L'Enfant (Bébé d'Ancrage)

In country for more than three months now and things are starting to settle down......yeah right buddy! As some may not now know (uh oh) Kim is 28 weeks preggo with what looks to be a healthy, punchy tyke.

Yes you heard right. Kim "little-voice-big-attitude-in-male-dominated-industry" Stewart's next big project will be wrangling a little monster in around Auckland for a while. I suppose we just figured packing the dog, the house, the Jeep (still in custody), and shifting across the planet to start a new adventure was just a little too easy...so now this.

what the heck is a bassinet?!?

This is an exciting and terrifying endeavor. The stress, weight gain, and restless nights are enough to drive you crazy....and thats just me....not sure how Kim feels. After getting through settling in, battling insurance claims for damaged items, panel-beaters to fix the Jeep, and a heap of other issues now it is time to get serious about baby-prep.

So antenatal classes it is!  We chose the 2 Saturdays in a row, all day deal.....free in NZ!
Fascinating stuff.

They showed us a very artsy video of how it is done down here with no epidural......I got outed as an American when I asked "Where are the stirrups and the lady lying on her back?".....nossir.
Out West the women don't use the bed......they console themselves with a french yoga ball and squat that baby (bubs) out! I guess knowing that they give a "natural" birth is pain-killer enough.

Truthfully, the classes and the midwife teaching them are fantastic! Though not without their motives.
You can't look in the NZ Herald in a week without seeing some feminist controversy about how a rugby player was photographed bottle-feeding a baby.....BREAST feeding is the agenda that is shoved down your throat at every turn.

And then, there are the other folks in the class. They are.....quite normal...every woman had their man there supporting them and there were about 14 women. They are all local "westies" so it gave a great sense of community or something like that.

nailed it.

So on we go. Time to practice! This week we were instructed to get a dolly or a stuffed animal so that we can practice dressing with baby clothes... and swaddling??  Don't know what all the fuss is about....easy to dress a doll....must be easy to dress a baby! Easy to care for a doll......you get the idea. Donesky!

thanks Jo & John!

Thankfully our great friends Jo and John Russell have showered us with just about all the infant clothes we should need! I can't imagine what it would have cost to gather all this stuff from scratch. And our position is that c'mon....the baby ain't gonna remember what it wore when it was 0-18mo, so it doesn't need to be brand new. 

So off we go on this one. It's exciting and foreign to us all at the same time. After all, the only bottles I have had any experience with are of the brown variety. Not to worry, Kim has loosened up her Green Belt and will do what she always does.....show us guys how a project should actually be done. 

Goat Track Golf

ready to throw down on this hilly "goat track" course!!

Lee convinced me to be his golf caddy for the day and we headed out to one of the more secluded and hilly golf clubs in Auckland - Waitakere Golf Club.  The day was absolutely gorgeous and needed the SPF100 even though the temp was in the low 70's.  For some reason they wouldn't allow dogs, even on a leash, so li'l Ella chilled at the house for the day.

collared shirt?  on an island?

The first time Lee tackled Waitakere, he went in a foursome that included two guys he works with, one of their brothers, and one of their sons acting as a caddy.  The more "established" (read SMART) gentlemen of the foursome hired a golf cart for the course which is rather unusual for Kiwis as most use a truller or carry their clubs for the entire 18.  Let's just say that by the time they reached the 14th tee the brave souls walking the course were knackered and the younger son abandoned the group at the 9th hole in favor of the relaxation of the club house!

Needless to say... we rented a cart :)  I'll hand out clubs and keep score with the best of them - even offer unwanted advice on putting - but just not game with carrying the clubs up and down the hills and back and forth across the fairways for five hours!!!

The course is really beautiful.  It's set in the middle of the Waitakere Ranges and native bush surrounding the west coast.  Some of the holes are really challenging Par 5 doglegs and others have unique tee offs starting in the bush with the green no where in site.

hole 6 par 3 with tee in the bush

rolling par 5

tee'ing off hole 1

nice chip shot with the new wedge!  par?

Lee had some amazing drives on the course and set himself up for several birdies and par shots.  Unfortunately, that short game still needs a bit of work....

nice form... lined up... 

and the crowd goes... awwwww... time for the 19th hole!

Blog Bottlenecks

Sorry the blog posts have been few and far between for the past few weeks!!  We've had several huge events occurring that have taken precedence over postings...

1. container arrival
2. insurance claims
3. unpacking!!
4. catching up on sleep in our comfy bed :)
5. getting the li'l jeep up to "nanny state" standards
6. arrival of our columbian-american via australia for the past year house guest - Alex
7. golf, golf, golf - need i say more....
8. and of course, work

We are pretty much settled now and blog posting will resume.  Li'l Ella and I have gone to a few really cool spots but I have been both camera and iPhone-less during our jaunts.  Almost everything warrants a second visit with camera in hand - so watch out!

Musick Point

21-Jan -- One of the best things about living in Auckland is the ability to make a day trip and explore tons of areas. Depending on the mood of the day, you can choose a lazy beach day, a tramp along a mountain track, or some sightseeing and market purchases.  Just about any activity you could want to do is within 30 min to an hour of our home.  Even snow skiing is only a few hours away!

After our hunt for sea glass on the east coast, we decided to venture to some of the more southern east coast beach areas just to see what was there.  We picked Bucklands Beach as it looked like an interesting peninsula of land.

musick point

At the very tip of Bucklands is Musick Point.  There is an old radio station - very art deco style - and really, really steep "stairs" leading down to a beautiful little rocky beach on the point.  Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, there was a plethora of sea glass hidden amongst the rocks.  We found some larger pieces that had been polished by the sand and salt water that were pretty amazing.

panorama from tip of musick point

The big flat rock out in the middle of the water just begged for Lee to climb up on top of it - just figuring out how to get through the water without getting non-swimming trunks wet was a bit challenging :)  Ella of course had to follow!

traversing low tide

Once out there, the formations on the big table top rock were really amazing...

hey!  how'd you get up there?!?!

The water had carved out a beautiful landscape...

 

It was definitely another perfect day for exploring in Auckland!

Hunt for Sea Glass

14-Jan -- We decided to go east coast style today and head over toward the North Shore on a "Hunt for Sea Glass"

One of our good Atlanta friends, Kia, has an obsession? fixation? mania? for sea glass.  I'm not sure which most adequately describes her love of this "garbage" that the ocean has tumbled into smooth, colorful, beautiful, gem-like stones.  Before she goes to any shoreline, she researches a database to find out where the best sea glass can be found!  She has been making amazing jewelry for a while now and wants to incorporate some sea glass into a project for a jewelry class she is currently taking.  

kia

After checking her database for NZ, she directed us to Thorne Bay near Takapuna on the North Shore of Auckland.  The beach is full of volcanic pools and rocks with some creamy golden sand.  The differences between east and west coast beaches are very striking.  West coast here is very similar to the black sand beaches in Hawaii and the waves are very Pacific-like.  East coast here is more reminiscent of the Gulf of Mexico - golden sand, calm seas, few waves.

Across the water you have views of Rangitoto - a volcanic island.  It's a wildlife preserve with minimal human habitation.  You can see tons of lava slides and tunnels on the hike to the top.

views of rangitoto

thorne bay

The sea glass pickins were slim to none although we thoroughly enjoyed the day.  Only came away with two frosty white gems to send back to the US of A.  As Kia pointed out, it is nice to live in such a clean, litterbug free country unless you are looking for sea glass!!

two lonely sea glass gems

Of course Li'l Ella made the jaunt to Thorne Bay as well and had fun swimming in the calm clear east coast waters.

frisbee tossing at thorne bay beach

doggie paddle

Kiwi-isms - how to speak like a kiwi

Even though this country's primary language is English (98%), sometimes I feel like I'm in a very foreign country!  Kiwi's have developed their own language for things and no matter how good your English (American or otherwise), you find yourself saying "excuse me?  can you repeat that?" Heck, I'm even doing that with my own husband when he comes home from work after being immersed in kiwi-isms all day!

Another common language trait that I think is a reflection of their laid back attitude toward life is the amazing ability to shorten words that don't even need shortening!  Kiwis watch "telly" (television), eat "brekkie" (breakfast), wear their "sunnies" (sunglasses), and so on and so forth.

Here are some "kiwi-isms" that have thrown me for a loop... enjoy :)

• Sweet As = That's Great! or very good (ex:  Sweet As, Bro!)
• Rattle your dags = hurry up
• Box of fluffies = I feel great
• "The Ditch" = Tasman Sea
• "En Zed" = New Zealand
• Gutted = disappointed
• Jandals = flip flops
• Knackered = exhausted
• Piece of piss = easy
• Sookie bubba = wimp
• Chips = french fries
• Crisps = potato chips
• Cotton = thread
• Shout = pay for (ex:  I'll shout you a beer)
• Thread = cotton
• Flag it = can't be bothered
• Slash = urinate
• Sparrow fart = early morning
• Ta = thank you
• Cheers = any kind of welcome or goodbye... no alcohol necessary
• Sauce = ketchup
• Takeaway = to go
• Wop wops = out in the sticks or boonies
• Togs = swimsuit
• Chilly bin = cooler
• Judder bar = speed bump
• Cods Wallop = rubbish, garbage, stupid
• Gobsmacked = flabbergasted
• Dag = comedian
• Flash = fancy
• Silly cow = crazy woman
• Cheerios = cocktail sausages (usually served with "sauce")
• Crayfish = lobster
• Freezing works = meat packing plant
• Tramp = hike
• Weather packed in = bad weather
• Push chair = stroller
• Footpath = sidewalk
• Tea = dinner
• Nappy = diaper (not the expected mid-afternoon siesta)
• Good as gold = all good
• Cot = baby crib
• Handbag = purse
• Purse = wallet
• Bonnet = car hood
• Boot = car trunk
• Windscreen = windshield
• Aluminium = aluminum
• Capsicum = any pepper hot or mild
• She'll be right = it'll be ok (no gender intended)

We won't even start with the Maori names for regions and cities.  I can never pronounce them correctly - and I want to because they are really beautiful words and names!  Most times I just want to say "Vanna, can I buy a consonant :)"

Container Update...

Our ship has come in!

Lee has been tracking the progress of our vessel as it came back into GPS range in the waters around New Zealand and it was on schedule to arrive 16-Jan at around 8:30pm.  The excitement of actually getting our stuff is killing us!

itajai express at 4:00pm

I went today to take what we hope is the final paperwork to the NZ shipping company responsible for customs clearance and delivery to our new home.  Everything appears to be in order and we just have a few details to work out with the Jeep once it clears the MAF customs guys.  Our last steps... last 7-14 business days of glamping in Titirangi :)

We went downtown to watch our ship come in, have a little dinner, and celebrate the approaching end of our container's journey across the great Pacific.  The weather was gorgeous and we walked to the end of the Queen Pier to watch as the Itajai Express rounded the last corner by Devonport.  Hmmm... 8:30... where or where is our ship?  Oh well, time to catch a beer at Brew on Quay and refresh the GPS tracking on the iPhone every 60 seconds :)

walking down queen pier

the "cloud" event space on queen pier for rugby world cup 2011

itajai green indicator - slowly comin' in

9:30pm found us back at the end of the pier and... thar she blows!!  The Itajai is a HUGE ship and needs the help of several tug boats to maneuver into her slip at the port.  We watched until we couldn't keep warm anymore and headed home.  The ship is headed back out on Tuesday and our container (fingers crossed) has finally landed in Kiwiland!

itajai coming into port

tugboats changing ship's direction

HUGE ship - wonder which container is ours?