Kia Ora! (pronounced “key ah or ah,” Maori for hello)

Maori (pronounced “Mao ri,” the first part is like dao, Chinese philosophy, but with an M instead of a D) are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand.

Almost a month into our move to Aotearoa (pronounced “how tay ah row ah,” Maori for New Zealand) and a lot has happened! Our expectations for how long it would take to get things set up were a bit unrealistic, as we failed to take into account the pace over here. Things are definitely way more relaxed than back in the states, and with everything it comes with good things and bad. Thankfully the slower pace, friendly people, and beautiful surroundings have made it so that neither of us has really minded how long everything takes.

So let me try to summarize our time since we arrived in the land of Kiwis, Maoris, Pacific Islanders, and other expats. We spent our first week and a half in Ponsonby, which I think is Auckland’s equivalent to the Village in NYC. There were lots of funky, cool shops, and we were thrilled to find tons of Indian and sushi restaurants! They also have a lot of Malaysian restaurants, which we tried for the first time and loved! I highly recommend Mamak (Muslim Indian) soup if you ever have the chance.

We opened up a bank account at ANZ, which we quickly learned is pronounced “A N Zed” (it seems that the letter Z is always pronounced “zed” when at the end of something, though I’m still not sure why).  Another example of this baffling fact is when anyone’s giving you an internet address it almost always ends in “nz” which they say as “n zed.” My only guess as to why is that perhaps the accent makes it difficult to differentiate the letter Z from the letter C. Any other guesses or information regarding the matter are welcome!

So from the bank we went to get cars. All cars in NZ are imported, which means the best deals are used cars from Japan and the instruction manuals are only in Japanese. After much research we decided on getting a reliable, economical, and safe car-the 2003 Nissan Wingroad (it’s a station wagon), from Turner’s auction. It’s a live auction in which you bid on a car, and then, if you win, have a salesperson negotiate, if the reserve isn’t met, between you and the seller. You can test drive any car in the lot before the auction, and pay a fee for an “outside auto inspection company,” which happens to be permanently set up in the back of the auction facility, to do a thorough inspection of the car before you decide whether or not to bid.

After careful observation, a pre-inspection thumbs up, and my inherited ability to get a good deal, I won the auction at exactly the price I told Brian ahead of time-$1500 under the lowest estimate for the car (my mom would be so proud)! So we put the car on the credit card (as we were still waiting for our wire to come through from the US), and drove our new, used car away. The first place we stopped was a gas station, and the “trusty, reliable Wingroad” died. No need to worry! Thankfully if you’re an American, stuck in the rain, at night, with a dead car battery, those do-it-yourself Kiwis will come right along and offer you a jump. So the next morning we took our precious car back to the auction house for a new, free battery.

I must say that driving on the other side of the car, and road, takes some getting used to. Brian and I have done pretty well figuring out what most of the road signs mean, and have figured out the correct way to navigate the many circles (“Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament!”). The one driving law that neither of us really understands yet is that you’re always supposed to yield to all traffic crossing or coming from the right. Trust me, it’s trickier than it sounds when you’re on the road. Another difference is that they don’t really have stop signs, just “give way” signs which essentially means to yield. We both are pretty used to the driving now, though one of us will occasionally turn on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal, which always makes me giggle.

Trying to figure out the cell phone plans was far more aggravating and nonsensical. I guess they do cell phones (which they call mobiles, pronounced “mow bile”) and internet service the way we did back in the ‘90s. My best understanding of it all is that you’re charged a flat rate (anywhere from 36-48 cents) by the minute, depending on what phone company the number you’re calling is with, and then you pay for how much internet space (as in how many MBs or GBs, I think) you use. You can buy a packaged plan that gives you a certain amount of minutes, internet space, and text messages every month, but if you go over you’re charged additionally.

I have NO idea how much internet space I use in a month, let alone how much it takes to just check my gmail. The bottom line is that it’s so confusing and expensive that people just pay what they’re charged rather then trying to figure it out. Apparently the reason for this insanity is the small number of people spread over a lot of area and mostly the lack of competition. There are only two main phone and internet companies-Telecom and Vodofone. There’s a new company that’s trying to get off the ground by educating Kiwis about how they’re being completely ripped off by these other two companies. Ultimately we went with a prepaid SIM card, where we “top off” (add money) whenever we need. Another difference is that in the states your actual cell phone holds all of your information, but here the valuable thing is the SIM card. It’s a tiny little chip that goes into any phone and is your account. So you can switch phones all you want, but your SIM has all the information.

After our initiation to cell phones we needed a day off from errands, so we walked from Ponsonby all through the central business district. It was nice to get out and explore, and we found it far less of a “big city” then when we stopped over for 2 hours on the way back from our honeymoon.  

Ultimately we wound up buying a 2005 Wingroad for Brian from the auction place again, which he’s added a roof rack to for our mountain bikes (though I think it partly has to do with making the station wagon more “manly”). So yes, we have matching station wagons-even the same color oy vey!

We found a local pub to watch the final game of the NBA series. Congrats to my uncle and cousins for winning. We were very popular at the pub, and walked out with quite a few new friends and having exchanged numbers with some Americans who’ve been here for various years.

Of course the main talk of the town was, and still is, the World Cup. All over the newspapers, radio, tvs, etc it’s as though NZ actually won the World Cup! They really are just so happy and proud of themselves. There was even an article that starts out, “Oh come on, just give it to us. We’re acting like we won the World Cup and feeling like anyways . . .” The news here is pretty entertaining!

We chose to rent a “granny flat” which is an apartment that’s part of a house. Basically the owners split the house in half, and made the other perfect for renting. It has AMAZING views of the water, and our backyard is lava rocks overlooking Rangitoto Island. Our apartment is in Takapuna, on the North  Shore of Auckland. We love it! There are some negatives (i.e., nothing dries, it’s very cold inside all the time, and there are 68 steps down to our apartment, which means 68 steps up to the street), but the view and place completely overrule the negatives! We love it!!! I mean how can you not love this view every morning and night? We really feel lucky to have found this place! Below is the view from our deck.

We’ve been exploring in Piha, a famous surf beach west of Auckland. 45 minutes in the car and we were in a totally different paradise! We hiked to see the Kitekite (pronounced “kerri kerri “) Falls, which were fantastic, and then climbed Lion’s Rock. There are black sand beaches there and it was just incredible!

The picture to the left is of KiteKite Falls.

                                           This is Lion's Rock in Piha!

We also did the Montana Heritage Trail in the Waitekere Ranges, which was pretty intense and great! The hike was through a kauri forest which is like NZ’s equivalent to the Red Woods in Cali.

                                                    A huge kauri tree!

This past weekend we took the ferry from Auckland’s central business district to Rangitoto Island-the island we have the view of from our apartment. It was awesome! There was just all this lava rock everywhere, and we went exploring in lava caves (both of our favorite part). From the summit we could even spot our apartment with the camera and zoom lens my dad gave us! We had lunch on a beach, and it was just delightful.

We climbed to the very top!

Exploring a lava cave!

Brian playing in the lava rock fields!

Another difference is the money obviously. Everything’s more expensive here due to being imported and the GST (tax) is usually included. So although the American dollar is worth more than the Kiwi dollar, we’re not saving any more money over here. Their change is worth a lot more and much heavier than ours as well. So they have coins for $2, $1, 50 cents, 20 cents, and 10 cents. So the other day I payed for something in change and felt a bit silly, but the change in my wallet was worth over $15.

So some other differences: It’s not uncommon to see people (kids and adults) walking bare foot in various places like the mall, the movies, etc.

The language is primarily English but many words are used differently. The following are what I can think of off the top of my head:

Heaps-lots

Ads-commercials

Banger-sausage

Toastie-grilled cheese

Biscuit-cookie

Bonnet-the hood of the car

Dairy-like a 7 11 but not open 24/7

Dodgy-unreliable, not to be trusted

Entrée-appetizer

Main-entrée (or main course)

Fizzee (soda)

Frenchie-condom

Hottie-hot water bottle

Lolly-any candy

Netball-a girls’ game here that’s somewhat like basketball from what I can tell and wildly popular

Pram-baby stroller

Tramping-hiking

Togs-bathing suit

Jandels-sandals

Football-rugby

Brian started work last week, and really likes everyone in his new office. I submitted a proposal to present at this year’s Australia/New Zealand Art Therapy Association’s conference, and was accepted. So I’m excited about that, and am meeting with the directors of the graduate art therapy program in Auckland next week.

Other than that I’m thrilled to be online at home, and have been doing a lot of cooking. With all the different brands, names, and things it’s taken a lot of trial and error. Last night was my best meal so far-tikka masala with fish and basmati rice!

Have to go check on tonight’s dinner-lamb shank with mushroom ragout.