11 Year Anniversary

Our 11 year anniversary, this past Saturday, the 27th, began with breakfast in bed from the kids. They made us toast (Rachel's with Nutella, Tony's with too much butter and Marmite), brought us bananas and kiwis, and Zeke carried in the orange juice, sharing some with the floor along the way. They wanted to also make us and bring us coffee in bed, but we passed on the offer. It was very sweet. They also brought us a Caramello candy bar - one for us to share so that we could practice sharing with each other. We decided to share it with them also, assuming that was part of their hope with the sharing concept introduced. They pushed their way in between us in bed, and although it was not actually reminiscent of our wedding day, it was great.
In the evening we did have a chance to go out without them - first having dinner at a very nice restaurant, Zebebo, then going to see a play called The Pickle King with new friends Sam and Matt. It was very good, but not as good as The Candlestick Maker, done by the same company, Indian Ink, which we had seen Thursday night and was phenomenal. After the play on Saturday night, we ended the evening by going to our neighbors, Kerrie and Ian's for drinks and dessert and lots of lively conversation - don't ask! It was a really nice anniversary, and we noted to each other that when we got married 11 years ago, who would have guessed that we'd be here in NZ for this anniversary.
Other than our anniversary day, things have been pretty status quo, except for hearing that our wonderful friend Elise had her first baby, a little boy, Elias, on the 24th. We are so happy for her and Joe, though sad to be so far away on this momentous occasion.

Makara Beach

Rachel and I finally found a babysitter and had a night out on the town. We walked into town, had dinner at a nice Tai restaurant and then took in a performance by Footnote , New Zealand’s modern dance company, at Te Papa. When it was all over we walked off our dinner on the steep climb back to our house. It was great to have an adult night out and Rachel tells me the dancing was excellent.

Over the weekend we took the kids to Makara Beach about 20 minutes North West of Wellington. While I was looking for directions on the net I was distracted by a scavenger hunt site that promised hidden treasure (tape and toilet paper) at Makara. The prospect of finding hidden treasure excited Maddy so I copied all the directions and hints. Predictably when we got to beach Maddy was immediately drawn to the tide pools and shells. See the pictures or the video. While we never found the cache, that inscrutable photo in the picture gallery shows what I believe to be a fragment of the green translucent case which had protected the treasure - in New Zealand we make our own excitement.

That’s it for now. At the end of the week I will give you an update on Jordan’s musical pursuits including the somewhat traumatic story of how she came to own her second violin before she had her first lesson.

Trip to Taupo

Now we know what passes as an urban area outside Wellington…

We have just returned from a wonderful weekend away. Despite the long drive (about 5 hours) up to Lake Taupo (especially lengthy with young kids as some of you can relate), it was worth it. We left Thursday evening, arriving at our little cottage or "bach" (pronounced batch) around 10. Maddy and Zeke were fast asleep and so transferred easily to beds. Jordy, our little night owl, woke up in a manic state, and then crashed about an hour later.

Friday we drove about 40 minutes down to ski at a place called Whakapapa (pronounced Faka-papa, I swear! - pun intended). It was an unsettled (mostly beautiful) day. After a short lesson, the girls were doing great, and we skied with them for a couple hours. Even Zeke got into it, skiing between our legs, and loving it - thinking that he was such a speedy and talented guy. See the photos. Both girls were so thrilled with their improved abilities; we had to practically drag them off of the mountain.

Friday night we had a really nice Shabbat dinner with new friends, Sam and Matt and their two sons, Isaac and Joel. She is Jewish, and he was raised Catholic, so obviously we feel some camaraderie with them. Dinner was great, and we even shared some of our delicious, if not perfectly risen, homemade challah that we had freezed from last week.


Saturday was a leisurely day around Taupo. It was quiet since it is mostly a summer destination. We relaxed around our bach and played a rousing game of hide the tennis ball, then we went for a short hike and had lunch with our friends. In the late afternoon Tony and Zeke went back to our bach to relax a bit more, while Rachel and the girls went with Sam and Isaac to some thermal pools nearby for their afternoon relaxation. We had a quiet night and watched the movie, "Spirit," that we had borrowed from the mobile library that stops around the corner from our house on Wednesdays.

We left our bach at 11 am Sunday morning. After driving to the mountain and seeing that the weather was too bad to ski (with the reaction of two wailing girls), we stopped at a gas station in a town called National Park, about 45 minutes south of our bach. It was there that we realized that we left the library's copy of "Spirit" in the DVD player at the bach. So, we got to hear the kids call out "cowabunga!, sheepabunga!, deerabunga!" as we passed the cows, sheep, and deer alongside of the road on the way to the back to the bach to retreive the movie. Then we were finally off for real, and on our return trip we enjoyed the beautiful hilly scenery, littered with sheep. Even the kids looked out the window occasionally. They were primarily focused on the movie playing on the ibook – thanks Lisa. The highlight of the return (for the kids) was our stop at diner in a converted WWII era McDonald Douglass (the "Cookie Time Plane" seen above), one of New Zealand's many roadside attractions. See the photos. Apparently the cast from Lord of the Rings was also fond of these tourist dives – there was a signed picture with Frodo and the rest of the gang. When the battery on the ibook died, we put on the soundtrack of The Sound of Music, and gave the kids a map so that they could keep a lookout for each new town we would be coming to. Just after 6 pm, we returned to Kelburn, ending our 7 hour trip back.

Tour Our House - Part 1

As promised, I posted a video tour of our house - just the first floor. This video displays best in a small window. Let me know what you think. Also, let me know if you've seen a good website for publishing videos. I'm running out of space in my Yahoo briefcase.

In Search of Sheep (not geese)

Today we hit the road in search of sheep. We didn’t have to drive long. Fifteen minutes into the trip on Motorway 1 heading north from Wellington, we rolled by our first wool covered hill. The kids were delighted. We drove an additional 30 minutes to Lindale Farm so we could pay to see sheep. Not satisfied, we paid more to feed ducks, chickens, rabbits, goats, pigs, cows, llamas, emus, and rabid hissing geese. By feeding the geese, I mean we threw our corn at the biggest loudest goose in the gaggle and kicked up a dust storm as we ran for the car.

The only animals not fed were the lambs – off limits for some reason. I’m guessing the farmer worries we could pass some disease only carried by tourists. Anyway, it was a good day to be a tourist in New Zealand. The exchange rate was not bad. The drive was a beauty. The sun was warm. And great Hokey Pokey ice cream.

I created a new photo folder. I will post all pictures taken in August to this folder.

Making Challah

Jordan had her New Zealand musical debut, and we made Challah for Shabbat. See the videos.
Check back tomorrow for a video tour of the house. Also look for details from our road trip in search of sheep.

Video Posts

Today we had our first car accident. It was nothing serious. To hear Rachel's side of the story go to the video posts.

Settling into Wellington

We have been here for just over two weeks and are finally feeling more settled in. Our first two weeks we spent mostly looking for a used car, and a house to rent (or to "let" as they say here).

We bought a Mitsubishi Legnum station wagon that scrapes the ground every time we go over any small bump, but is blue with a sunroof, so the kids are happy. Driving on the left side of the road has been a bit of an adjustment, especially around the many curvy roads, but we are getting pretty comfortable with it now, as long as we remember to get into the car on the correct driver's side!

We found a great house to rent in a cute little area called Kelburn, up one of the many hills that extend out from the city centre. The house has nice space, with a second floor that the kids have deemed "the children's floor," which is fine with us! There is a little patio off of the kitchen and a bit of outdoor space for the kids to play, and incredible trees, bushes and flowers, which thankfully the owner is responsible for the upkeep. The views from the house are fantastic - green hills in all directions with the city and Wellington Bay at the bottom. It is about a 15-20 minute walk down into the main city, a beautiful stroll down through the Botanical Gardens.

In between the house and car hunting, we spent time checking out the Wellington area, especially the local playgrounds. The kids favorite one is in the Botanical Gardens, which has their favorite ride, the "Flying Fox," which is basically a disc on a zip line that they can jump on and go along. The "Rocktopus" is another favorite with tires on poles that spin around a center pole. (See photo - Jordan on the Flying Fox with Rocktopus in background. Link to more playground pictures.)

The girls started school last week at the local elementary school. Despite occasional difficulties due to the language differences/accents (eg. Jordan thinking that her teacher said that when kids are misbehaving that they go to a "Time-Out Beach" as opposed to a "Time-Out Bench" ), they are settling in well, and both seem to have great teachers. The nursery schools, called kindergarten here, or "kindy," have waiting lists, so at the moment Zeke is just hanging out with us while we wait for an opening. We are trying to get him into the Jewish kindy, which seemed really great when we went for a visit. Since kids start school here the day that they turn 5, space in a kindy should hopefully open up in not too long.

We went to a tot shabbat service this past Saturday morning at the liberal synagogue here, Temple Sinai. It was not the same as our beloved children's shabbat services at Temple Beth Avodah. However, we did meet some people there who seemed very nice and friendly.

We continue to get settled into the house which we moved into over the weekend, and just get generally acclimated. It is winter here - not particularly cold, but Wellington is quite a windy place, which can make it pretty chilly, especially when it is overcast. However, yesterday it was very sunny for a good part of the day without the usual wind, and it was gorgeous - we had the doors to the patio open and felt nothing like our Boston winter! At times it feels a bit lonely without friends or family here, but at the same time exciting to explore a new place, see the way that they do things here, and have more time than usual together as a family (mostly a good thing!). Please know that we have space for guests, and would gladly welcome any visitors who are willing to take the long trip here to see this beautiful country.