Those Brits sure can party

I am now an official member of the International Spouses group so I get invited to all of the gatherings and excursions. This week we had another "tea" with a British lady who is not affiliated with the British High Commission. She lives in Wellington by choice with her physician husband. Sadly, they are leaving to retire back in the UK. We used that as a great excuse to drink champagne in the middle of the day. I turned my nose up at the bottle when I noticed that it was strawberry flavored champagne but dang! That stuff was good. Just to be sure, I had a second glass. My friend Charanjil doesn't drink so I had hers.

Lovely.

In this photo: Gina (USA) and Mary (UK)

1980's Revival

I really like New Zealand, but it is seriously stuck in the 1980s. The teenagers are sporting punk haircuts, super tight skinny jeans and Chuck Taylors. 1980's pop music plays constantly on the radio stations and leggings are really popular. Sadly, the decor of my goverment-issued house is 1980s as well.

I could overlook the southwestern style mauve, sage and blue couches that perfectly complement the vomit of colors in the curtains, the 25-year-old formica-ish, blondish with a rose tint dining ensemble, and the cutsie, sage with natural wood tones cabinetry in the kitchen, but pink walls? Really? Why anyone would paint the entire interior of a house pink on purpose is beyond me.

So, to deal with my frustration I bought a fireplace mantle. No, we don't actually have a fireplace but if I'm going to have pink furniture and walls, darn it, I'm going to sit by a cozy fake fireplace to contemplate them. It makes perfect sense to me.

Morgan's Rockin Birthday Cake

My assistant chef and I wanted to make Morgan an awesome cake for his birthday tomorrow. We decided to make a Guitar Cake. For those who know me, this would seem an impossible task. I don't bake. Period. However, I am an ace when it comes to science projects so we thought of it that way. Ewan loves to play with clay...perfect. We found some fantastic icing that you roll out an mold like clay. I think we did an aweome job.

A seal of a day

We had really good intentions of travelling three hours to another bay to see fur seals in the wild. Then we ran out of gas. No worries, we turned around and headed back to Wellington. I had read about a docile male seal community there, just a short bumpy drive to a local bay. When they say you need a 4x4, they aren't kidding. I am an adventurous sort, and having grown up riding motorcycles and dune buggies I figured, how bad could it be? It was pretty bad. I was also seriously underdressed for the windy rain that came out of nowhere. So, after braving the road as far as I could manage, I asked Adrian to park so we could finish the trek on foot. Well, Ewan and I lasted @ 20 yards before we headed back to the car and Adrian and Morgan continued to the mythical bay within Red Rock Park.

They were not dissappointed. They came back cold and soaked but had fantastic pictures. Ewan and I really didn't think that there would be any seals, but there were hundreds and we missed out because we were whimps. We are already planning to return when it is sunny.
visit my husband blog for more photos: http://kiwiscots.blogspot.com

Getting Settled

I must say that I am very grateful to have an English speaking country for my first post. This has made life easier for me and the boys. I had forgotten how many details must be attended to when you move and when you move to another country, double those details.
For those of you who have not yet made it to your first post, get to know all of the rules and regulations. It can be a bit frustrating to learn a new rule the hard way. First lesson...expect the unexpected. We thought we would be moving directly into our new home upon arrival but alas, plans had been changed. Someone graciously decided that our house needed a quick make over before we could move in so we were put into a lovely hotel for a week. Great, I thought! This will give us time to explore the downtown, get acclimated, and avoid cooking for another week. I had read that when you are temporarily housed in your new post you are allowed a per diem for food and laundry, etc. So off we went to our favorite cafe every morning to treat ourselves to breakfast and then lunch. For dinner, we upscaled a bit to a local pub. We were trying to be frugal but not stingy. New Zealand is not cheap. With the exchange rate, you can very easily spend $70 on breakfast at a sit down restaurant ( $50 US). They don't give free refills on coffee here which is really disappointing since I drink @ 3 cups in the morning and at $3.50 a cup, well....you get the picture. Anyway, I learned after our stay that per diem is not given to you if you stay in a hotel with kitchen facilities and we had a small fridge and a tiny stove. Oops. Who knew? Well, now I do. Luckily, it all worked itself out. But, ask about everything.
Enrolling in school is straightforward. It is very expensive for uniforms and school supplies, which the government does not pay for but the education should soften the sting for us. Getting the children to school was an exercise in strategic planning but we managed to work it out. Ewan rides a chartered bus to and from school while Morgan has to rely on public transportation. The school does not have a regular school bus. I have no idea how much Ewan's bus will cost until they bill us at the end of the month but Morgan pays $10.40 per day. Yikes. Luckily, the Embassy will pay for this.
Setting up an internet connection was a bit frustrating. My only advice is to call ahead. It took me almost 2 weeks to get my internet hooked up.
Our cars were amazingly easy to buy and insure. I got myself a cute little minivan that seats 7 so that when we have visitors, we can all ride together. Adrian got himself a Ford Escape. We bought both of them from Max Motors in Lower Hutt. What a great group of people. I have never had a car buying experience like it and I've owned at least a dozen cars over the years. I highly recommend them.
We have been here almost 3 weeks and I just received my UAB this morning and I am waiting for the ministry of Agriculture to come to inspect some of it. The Kiwis are very particular about what organic stuff you bring in. I don't blame them after seeing what Kudzu has done to the South. It will be nice to have something from home in the house.