New Year's Holiday: Picton

Part 2 of 2!  Most of our holiday was spent in Kaikoura, but we did stay over one night in Picton.  We arrived in the early afternoon, so I planned for us to go on a twilight kayaking tour.  This was a big deal for me, since (1) I can't swim, (2) the kayaking takes place in the sea, and (3) I don't like to be in water where things live.

We had a few hours to roam around after we checked into our (seemingly) lovely hotel, so we decided to go to the highly touted Aquarium.  EcoWorld Aquarium - what a great name, right?They had lots of cute signs outside of the building and cute advertisements in NZ travel brochures.  Since we had such a great experience at the Christchurch Aquarium last year, we were ok with the entry price of $17.  Besides, this aquarium had a preserved giant squid!  And Tuatara!

Once we walked through the doors, though, we knew we had made a mistake.  The aquarium can only be described as a very sad, very old, repurposed YMCA.  All of the fish and reptiles seemed to be begging us to kill them (or at least set them free).  We initially thought these turtles were confused about sex, but we decided the one climbed on the other to try to crush him to death as an act of mercy.

Look at those eyes pleading for freedom!

We didn't take a picture of the "giant squid" because we couldn't see it.  The (very, very dirty) glass case where it was encased could have contained anything - or nothing at all - there's no telling, really.

They did have a video called "In Search of the Giant Squid".  We caught it late, and watched for about 10 minutes or so until it ended....with no giant squid in sight.  A couple in front of us had watched the entire 30 minute video!  To be fair, the video wasn't called "Finding the Giant Squid", or "Hey Look, There's a Giant Squid"...

To get over the horror that was 'EcoWorld', we wandered around the lovely Picton waterfront until it was time for our kayaking tour.  Like Darren's horseback riding picture, my first-time kayaking picture is equally non-existent.  But here is Darren with the kayak after the 3 1/2 hour tour. 

During the tour, we kayaked out to the little island in the foreground.  It was a gorgeous evening!  Turns out I really like kayaking once I forget that I'm on the open sea where a shark could turn over the kayak and eat me. 

After a sleepless night in our lovely hotel that happened to be a block away from the railroad tracks and an (apparently) all-night skateboard park, we wandered around the beautiful waterfront of Picton before catching the Ferry -

On the way to the Ferry landing, we passed this old boat that is being restored (or has been restored..?).  We could have spent some money to get more information, but we didn't care that much.

On our way home, with one last look back to Picton...

New Year's Holiday: Kaikoura

Yes, our holiday was well over a month ago, and I even uploaded these pictures right after we got back from our trip. It's taken me all this time to think of some clever commentary to go along with them (hope you aren't expecting too much!)...

As some of you may remember, we were in Kaikoura for one night over New Year's last year. This year we stayed a few more days in hopes of going whale-watching. Well, not so much 'hope' as 'determined', but in the end the result was the same as last year: the water conditions were too harsh for the boat.

We loved our time in Kaikoura despite the choppy sea and the inefficient whale watching company. It's a lovely little town halfway between Picton (where the Ferry lands) and Christchurch (the place where people base themselves to see surrounding towns because it doesn't have much to offer).

Kaikoura, literally 'food'(kai)/'crayfish' has it all: snow-capped mountains, beaches, and an un-ending view of the ocean. Oh! And a Monteith's bar. :)

Like most towns in New Zealand, Kaikoura has a skate park for kids and adults alike. This one has a spectacular view:

A little ways down the beach is this awesome chair...

...with its own fantastic view.

We don't have a car - this isn't news, right? Our favorite hotel in Kaikoura is about a 40 minute (flat, straight) walk from town. Along the way are many other hotels/B&Bs, as well as private homes with front gardens. Check out these flowers!

One evening, we headed out to the afore-mentioned Monteith's bar, and discovered they had a beer tree! An entire tree of BEER! It included 6 of the Monteith's beers and one other beer they have on tap. I think I drank two, maybe 2 1/2. Darren graciously finished off the rest.

On the way back, we noticed a couple of people staring at a tree...only to find a few birds (Shags) were all lined up on the branches:

Darren had never been horseback riding before (called simply horse riding, or horse trekking here), and it had been on his list of 'things to do' for quite a while. I found the Fyffe ranch online - they offer treks into the woods/across rivers, as well as sunset rides into the mountains (when it's not too windy).

This is the only picture we took! The camera was stowed for safekeeping, and in our rush to get back to town for our whale watching cruise that was (later) canceled, we didn't snap a photo of Darren on a horse. You'll just have to believe us.

After the third and final failed attempt to go whale watching, we headed back to the hotel. The whale watching company is in the same building as the tiny railway station, which has a gigantic parking lot where people seem to just hang out.

And we came across this scene...and just imagined that the seagulls were waiting for the woman to drop the baby...!

Back at our hotel, we walked the few feet to the beach to capture the beauty of Kaikoura.

Pictured here: not a whale.

With the windows open at night, we could hear the crashing surf -

Night-night, Kaikoura!

Vast

When Darren and I decided to move to New Zealand, one of the big questions we had to answer was "do we bring all of our furniture, or sell everything and replace it in New Zealand?" I think many people moving across the world struggle with that question.

In our case, we did have some very nice furniture that we definitely wanted to bring with us - our bed suite, a chaise lounge and our coffee table/trunk. Other items were older (my 10+ year-old couches and dining room table) or too large/unstable to move (IKEA desk).

To get an idea of the kind of furniture in New Zealand, we did a basic search for furniture stores online. We found very few sites, as bandwidth in New Zealand is quite expensive. Since we were also looking at Real Estate listings for places to rent, we began to use those listings to get an idea of how people were furnishing their homes here.

We were frightened! We saw big fluffy flower-patterned couches, and cheap dining room tables. (And no, sadly I cannot find examples now. Guess you'll just have to trust me!).

Knowing there is no IKEA here in New Zealand (and there may never be...), we decided to go ahead and bring the old couches and the assembled entertainment centre. And they have served us well over the past two years, allowing us time to explore the furniture stores in Wellington. The one glaring exception has been what Darren has been using for a desk: an old dresser I bought for $50 when I was a poor university student. The drawers were quite useful for storing desk stuff and other random bits and pieces, and the top was spacious enough for his computer and peripherals. You can imagine, though, that it was in no way ergonomically pleasing for him to sit there.

Said dresser was kept in the dining/kitchen area, as it wouldn't fit anywhere else in the apartment. Yep, it looked a bit strange, but it was useful. More useful than a dining room table? No...we haven't actually eaten at a table (other than the aforementioned coffee table) in our own apartment since we moved here. We sold the one we had in the US because we didn't love it enough to ship it here, and most of the dining tables we've come across were cheaply made, very expensive or both. Not that one would fit in the dining area with the dresser, anyway.

Then Darren found Vast. It's not on our usual walking route through town - it's pretty far down a road that leads out of town. One that we only see from a bus window as we make our way North to the Hutt Valley. There are heaps of furniture stores on this road (Thorndon Quay, for you local readers), and Darren decided to check them out one day. Turns out most of them are quite expensive (read: Freedom)! But Vast was different.

Vast is an Australian chain, although each store is independently owned by franchisees who can buy from whichever suppliers suit them (which explains the less than robust website).


So, you're thinking we found a desk, right? No, but we did fall in love with a gorgeous solid mangowood table, and four matching leather chairs. The salesman was very friendly, and gave us very detailed answers to all of our questions. (Turns out he is the owner!)


Luckily, we have a Mac, and it looks great on the table/desk. And Darren finds it much more ergonomic!




The story doesn't end there, though. Once we had cleaned out the dresser and moved it to the garage (hey, anyone need a dresser?), we found we had some desk 'stuff' that we needed to store...somewhere close to the table/desk. Back to Vast we went! Mainly because they were having a one year anniversary sale.

And we found this beautiful side table sourced from India. It is solid wood, with old shutter doors that have been refurbished, then treated to look "old" again. It was more than we wanted to spend, but I stared at it until it said "take me home". I'm not about to argue with a cabinet.


Here it is!

The detail on the doors -

Even the inside of the door is beautiful!

The best part, is that the side cabinet works well with the table and holds desk stuff (for now). If we ever find "the" desk, the cabinet can easily be used for dining room 'stuff'.


Oh, and we can't have a vase without any flowers! Darren found this wild bouquet at the supermarket. For $4! I love this country.

Oh, and if you're wondering about prices, just send me a note through the blog. I don't mind spilling since I feel we got a great deal on both pieces, but thought it would be a bit brash to state the prices in the post. And if you are really interested in the store, make sure you pay them a visit during their sale, which is on through the rest of January.

So this is was Christmas

This past Christmas was our third here (third! can you believe it?!), and the warmest year yet. It was so (unusually) warm, that I just couldn't bring myself to decorate the house in the typical holiday fashion. We lean more towards the pagan celebration of winter solstice than the religious holiday of Christmas, so it was a bit weird for me to think about putting up a tree, furry stockings and greeting cards with snow scenes when summer was just beginning.

Darren and I thought we could perhaps put up more of a 'summery' tree (which still is against the whole point anyway), and did manage to find some cute summer-themed ornaments and fake Pohutukawa blossoms.

Pa-hoo-a-wha? Right - the Pohutukawa tree. Also known as the "New Zealand Christmas Tree", as it is endemic to New Zealand and the bright red flowers bloom right around Christmas each year. From a distance, they bear a resemblance to Poinsettias. Up close, however, you'll see that the flowers are made up of lots of little hair-like strands that definitely look like hair when they fall to the ground. Our friend Arthur highlighted these beautiful trees in a post/video(around minute 2:10) on his blog.

The trees can be found all over Wellington and gave me just one more excuse not to decorate. Instead, we took heaps of pictures:

Not so pretty once the blooming period is over. Luckily, the tree is just a large green tree the rest of the year (it is an evergreen).

We spent part of Christmas day with our friends Darrel and Merrin, playing Apples to Apples and eating a large BBQ'd dinner. Sorry there is no photographic evidence of the lovely day - we were too busy eating Merrin's yummy food!

As usual, most of Wellington shut down (especially restaurants and shops) and buses and trains were free to ride all Christmas day. Even though we are a week into the New Year, many restaurants and cafes are still closed while their proprietors are taking holidays overseas or just out of town in a bach. And while it is nice to live in a country that doesn't frown on any holiday over 2 weeks long, I really reeeeeaaaally miss my favorite sushi place!

Some cafes won't be opening up again, sadly, due to the difficult economic times. I saw this sign today while trying to find a poor substitute for my beloved sushi:

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone!  Just a quick note to wish everyone a happy 2009 and to make promises of future posts.  I have a couple in the works about our 2 year anniversary here (as of 28 November), the lovely city of Wellington, as well as our holiday in Kaikoura and Picton last week.

As a teaser, here is a picture of gorgeous Kaikoura -

The Lost Files: Spring

It is now officially Summer here in Wellington (and it's been quite a beautiful Summer so far!), but since I uploaded these pictures a while ago, I may as well share them!

The seasons aren't markedly different here; most trees are evergreen, and the birds don't disappear for months on end in the winter. Outside of longer days, there are few visual clues to remind us that spring has once again arrived.

There are only a two trees on our block that are deciduous, and one is a lovely Sakura (cherry blossom) tree. I took these pictures in late spring - the equivalent to May in the Northern Hemisphere - so the blossoms are fading a bit.




Incidentally, these pictures were taken on New Zealand's election day (which is always a Saturday - how civilized!) As I walked out of the closest polling place, I couldn't resist capturing the harbor and city from my viewpoint.

Interesting facts: voters are not assigned specific polling venues - everyone is welcome to pick the most convenient. If a voter will be out of town on election day, he/she can vote earlier in the week at select locations.

One of the best (and cutest!) signs of Spring is the arrival of baby animals. There are heaps of ducks all around Wellington's waterfront, and apparently they were busy in the past couple of months! There were at least 20 furry ducklings in the waterways near Te Papa, some older than others...

So cute! Can I take him home?!?

As there are no native mammals in New Zealand, there are birds everywhere in varying sizes. These (finches?) are easy to find and make for adorable pictures -

With Spring comes sudden storms as well. Just a week or so after the above pics were taken, I happened to be home when an afternoon storm barreled in, rained a bit, and left just as quickly.

Hopefully we'll get around to posting Summer pictures before Winter comes back...