First Impressions

I cant believe we've been here for almost two weeks.  Patrick starts work on Tuesday (I'll join early-March, after the kiddos are settled), so that means our pseudo-vacation is about to be over.  I use the word "vacation," loosely, because we really have been scrambling to get things done.  So far we've found a rental house (still no luck finding a car), got a bank account, found doctors for the kids, we took road trip to Wellington for an interview with the Medical Council, we've been to a barbeque at the house of a future-colleague, and we've spent a lot (A LOT) of time at the beach.

All we need are each other ... and bananas.

During all this, I've thought several times about what it would be like to actually vacation here, minus all the stresses of trying to establish a life.  This is probably a good time to talk about where we are and why you should come visit us.

New Zealand.  Tiny island nation, about 900 miles east of Australia, across the Tasman Sea, and 600 miles south of Fiji.  Population is about 4.5 million (population of NYC somewhere around 8.5 million).  Lots of farming here, with most of the economy centered around exports of wool, wine, meat, and dairy.  Two islands, North Island and South Island.  The South Island is bigger, but less-populated, is divided in half (lengthwise) by the southern Alps and is breathtakingly beautiful.  The South Island is where most Lord of the Ring scenes were shot.  We live in the North Island which is also full of mountains, rivers, forests, caves - and a few more people than the South Island. The most populous city is here (Auckland -- where we flew in to), as is the capital (Wellington).

New Plymouth.  A major city on the west coast of the North Island, in the Taranaki region (see map from previous post), with a population of around 50K. Major industries are dairy farming and energy production (oil, gas, petrochemicals -- blech).  It's also known as a NZ events center (Sting and Paul Simon are playing here this weekend) and a major gardens and arts hub. 
The city is wedged between Mt Taranaki: a 135,000 yr-old active but quiescent (we hope!) volcano and the Tasman sea.  The city streets run generally north-south towards the ocean.  The city is very neighborhood-y.  Each area has its own dairy (corner store), bread store, cricket pitch, croquet club, bowling club (think bocce ball), pub and school.  Driving around gives a very quaint and community feel -- a welcome change from the walls and seclusion of American suburban culture. We live in Westown, near the hospital.

In the middle of the city is the 58 hectare Pukekura Park, which may be the most magical city park I've ever seen.  Full playground, two lakes, waterfalls, a tea house, a giant water wheel, trees with trunks so big you could drive through.  I'll probably dedicate a full post to this amazing place later, but here are some pictures to give you a sense.

View of the playground through the trees

Poet's Bridge.  Named because it was built using the winnings off an 1883 horse race.  The winning horse: The Poet.

Some other neat things we've discovered in the city are the Coastal Walkway (11km path for running/biking along the sea edge) ...

This amazing coffee roasters called Ozone (http://www.ozonecoffee.com/) ...

And the beaches.  Oh man, the beaches.  Surf Highway 45, a coastal road that starts in New Plymouth and extends down the coast, leads to dozens of cozy/empty beaches, big waves, and great views.  More on our beach adventures in later posts, but, to start ...

Patrick suggested it might be a good idea to include with each post a fun-fact about New Zealand, which I think is a fine idea.  Today's is this: it's very difficult to find drip coffee.  Espresso is the thing (not that we're complaining -- see title of blog).  I've therefore been learning how to use this thing:

Which I coupled with this:

To make these:

More next time!