As work goes

Claire just told me that I am funnier than I look. I think she meant that as a compliment, but I'm still trying to work it out.

There are some things in life I recently realized (or realised if you prefer) that I always accepted as 'givens'. For example, walking home from work across the Auckland Domain up by the museum (first picture) at say 6 p.m., and it's dark outside, there's a crisp breeze, maybe about 5 degrees (40F), many trees have lost their leaves, and I think Christmas must be coming soon, and Ohio State must be playing football this Saturday. Because these things happen in Autumn and Winter, and it's Winter. Seasons have always been a constant in life, and it's a bit hard to adjust.

Claire and I took a walk today from our villa to the hospital (second picture) across the domain (Auckland's largest park) - I particularly wanted to show her the view from our office... it's pretty spectacular. Claire took a few photos out of the window. I'm on the 14th floor, second from the top, and my desk overlooks Auckland to my left (3rd picture) and out over the harbour and nearby islands to my right (4th picture).

I must admit, working in a hospital is quite an experience. My job is with the Auckland District Health Board and the Auckland City Hospital (the building I work in is pictured). I've recently spent several hours in the Emergency Department (ED) with a couple of the head nurses. They really are heroes. It's no surprise that there are so many tv shows about hospitals and the ER. Next week we're supposed to make notes and observe the processes in the ED including during a 'Resus', or resuscitation, when a patient comes in critical (which happens every day) and a team of nurses and doctors drop everything and greet the ambulance as it pulls in. They have every range of patient you can imagine. Our first time down security was stationed at one of the beds for a known 'bad' patient they expected to have a violent situation with, and apparently were not disappointed.

As for the weekend, just a calm one, back home Claire was excited to bake (pictured) some banana bread (pictured - yes, we really did put a picture of a loaf of bread on our blog - Claire is very proud)... Looks good to me! Not sure if it will make it until Sunday's breakfast or not, and that's only a few hours away!

A Wet and Windy Weekend Away

Last weekend I took Tim away for a belated birthday treat. I booked us into a B&B (Takamatua Estate), halfway between Matakana and Leigh, about 90mins drive north of Auckland. I recommend it if you're ever up that way - Michelle and Harald have a fabulous home and are wonderful hosts. On Saturday morning we visited the Matakana Farmers Market, popular with locals and Aucklanders (pictured). It was pouring down with rain, so we didn't expect it to be very busy. However, much to our surprise, it was buzzing with a lively crowd. We bought ourselves some locally produced olive oil, some gourmet mustard, and two types of peanut butter. After stopping to appreciate the live jazz band (pictured), we continued on to browse some of the local art and gift shops. In one stationary shop we found a poster of the London Underground map, which we are excited about putting up in the flat to remind us of home - its easier to view the tube map with fondness when you don't have to travel on it to work everyday! We also found a poster map of the world, which we're also planning to put up, and stick pins in the countries we've visited. We stopped for a coffee at a local pottery gallery, and then headed to Leigh, where I'd booked us in to the microbrewery for a tour and tasting. Peter, the owner/brewer of the Sawmill Brewery, took us through the entire brewing process, and gave us a taste of all the beers their produce. Tim liked the Pilsner best.

Tag team blogging. It's the latest thing - there's not even an acronym for it yet. This is Tim writing now... I did like the pilsner the best. Claire definitely raised the bar on the bday presents. I look forward to returning the all expenses paid destination birthday weekend for Claire in October. Saturday evening we went back to the Sawmill Cafe for dinner, more beer (for me anyway), and a live band. A Kiwi reggae group. Hard to top that. The wind was blowing though, harder and harder, and about the eighth time the power went out it stayed out. The band was good though, they found a couple acoustic guitars and played on under the candle light (pictured) for a memorable evening. We made it back through the storm, and our b&b hosts left port and freshly baked cookies and candles out for us in our private sitting room.

The wind was still providing 60+ mph gusts in the morning, although the rain had subsided, so we went down for a walk on the beach (pictured). The wind was clipping off the top of the waves as they crested blowing mist high into the air. The surf was about the roughest I've seen, but that only seemed to encourage the kite surfers to come out. Not the best picture, but you can get a scale for how big the waves are if you can make out the man surfing.

Had to drive back early though, and get ready for my first day of work. I can't quite remember what the expression is about paybacks, but as I patronizingly snapped a photo of Claire on her first day or work, she got one of me (pictured).

No more big adventures planned in the next couple of weeks, unless you count a Saturday spent curtain shopping. Some things even moving across the world cannot be escaped.

You put your left leg in; you put your left leg out

You do the Hokey ...???

Never have I been in such a heated argument (not involving politics or religion) where everyone had a different answer and everyone was certain he/she was right. So, what comes after Hokey?

Well, in New Zealand - we'll call this #4 of the list of upside-down things here - the answer is Hokey Tokey. When clearly, it is Pokey. Actually, that's only true in North America. In the U.K., claims Claire, it's Cokey.

Whatever you'd like to call it, I think Claire and I agree, it feels like we have spent our first six weeks in Auckland doing the Hokey Pokey. Since our last post, Claire's started work, I've found a job with the auckland district board of health, we've furnished our flat, received all of our stuff from Lonodn, and just yesterday bought ourselves a car. I've also played in two concerts with the Auckland Symphony (pictured above the lobby before our concert and the full choir and symphony), and we've had our first house guest, Sejal, who has a few more months of travel ahead of her before returning to London.

Unfortuntately, the beautiful pictures are a bit hard to come by for this post, as we've spent more time in Auckland's variety of discount shops (The Warehouse, Mitre 10, and Briscoes) than visiting the many natural beauties of New Zealand. Although, after an interview at Villa Maria (pictured), Claire and I went back to sample thier wines and pick up a few bottles at the big wine sale.

Now that we're nearly settled, Claire is taking me away this upcoming weekend in our new car (pictured, our 2005 Honda CRV) to a surprise destination as a belated birthday present. So next time around, we should have some more interesting photos.

Hopefully the weather will be good for us. Sun and showers seem to run on a 30 minute cycle here some days. Usually the sun is out just long enough to lure us out to get soaked by the next shower that comes along. The benefit, I suppose, is that everything is green and we often have rainbows (pictured from our kitchen porch).

Backwards, Clockwise or Counterclockwise.

Honestly, I still don't know. Back in the old days they probably had simple drains on sinks, and toilets swirled when they were flushed, but now, there are jets, screens, filters, and all sorts of 'modern' designs that prevent us from being able to verify the oft' asked question - "is it true that water swirls the other way around going down a drain in the southern hemisphere?"

We'll have to defer to Mr. Science on that one.

So, technically speaking to most of you reading this Claire and I are upside-down. I can't really tell you all about toilets flushing, but I have observed a few peculiarities:

1.) Observant is not an adjective that would be typically used to describe me. So when I observe something, usually it's a near-traumatic experience. Like the car wreck I nearly just had yesterday. Yes, they drive on the 'wrong' side of the road here. Left, just like England, but as it turns out, I've got that one under control. In New Zealand, they have some odd rules - demonstrated by the picture (the bold line has the right-of-way). If you are turning left, and someone is turning right in front of you, you yield. We're both very happy for the ABS breaks on our rented Toyota starlight.

2.) Upside-down roles. In London, I worked. Claire did, well, other stuff. It seems now that we're on the opposite side of the Earth, we've switched roles. Congrats Claire! Nice work on landing a good job contract. Claire starts on Tuesday. I believe the modern term is 'sugamama.' (Yes, Mom, I do actually have an interview next week - don't worry)

3.) Wine it seems, is harder to drink in New Zealand than it is in London. I don't know about toilets draining, but wine just doesn't go down the same. There are eight bottles of Sauvignon Blanc in the fridge and, oh... no seven bottles... wait, five... no, down to three. I take it back, I was wrong. The NZ wines are excellent, much easier to drink. (we had to do research for my potential Villa Maria interview after all)

Really though, we've had a nice couple of weeks. Yes, there have been a few dents, but when we haven't been shopping for curtains, or scanning Trademe for furniture, we've had a good time here.

We were thrilled to discover that those warehouses - the eyesore of the view off our front porch - is actually a weekend French market (pictured)! Had a great time shopping around and Claire made friends with the honey man and bucheress.

Later in the week, we met up with a couple of friends I knew from 4c Associates in London (pictured at 'Soul' in the Viaduct - the name for one of the marinas - with Sejal (from London) & Charlene (from Auckland)).

Sejal is spending a few months traveling and is spending a month in NZ. A week ago we took a 20 minute ferry ride to a nearby island, and spent an afternoon hiking up Rangitoto, a young (few hundred years old) but deceased volcano. Pictures is Claire and me with Sajel at the top with Auckland in the background. Sejal will be our first overnight guest in a few weeks, and we've nearly got a furnished apartment.

I'm just over one week away from my first performance with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra. Our concert was at one point the featured 'arts & theatre' show in New Zealand on ticketmaster. I'm not sure I've ever played in a show sold on ticketmaster.

Well, it's time for me to go help Claire with dinner, or at least help her eat it. Goodnight from the other side of the world, where kiwis never quite fly.

Home sweet home

Another rather exhausting day... Our pockets are a bit lighter after doing the equivalent of a walmart shopping spree to get all the little things we need for our apartment. The day started off beautifully, and Claire and I decided that we do in fact still like the place we've rented. Here's a bunch of pictures: Our villa - we have the top floor and don't miss our palm tree!, Reception with fire place and piano, master bedroom with Chaise Lounge (definitely planning a george castanza pic on that one see http://farm1.static.flickr.com/19/116450033_4266fb5229_o.jpg), kitchen, back sitting room/hallway with old stove, and view out of our small spare bedroom.

The view from the front of our apartment overlooks the tops of a combination of houses and industrial buildings, but I was excited to discover that from our bedroom we actually can see a bit of water in the harbor and watch boats go by.

We also have a fantastic back porch off of the kitchen that overlooks a nature reserve. And our only bathroom is very large - possibly bigger than our spare bedroom - and has heated floors and was nicely redone with a separate shower and a era appropriate claw foot bathtub.

Well, it's time for us to go get some dinner. Ironically, we're going to pop down to an irish pub for their sunday special - complete with a jug of ale.

Welcome to Auckland

So, here we are. Right now sitting in our temporary weekly rental on the 18th floor of the metropolis, looking out over Auckland and on to the bay (Claire in front of our window pictured). It's nice here, unseasonably cold so the locals tell us, but still, nice.

Claire and I are now nearly experts with New Zealand's version of ebay, called trademe, which has everything that's advertised anywhere on their site. It's amazing just how much we have to do to get 'settled'.

So far, we have been nothing but impressed at the kindness and welcome we've received by the New Zealanders.

Tomorrow we move into a 19th century villa we loved at first sight in Parnell, a nice neighborhood in Auckland with loads of cafes and restaurants, which will be our new home. Unfortunately, finding a fully furnished place proved a bit difficult, so we're hunting for deals on line and in the stores. This weekend is Queensday, and the shops are celebrating with big discounts. Johannah and Fergus are lending us their car tomorrow so we can move in, and stock up on all the little household things we need.

I already feel like we've had more than our fair share of good fortune here. On Monday, less than a week after we arrived, I was invited to join the Auckland Symphony Orchestra. They arranged for a bass for me to borrow, and one of the bass players has contacts within Auckland's food and beverage industry, and I already have one interview as a result and may be invited for another (and with a winery!). How cool would that be? I'll be playing with the orchestra now indefinitely it seems, and our first concert is June 20th (I only hope my tuxedo makes it to NZ by then!)

Where it seems that just shopping for flats, setting up bank accounts, getting tax numbers, and all of the other things we've had to do has taken up all our time, we have managed to do a bit of sightseeing. We popped over to Devonport (an easy ten minute ferry ride across the bay) for an afternoon and took a few pictures to share with you. (Claire's pictures: the harbor from Devonport, park near Devonport, Auckland at dusk from the ferry, the Auckland harbor bridge from the harbor)

We're excited to share all of this with visitors - can't wait to have you!

Oh the sunshine

Our first night in Colorado we went to dinner near Wash Park with Mike & Kelly and Scott (who we knew from Oxford) and Emily, Brad, and Julie (Grant's sisters and Emily's husband). After a nice evening of drinking fat tire ale and living vicariously through Julie's dating life stories, we stopped in at a nice local bar - maybe dive is the more appropriate word - (the campus lounge) with $6 coors light pitchers and watched the Denver Nugget's basketball team barely lose in the playoffs.

Emily gave us a tour of Denver the next day, and in the evening we went to our second baseball game of the trip (pictured - and Cambell's first ever) and saw the Colorado Rockies send out home run after home run.

On Wednesday, we drove up to Estes Park near Rocky Mountain National Park and spent the next couple days hiking, checking out the local wildlife (elk pictured), and enjoying the beautiful scenery (Bear Lake pictured - over 10000 feet).

Friday night found us back in Denver and out with our friends, a jaunt to Boulder with the McFaddens on Saturday, and over to Scott and Lyndee's for breakfast on Sunday (pictured), with a bbq in the evening back at Mike and Kelly's.

Monday morning we packed our things and flew on back to San Diego to spend one more night with Dan and Alisha. We had a fun night out playing pool in Ocean Beach, and Claire was treated to a morning at Alisha's spa the day we left, a relaxing beginning to a long day traveling.