Which CoffeeShop/Beach/Playground Should We Go To Today?

Well, we've been in New Plymouth about a month.  Which means it's been about TWO months since I've done any doctor-ing at all.  As I'm waiting for Patrick to get home to hear about his shift today, I'm half-excited and half-a-little-bit-bummed about going back to work (my first shift is tomorrow), because I've had such an amazing time with my munchkins.  To celebrate the end of this era, I think I'll title this post: "Which CoffeeShop/Beach/Playground Should We Go To Today?" as an homage to the unbelievable number of kid-friend beaches I've discovered throughout our thumbprint peninsula over the past few weeks.

There's Fitzroy Beach, to the east end of town, hosting this adorable outside cafe called Paris Plage, which is a coffee shop/pizza parlor out of an old boxcar.  During the day, they set up bean bags, a rope swing, set out kids toys (including scooters, balance bikes), all for free play.  It's, obviously, next to a great big sandy beach and the eastern end of the coastal walkway.

Coffee in the front ...

Tasman Sea in the back ...

Not too shabby.

There's Oakura, about 15kms outside of New Plymouth: beautiful wide black sand beaches with gentle waves.  Oakura is, for all intents and purposes, a surfing village that doubles as a commuter suburb for New Plymouth.  Its "downtown" is two blocks of surf shops, cafes, a gas station, a preschool, and an upscale salon.  It's a completely pleasant little neighborhood to spend the afternoon, and within walking-distance are a grassy playground, a not-sketchy-at-all skate park, and some amazing food trucks (Elaine, from New Mexico, sells ice cream on hot days and Francoise, from, naturally, France is the go-to espresso guy.  Holy Guacamole sells "Mexican Food," which I prefer to anywhere I'd found in New Mexico.  Is that blasphemy?).  It doesn't hurt that the "restaurants" are basically bean bags and picnic blankets on a lawn by the sea.  The Oakura Boardriders Club has a yearly fee of $100 per family for unlimited surfboard rentals.  Oakura is also home to Corbett Park, which is a basically a grassy river outlet with shallow running water and (always handy) clean public bathrooms.  We have zillions of pictures from the Oakura Beach and Corbett Park, but I'll just show a few of my favorites.

Where the river meets the sea

"This is awesome!" - Elise

Would probably say the same thing if he could talk.

The closest beach to us is five minutes away and in Moturoa.  There isn't a coffee cart, but there are some great waves (a true surfer's beach -- always a VW van full of grimy dudes parked nearby) and a small creek for the kids.  It's next to the Sugar Loaf Islands and Paritutu Rock, so the scenery is outstanding.

Sugar Loaf Islands in the background -- protected land since 1986, breeding ground for seals and seabirds, totally possible to see a whale or a dolphin swimming nearby.

5pm playtime

Elise starts preschool next Tuesday (tear!) so not sure if we'll still have as much time for seaside exploring, but I think we're off to a pretty good start!

Fun (fun?) fact about New Zealand, speaking of the beach, is how intense the sun is down here.  For those who don't know, the UV index is a standard measurement of the strength of the sun at any place and time.  Starts at zero (nighttime), you should wear sunscreen above 3, and usually tops out around 14 near the equator (although apparently the world record was 43 (similar to Mars), Bolivia, 2003). In the summer months, we routinely get up around 12-13 during mid-day.  New Zealand has the second highest rate of skin cancer in the world (after Australia).  Public outdoor events almost always feature this sign and have sunscreen stations next to the water stations.

Side Note: Sunblock here is ridiculously expensive.  If you're planning on sending us a care package, including a bottle of this liquid gold would be greatly appreciated.

Hope you enjoyed the post!

Mount Taranaki

First of all, apologies for the delayed post. We (still) don't have internet in the new house, so I can only get a little writing done on the few times I can escape to an internet cafe or the library.  Now that we've had a few weeks to explore the area, I think it's time to spend a few posts on specific aspects of the country, our region in-particular.  This week: Mount Taranaki (or Mount Egmont, depending on how colonial you're feeling).

At 8260 feet-tall, this active but quiescent (fingers crossed) volcano is the dominant feature of the Taranaki region.  It's one of the most symmetric volcanoes in the world, and was used as the backdrop for the movie The Last Samurai because it looks so much like Mount Fuji.

Mt. Taranaki

Mt. Fuji (Wikipedia)

It's an active volcano and has minor eruptions every 90 or so years, with major eruptions every 300-500 years (the last being around 1655).  We're apparently overdue for an eruption, and should expect something sizable in the next 100 years, although the city (New Plymouth) seems to be relatively clear from any major destructive paths.  We did pick a rental house on top of a hill (thanks Jonny), just in case.  For the geeks out there, I put a link from the GNS Science Webpage about the Taranaki/Egmont Volcano Geology to the right.

The volcanoes of the North Island seem to be truly sacred to those who live here, so I'll discuss them briefly.  Most of the central part of the island is basically one big volcanic plateau.  Lake Taupo is a 238 square-mile lake that sits in the caldera of what sounds like an apocalyptic supervolcano eruption 27,000 years ago.  South of this lake is the mountainous region Ruapehu which contains three active volcanoes Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu.  This area is Tongariro National Park and it was the first National Park in the world to be gifted by indigenous people (the Tuwharetoa Māori), who did so on condition the land be kept sacred.  It's now a dual World Heritage Site for its natural and culture value.  And then of course there is Taranaki, where we live.

The Māori legends surrounding the volcanoes are spectacular.  In them, all the volcanoes were once gods and warriors.  There were all male, except one (Pihanga), who was so stunningly beautiful that all the other mountains were in love with her.  One night there was a great battle (think volanco: lava, smoke, ground shaking) which was ultimately won by Tongariro, who became the king of the land.
He commanded the other volcanoes to vacate and, come daybreak, they would be frozen for all time wherever they stood.  Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu moved just to the south of Tongariro (and together form that National Park I was previously discussing).  Putauaki moved east to a town now called Rotorua, and became sacred in its own way.  Tauhara was stricken with grief and stayed on the shore of Lake Taupo so he could forever gaze at his lost love.  Taranaki, on the other hand, was so angry over the loss that he left a great gash in the land as he stormed off to live by the sea.  The tears he cried filled the gap and created the Whanganui River.  The breathtaking Taranaki sunsets are said to be Taranaki showing off to Pihanga.

Phillip Capper from Wellington, New Zealand - 10 August 2008 - Taranaki daybreak 13 Uploaded by PDTillman

Surrounding Mount Taranaki is New Zealand's second National Park, Egmont National Park (Tongariro was the first), which contains some great old-growth forests ("a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance" -- from Wikipedia).  A NASA satellite image impressively shows where the National Forest ends and the dairy farming begins.

During our two weeks pre-work, we had several opportunities to explore Egmont and are seriously impressed with the vast networks of trails and how well everything is kept.  There are free guides everywhere about different walking and hiking trails (several under 2 hours and kid-friendly) both in and around New Plymouth and the Park itself.  Here are some photos from our two most recent hikes.

snacks at the top

so strong!

an unbelievable number of stairs

taking a break with dad

on our way to Dawson Falls, before the rain

crossing a stream, baby-in-tow

It helps, especially when hiking with children, that New Zealand has no poisonous snakes, spiders, or scorpions and has no warm-blooded mammal predators except what has been introduced by settlers.  Coming from the death-trap that was New Mexico, it's nice to know that that rustling in the bushes is, at worst, a pig or a possum (as opposed to a bear or a mountain lion).  The mosquitoes are also relatively free from the nasty things (no malaria or West Nile here), although they're just as annoying.  And I already got stung by a bee while putting up the laundry.  Yuck.

Pat and I wound eventually like to get up the Mount Taranaki Summit Track (14kms, lots of vertical gain), but I think we should first work on making it through a morning hike without someone falling asleep.

Passed Out

Cheeks still full of apple bits

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!

See Ya Later, USA!

I don't think there are really any words to describe a 30+ hour international travel day with a baby and a toddler, but here it goes:

Left ABQ Sunport (forever?) at 11am to catch an easy flight to LAX.  I remember mentioning to Patrick how interesting it was that, even a year ago, this so-not-a-big-deal hop over to LA would have been such a stressful event.  But since Quenton's been born, we've been to Mexico, to Denver twice, to Philadelphia, to Ohio at least three times, and, with each trip it's easier and easier.  I really believe that sucking it up and schlepping your kids with you on these crazy adventures makes them more adaptable, so my recommendation to all parents and soon-to-be parents: DO IT!

Arrived in LA a good seven hours before our flight to Auckland, which had some pluses and some minuses:  it was nice to have plenty of time to reclaim our bags (read: two carseats, a BOB stroller, an Osprey child-carrying pack, the Graco Pack-N-Play, a huge green roller suitcase, 4 massive duffel bags (each just under 50lbs), a 60L Patagonia Duffel, a 90L Patagonia Duffel, a 75L Back Pack, Computer Bag, Mom's Purse, a mini green backpack for Elise) and drag them over for re-checking to Air New Zealand.  It was, however, a little hard to find something for everyone to do after that.  We mostly just kicked a ball around the airport (Jonny) and drank lots of coffee.

We boarded the awesome Air New Zealand 777-300 at around 9pm and we upgraded to two Economy SkyCouches (basically three seats in a row with leg rests that come up and lock to create a bed-on-a-plane).

http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/777-300-economy-skycouch#economy

I could not have imagined the flight without at least this, so Pat and I could each take one baby and hopefully get a little shut-eye for the ride over.

Island Sunrise

MiniBed

13ish long hours later, finally arrived in Auckland.  The flight was what you would expect.  Mostly not sleeping, Elise chain-watching Frozen, Quenton blah-blahing at the people in the row next to us and fastening/unfastening his seatbelt a zillion times.  Whatever, we made it.  Arrived 7am local time and somehow made it to Immigration and Customs, which is actually pretty strict.  New Zealand is an island with very little infiltration from the outside world and the Kiwis are pretty keen to keep it that way.  Our Visa applications required proof we don't have communicable diseases and aren't going to be a burden on the healthcare system (which is basically funded by the government).  We needed to prove we don't have syphilis, HIV, any of the hepatitis viruses.  A chest Xray for TB had to be read and signed by a radiologist.  The government doesn't allow people who are on dialysis, who have uncontrolled diseases like high blood pressure.  The immigration website also says people with BMIs over 35 might have a hard time getting over.  In that same vein, NZ has very few natural predators.  There are no snakes, not even in the zoo.  And they're strict about invasive plants and animals.  When we arrived, we were required to unpack our bags and prove our shoes weren't muddy and didn't have seeds stuck to the bottom.  Had to throw away the trail mix (nuts and raisins).  Had to empty the water bottles from overseas.  Alas, we made it.  I think Quenton's face in these photos really captures how all of us feel.

Arrived in Auckland

Waiting for rental car, Auckland, NZ

Then came the drive from Auckland to New Plymouth (about 5 hours, with a stop in Hamilton).

From the Lonely Planet, NZ website

People who have been to the UK or Australia even can I'm sure commiserate with us about how bloody confusing it is to drive on the left side of the road, make left-turns on red, navigate left-sided round-a-bouts.  Couple it with an 18-hour jetlag and we basically felt like we were down Alice's Rabbit Hole where nothing was how it was supposed to be.  In the end, no one crashed and no one was arrested, so that's about as good as you can ask for.  It was, really, a beautiful drive (think: The Shire).  Didn't take any pictures (sorry), so you'll just have to watch the movie.

We made it to New Plymouth around 3pm and I honestly can't remember the rest of the day.  Probably ran around, got groceries, did some laundry, showered, and tried to keep everyone awake until at least 7pm.  The important thing is that we made it, to a house, with some beds.  Sorry to everyone we forgot to call, hopefully this delayed posting makes up for it a little bit.

There is still so much to say about our experience here even the last few days, but I'll leave that for next time.  Until then, here is a picture of Elise at a new favorite park by the ocean.  Enjoy!

Playground near beach > Playground not-near beach

You Are Now Leaving . . .

The Harveys are one week from boarding our plane first to LAX and then straight on to Auckland.  Right now I'm sitting in an almost-empty house (basically our beds and this chair are all that are left) trying to finish the last of a bottle of New Mexican wine bought yesterday in a moment of premature nostalgia out of the only wine glass we haven't packed, sold, or tossed.

Two weeks ago we loaded everything into a 6' x 12' trailer and hauled it 1500 miles to Ohio where it will remain with Pat's parents for the next two years (thank you Ron and Nancy).

It's been quite an experience to distill our lives down to the few things that really matter (6' x 12' isn't that much room for a family of four).  And I think it's been good for us.  Or at least me.  In the midst of throwing away years of unfinished knitting projects, journals that once contained my deepest fears and wants, the shirt I was wearing the day I met my husband (nondescript, green, polo, probably dirty), I have several times had to take a step back and remind myself, "I am not bound to the world by these things."  And I listen to the giggles of my daughter and smell my baby's hair and take comfort in knowing that there is still SO MUCH left to see and all the things with which we surround ourselves pale next to the reality of moving forward.  And being loved.

Somewhere in Texas

As far as our drive (during which, I might add, everyone did fantastically), we finally got into Zanesville after two days and got to spend the next five days with Pat's parents and siblings (including Lauren/James/Finn/BabyBoySpada who drove down from Cleveland and Uncle Jonny who flew from Santa Barbara).  Family festivities included a 1st birthday party for Little Q, a homemade New Years Eve snowman piñata, and fresh eggs from the chickens.  Pat and I even snuck in a 7-mile run while the grands watched the babies.

Of course, Grandma Nancy made this egg basket

First Ice Cream

Making a cake

Flew back to New Mexico on January 5th and have basically been working our last US ED shifts and putting finishing touches on our travel plans.  I must say, it's very strange and a little stressful to sever ties here in the States.  This past week we've been busy putting loan payments on auto-pilot; cancelling Netflix, cells phones, and utilities; getting everyone to their last doctors/dentists appointments; and finding how to arrange health care, get malpractice insurance, and find a car in a foreign country.

We've also been saying farewell to all the those who made our time here in NM special and I'd like to recognize, especially, our nanny, Taylor, who's been my co-mother and friend throughout this crazy two-under-two phase.  You're the best and good luck in Dallas!