Kiwi Cousins

Same Home Address - New Phones

2008-12-26T07:24:00.000-08:00

Hi. We are indeed moving back into our home and have updated contact info:

Angie & Jim Cousins

5413 York Avenue South

Edina, Minnesota 55410

Our new contact cell phones are:

Angie: 612-598-6242 (corrected)

Jim: 612-298-6880

A White Christmas

2008-12-24T23:58:00.000-08:00

A White Christmas.
We could see the snow covered city as our plane landed in Minneapolis and immediately questioned the timing of our return! Within two days we had another 7 inches of snow to shovel and the air temperature had dropped to 13 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-25 Celsius for our friends in NZ!)

But strange as it may seem given the harsh welcome weather, it is nice to be home. The little things are comforting as well like that familiar scrunching sound underfoot as we walk through the snow, the silence after a good snowfall and seeing all the bare branches outlined with white.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!! Also wish you a Happy New Year with lots of fun and adventures whether at home or away.

Angie and Jim

The End?

2008-12-24T23:56:00.001-08:00

A fitting photo for the end of an incredible year experiencing life Kiwi style. The only thing that could compensate for leaving such a wonderful place is knowing that we are returning home to be with our family & friends just in time for Christmas. Yet realizing that we’re heading into the heart of a Minnesota winter, a few days stop over in Fiji was solid planning.

Last Leg of the South Island Tour

2008-12-24T23:38:00.000-08:00

So much more to tell, but we got caught up in all the travel and preparing to leave the country, instead of updating the blog. The last week stayed true to form of New Zealand travel in that at each destination we vowed that this is the best and it can’t get any cooler… then the next adventure would top it become the new coolest thing ever! Our last week leg of the tour went like clockwork by selling our car in Queenstown, then took a rental to Mount Cook, Lake Tekapo and Kaikoura before leaving from the Christchurch Airport on our way home.

Here’s a couple shots from that journey including whale watching in Kaikoura where we were lucky to see three sperm whales resting at the surface before diving about a mile deep again.

KAYAKING DOUBTFUL SOUND

2008-12-07T17:25:00.000-08:00

After the Milford Track, we spend one night in Milford Sound and then went down South a bit further to spend a day kayaking through Doubtful Sound. A sitting tour sounded like a nice idea after four days of walking. I’ll replace a thousand-word description of that day and our encounter with penguins with a few photos…

THE MILFORD TRACK

2008-12-07T17:05:00.000-08:00

Though most travel to the Milford Sound by road, the Milford Track is a more direct route, walking from the town of Te Anau to Milford Sound. It’s one of New Zealand’s “Great Walks” and one of the worlds top walks as well. It consists of walking up a river valley, up and over a mountain pass, then down another river valley into Milford Sound. Sound easy enough…

Day One:
A warm up walk. We met the 2:00 boat and started walking the trail by 3:30. It was only 90 minutes or so to the first overnight hut. The packs are always heavier on day one, food for four days and a few luxuries like a small box of wine for the first night’s dinner. As it was Thanksgiving Day back home, we also broke out the pumpkin soup to accompany our grilled cheese sandwiches. No complaints – cheese stays fresh for a day or two and is a good menu addition to any long tramp (that’s what the Kiwis call hiking... tramping).

Day Two:
Really moving the legs now. We begin by 7:45 AM and arrived to the hut a bit after 2:00 PM. We still can’t believe our luck: with 300 plus days of rain each year in Milford Sound area, two days of perfectly blue skies felt unreal to us. We were prepared for the worst, but happy to instead lie in the hot sun in this immense valley. One nice touch is that we realized there was no need to boil drinking water as the rivers coming down the mountain were crystal clear and there was no problem filling bottles right from the river.

Day Three:
A full day’s work: Leave at 8:00 AM, up and over Mackinnon Pass, and into the next hut by 5:00 PM. See photo with tuft of cloud over middle part of mountain… that’s Mackinnon Pass.

Milford lived up to its reputation that day as the sky clouded over and the rain came. It was cold and windy up top, but the rain was comparably light (we heard Milford got 250 centimeters of rain in 10 hours the week prior -- about one inch per hour). After a walk down the incredibly scenic pass it felt like we were in a Lord Of The Rings adventure. (find photo)
We took a 90-minute side trip to Sutherland Falls, the highest in New Zealand. Since we hadn’t had a true Milford soaking yet, this provided a nice opportunity. The picture barely shows Jim and his hiking mate from NewCastle walking behind the waterfall. They were as wet as if they had just jumped in the river.

Day Four:
Feeling like we could do anything for one last day, the 5.5 hour walk seemed very reasonable. With the forecast for rain, another completely dry day was a pleasant surprise. We passed many chest-high markers on the sides of the path with arrows to the next marker. We quickly realized that these are to identify the path for days with major rainfalls and flooding, and felt even more fortunate with the weather after seeing those markers.

A boat was there at the finish of that track on the aptly named Sandfly Point. It took us to the Milford Sound wharf where up to 500,000 people come to tour the sounds annually and for good reason. The cold drink and hot shower felt as good as any we’d ever had. And thankfully, the legs didn’t get really sore until we were done walking. We also realized that we finished the tramp on December 1st, exactly one year from when we left Minnesota driving through the season’s first snowstorm.

GLACIERS – SEE THEM WHILE THEY LAST!

2008-11-25T03:12:00.000-08:00

Just when we think things can’t be more awe-inspiring here in NZ, we visit these extremely accessible glaciers, unique because of how close they are to the sea. We took a 7-hour walking/climbing tour of Franz Joseph Glacier and it was intellectually fascinating and visually magnificent.

The glaciers are literally like extremely slow flowing rivers, slowly bringing everything on top – including massive rocks – to the front like a giant conveyer belt. The guide said he can lean an ice pick up against the front of a glacier in the morning and it will move 4 meters by the next afternoon. Because of the microclimate in this West Coast region, the glacier’s advance or retreat is less dependent on global temperature and more so on how much snowfall the glacier receives up top. In fact this glacier had been advancing over the past 5 years and just last year started retreating again.

But how can you not tour a glacier and not view it through the lens of global warming? Many glaciers and ice shelves around the world are retreating rapidly, but the climate will violently swing back the other way again one day and begin a new ice age. I’m reminded of George Carlin’s line about people wanting to save the planet. Save the planet, he says, the planet doesn’t need humans to save it -- it’s going to shake us off like a bad case of fleas. We felt like mere flees floating on this massive river of ice.

THE KITE RUNNER

2008-11-25T02:52:00.000-08:00

If you squint and look closely at the video, you’ll see Angie flying a kite at the northernmost tip of the South Island (which is actually North of Wellington).

We met a fantastic couple at dinner in Golden Bay who gave us a great tip of the beech to visit with these massive, stunning rock features just off shore. And then they went a step further and lent us a kite because of the constant wind there.

LEAVING WELLINGTON

2008-11-25T02:44:00.000-08:00

We’ve left Wellington and are now traveling the South Island before coming home…to winter… on the shortest day of the year… what we’re we thinking????

It’s been very tough leaving this city. Wellington has to be one of the most livable cities on the planet: good transit; big enough city to find absolutely anything you’re looking for - from shops to music/theatre/art to restaurants; yet small enough to walk end to end with no trouble; incredible public spaces and waterfront; and stunning views. Many say it’s like a mini-San Francisco, yet we say San Fran is like an oversized Wellington!

Lastly and most importantly are all the friends we made. We will miss you all! What a great bunch of people. The kiwi reputation of being incredibly friendly and hospitable people exists for good reason. And of course, thank you to Rotary International for making this all possible.

ROTARY FAREWELL WEEKEND

2008-11-18T01:42:00.000-08:00

We continue to learn things from the Rotary, including how to throw an incredible farewell event! Trish and Allan Brown organized an outstanding weekend, on the Pallisar Bay Coast (South Coast, East of Wellington). The four of us stayed in a fantastic holiday home, the Washpool, overlooking the sea and arrived on Friday in plenty of time for a perfect sunset. On Saturday, about 15 other Rotarians and family came for a farewell lunch party (a feast credited to Trish). After a great time at lunch, many of us took to tramping up the hill behind the house for a Kiwi pastime and an awe-inspiring view. Cameron, Christine and their kids stayed Saturday night as well and we filled the night with games and trivia. On our way home we met up with, another Rotarian, Simon at the Lake Ferry Hotel for Lunch. A perfect spring day to go with the best fish and chips we’ve ever had. All around, it was an incredible weekend. We feel so lucky to have made many good friends with the Rotary. Thanks Allan and Trish and everyone who joined in on that weekend. We’ll miss you all!

YOUR HONOR YOUR HONOR

2008-11-18T01:40:00.000-08:00

Ed & Michele Siemek were in Wellington for a week in September and while staying with us, Michele took a call from the Governor of Minnesota to interview for a judicial appointment. We recently received news that she indeed got the job and is now the Honorable Michele Davis - Siemek of the 10th Judicial District. Way to go Michele! Besides interviewing, we also got out on the Wellington Harbour for an unexpected sailing adventure – during our sunset cruise, we were put to work by the Sailing NZ Academy. Our captain made great use of this motley crew and taught us to sail around the Harbour. With a good wind that day we were all a bit concerned about Michele’s comfort as she was over 4 months pregnant, but as the assistant captain, she supervised the crew like a pro.

Recommendations

2008-10-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

Until we have a few more adventures to post, we thought we’d do what many bloggers do and recommend a few links.

Cost Of War
For those that remember Jim’s project 18 months ago called MyWarTax, the concept/code was donated a few months ago to the National Priorities Project, which attracts more than 100K hits a month and now uses it as the Individual Tax Calculator. More people now see what they personally pay for Iraq: http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar/individual

Absentee Ballots
Hoping to add to the record voter turnout this year, we delivered our ballots to the US Embassy a few weeks back. But a friend sent this video to Jim of what could have happened if we hadn’t…
http://www.cnnbcvideo.com/index.html?nid=maRCuUhEUeGekF5iTrdlNjM0NDI3MDg-_by=11169223-k5IJosx

Credit Crisis
Whether we like it or not, it seems we’re all now in a big Macroeconomics class together. This podcast below covers the crisis in a way that one can actually understand.
http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=94411890

And for an inside view on how the sub-prime crisis got going in the first place, this is a fascinating listen:
http://www.thislife.org/radio_episode.aspx?episode=355

FRIENDS!

2008-10-05T00:45:00.000-07:00

Jim and I are blessed to have great friends – some were even willing to travel nearly ½ way around the globe to visit, well …maybe part of the draw is New Zealand as well.

Jann Varner, a friend of Angie’s since Kindergarten, was the first of several who recently made the trip. During her stay here in August we escaped for a night to a spot on the East Coast of the Wairarapa between Riverdale Beach and Castle Point just a few hours from Wellington. It was called ‘Parrydise’ holiday home, a highly recommended spot. The views were spectacular as you can see with Castle Point in the background. Wow!

Kathy Sapp arrived as part of an annual “girls trip” event, or as they call it here, “the hens trip”. Kathy arrived early with the intent of just hanging out for a few days in Wellington. She accomplished that, and being in the Capital city, also rubbed shoulders with a Member of Parliament, Winston Peters, who had just been censured by the Parliament Committee. We attended a filming of a weekly live political show at the famous Backbenchers Bar across the street from Parliament. Mr. Peters was up for a bit more publicity so he was there as well (See Photo). The gracious Mr. Peters after posing with Kathy for a tourist photo said, “Good luck with your travels in NZ” to which Kathy replied, “thank you and good luck…uh…uh… with all your stuff going on…” Remaining his cool self Mr. Peters replied, “Oh don’t you worry about me…” to which Kathy jumped in, “oh after what I saw on the news tonight, I don’t need to worry about you Mr. Peters.”

If only she could vote in the NZ election.

HUTT RIVER TRAIL

2008-10-04T21:18:00.000-07:00

We joined the Hutt Rotary clubs for a stretch of the Hutt River Trail today. It’s a trail system along the Hutt River that the club helped organize and connect. Every month, the Rotary Club meets and walks a stretch of the trail and we were fortunate to join in and help will away the rain. And as many great Kiwi events do, this also ended in the parking lot with an impromptu tea!

Angie pictured with Hutt City President, Linton Adams.

And the Best Political Ad Goes To….

2008-10-04T20:58:00.000-07:00

(From your resident political pundit, Jim…)

The New Zealand election is fully underway and whilst the main party campaigns feature smiling mug shots of their candidates or wedge issues that divide, the Green Party has stayed true to itself while respecting voters with a simple, intelligent and evocative ad campaign. The Greens have elevated their message beyond the squabbling of everyday politics and into the realm of aspiration. And isn’t aspiring for a better world and a better way of life what elections should be about?

FAMILY DOWN UNDER

2008-09-11T04:20:00.000-07:00

We had a well-timed visit of family during Angie’s School break in August. Angie’s Mom, Aunt, Uncle and Cousin came all the way from the states just to see us.

And as long as they were here, we decided to see some of New Zealand also. So after a few days in Wellington, we all headed for the South Island. Our 10-day trip covered a lot of ground, from Dunedin to the Milford Sound to Queenstown and Christchurch. This was also the first time for Angie and I in that part of the country and we were all blown away.

(Aunt Elaine, Uncle Fred, Mom, Angie and Cousin Colleen)

After a day near Dunedin watching rare Yellow-Eyed Penguins coming in from work, we headed for Milford Sound, one of the most awe-inspiring places on earth. Like all nature shots, the pic and video here hardly does it justice.

These mountains come right out of the water and with the recent snowfall, there were giant waterfalls cascading down everywhere we looked. As if the boat tour wasn’t cool enough, they also threw in a pod of dolphins jumping along side the boat and a few whales on the horizon.

Then off to the adventure capital of Queenstown, the birthplace of bungee jumping and all things sorts of adrenaline thrills. So whom of this crew do you think jumped off the mountain at the first opportunity? You got it, the youngster with the mustache. Fred and his daughter Colleen didn’t even need a push. They were either tired of traveling with us or up for the biggest thrill of the trip.

I guess Queenstown really brings out the adventurer in everybody - even Angie’s mom threatened to bungee jump. Instead we opted instead for the wineries down the road that were the most stunning we’ve ever seen, nestled in a narrow mountain valley.

We had way more fun than should be legal while the family was here, including scrap iron art, castles, chocolate fountains, almost-Ritz Carltons and getting stuck in two-inches of snow, like they had to come all the way from Minnesota for that.

FIRE!!

2008-08-02T03:26:00.000-07:00

Even though 0ur friend Allan Brown has retired as President of the Rotary, he continues to be involved with numerous projects including the first ever fire sculpture event at the Petone Winter festival (for our contacts back home in Minnesota, even though the water is not frozen and there's no snow on the ground, this is the dead of winter).

The first shot is of the artist accidentally posing as the fire dancer sculpture, with

Allan on the right.

Step 1 was Allan installing the platforms

Step 2 was the sculptor

s installing their wooden and flammable work

Step 3 was "anyone have a light?"

Step 4 was a northerly wind that blew all the sparks into the harbour

Angie's B-day Bud

2008-08-02T02:43:00.003-07:00

O.K. Late for birthdays is one thing; Late for Birthday blog posts is another.

So here is a belated update on Angie's b-day. We had a great weekend in Martinborough Wine Country, but besides my superficial barrage of tawdry material gifts, I also arranged a date for Angie. No, our marriage and love life is just fine, but I only have two legs and there is a spot in Angie's heart for four.

So Angie and Kip had a date. Kip was a set up from a friend of a good Kiwi friend, Pattrick.

We were warned that Kip was an older pooch, but he wanted to climb those NZ hills you see in the background much faster and further than we did. Anyway, a great

day was had by all eight of our legs.

P.S. Only one of us pooped in public.

A Sunday Adventure...

2008-07-16T02:55:00.000-07:00

Because Jim and I plan to do the 4-day tramp in Milford Sounds before returning home in December, I started to prepare by purchasing a sweet pair of hiking boots. Sunday we decided to start training for this event with a day tramp over the Rimutaka Mountain Range. We can see the Rimutakas from our window, and they were just taunting us to give it a go. There’s a common route through the old train passage called The Incline. It was rumored that if we took the train to the last station before the tunnel, we could then walk The Incline over the range in time to catch the last train back to Wellington from Featherston. Rumors.

6-hours later, after completing the trial, we phoned a taxi to get us to the train on time. In this rural area, it was an estimated 60 min wait and lots of $$. Knowing we would miss the train we put on our positive attitudes and began to walk another 10+K into the town. The good attitudes made it 7 of the 10K. Then we gave hitchhiking a go, it did not work perhaps because (1) it became so dark we had to shine a light on our thumbs, or (2) drivers could sense that we had our pockets full or rocks ready to fend off dogs barking at us from the farms we passed. To make a Loooong story short, we reached town two-hours later, making our complete walk a short eight hours in total!

The bright side included a fantastic trail; seeing a few one-day old lambs at a farm we passed; an almost full moon to keep our walk into town brightly lit; our marriage might be stronger; we found the last available accommodation in town. Our hosts were so kind as to pick us up at a wonderful pizza joint because we could not bear to walk another step! Thanks to Judy and Neil’s B&B we made it home safe catching the 7:35 AM train in the morning back to Wellington. We must have stuck out to the Monday morning commuters.

Tonight we will spend time at home soaking our feet. Well, at least my boots are worn in now….

Global Warm Fuzzies

2008-07-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is a test to see if our tech skills are there... we'll try linking to a video that Beech turned us onto yesterday. You just can't help but to watch with a bit of amazement. Hopefully, you now see a Youtube video screen below that you can click on if you have a few minutes to watch (and a fast internet connection). Tech tip. If it keeps stopping, hit pause while it's playing and let it pre-load a bit. If you're lucky, you might be the 5 millionth view.

It reminds me that no matter where in the world you are, people are all pretty much the same... kids. Young or old, still kids at heart.

Angie’s "Minute of Fame" in Whanganui

2008-07-06T20:54:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Whanganui was both pleasure and study for Angie. Judith Timpany, the President of the Rotary Club of Whanganui Daybreak hosted us in style. From her turn of the century (the other one) Victorian home, to her wonderful cookery and fabulous hostess abilities, we felt spoiled.

With Judith’s passion and knowledge of community-based programmes for youth, she arranged many visits for Angie to learn about at-risk prevention programmes in the area. And if that wasn’t enough, add on an interview with the local newspaper...

Much to our surprise Angie appeared on the front page of the Whanganui Chronicle the next day!

All News Is Local

2008-06-29T02:12:00.000-07:00

As we heard the news that Tiger Woods won the US Open last week, we understood a very local connection: Steve Williams, Tiger's Caddy and friend since 1999 is indeed a Kiwi. Take that Prince Caspian!

http://www.kiwicaddy.com/news.asp?id=10&pcatid=2&pid=17&task=display

On another note, very sad to see our home state and the Midwest US in the internationl news due to the flooding.

Winter Has Arrived

2008-06-29T02:09:00.000-07:00

June 29. The Ferries between the North & South Islands were canceled today as with most light plane traffic at Wellington's airport. "Light" planes because the wind was so fierce it would blow them around too much (makes you feel for those larger planes that must have had an unnerving landing).

So not long after the shortest day of the year (Winter Solstice on June 21st - that takes some getting used to), the rumored Wellington wind has finally arrived. Hope you're all enjoying summer up there in the Northern world. It's official payback time for all those sunny blog entries in January...

Window Whaling

2008-06-06T05:15:00.000-07:00

This front page story reminded us that life in Wellington can be just a little different than watching squirrels run about our tree in the front yard in Minnesota:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4565118a6000.html

- And no, unfortunately, neither of us where near the waterfront that day. Yet we did see some seals the next day... the ones the orcas didn't eat.

$2 Gas!

2008-05-24T15:58:00.000-07:00

Actually, it's $2.0 per LITER here. You think the fuel prices are high back home? We ran the numbers to see how they compare, and with 3.78 liters per gallon, $2 per liter equates to $7.56 per gallon.

Thankfully, Wellington is a walking city, but we’d better invest in another pair of walking shoes as all price indications for oil are onwards and upwards. Strange that even with the price of oil increasing by five times in just six years, consumer demand hasn’t really dropped much. Goes to show how fundamental oil is to our societies and lifestyles.

Rotary Conference

2008-05-20T04:37:00.000-07:00

Jim and I attended Rotary District 9940’s Annual Conference held in Taupo, NZ. We accompanied Hutt City Rotary Club President, Allan Brown and his wife Trish, Ambassadorial Scholar-Jaretta Richey from Texas and Youth Exchange student Max, from France.

The opening ceremony included a tribute to ANZAC Day (26 April). It was quite impressive to see how fully this country embraced its history and remembered its fallen soldiers.

Presentation highlights included a theme of action to assist in ending domestic violence in New Zealand and information on the Shelter Box Project, which, began with the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard, UK.
Unfortunately too soon after learning about the Shelter Box Project a natural disaster struck Myanmar. Coincidently one of the Rotary members at Hutt City recently visited Myanmar and presented on his experience there. This certainly does bring the disaster closer to home. The Hutt City Rotary Club has already raised funds for two shelter boxes to aid those in Myanmar. Check out the website and donate to an excellent cause: http://www.shelterbox.org/home.ht

And what’s a rotary conference in Taupo without a Mardi Gras party? And what’s a Mardi Gras Rotary Party without men in tights? A hysterical night!

Language Subtleties

2008-05-04T03:46:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that the blog entries have slowed considerably since we settled in Wellington. With three months now under our belts, we’ve sort of settled into more of a “living here” routine, and less of the big adventure traveling the world.

Now moving from America to New Zealand was not a huge culture shock as you might
expect. Both countries being English speaking, Western democracies, it
was difficult to even believe we we're on the opposite side of the
planet. And being predominately of European decent here, we don't even look
like foreigners. There have been times walking along a crowded street of Wellington when we realized, oh yeah, if we're not speaking out loud with our North American
accents, they don't know we're not Kiwis!

However, there are lots of little things everyday that remind us that we are indeed in a foreign land. Take the simple task of buying a cooler:

Chilly Bin
Early in our trip as we we’re going to be living out or our car and traveler’s lodging, we knew we’d want to keep some foods cold between stays. So we went looking for a cooler, thinking a gas station or grocery store would likely have one. We’ll that week, English felt like a second language. When I asked where I could buy a cooler, I received only blank stares in return. After several attempts, of playing charades with the clerks… “O.K. I’m off to a “Barbie,” I’ve got my lamb shanks and food, and I have my (Blank), which I have put ice in to keep my beer cold…” That was all it took, his eyes lit up and the fill in the blank was a "Chilly Bin!" So we are the proud owners of a chilly bin.

Here’s a few other phrases we’ve noticed.

There's the easy ones like “g'day” and “Cheers” and “Mate” and “Bloke.” Though we still feel like posers tossing those around.
A much more subtle difference is that Kiwis use “how ya going?” not "how ya doing?”
There’s a dairy just down the street from our flat. Any guesses? That’s
right, the “Dairy” is the corner market or convenience store near our flat(apartment).
My favorite is “Heaps” to describe a large quantity. Oh, I’ve got heaps more…
Another favorite is “Sweet As.” There’s never a conclusion that comes after this phrase. I always feel an innate need to finish the thought, but the beauty of “Sweet as” is it’s just left wide open to any positive conclusion (Kevin: “Hey, I went bungee jumping yesterday”. Brad: “Ah, sweet as…”). So you can see how it works. But before we really got the accent down, we thought “sweet as” was a comment that our butts were getting in good shape from all that walking.
And of course, “Tea.” Tea can have a much broader definition that we'd ever thought. “Come on over for tea” can indeed mean a cup of tea. Or a cup of coffee. Or a glass of wine, or a beer. Or dinner! This one we have far from mastered. We still can't understand how people can respond to an invitation of “tea” as they may have no idea what the invitation might entail.

Well it's tea time, got to go...

SPEAKING OF RAINBOWS...

2008-04-29T05:49:00.000-07:00

Just to add a little colour to the blog. That's right, color spelled the NZ way...

JIM'S FIRST WEEK AT WORK

2008-04-05T04:47:00.000-07:00

As of April, Jim is working with Scoop (www.Scoop.co.nz), a website news service based here in Wellington. Scoop has a unique business model, aggregating raw news and press releases for politics and business in New Zealand and abroad. It also offers readers a wide variety of editorial/opinion writings. Scoop has a maverick journalism entrepreneur feel, which suits Jim fine.

So for those of you that know Jim, you’ll appreciate that when he was offered the chance to tag along to a climate change debate with four of NZ’s top political parties on board the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior, it took him all of .5 milliseconds to clear his plans for the evening. Politics, climate change debate, independent news, all on board the world’s most famous protest vessel… Jim’s kind of evening! Of course you can read all about the debate on Scoop: (http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0804/S00026.htm)

FAMILIAR FACES!

2008-03-29T22:05:00.000-07:00

FAMILIAR FACES

It certainly doesn’t feel like you’re halfway around the world when your brother and his family pull up into your driveway. It was a bit surreal to see Jim’s 3rd oldest brother, Randy, wife Gayle and our niece Anna walking up to our flat here in New Zealand!

They flew into Auckland, and drove through the North Island a few days before arriving to Wellington. We had two-nights and 1 FULL day together in Wellington. We say it was a full day as we packed in the Botanical Gardens, town shopping, waterfront and beach walk, Parliament tour, cable car ride and the three highest city lookout points. They timed it right complete with a full moon and some of the best weather that Wellington can offer.

We gave them our best whirlwind tour of Wellington before they hopped on a ferry to the South Island on Good Friday. Good thing the ferries were running because much of the country is closed for Easter. (Holidays are done right in NZ as well as vacation with most people getting four weeks.)

Our family sure knew how to do their vacation right by celebrating Easter in the South Island city of Christchurch, before heading over to Wanaka and Milford Sounds. Rumor has it that Anna bunge-jumped. Perhaps we can upload a video of that if she sends one… hint, hint, nudge, nudge….

Ambassadorial Scholar's Orientation Weekend

2008-03-29T20:47:00.001-07:00

On March 26 & 27 Angie attended the orientation weekend for all Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars in New Zealand for the 2007-2008 school year. Countries represented included the US, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, Trinidad and France. In addition, there were three NZ outbound students will be studying in Senegal, the US (Columbia University), and Brazil. It was an amazing experience being part of such an international delegation. All geographical barriers seemed to disappear over dinner as we discussed food and wines (with our French expert!), fields of study, and compared our experiences and perceptions of being here in New Zealand.

A highlight for me was learning more about the native Maori culture, which is strongly integrated in New Zealand. The Maori language is taught in many primary schools, many public signs are bilingual, Maori greetings & words are used in public broadcasts, and there is a Maori TV channel. What surprised me most was a deliberate resurgence. The Maori cultural leaders have a strategic plan to ensure that the Maori language and culture does not disappear over time. Just one of the strategies includes a goal for the number of PhD's in Maori Studies annually. In fact, the Rotary Scholar from France is here pursuing a PhD in Maori Studies.

SHAPESHIFTER

2008-03-16T03:20:00.000-07:00

The Rotary Club of Hutt City’s annual Shapeshifter sculpture exhibit took place for three weeks ending March 16th. The sculpture exhibit runs as part of Wellington biennial arts festival (Hutt city is on the Northern end of the Harbour on the Hutt River.) and attracted over 5,000 paying adult visitors. It is the biggest fundraiser for hospice, the arts and youth.

Over $1 million worth of sculptures came from artists all over New Zealand and were installed throughout a park in the middle of town, an almost forgotten public space. The Civic Gardens were hence transformed for three weeks by the Shapeshifter Sculpture event.

Yet its transformative effects will last much longer. By installing permanent fence pillars with removable fencing material around the Civic Gardens, the park is now set to handle more such events. A local paper wrote that it was a park long forgotten by members of the community. It was great to be part of its revitalization and see it as a source of renewed civic pride.

Angie and Jim pitched in their help from everything to erecting the fence, to helping transport and install sculptures, to bartending at the opening gala, as well as take shifts running the entrance table.

We’ll post more pics soon to show how sculpture and art are displayed throughout the Wellington area. It really is amazing to see a city put so much art and creativity into its public spaces.

Horse Riding and Rugby?

2008-03-03T18:47:00.000-08:00

Horse Riding and Rugby had something in common Friday night. We volunteered with the Rotary Club of Hutt City to work at a Westpac Stadium concession stand, with all proceeds going to the Hutt Valley Riding for the Disabled (RDA) site. The Rotary supports this organization through events like staffing concessions at the Rugby games and its annual Shapeshifter sculpture exhibit (more to come about this). Angie had just visited the RDA riding site in the Hutt Valley this past week. Her interest was peaked because the Hennepin County Home School in MN has a ‘We Can Ride” therapeutic horse riding program that does similar work.

The Hurricanes made the local fans happy that night by blowing over the Chiefs (how’s that for sports/weather metaphors?) at the Rugby game. Though the game was quite different than we’re used to, sports stadiums appear the same everywhere with vast seating, corporate naming and box suites all around the top. The location is pretty spectacular right between the harbor and the train station that services most of the area that the Hurricanes represent.

It wasn’t a sell out crowd so we could break away from schlepping drinks to watch our first professional rugby game. U.S. football looks pretty tame comparatively. They hit and tackle just as hard in rugby, but don’t wear any pads. Like ice hockey, there are special rules if a player is bleeding. And a touchdown is called a “try”…. Hmm. Anyway, after the final horn, the game ended with a drop kick through the uprights, which we’re told doesn’t happen often. Nice try… I mean goal.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL -VICTORIA UNIVERSITY

2008-02-19T02:31:00.001-08:00

Angie left for her first day of school on February 13th! As you can see Angie is a typical student complete with backpack (good thing school is only ½ block away-those books can be heavy to tote around). When she has completed two trimesters, she will receive a Graduate Diploma of Arts through a postgraduate study in both Criminology and Social Policy. What a perfect opportunity for an international student to learn about the Criminal Justice System in New Zealand.

ROTARY CLUB OF HUTT CITY

2008-02-19T02:02:00.000-08:00

Angie attended her first Rotary meeting at the Rotary Club of Hutt City and made a short speech of introduction to their members. The meetings take place at a Lawn Bowling Club, quite a different venue from the Rotary Club of Edina. Allan Brown, pictured, is the club president. He and his wife Trish are tremendous hosts- we have enjoyed spending time with them.

LOOOONG LUNCH

Jim and Angie were lucky enough to arrive in Wellington just in time for the Rotary Club of Hutt Cities annual Loooong Lunch.

The lunch is Loooong because it takes place in Martinborough, a 45 minute trip on a train to wine country! The trip includes wine tasting at a boutique vinyard owned by one of the Rotarians and a lovely lunch that was catered by the ever so talented club President’s wife, Trisha. The day consisted of good conversation, lovely food, music and plenty of wine.

FIRST VISITORS FROM AMERICA

2008-02-19T01:53:00.000-08:00

We had our first visitors from America! Tom and Gaia arrived on Feburary 13th and spent 3 nights right outside of Wellington. They had biked across much of the South Island, 700 KM- that’s hard core. We expected them to be beat, but instead they were upbeat and full of energy. We had just moved to the city a few days prior so we all explored together (the Kapiti Coast and the Circa Theater) and as you can see from the photo, we broke in the new pad in style.

NEW HOME SWEET HOME

2008-02-18T22:27:00.000-08:00

We upload this blog entry while overlooking a game of cricket at Kelburn Park. We are fortunate that our place faces NE, which allows for a view past the park and unto the bay. In a few months, we may actually understand what’s going on in that cricket game.

How nice it was to finally unpack our bags and to have awoken 7 mornings in a row in the same bed! We have rented a fully furnished flat and are extremely fortunate in how it is furnished. It must be remodeler’s karma because as we rented our house in MN after a major remodel, this place was recently remodeled as well.

Here are a few pictures of the new place as well as a map of where we are located. Wellington is set up a bit like San Francisco with the city center down by the waterfront and lots of residential living up the hillsides surrounding the bay. If you can’t tell from the map it’s a pretty steep slope from our flat to the city. In fact there is a cable car that runs up the hillside right by our place – we are the second to the last stop up the hill. Our sore legs are already realizing that they’ve had it too easy for too long.

Our new address:
====================
Angie & Jim Cousins
2B, 88A Salamanca Road
Kelburn/Wellington 6005
New Zealand

Angie: 64-211-802-252
Jim: 64-211-803-853
====================

(Double Click Photos to Enlarge)

HOST COUNSELOR

We were delighted to arrive in Welly to a wonderful welcome. Greg and Jacquie could not have been more accommodating. Our two night stay grew to five given the high demand of rentals in the city. They not only helped us find our way around but also led us to a great neighborhood, the best grocery store, a hidden gem of a pizza shop, and a lovely sunset picnic spot!

WELLINGTON

2008-02-03T21:05:00.000-08:00

February 1:
We made it to Wellington just in time for one of the finest summer weeks of weather they’ve had this year. No photos to post as we were extremely busy looking for an apartment in Wellington. We stayed with our Rotary host family, Greg Thomas and Jacquie Wilson, who were a tremendous help orientating us to the city and pointing us in the right direction in our home hunting (Thank you Greg and Jacquie!!). It turns out that Wellington has a lot more demand for rental properties than supply. We looked all over town for three days straight; by the fourth day we finally signed up with a great flat right next to the University of Victoria. This leaves Angie a thirty-second school commute and if Jim has work in the city, it’s just a 10-minute walk.

Our move-in date is February 10th and we’ll report more on Wellington then. For now, we have a week to see some of the South Island. More to come..

A 7-Hour Day

2008-02-03T20:58:00.001-08:00

January 26:
It’s not your regular 8-hour workday, but walking the Tongariro Crossing between two volcanoes was 7-hours of hard work! No blisters, but we certainly felt every movement in our legs for the next few days. The TC is near the main ski hill on the North Island, but the area now gets even more visitors for the summer hikes. It literally looked like a line of ants walking along that trek. We sure could have used 6 extra legs…

ROTORUA

2008-02-03T20:50:00.001-08:00

Rotorua is somewhat central in the North Island and is clearly the center of tourist activities for the region, including many hot springs and volcanic areas and sites of native Maori villages.

We walked through the Wai O Tapu Geothermic Wonderland that included one pool (or a pond for you, Carl) that had an acidity level almost that of battery acid. Lots of sites with gas escaping, boiling mud, etc. It turns out the smell of the earth’s underbelly was not all that different that of a human.

And here’s a quick snapshot of a Maori Warrior we bumped into. O.K., he was on his way to a reenactment performance we attended, but still…

Coromandel Peninsula

2008-01-24T03:09:00.000-08:00

On The Coromandel Peninsula (directly to the East of Auckland), we visited a place called “Hot Water Beach”, where just underneath the sand, hot water is escaping from some underground spring. So we dug in our feet, expecting some warm water but had to jump out immediately as the beach could be named boiling water below beach.

While at the beach, somebody nearby spotted a school of dolphins off in the distance. We could see maybe 5-10 of them -- see the video where we caught a great glimpse of one dolphins showing off as they all swam by at an impressive pace.

Lastly, a 45-minute hike from Boiling Water Below Beach brought us to a beautiful spot called Cathedral Cove. The Ocean slowly carved this cathedral shape (20-25 feet high) from a landmass that separated to gorgeous beaches. Now people walk through the cathedral between the two.

Boat - Trees - Beach

2008-01-18T15:21:00.000-08:00

After a 6+ hour sailing tour through the Bay of Islands on the East coast, we drove across to the West coast to spend some time on Baylys Beach. On the way, we stopped in the Waipoua National Forest to see one of the oldest living Kauri trees, which used to dominate much of the Northern New Zealand landscape. For size perspective, you can see Angie in a black shirt in the lower right corner. We could only fit into the camera frame the lower portion of this tree that has seen 2,000 years, all but the last 700 years or so sans humans. The sap from these gigantic trees fell to the ground and provided for the gum export industry for decades in the 1800s.

We are learning a lot of the history, but not enough about the present variations in such things as sand temperature on bare feet.

So we ended the day by coming into a small town of Baylys Beach. What’s unique about this beach is the road just turns into the beach and then at low tide people drive as far as they want down the coast, over 90 miles. So they drive a while, camp, hang out on a private stretch of beautiful ocean beach, and then move on. There are maybe just one or two other access points along the way.

Yet given our 2-wheel drive car, the approaching high tide, and our spinning wheels, we got nervous about .05 miles into it and drove the car back to the main road. But it’s a good walk too...

Boring Lunch

2008-01-15T01:03:00.000-08:00

This boring lunch video was from last week in Whangarai on our way up to The Bay of Islands. It seems every town has some natural wonder nearby.

Piha, West Coast NZ

2008-01-07T20:46:00.000-08:00

Wow! Auckland didn’t feel too much different from other big cities, but leaving Auckland was different: As long as it would take us to get from Mpls to an outer suburb, we drove from Auckland to the West Coast, to spend 3 days on a black volcanic surf beach called Piha (See photos). We’re told this is the beach where the piano was filmed - we’re on sort of on a global movie set tour.

Jim’s should get his money back because the surfboard he hired didn’t work.

What about sheep, you say? Well don’t you just love stereotypes that are there for a reason. Our first stay outside of the city and our nearest neighbors are two sheep in the front yard. It beats the sound of a lawn mower.

We’ll check in from up North…

Auckland, New Zealand

2008-01-07T20:42:00.000-08:00

We made it! We got our bearings in the big city for three days. We set up a bank account, phones, bought a car. We are now heading out to see the country before making our way to Wellington.

We have phone numbers now:
Angie 64-211-802-252
Jim 64-211-803-853

Or if you’re into incredibly cheap phone calls, you can download Skype and call us. (www.skype.com). Remember, we’re 19 hours ahead of Central Standard Time. The photo is of Auckland City from across the harbor in Davenport.

More to come...

Fiji

2008-01-07T20:39:00.000-08:00

We missed Christmas in the air but there’s nothing like decorated Palm Trees to remind you of the holidays. We celebrated New Year’s Eve in Fiji and had to try the local brew called Kava, which is a fermented root. It doesn’t taste all that good, but on the bright side, it does make your mouth go immediately numb.

With over 300 Islands in Fiji, it was tough to pick just one. We felt lucky stay on an Island called Malolo Lai. The Fijians we’re incredibly friendly people and struck us as high energy considering how hot it was in the heat of summer.

You may recognize the raft in the photo. It’s from the movie Castaway, which was filmed just few Islands over from Malolo Lai.

And it wouldn’t be an Island vacation without about 4,000 sunset photos. Happy New Year!!

Ready for take off

2007-12-24T11:30:00.001-08:00

All went somewhat according to plan. We made it to LA; visited Angie's family that took us out for a Lebanese dinner and horseback riding (not the LA we expected!); sold our car yesterday; and we head out tonight on a flight to Fiji.

We likely won't have email in Fiji so we'll be in touch in NZ after we arrive (Jan 2nd).

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Seaside Napping

2007-12-20T23:23:00.000-08:00

On the way from SF to LA along the Pacific Coastal Highway 1, we shot this clip that depicts how we normally feel after our normal Christmas overeating, so it’s probably O.K. that we’ll miss the holidays this year. We take off from LA on the 24th, cross the international dateline, which scoots us ahead 23 hours and like magic, we land in Fiji on December 26th. Go figure.

The Long Arm Of The Law

2007-12-20T23:17:00.000-08:00

Mpls. felt like a small town as we came across the bay bridge into San Francisco. With about 18 lanes of traffic and 15 different lane messages (and for the millionth time, I don’t exaggerate), Jim accidentally went through the prepaid lane so now there is surely a picture of our license plate floating through the California data banks. We’ll probably be lucky to get on the plane to NZ now.

Fast boarding and slow cooking.

2007-12-20T23:15:00.000-08:00

What do ski reports, cooking from scratch and Driggs, Idaho have in common? Only the guru at the top of the mountain can answer that. Hanging in the Grand Tetons with Atlas and LaDuke was the perfect way to leave winter behind for a year and a half.

Driggs Idaho

2007-12-13T15:07:00.000-08:00

So this country is a little bit bigger than it looks on the map. No complaints though as much of the drive is spectacular. This video clip is as we enter into the Grand Tetons National Park area. We're boarding down the mountains with friends Dave Atlas and Karen LaDuke for a few days.

It seems we brought snow with us almost everywhere we've been. Denver got its first snowfall while we were there last weekend and it's snowing up at the Targhee ski hill getting ready for us in the morning. Pics of broken limbs to post soon..

Launch

2007-12-06T09:16:00.000-08:00

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow will stop… well actually the combination of all three will stop us. We made it out of the cities as planned on Dec. 1st, but decided to grab a motel on the border of MN before heading into a major ice storm in Iowa.

Just as well as we we’re wiped out from a whirlwind departure. Here’s a picture of our lives packed up in to a corner of the basement. Believe it or not, we packed too much stuff into that little bug (glad we didn’t take a bigger car!) and have been throwing ballast off at each stop.

T minus 30

2007-11-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

We're getting ready for departure!

Jim's last day of work is Nov. 14th and Angie's is Nov. 21st. We continue the job of packing up our lives! We will begin renting the house December 1st and head towards LA in the VW bug to fly out of the U.S. on the 24th of December.

More to come...