Queenstown more photos from day 1 (and day 0)

Hello to anyone who is still interested after my last few rambles. I already filled you in on day 1 and the escapade that was "day 0", so I thought I'd share a few pictures for our memorable 8 hour bus ride. As you can see--it was beautiful--just unplanned! (and the $80 dinner left something to be desired--how on earth pre-made sandwiches and bad fish and chips cost so much--I have no idea. At least we had vouchers.)

Also, here are a few more from Day 1:


On the gondola


View from the top with Mimi


Walter Peak Farm


Getting a kiss from the deer


Feeding the furry cow


With the baby lamb


Feeding the sheep


Check out the sheep dog giving the stare down--he herds the sheep without any barking--just by the way he looks at them!

Queenstown--day by day

Well--we are back in Auckland after 3 great days in Queenstown and 1 lovely day in a bus (see previous post if you have no idea what that means). Fortunately our trip back was not nearly as eventful as our trip there (despite all of the pessimism from Josh, my mom, and I--we were so certain that another disaster was imminent). Rather than give you one long download of our goings on--I figured I'd break it up by day and post it over the next couple of days (mainly because I'm too lazy to write it all in one sitting, but also because I figured you could only handle my ramblings in smaller doses). So here I go with day 1!


The start of day 1--Liam ready to go in front of our apartment!


We had two big activities on our first day there--a trip on the Queenstown gondola and a boat ride over to Walter Peak Farm. The gondola basically takes you up the side of a very large hill (don't think it quite meets mountain standards) and from the top you have great views of queenstown and the lake it sits on (not to mention the beauty of the surrounding mountains). They also launch a few paragliders from up there and there is a bungee jump so if you get lucky you might see some crazy person attempting that (Queenstown is the home of bungee jumping and considers itself-with reason--to be the adventure capital of the world). While we did not attempt either of the above while at the top--we did see some great views and got to do the "luge". The best part about the luge was that Liam could ride as well and he absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, we don't have a ton of closeup pics to see his happiness so you will have to take my word for it.



View from the top



Liam and Josh at the top


Liam and Josh headed up for the first luge run (the trip up made mommy aka me very nervous for my little boy!)


Liam and daddy on the luge


Mommy and the "helmet" aka Liam on the luge


Even "Mimi" took part!


Heading back down in the gondola



After the luge we had a great lunch in town at a pizza place called Winnie's. Great food, great atmosphere, and great fireplace (did I mention we were freezing our patooties off?) What more could you ask for?


Lunch at Winnies

After our tummy's were full--we jumped a boat to Walter Peak Farms which may have been the highlight of Liam's trip to Queenstown. Chasing after baby lambs? Feeding sheep that were bigger than him and thus constantly knocking him over? Chasing sheep dogs? It was a dream come true. The visit to the farm involved all of those things. They really did just let us loose with the sheep (sheep have no top teeth thus biting isn't a concern--apparently due to their long time vegetarian status =)) Plus Liam got to feed some really cool longhaired Scottish cows (they have a much better name than that, but I can't remember) and many other animals. We also saw a cool sheep dog demo and got to watch them shear a sheep. Plus we got to take some time out for a "cuppa" tea and some great treats to go along with it. A great way to kick off our mini-vacay! Unfortunately, my camera battery died midway through our visit to the farm. My mom got some good pics but she left her camera cord at home so I may not be able to share those until much later!


On the boat ride to the farm




Feeding the deer


Feeding the "furry cows"


Up close and personal


After all that excitement, Liam was out for the count on the boat ride back (as were we). Dinner was steaks on the grill back at our apartment. Our place was just off the courtyard and included some gas grills that guests could use, so you know we put them to use!


I'll write more tomorrow to tell you about our other adventures in queenstown. I'll also make sure to add some pics of the real day 1-the AWESOME bus ride from Christchurch!

Welcome to Queenstown...errrr...Christchurch?

So our trip to Queenstown proved quite the adventure. We left from Auckland at 9 AM on Saturday and were due to land in Queenstown at 10:50 AM. Apparently Jetstar (the airline we were on that has only been operating in NZ for about a week) doesn't have the right navigation to land without full visibility in Queenstown and since there was low cloud cover--we were out of luck and were diverted to Christchurch. (and by the way--Liam was on his worst behavior ever--he was that screaming uncontrollably two year old for basically the last half hour of the trip. Poor thing was just beyond tired and couldn't fall asleep so he turned into crazy irrational boy. All we could do was apologize to everyone around us profusely!)

Upon arriving in Christchurch we were told to go to baggage claim and they would let us know what we needed to do there. Of course we get there and there is no one to be found. When my mom finally finds someone to ask, they tell us to go to the end of the terminal and there would be someone there that would tell us what to do. So we walk and walk to the end of the terminal where a woman who works for Jetstar waves us outside and points us to some buses. So we think- okay--are they taking us to another terminal? Oh no--the woman next to the buses tells us to get on and we ask--uh to where? Oh to Queenstown of course. WHAT?!! Queenstown, mind you, is an 8 hour bus trip from Christchurch!! So of course we ask the most important questions--when do we eat? are there snacks on the bus? Oh we will be stopping in 4 to 5 hours or so. WHAT?? That will be 5 pm...and we left at 9 AM..and we have a tired, grumpy, two year old, people!! So to say the least, we tell them they need to wait a few minutes so we can change a diaper and grab some snacks or something.

Seeing the bright side in this--we did get to see some beautiful scenery and the weather (ironically) was beautiful the vast majority of the trip. Liam got his nap soon after we got on the bus and was back to his sweet self the whole time. The ironic thing was that before the trip I had considered flying into Christchurch and doing the road trip (over two days) to Queenstown with stops along the way, but opted against it. I ended up getting the abbreviated, no scenic stop, version after all. =) I took a lot of pics which I will add once back in Auckland but they are all through the bus window as it drives by!

We finally arrived and got to our great 2 bedroom apartment, which has proved to be perfect for us, and the rest of the trip has been amazing so no complaints here! It just started a little off plan.

I will tell you all about it, and include some beautiful pics, once we get back to Auckland (I failed to bring my camera cord so I can't upload any pics until we are back to our NZ home)!

Finally an update!

Sorry to have gone radio silent. By the end of this post you will be probably be glad I did since not all that much has been happening so this could be boring! This past weekend was pretty low key. First of all it was supposed to pour all weekend so I didn't really plan much. As one of my Auckland colleagues pointed out though--a forecast of rain all weekend is code for sunny and blue skies. And lo and behold she was right--I guess the forcasters here aren't known for their accuracy.

Josh was working "days" on Friday and Saturday and all I have to say is thank goodness that is the only time he will be doing that while we're here. Working "days" on the weekend means working from 7:30 AM to 10:30 PM so basically Liam and I didn't see him all weekend. Boo! Liam and I decided to pass the time by heading to Kelly Tarltons, a place here that has an aquarium and an Antarctic habitat for penguins (Liam's fav animal of late--he was so diappointed that they weren't on display at the zoo that I had to make sure we saw them somewhere!). Liam loved it and you really do get to see the penguins up close and personal from these little "snowcat" machines that you take through the exhibit. The real adventure for me though was my attempt to take the bus there. I still haven't really figured the transportation system here yet. I knew I could take the 756 from a stop by our house but I didn't know I apparently had to flag it down. As I sat there trying to study the bus timetables on the bus stop sign (which I also have not figured out how to interpret) I hear a bus go by and looky there--as I see the back of the bus I notice the number is 756. Then I read on the sign "must signal bus to stop". Apparently my standing at the stop with a kid and a stroller was not enough of a "signal". As I mentioned, I didn't really understand the time tables but it sure looked to me like the next bus may not come for an hour (likely a misinterpretation but I was too worried to wait and see). Fortunately, I knew that a free shuttle left from the Sky Tower to Kelly Tarltons so up the hill we trekked (in the opposite direction from the direction we would ultimately be heading of course). Anyway--we did get there eventually but I opted to not even try the bus home since I knew the walk back was only about a 5K (along the waterfront!) and it was nice enough day. Along the way we got to play at a small beach and check out a cool playground. Plus we discovered a mini-golf course that Liam is very excited about trying out in the future! Being able to walk everywhere is absolutely one of the things I love about this place! Here are a few pics from the day:

Checkin' out the fish at Kelly Tarltons

View of Auckland from Kelly Tarltons

At the beach

Picking the best seashell

Going down the slide for the umpteenth time

Other than that--it has been pretty much the same here. The excitement will be starting soon though--Mimi (aka my mom) gets here Friday! Then we head out Saturday to the South Island (we will be staying in Queenstown) for some real adventure so I will be sure to add lots of posts and pics of that!

Kiwi Speak

So one of the highlighted i-reports on cnn.com right now is from the author of a book called "Kiwi Speak".

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-269477

He has Americans and others visiting NZ attempt to say kiwi phrases. The cnn link is alright but I personally found the video of him on a TVNZ morning show even better. I haven't heard all of these phrases yet but you know I will be listening for them now! Enjoy mates!

http://justinbrownbooks.com/speak.htm

Pop a bunny

Okay so it's been a pretty standard work week with not too much exciting going on (except that we are in New Zealand!) but I did have to share Liam's new fav phrase. So apparently here in NZ (pronounced en-zed) another way to say "you tooted" (as is often the case with Liam) they say "you popped a bunny". Hilarious. So now of course Liam keeps running around tellimg us "I pop a bunny!" followed by shrill laughter. What a crack up (at least he thinks he is!)

Josh will be experiencing a true New Zealand winter night tomorrow---he'll be heading to a rugby game! We will all go as a fam sometime soon also but just Josh and I were going to try to go tomorrow with some of the docs he's working with. Unfortunately Jess isn't available (she tried a few friends but no luck) so no babysitter. That's okay though since as Josh says "you're usually in bed by 8:30 anyway". That's an exaggeration by the way--but it is true that I tend to hit the sack a heck of a lot earlier than my night owl ways so that I can be up by 5 or 5:30. I'm still shocked at myself that I've been able to pull that off--I've never been much of an early AM person!

I'll make sure that Josh takes notes so that I know what the heck is going on when we see the rugby matches on TV--I find it very confusing! And maybe he will even take some pics so I can post here!

Observations on New Zealand and our life here

Alright--I'm back to the grind. Today was my first day back at work and it was Josh's first day at Auckland City Hospital. He of course isn't home yet--I'll let him tell you about his day when he gets a chance (not that I expect he will actually be willing to write anything on this blog!) I have to say--Monday is my new favorite day. I expect it will be the day when I cram to get all the real work done since it is the day I'm guaranteed to not get many interruptions since it is Sunday in the US (and yet I still emailed back and forth with quite a few people today--that's McK for you =)) Liam seemed to do well with Jess--he got a little upset right before I was about to leave and wanted me to "hold" and give me a hug but once he got that--he was good to go. Sounds like he had a day full of fun--Madagascar and playing with the doggy at Jess's house followed by a trip to the park. He was so excited he didn't take a nap apparently. You wouldn't know it though since he is bouncing off the walls right now--he clearly enjoyed his day!

Since telling you about my day at work isn't very exciting---I thought I'd offer a few early observations on life in New Zealand. I will add others as I see and think of them over the next few weeks.

1) I don't know if it's a rule or what, but all of the wine bottles sold in the grocery store (and there is an extensive wine section) have screw tops...and I love it. Both because I feel like it keeps the wine better between servings and because it meant it was one less thing I had to buy for the apartment (no cork screw here--along with many other things--I already had to purchase a casserole dish and a chopper. It's also killing me not to have a food processor or blender---mom do you think you could fit one of those in your bag? Just kidding...sort of)

2) I have become a clean freak. This is what being in a small apartment does. It has to be clean for it to feel reasonably comfortable. That's fair warning for everyone coming to visit.

3) Black carpet doesn't show stains but it does show crumbs. Given number 2--this has proven to be a major issue--I am constantly feeling the need to vaccuum.

4) Maids in New Zealand likely have bad backs. At least they do if they are using the same vaccuum I am. I have to crouch over the whole time I use it. Painful.

5) Aucklanders think 50 degrees is "freezing". It makes me smile everytime someone comments on how it's too bad the weather is so "cold" for us.

6) A "short" coffee is not a small coffee. "Short" is just code for "so strong you will only want two swallows so we will make it really tiny". Basically a couple of shots of espresso--blechhh.

Those are top of mind right now but I will definitely be adding more!

100% lazy day

So yesterday (Friday) we did....absolutely nothing. I think all of the walking we have been doing just wore us down so we pretty much just spent the day around the house reading, doing laundry, etc. Jess (the nanny) stopped by so we could give her the "tour" which took about 1 minute. Also, I went to Foodtown to pick up some stuff for dinner (New Zealand greenshell mussells) while Liam and Josh went over to the little park next to the Arena by our house but that is it. I started reading Auckland's equivalent of D Magazine so I could get to know the city better =). Next up will be New Zealand's Womens Weekly which is basically NZ's version of US Weekly (although probably a little closer to Star in that you can only believe about half of what you read in there). Meanwhile back home my US Weekly's will be piling up and losing relevance by the minute--at least Courtnye can enjoy the July editions!

Liam is finally getting back to normal sleep-wise. Thursday night he only woke up once at 3 AM and fell back asleep on his own and then managed to sleep until almost 7 AM. He also took a good 3 hour nap on Friday (one of the nice things about being around the house). Last night he didn't wake up once and he and Josh are both still asleep and it's after 7AM. As you can see, I was up early as usual but I don't mind since these are the new hours I'm going to have to keep for work. I have a 5:30 AM call on Tuesday (that at least I will take from home). Jess will be working 7 to 5 Tuesday to Friday and 8 to 6 on Monday (since that is the one day I get a break since it is Sunday in the States). I'm going to miss being home with Liam and Josh but both Josh and I have to work sometime! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Two more beautiful days in Auckland

Wow--I'm hoping that God saves a little more of this weather for the rest of our time here and isn't just giving us all of it in one big dose. It has been amazing!

The days here continue to fly by--there are just far too many things to do (and that's just in Auckland--the rest of the country still awaits!) Yesterday was pretty low key. We headed out in the mid morning and walked up "the big hill" to Parnell. Once there we checked out a few of the cafes and shops and finally settled into lunch at the Alphabet Bistro which proved to be quite good with interesting twists on lunch (e.g., I had the Mediterranean BLT which was pancetta, tomatoes, lettuce, and shaved parmesan on sourdough drizzled with some kind of balsamic--yum!) Since he day was beautiful we sat outside and were enjoying ourselves so much we had to stay a little longer for cappuccino. Of course that's when I realized that I had left diapers at home. Thus we decided to head back to the apartment for a bit before continuing the rest of the day's plans.


View from the top of the "big hill" heading into Parnell


Once we had picked up the necessities we headed up to Greenlane Hospital which is the private hospital where Josh will be spending some time while here (most of his time will be at the public Auckland City Hospital. We went up there to meet a couple of the people who have been helping Josh make all the arrangements to be here. Like everyone else here, they were super friendly. They suggested that we use the afternoon to visit One Tree Hill which was just down the road. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Cornwall Park (which was beautiful) and managed to successfully trek to the top of One Tree Hill for the amazing views (see pic below. By the time we made it down it was practically dark so we hurried to catch the Link bus back home (which proved to be a long haul since we apparently jumped on clearly opposite of the side of the "loop" where we would be hopping off!)





Views from the top of One Tree Hill

Greenlane Hospital

Liam running around in the wide open spaces

Cool tree in Cornwall Park

Today we headed out to Waiheke(Why-hee-kee)Island for the day. Took the ferry out there and enjoyed a short tour followed by a picnic lunch on the beach, a glass of wine in a cafe, and a trip to one of the many, many vineyards out here. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves on this one. It was breathtaking and we will definitely be back.

Auckland Days 2 and 3

So first of all-we Gary's are clearly not over the time change. Here it is 7:30 at night and I am writing this while barely able to keep my eyes open. Next to me on the couch sit Josh and Liam--both sound asleep with Liam almost snoring. Let's hope he (Liam) manages to stay asleep longer tonight since he didn't even make it to 5 AM this morning.

Secondly--the weather here has been amazing. Not a cloud in the sky for the last two days and that's the forecast for the next 3 days as well. Also--everyone keeps talking about how "cold" it is. And I learned today that this is apparently as cold as it gets. Yet--we have spent basically every waking moment outside in this "frigid" weather. I know it will rain but it seems that it actually is wetter in Aug/Sep/October, so Liam and I may miss much of that since we will just be here June and July.

The last two days have mainly been spent getting the last things checked off our to-do list, like finding a nanny and getting a bank account, as well as more exploring of the city. Starting tomorrow we hope to hit more of the "tourist" places and even take some small treks outside of Auckland (even if it's just the 30 minute ferry to Waiheke Island)

Monday we interviewed our first nanny candidate (to cover for the two weeks I will be working before my mom or Dianne are here--they will be watching Liam when they are around) She was awesome. Apparently the job market in New Zealand is pretty bad so there are a lot of really great people who are doing babysitting, etc. right now that are qualified in numerous fields. This girl is 22, just graduated in May with a PE degree and is currently watching an 18 m and 3 year old. She will likely nanny all year next year for a fam in Dubai and she is looking to bridge the gap with short term roles. Oh and did I mention she just spent 5 months teaching 3 to 6 year olds how to ski in Aspen? If she can do that--she can do anything. We loved her and decided there was no need to interview anyone else since there could only be 2 results that came of that--1) all nanny candidates rocked and we are stuck turning down multiple great people or 2) We still loved the first candidate the best and then just feel bad for wasting everyone's time. So we are super excited to have that resolved!

After we interviewed Jess (the nanny) we had her drop us off in the Parnell area to explore. This is a great suburb with lots of cafes and shops. We didn't really stop anywhere at that time but plan to go back and do lunch or brunch later this week.

That night we attempted to find a sushi place that Jess told us about (Saki Bar Rikka for Kacy if you are taking notes for your trip!) Unfortunately it was closed for the Monday holiday (the Queen's birthday). Too bad, since we walked probably a mile worth of laps trying to find the place and must have passed it 4 times before we realized it was the dark, barely labeled place that we had been walking by. We will return though and this time we know right where to go! Also since it is right next to Victoria Park--we got to check that out (it was okay--basically like other parks in the world!) Also--since that didn't work out--we ended up wandering around the Viaduct Harbor area and eating there(beautiful and all I could think about was how much my Dad would love looking at all of the yachts!)

Today we had plans to do the Sky Tower and the Auckland Zoo. But only ended up doing the Zoo (will probably do Sky Tower tomorrow). Only ended up having time for one because we got sidetracked with getting a bank account (which took a little more time than we expected) and stopping by the McK office to pick up my wireless card and access badge. Very nice office by the way with an amazing view over the harbor--I'll have to take pics of the view from the office I will be borrowing--it's pretty ridiculous! The Zoo is a great zoo--Liam was bummed that the penguins were off display but I told him we would go to this Antarctica adventure place that they have in Auckland (Kelly Tarlton's) and see the penguins there, and that seemed to appease him! They have tons of tigers and lions (and two of the tigers are cubs who will be celebrating their first b-day next week!) Liam of course loves the lions since they are all "mommy and daddy Ees" For those of you who don't know, "Ees" is Liam's much loved stuffed lion who he has had since he was born. When he sees the male lion he just yells with crazy excitement "That's Ees' daddy!!"Soooo cute--I love him!

So overall--not too much exciting to report--I hope to have something more fun over the next couple of days! (although we wanted to do a wine tour on waiheke but all of the tours say--"not recommended for children" so we decided we might feel a little too much like lushes if we ignored that and dragged along our 2 year old anyway! Thus, vineyard tour stories may have to wait for a day when we have a babysitter!)

Here's one pic for you--a view of the harbor at dusk. My battery ran out right after this one which is why I don't have others (we did get some video at the zoo today though so I may try to add that later!)