentioned Desert Road.



Lake Taupo is one of New Zealand's favorite fresh water vacation destinations. It's a huge (by NZ standards) lake which is actually in a giant volcano crater. It's known to be rather cold because of it's depth but otherwise stunning.



Random photo we took from the Lookout that eventually got us lost. It was worth the view.