the honeymoon is over

from inside the square room with its blood pressure cuff, plastic speculums, models of knee and shoulder joints, and random toys to entertain the kids, i listened as it poured, descending in buckets, interrupted only by the boom of the thunder outside.  how glad was i to be warm inside!  rain here is intense, like the faucet just opens and we are showered.  Went to swim practice yesterday in such a deluge, but did not seem to matter there.  made the thought of riding bike to work today not too appealing however.  as i sat there with the drumroll of the rain on the roof, checking labs and xray reports, it struck me that the honeymoon is now over. the thrill and excitement of being here finally after a decade of dreaming has passed.  we are living that dream.  kids are plugged in and happy, work is good, i've figured out the computer system and feeling more comfortable with the meds, and yet there seems to be a bit of a cloud hanging over my head.  Almost like I am in some Charles Schultz cartoon strip, Snoopy on one side dancing on his house, Lucy holding a football waiting to be kicked, and I am the one with the cloud raining over just my head.  fortunately in this image there is no lightning!

the cloud appeared soon after AW left on Sunday.  such a surprise to have him visit at this time, for my bday and all.  certainly one of the kindest gestures I have had in my direction in years!  showing him life here turned all this into more of a reality, not the Fantasyland it seemed we were playing like when talking to home or writing about it in this blog.  so nice to have another adult voice around to ponder ideas, make jokes as he does so well, walk the beach and explore other parts of the country.   his departure made room for the cloud settle in and make me see that it is now my turn to get out and connect.  need to meet someone or a few who I can engage/play with to keep up my sanity.

there is only so much one can prepare for when making a journey of this sort, and most of mine consisted of checking things off of the multipage lists-passports, visas, toothbrushes, vitamins...no where was "prepare for when the dust settles and you feel alone, removed from your people and connections".  I recall in my other lives when travel brought on such feelings I could bounce down to the cafe or connect with other random travelers in the hostels, but this time there are the kids to consider first, secure their well being and honestly by then fatigue sets in and I'm ready for bed!  So it goes and such it this journey at this time in life.  And for all of these darker moments (and really they are not as dark as I may portray them-maybe enhancing for dramatic effect!)  I am also intrigued and excited as I know this is why we are here.  These small internal struggles and pushes are what we will remember most, and in the end will be the reward for all the hard work.  At least that is the hope!  And really I keep telling myself, how damn lucky am I!!!  The list of gratitudes too numerous to put down here.

Keep hoping the surf will be good so I can get back out in the water-recently too small and now with this storm too choppy and crazy.  Patience I am told once again.  Ha!  Wonder why that lesson keeps coming back around.

Tonight I will join a South African colleague and his wife for drinks after work.  He is a kind gregarious man who loves to tell a good story and considers himself more feminine in his extrovert approach than most Kiwi men who he tells me like to stand around with arms crossed over their chests and nod to each other.  Unless of course there is alcohol involved and then the defenses fall.
My experience of late goes something like this.  I meet a new person (Kiwi), they ask me where I am from (America.) and next "how long are you here?"   As soon as I respond with "a year", a switch flips and there is an obvious deflection of energy from me to someone else.  Seems hard to want to put any energy into me if I will be gone soon enough.  I get it really, so now I tell them my job contract is for a year and then we will see....being more open ended seems to keep a door open, at least a bit.  Maybe we will share a cup of tea of glass of wine or walk around the Mount.

Sun is supposed to return tomorrow and with it the big fluffy clouds, the pastel colors in the sky, and the hope of my own personal cloud passing for now.  But really what I need most now is that umbrella I left sitting by our front door and the patience to see this storm pass on in its own time.

Venturing south to Napier

Having AW here was such a treat that I had to take him out of town for a few days to see the country.  Deciding he might appreciate the Art Deco-ness of Napier, as well as the coastal beauty and vineyards aplenty, we drove the 3+ hours south to enjoy this area.  Made a stop south of Rotorua, the Island's most geothermal area, in Wai O Tapu, something a bit like our Yellowstone Natl Park, but much more accessible and smaller scale.  Full of sulfer smelling bubbling waters, mud pools, and fumaroles ( what a great geologic word!) , it got me all excited about geology once again.  Walking amongst all this makes the world feel very alive right underfoot.
Then to Napier where the entire town has opted to have art deco be its theme, so all store fronts are of this decor.  It is a great city on Hawkes Bay!!  We stayed in lovely B and B up on this Bluff, overlooking the port and the bay.
Photos below to share the fun!

Can't seem to get enough of our local beauty-here is Mount Maunganui beach in late afternoon

How it all came to be.  Steve box, you would love this place!!

The Artist's Palette pool-yellows, blues and orange all in the same pool!

In the distance one sees the volcanoes of the southern North Island, one snowcapped on the right was Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings!!!

Actual color of this pool, this just does not seem natural but due to mixing of minerals and gases from below this is what happens

Huge bubbles of hot hot hot mud

In Napier now, we hired bikes for the day and toured the wineries of this area.  Seemed a cross of Napa Valley and Bolinas, lovely small vineyards along the coast, most with excellent bistros and funky locales.

Much of our trail paralleled the Tukituki River as we headed to the coast

AW crossing bridge onto the coastal part of the trail. 

Lunch at Elephant Hill Winery was a treat indeed!  Best gnocchi EVER!

And if I haven't mentioned it already, one of the best things in the country are the public bathrooms.  The cleanest, neatest, most numerous ever!  

A quick respite from wine drinking and biking to sit and enjoy afternoon tea/coffee.

Pohutakawa flowers, national blossom!

View from atop  Te Mata peak (a lovely hike!) highest point in Hawkes Bay.  Sedimentary thrust fault uplift, more cool geology!  Looking north to Napier and beyond.

Last day in Hawkes Bay found us opting out of wine tasting and trying a bit of cider instead.   Yum!  Such variety and flavors.  It was a welcome stop.

En route home, we encountered the Huka Falls out of Lake Taupo.  Hard to capture the enormity in this photo but it was awesome.  Jet boats come up from below to take a look as well!

Birthday Surprise

Happy 48th year to me!  How great to come home from work on Friday to find the loveliest bouquet of flowers from far away friends!  Thank you thank you!!  Times like these being miles away can be more challenging than others, but fortunately the next day the best surprise of all arrived-AW flew in as a surprise guest to celebrate my birthday!!  Whoowee!  We were all thrilled to have him here for the week!  He arrived on a glorious day-sunny, cool breeze, 70 degrees, and the town in a festive mood with the Tauranga Arts Festival beginning.  We scooped AW up and off we went, taking full advantage of the street market, buskers juggling and riding unicycles, a samba band and a classical flash mob.
Later we went to see the NZ Trio, contemporary classical violin, cello, piano trio playing mainly NZ composers.  Out of the box for sure but interesting.  Next day with new friend Dawn Picken, friend from Spokane, we saw the Tattletale Saints, acoustic duo who reminded us of Paul Simon with a female Garfunkel.  All of this in small venues, great artists and great audiences.
On Sunday we trekked out to the Karangahake Gorge, old gold mining site with lots of old equipment to see and tunnels to explore.  The hike we were hoping for was cut short due to mudslides and a closed track; kids not too dismayed! Reminded us a bit of the Hiawatha Trail, as there were many riding the trails on bikes.
This was the beginning of a great week with AW as our first visitor.  Such a joy to share our new home with him, though a bit surreal at times to look across and see him here with us.  Luckily there was lots of time to enjoy the beach and hike the Mount and relax in the resort atmosphere that is our home here.

Strange eyeballs on the Strand

Jack watching the jugglers

Noah and Mags watching unicyclist

The happy trio. Notice the Kiwi barefoot standard, even at school its cool to be barefoot!

So happy to have him here!  

Found this great graffiti in town sanctioned by city permit

Selfy of these two goofballs

Jack perfecting his selfies walking the trails of the Gorge.

Tunnel at Karangahake Gorge

Still so happy!

Pre-bday musings

It is a mere 24 hours before my annual clock will turn once again, and when asked last night at dinner by kids if I feel 48, I quickly said no, not really knowing what 48 is supposed to feel like.  Took a lovely solo sunset walk on the beach as I watched the sky dance through its pastel range and the last few kayakers enjoy the calm seas, and took a quick inventory:  body doesn't move quite as quickly and when it does there are more aches for sure, recovery a bit slower perhaps, definitely more grey in the hair, not much smarter but maybe a bit wiser, but otherwise things are feeling pretty good overall.  can't complain that is for sure.    Tomorrow AW will arrive as a Bday "surprise" and this will be fantastic!  The anticipation of seeing him has been so much fun as I am sure the actual reality will be once he is here.  having that other adult around to talk with adult things will be particularly nice.  Kids are excited too as I think they are growing a bit weary of only having mom around!

Realized there was some catching up I needed to do image wise:

Boys testing for their lifesaving course at aquatic center.  A valiant effort and now they are both ready to patrol the beaches

Looking so professional!  My turn now in Nov.

Maggie's picnic at the park.  I was the only lucky invitee!  

Silver Fern

Ok, so this is Waihi Beach, now one of the top 5 most beautiful beaches I have ever seen/been to.  Rivals Watmough and Bolinas and all others!!  Best part was in route getting there ( 45" hike through beautiful forests and over cliffs, we spotted Orcas in the waters below us!  How awesome is that??!!)

More Waihi, as are the next few.  These are Pohutokawa trees that lined this hike and in a month or two they will be in full red bloom.  More photos then I hope!

One last musing.  Anyone thought of or developed the male equivalent of a menstrual hut?  Especially for the teenage boy?  Need to consult my expert friends in the field of boy development, but I'm thinking this may be the answer to my prayers.  Boarding schools I now understand better as well, but not sure I'm ready to ship these boys off for good, but to have a place to send them during these times when their evil, alien other twin invades their being sounds great.  It may last only a few hours or even a couple days.  Once they return and the invasion has passed, they seem to return to their kind, relatively decent selves, but these extraterrestrial states can be a bit trying, even debilitating.  We are weathering through and the house seems to be clean for the moment.

Off to work.  Happy Birthday to me!  And yes, 48 is feeling great!!

More Photos as promised (last weekend)

Computer is fixed so now I can share some more shots of adventuring here:

In Rotorua we found tulips blooming along with many other spring flowers.  The entire town smells of sulpher due to hot pools and geothermal activity.

 Gotta say things around here do feel a bit more simple than at home, one of the niceities of being here.

 Hot water, lemon, honey, ginger=new favorite drink.  May have even weaned myself of tea!  Sara D, their versoin of Dragon's breath and oh so good!

Happy Noah with his pretty Mocha at Fat Dog Cafe

Houston we have a problem....

16 Oct 2013

Realized its been a while since ive posted and mainly I owe this to the daft my newish MacBook crashed one last week, just as I was sitting down to blog and Skype.  Is there a message there?
Anyway, for those who care, the problem is hopefully being solved by dear folks at the Technology Centre.  Haven't heard back, but hope it is not too big of a problem.  Wanted to show you some fun photos from the weekend, but will have to wait.  Anyway, a bit of an update on our recent doings....

1. Kids are back in school after 2 week break.  Hooray! Maggie has not cried once, and I got confirmation today that her teacher is a bit of a witch, likes to snap at kids.  She's been at it too long.
After some brief debate about switching to the Tauranga Boys College so the can row on the team there, decision has been made to keep boys at current school, Mt. Maunganui College.  Despite rumors of it being the more laid back, surfer, pot smoking institution, it is easier in many ways and I do believe there's more to learning than pure academics.  Today they ventured 6 hrs up and back to Auckland to a science lab where DNA research is done.  Spoke with a microbiologist  researching TB and another looking into maternal/fetal blood connections and using placental cells in maternal blood for ways to help neonate.  All this and then structure of fructose I learned about at dinner.

2. Noah, Maggie and I explored Rotorua on Friday last.  Easy 45" drive from here, big tourist center of N. Island.  Maori arts and cultural center, lots of geothermal activity, town smells perpetually of sulphur, wild animal park, but we opted for the luge run.  Noah talked the lady into three rides for some smoking deal and off we went.  Wild and fast in the rain, plastic cars w wheels and a brake down concrete paths-beginner, intermedia, and advanced.  It was really a blast hate to admit.

3. Last weekend boys took and passed their surf life saving course so they are now Jr. Patrollers.  They will patrol w the seniors this summer, learning all the fun rescue techniques.  It is big stuff here and the course and Patrolling seems to have a bit of a mystique and reverence, like getting one's black belt or eagles scout.  A proud parental moment.  It'll be more fun once summer hits!   And in the meantime I've found a new sport called surf rowing, part of the life saving club.  Check it out on you tube.  Wild!,  combines surfing and rowing!   Hoping to get in a boat next week to try it and see if they like me.  I'll have to become a guard as well then and pass that swim test. Ugh!  The boys by the way rocked the swim and after only 2+ weeks of training cut off 3" each from their time of the 400m swim! Another sweet moment for mom!

4. Lina decided this week to return stateside in Dec and will we miss her immensely.  She bakes such amazing cookies!   Her absence will leave us to open new doors, and luckily we are blessed with others in the wing we may be able to join us in this journey.  Time will tell.

5. Anticipation of summer is here.  Every day people tell me how lovely the weather will be soon, and the beach so fun and the waves so great.  I do feel we have landed in the perfect place for us.

Experiencing some blogging problems so will sign off for now, photos to follow soon I hope! Once computer is back in action.  Hope all is well as you settle into Fall with harvests and pumpkins and colors changing and crisp mornings and cider and fires.  Maggie and I are enjoying the blooming wisteria scent along the beach access trail from our house to beach.  Intoxicating!

Hobbiton and Hot Water II

Digging pools at hot Water Beach, temps up to 40 deg C!!

After we hiked out of Cathedral Cove back to Hahei, we grabbed shovels, checked the tides again and off to Hot Water Beach. This beach gets its name because at low tide you can dig a hole in a certain area of the beach and the hole will fill up with HOT water creating your own private bathtub. Yet another amazing geologic feature of this Island. Thinking we had planned this just right with tides, not taking into account many others are also on school holidays and it was a Sat, by the time we reached the hot beach, it was crowded.  Not much room to pool in, but
the kids made an honest go of it, finding the water
almost too hot to relax in.  Tide was soon to come

in as well, so waves quickly doused our pools.   If the hot pools weren't great enough, the raging surf made up for it.  Hot Water Beach is also a great surf spot and before I could turn my head the boys had grabbed boogey boards and off they went, no wetsuits this time.   They boarded for hours and when done, bodies were icy and bright red, huge smiles from the big waves ridden.


After a long day we settled into our cozy cabin with dinner and a couple movies.  Have to say if nothing else I am spending more time with the kids here than I would at home, for better or worse :)  At home we are so caught up in the little things and distractions and here we have each other and activities that we are sharing, swimming, boarding, running, hiking, watching movies, playing cards, just hanging out, eating together.  Maybe too much time together at times, but in my better moments I know this is why we are here!

Last day of our venture saw us driving south along the coast back home.  Stopped at some viewpoints, a cafe, and an ice cream shop.  Took a spin through Whakatane, (pronounced Fak-a-ta-nay) where our friends the Angells spent 6 months living and working this past year.  Another great surf town with some local color  Best find of the day was walking through the forest out to Oputere beach, with only 3 other people there, it was  a nice contrast to Hot Water Beach the day before.  Kms of beach of white sand, nice rolling waves, dappled sunshine all to ourselves.  Noah braved the waves as the rest of us enjoyed a walk along the shore.  Definitely need to get back there!

Noah taking on waves at Oputere Beach

Handstands on the sand

Made it home eventually, tired and filled up from our adventure.  Felt like we had been gone a couple weeks, and could have indeed spent that up in this lovely peninsula.  also realizing how lucky we are to be where we are, how fortunate I was to land the job here in this town...perfect for us in so many ways!!

Doesn't get much better than this!  Oputere Beach