On to the North Island...

Every-single-angle-possible intersections, fancy fire and water fountains, pleasant lunching mini-parks, honking taxis and a historic train station. No lambs here, folks; I'm in Auckland. There are a little over 4 million people in all of New Zealand and 1.2 million of them live in this city and it's suburbs.

My departure from Christchurch was a tad sad since Liz and Paul's little dudes became attached to me and vice versa! I do plan on seeing them once I get settled here and my bank account gives me the go ahead.

Anyway, the flight was a fast 465 miles. Colin, my dad's friend's friend, picked me up again! He took me to the top of one of the 15 inactive volcanoes (Mt. Eden) that are in and around this city. And as we walked up a bit to get "the" view, I hear, "Jo?" I turned around before even thinking about how random it would be if I actually knew someone on top of a volcano in Auckland. Right?!?! It turned out to be a lovely couple from Reno, NV that I met on the wine tour I took last week.

So after to bizarre encounter on the volcano, I went to dinner with Colin and his wife, Charmaine. We shared a steaming pot of lobster and brandy bisque mussels. So flippin' good!
I may need to establish the Generous Award of the Year for these two. I could go on and on, but the long and short of it is that a lot of stress has been surpassed because of this awesome couple!

On to the next great couple, Michael and Annette - the owners of The Grove. I have only spoke to Annette on the phone, but met Michael at the restaurant yesterday. He is a friendly, always on the go, family guy and I think we get along quite well. Thank you for this connection, Fabio!! I am on the roster starting tomorrow! I am happy to dive right into it. Check out the restaurant's site here. Be sure to look at the wine menu! Amazing and intense!

As far as living arrangements...I am looking at a place tomorrow in a suburb called Point Chevalier. It is just close enough, but just far away enough to the centre of town and work. Auckland is indeed a BUSY city, so I have opted to search in the closer/safer/trendier suburbs. This first place has a view of the bay, so keep your fingers crossed that the listing is telling the truth and nothing but the truth.

Ok...I am off to bed, friends and family. Cheers.

Sam's Bday Party

Liz and Paul's oldest kid, Sam, had a birthday party the day after I got here. I wasn't going to bother posting these pics, but it's the coolest kid party ever! It was knights and princess themed. They had a treasure hunt, a castle-shaped cake, donkey rides, a dragon pinata and a few other games that kept 'em all plenty busy and gave plenty of them new cavities!

The pics really speak for themselves....

Christchurch to the Rescue

Ok...Dunsandel is beautiful, but there isn't even a post office there. You all must know that I have a quite a bit of energy, so to the city I went!

Liz dropped me off in the middle of town on Monday afternoon. I cruised around a bit, got a lovely Guiness and then met my cousin Andrea's good mate (yes, I will start using Kiwi phrases)Amanda at the playground in the Botanic Gardens in Hagley Park. Her son Andrew is a happy, happy dude. He has white blonde fuzzy hair, likes chewing on books and is taking full advantage of being a 10 month old. So cute!

Amanda took me to her parent's house for an afternoon tea. Well, I was invited really. :)
Their house was built in 1911 and has an immaculate garden in which her mom leads tours. So beautiful!

I have been staying with Amanda, Brian and Andrew for the past few nights. I am hanging around for another night and then I am heading back to Dunsandel through the weekend.

Before I go back to Dunsandel though, I am going on a half-day wine tour along the Wine Trails outside of Christshurch. Transport, 4 wineries and their tastings and a light lunch is included. Sounds to me like my camera and I are going to have a lovely afternoon together.

Dunsandel

I've made it! The 13 hours flight was uneventful. The best part was the 2 glasses of New Zealand Sauvingnon Blanc they served with dinner. The second best part was my acting skills that came into play when I needed to pretend that I didn't hear the lady next to me talking to me about who knows what. Usually I am nice, blah, blah, blah, bit this time....well, I had wine to drink and The Hangover to watch!

Customs was a breeze in Auckland. The agent actually made a comment about Dunsandel (I listed that as my first destination on my declaration form). He wanted to make sure that I knew about the amount of sheep versus the amount of people there. Ha!

I had am awesome greeter in Auckland; Colin Taylor. He is a friend of one of my dad's friends. He was kind enough to meet me at 5:45 am just to take me from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. I clearly could have made it happen myself, but it was a major time and stress saver. Thanks, Colin!

Then when I landed in Auckland, my friend Liz (Lemon) Righton and her 2 boys greeted me. They live about 30 miles from the centre of Christchurch. Claude was the next to welcome me to New Zealand. Meet Claude...

Claude and some other friends live in the paddock behind Liz, Paul, Sammy and Logan's house. Check out this view of the Southern Alps (once again) and check out Claude's friends.

Speaking of Sam (2) and Logan (5), here they are....

They are really well-mannered, lovely boys. Sam had a bday party the day after I got here; it was Knights and Princess themed. A dragon pinata for the knights to slay - the kids went crazy over all the lollie and chocolates!

Logan constantly asks,"What ARE you doing?" He has a raspy little voice that makes you crack up every time.

I'm off to bed. More posts to follow.....

First Stop

This will be my first stop in New Zealand; Dunsandel. The population is about 400, so yes, there may be more sheep than people. I have been invited to stay with my friend Liz, her husband, and her two boys, Sam(5) and Logan(3). I will be in their "sleep out" for about 10 days. After that visit, I am flying into Auckland.