Visions from Waitati

Ok. So after a SERIOUS reprimanding from quite a few people about how lax we've been in posting lately, here's one for the masses (but typed with the caring detail of a message to each and every one of you, I promise). I write this in the very exciting company of Diane and Scott Martin, Megan's wonderful parents, who flew in this morning after a delightful ride on Air New Zealand. We're big fans of ANZ, any airline that refills your wine glass during dinner is alright in my book. They also earned bonus points by, true to the Kiwi humor, filming the safety video played at the beginning of the flight using real employees with ANZ uniforms BODY PAINTED onto them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Mq9HAE62Y
Certainly makes you pay more attention to how to properly exit the aircraft. Diane and Scott came bearing gifts of food and love. I am sitting next to a huge pile of treasures from Trader Joe's. Periodically I look over and smile at it. A smile that I think is roughly comparable to when parents bring their newborn babies home for the first time and every once in a while glance over to make sure that this new miracle is, in fact, theirs. Theirs to love and keep. That's how much we miss Trader Joe's.

My sister, Miss Roxy-Ann herself, is flying in tomorrow and I'm THRILLED. Fair to say that she is too. As I type this, she's in route to the San Francisco airport. Everyone wish her luck. It's always fun to see how our group dynamics change as different people come. I think with the addition of our family members we can look forward to extra games of cribbage (Scott is an absolute SHARK), driving around in the soon-to-be-named Rav4 rental car, and their oohs and aahs as a reminder of just how cool it is to be in a country where breathtaking views are a dime a dozen. I'm pretty excited to have my second half here to add to the dynamics. I should also mention that Diane is currently utilizing three of the four homemade stockings to pseudo-wrap Megan's Christmas present. This is all so charming. I think if she had known how excited we would be about the chocolate covered peppermint Jo-Jos cookies (picture monkeys howling over ripe bananas after a strict diet of rice and oatmeal) she would have felt pretty comfortabe skipping Christmas presents alltogether this year in lieu of more chocolate.

We're in our eigth day here at Simon and Tace's house, and loving every minute. Our friends Sarah Brooke and Keith are housesitting two doors down and we have dinner plans to feast on Keith's pad thai tonight. Here is a run-down of highlights from our stay here:

Climbing at Long Beach overlooking a beautiful blue ocean and long stretches of white sand

Seeing our little chickens every morning, those ladies are absolute dolls. I've just heard important news that our five chickens laid six eggs today. You tell me how that happens. I think San Dieggo is working overtime. When Megan told me that, Mel yelled from the other room "That's my GIRL!" Being first time chicken owners (albeit temporary) we have a lot of pride for our chickadees.

Eating fried egg sandwiches- our poultry pride doesn't stop us from eating their potential children. No guilt.

Baking delicious desserts in our oven, which is a real novelty when you're used to cooking all meals on a camp stove.

Megan learning different songs on the guitar so we can all sing along (The Box by Johnny Flynn and Yankee Bayonet by The Decemberists/Laura Veirs. Fast Car by Tracy Chapman coming soon)

Our fabulous acapella Christmas caroling that we recorded for everyone's listening pleasure (soon to be posted, I hope)

The Christmas tree (some might call it a branch) that Mel brought home for us to enjoy the holidays with. It sits in the living room decorated with headlamps, flower garlands, popcorn strings, and a few Christmas ornaments that I bought here to send home to my mom (shhhh...)

Reading like banshees. We are FLYING through books.

Mel's homemade salad dressing every night- that girl is a culinary goddess

The quality time we've spent with Sarah Brooke and Keith including climbing, cooking, eating, learning, singing, and mainly giggling

The visit of the Hartleys, two English brothers who we have managed to sync travel itineraries with as much as possible

A great night with George and Jack playing Cranium, telephone pictionary, and our never ending games of "Ooh how do you say this? What do you call these?" and our favorite "Ok try to say this with an American/English accent," peppered with the occasional meaningful political conversation or discussion of current events, and lots and lots of laughing.

Megan dropping her phone in the ocean and breaking it just enough so that the only thing it does when turned on is repeatedly call "Jeremy DJ Boy," a hottie radio DJ who gave Megan his number in Auckland. I'm sure he's been loving the attention of getting 14 missed calls in a row every few days when we check to see if her phone has healed itself. Of course it would pick him.

Inventing our new favorite beach game of turning random squiggles drawn in the sand into pictures. We played that for probably an hour with Jack, while George played dad and patiently waiting for us to have our fill.

Last but not least, Mel, Megan, and Lauren, and me all sleeping in one queen sized bed last night for no good reason (as there were two other perfectly good beds going unused in the house) other than that we didn't want to separate at the end of the night. For those of you looking for logistical details, Lauren and I were facing one way with Megan and Mel alternating between us facing the other way.

I should probably note that we have been dearly missing Danielle, who is on the North Island traveling with her parents, during all of this. Who knows, maybe it would have been five in the little bed if she were with us.

A very common question we get is whether the five of us are getting sick of each other yet. I think the example of us all willingly sleeping like sardines because we prefer it to separating should give a pretty good answer to that. I'm not sure how we do it, but we do, and it definitely seems pretty effortless. I've noticed that the group of us act similar to the litter of puppies at the Brough's house. We seem to do a pretty good job of sleeping, eating, living in unison, usually preferring to do all of those things while in physical contact with as many other group members as possible. I think we also probably do a good job of understanding when each other need alone time and do our best to make it possible.

The five of us are also incessantly bragging about each other. It's probably annoying. "You would not believe how good Lauren is at soccer. Come to think of it, Mel too! Those two are gifted, I tell you. Fine oiled machines." Just an example.

But seriously, while we're on the topic, they ARE good at soccer. It's really impressive.

So that's how we live our lives. A lot of people have been asking how life is different here compared to at home. Things are pretty similar to home. Kiwis are a pretty darn nice bunch of people, it definitely stands out in day to day interactions with strangers. I'm so used to driving on the other side of the road that I have a hard time imagining the steering wheel on the left side of a car anymore. I'm slowly getting used to the really intense roadside signs urging you to drive safely: "Drink, drive, DIE IN A DITCH!", "Fate doesn't decide your speed, you do! (accompanied by a picture of the upside remains of a charred car surrounded by ambulances), "Feeling tired? Take a break" followed by another sign, 600 meters later, "GOT THE MESSAGE? TAKE A BREAK!" or "DRINK DrIvE." They even have some aiming at the younger, hipper population: "Hand the keys to a sober bro." 

Pretty creative. You have to admit. I would love to see what's going on the board room where they decide these slogans.

Duly noted. We will continue drive our little selves safely around while in this country. Posting all the while, I promise.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Hello to all of our faithful readers! Happy, happy non-denominational holidays to you all! The author of this post is me, Mel, the 5th addition to the crew. For those of you who don’t know, I went to high school with Danielle and Megan, and fell in love with Christy and Lauren during several road trips down to SLO. I’m coming up on my one month anniversary here (I’ll probably just buy myself some flowers, keep it low key). I’m writing this post on Christmas Day from the kitchen table at the wonderful home we are house-sitting at during the holidays. Let me fill you in on the back story to our situation: we were eating at our favorite café in Dunedin, Circadian Rhythm, when a woman sitting near us named Tace struck up a conversation about our travels here. Less than two minutes into our conversation she mentioned that she needed house sitters over the holidays…according to her we have “honest faces”, which we couldn’t agree with more. The next day we went and checked out their place, which is in a teeny town called Waitati (Y-Tah-Ti) about 15 minutes outside of Dunedin.

Tace, Simon and fifteen month old Olive live in our dream home. They are on a nicely sized piece of property with bountiful gardens, a green house, a caravan that Tace lived in when she first came to NZ (planning on only staying a week…)and five lovely chickens, Cinqo, San DiEGGo, Hoo-hah, Feathers and Raisin. The house itself is absolute delight, complete with a wood burning stove, spacious kitchen and two bedrooms, our favorite being the ‘sun room’ where we lounge around all day. Nicknamed our Goddess Haven, general consensus is this home has led to most relaxing week we’ve had in awhile. We usually don’t leave the house until around 3 or 4 (if we do at all) and dinner every night is filled with fresh veggies from the garden and eggs from the ladies. Truth be told, we have only had one night to ourselves here! We’ve had four nights of house guests, starting with Georgia and Grace, Lauren’s awesome little sisters, then George and Jack our wonderful English (not British, we were taught the distinction over dinner) friends and Sarah Brooke and Keith, friends from the US.

We’ve had a pretty adorable Christmas Eve and Day. Christy and Megan knitted (knat?) and crocheted stockings for all of us, which we hung in front of the stove, with care. While jogging yesterday I came across $5 Christmas trees in someone’s front yard- they are more along the lines of large branches, but nonetheless it is standing proudly in the corner of our living room. We decorated it with our headlamps, flowers, popcorn strings and various red-colored clothing. Last night we sang our favorite holiday tunes by the crackling fire and then watched Love Actually, a group favorite. Before we went to bed I made sure to leave a note out for Santa. We are sure he’ll be able to find us, even in New Zealand.

This morning we woke up and made Christmas Day pancakes while listening to the Nutcracker, Starbucks and Sufjan Stevens holiday CDs, respectively. After that we opened our sparse but meaningful pile of presents and took some cute holiday photos which will surface sometime soon. The rest of the day has consisted of the usual book reading, knitting/crocheting, movie watching, skyping with friends and family and good quality lounge time. We are really perfecting the art of just hangin out. The most memorable part of the day for Megan and I has been cleaning out the chicken coop; it turned out to be much more difficult and smelly than we expected.

Well, quite the post! Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful, magical holiday with loved ones wherever you are <3

crazy devil bird

Since arriving to New Zealand, we have become strangely interested in birds. It's not uncommon for us to swerve, pull over (slash stop Connie in the middle of the road) or follow various species. We are slightly more interested in the 'flightless heavyweights' (Kiwis, etc.) but have strong affections towards smaller birds, as well (such as the common Fantail, which apparently lands on an outstretched hand. Megan is often found walking around with one arm stretched out...).

However, today I was attacked by a bird. Fully attacked. Or, more like my foccacia sandwich was attacked. The Keas, the only alpine species of parrots, are gorgeous. So, naturally, I got really excited when the first Kea that I had ever seen landed right next to me! What luck! I was already thinking of what I would tell my super-cool-bird-obsessed-traveling-team! But then... things went steadily down hill from there... The incredibly gorgeous parrot turned incredibly aggressive and it started getting ugly. I took off and THREW both of my Vans at it, screaming. My mom was simulatenously trying to save the hummus while brandishing her Leatherman at it, also screaming at the top of her lungs.

I don't think I've ever been so scared of a bird before. I can't really describe it properly. I was SCARED. The look in its eyes was so determined and evil, I didn't know what to do. I literally stuffed my whole sandwich in my face, grabbed everything I could and RAN to our car.

I checked, and Keas are found nowhere on the North Island, which is where I am headed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kea)

So it's all good.

Merry Christmas

My little sister Grace is showing me her favorite youtube videos. This one's pretty fantastic and minus the fact that it was filmed in the UK, it would happen in NZ:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw#watch-main-area

Her other favorites come from a series on the BBC called Funny Talking Animals: A Walk on the Wild Side. She likes this one the best, but they're all  pretty good if you ask me. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ1HKCYJM5U&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=0663F5654A7B6C91

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOa5QCmOrz0&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh+div-1r-2-HM

It's been a hard day.

Southward bound

Our lucky streak seems to be going strong.. we stayed all of last week at the university dorms in Christchurch with a couple friends we had met at Hang Dog. The semester just ended, so with all of their roommates moved out and eight empty bedrooms between the two of them, it only made sense that we should move in. Nadav and George were wonderful hosts, and it was suprising how quickly and effortlessly we learned to cohabitate for a week. We finally got in some good dancing, after a dry spell of a month with no beats or grooves. Christchurch definitely knows what's up with the dance scene.. our favorite place, Boogie Nights, is fully equipped with a light up dance floor and people dressed up in neon spandex scattered throughout the crowd. The songs are all the hits from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.. and everyone knows the words to every single song. Oldies, Whitney, MJ, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls... As you can imagine, we had a great time.

Danielle, as per usual, made us stop at McDonalds on the way home for her ice cream sundae. I'll let her elaborate on this development in her life whenever she's ready.

Mel, our fifth zany American girl, arrived last week to a magical day at the public pool. I know we've written about the public pools before, but honestly, I don't think words can do them justice. We arrived at the pool, got changed in under two minutes, and sprinted (all five of us) down the ramp to the wave pool. Once we hit the pool deck, we turned into 7 year olds, at best. We laughed our way over to the lazy river, spun ourselves sick in the whirlpools, and stared longingly at the waterslides that were too pricey even for the amount of joy they could have brought. We ended our pool sesh lounging in the hot tubs, while Mel foolishly went for the steam room. They should put some sort of signage up that one should not combine steam rooms and jet lag.

So, last night the travelling team split, and Mel, Christy & I headed down to Dunedin to wait for the girls. We stayed at Hogwartz, a hostel on a hill up above the city that is a dream come true for any J K Rowlings fan. No joke, it really exists. The drive here was lovely, and it felt like Mel's first experience of 'real' New Zealand. The hills were glowing in the setting sun (which doesn't set until NINE THIRTY PM) and Mel stared out the window oo-ing and aw-ing and yelping exitedly with the Kinks playing in the background.

Today we've just been wandering the city in the rain. An hour ago we were sitting in a cafe, calendars out trying to plan the next few weeks before Christmas, and a woman approached us with a proposal. She first wanted to know if we were travelling (she is from Cayucos, oddly enough), and she next wanted to know if we'd like to house-sit for her for two and a half weeks over the holidays while she's camping with her family. All we'd need to do is take care of the chickens and keep the house up. We are very good at keeping houses up and readily agreed to the deal.

Oh, and we took our Christmas photos yesterday to send to you all. Be very excited.

c c co cooo cookkkss cookiesss

I just ate WAY too many of Lauren's famous chocolate chip cookies and now my stomach hurts. You know when Lauren makes these cookies and you feel like it's okay to eat tons of dough first and then five cookies on top of it all because.. i mean... she makes them with oats, raw sugar, wonderful nuts.. dark chocolate.. organic goodness... so they're healthy, right?

yeah.. no.. my stomach still hurts. and i wish that i could just teleport all those who know Cookie's coookies just as well as i know them to this very kitchen table.. so that i wouldn't have to eat them all myself.

but this is how we pretend we have a home... we move into other people's places and bake cookies. so having an aching stomach is definitely worth it. i accidently just ate another one and half way through it Lauren gave me a look and i remembered that i had just complained to her about my tummy.. so i put it down.

everyone, please come to new zealand. we will bake you cookies if you do.