one more revolution...

…of the earth on its axis will see us with keys to our new art-deco kingdom! This keenly anticipated event will reduce the enormity of today’s rite—in which we took a new key and drove out of the car lot in red raspberry/wine(y) splendor—to near quotidian…

As I was tying Lily’s tie today (this is the house tie-expert speaking) she said that she felt it should be the weekend. When asked why that was, she said this would be the first time she had gone to school on consecutive days. [Although it seems that both W & L have been going to school for ages, actually Lily went only twice the last week—on Tuesday, then two (sick) days off, and again on Friday, followed by the weekend…two days off.] She is making a mask at school…the Ice Princess. Wim handed in a poster today—facts about Krypton—and is now decorating a shield for his course in Roman history (requiring a trip to the store by Papa for cardboard and a trip downtown by Mom after school to buy poster paints).

T & me began looking at the Piano Quartet today that we will perform on Oct. 12th. (When will we first rehearse in our new digs with the renewed piano?) We have one principle focus of thought (eventually)—the music—constantly interrupted by the questions of planning and moving: How many phone-lines do we need? Where should the principle work station be? When will the frig come? ditto washing-machine? Where is the container with all of our household goods anyhow?

So, that is the scattered picture of today…a hodge-podge…it is all looking do-able…though…it would be nice to stop coughing. My voice is at least an octave lower than usual today, as it was yesterday. We had sun and temperatures of 60 degrees today but by dinner time (6 PM!) it was more like the 40 to 50 range (including in the music room…)

where's the steering wheel?

i check my watch to make certain it’s not the middle night still--post jet-lag doubts of the ability to just ‘know’—get dressed in a frigid room--trying not to cough--then silently descend the stairs…it’s sunday morning, 6:50 am…blogtime…

yesterday's first errand was a trip to downtown Waikikamukau for the purpose of picking up our TV (purchased two days earlier in a sale--a floor model that had to boxed after a box search). confidently walking out the front door, i am off for my first solo drive! i get into the left-hand side of the car and sit down…now forced to laugh at myself since no one else is around to notice the comedy (the steering wheel is NOT on my side…in case you missed the picture)…this less than salubrious start did not turn out to be an ill omen, things were fine after the false start. you need to know that we live in a town of hills and goat-paths made into streets, although the downtown layout is grid-like, the steep streets in the hills meander in counter-intuitive fashion; meaning that finding my way back to where i started was no small feat…also yesterday (saturday), we visited the botanical gardens, one of the beauties of this place. (Wim and Lily have a treasury of memories of it from previous trips) all of us are happy that this little oasis of bush with its aviary of colorful birds is so close to our home to be.

friday marked the close of our first fortnight here in NZ. lily made it back to school, coughing still but energetic and cheerful. wim spelled his ten words (‘imminent’, ‘luggage’, ‘amateur’, ‘batik’, rodeo’ etc,) for the ‘indigo’ group perfectly. he had picked up the list for the ‘violet’ group as well and learned some of those words (‘arteriosclerosis’, harum-scarum’ ‘yucca’) and spelled six or seven of those words correctly. when asked whether he would like to join the more advanced group he said that he would prefer to work his way up the usual way…on the health front: even wim seemed to be heading for the sneezles and wheezles but did not appear to really get worse yesterday…we have our fingers crossed

by the way, in addition to the ‘real world’ of comparative shopping for insurance on our new dream house and auto, and then setting things up with the obvious vendor—all of which took from 2 to 3 hrs, of T’s time on friday—we played our first concert in Waikikamukau! A lunch-time affair in which we joined others for the latter movements of the Mozart g minor pno. quartet we last played on july 1st in charlemont…!!! it was good to break the ice…it went well and we feel we made as good an initial impression as possible.

more news tidbits: sitting here yesterday typing away, the front-bell rang. in a house where each room has one or two antique clocks, it took a second ring for me to realize that this was something unique. at the front door was a mesomorphic rugby type of bloke (wearing shorts) with our huge parcel of winter clothes! what a welcome sight (yeah!)...he also had a special courrier type of yellow special delivery packet. this means that all of my documents (returned in the mailing) are registered and copied in timely fashion for consideration of NZ residency. the form letter says that i will have an officer assigned to my 'case' within at least six months and that a decision will be made within twelve months-- what a lengthy business! the one thing i lack is a 'complete' birth certificate rather than the 'appreviated' one that was submitted. (the difference being that the fuller form lists the names of one's parents--this should be relatively easy to get hold of) the good thing is that we made the three-month window from when the medical and x-ray things were completed and do not have to start over here...

a summing up of pluses:
+ we can now leave the house with coats, jackets and parkas...
+ only three days until we take possession
EXCELSIOR

a jolt to Kiwikirk good cheer

comes under the rubric of shipping news…a call to our shipping entity in Christchurch uncovered the fact that we were one digit short of identifying ‘our’ container. The next call to Sydney produced the missing numeral and the fact that ‘our’ earthly goods were not on the “Apple” but on the “Orange”, another ship altogether! That ship is not due in at Sydney until the 8th of September!!!**#! The friendly mate on the phone was not certain what would happen after that…possible shipment to the container port nearby or possibly a boat to Auckland where said cargo container would jump on a train for the voyage south. All of this news was very deflating for Kiwikirks planning to sit on a newly domiciled chair (for instance) on August 30th. It is within the realm of possibility that we would see our beloved boxes, chairs etc. during the week of the 11th…argh…so much for the local guy (in Pittsfield) worrying about the contents arriving before we were in the new place!

Lily’s second day home sick (when was she ever in bed for two successive days?) included a trip to the doctor and a prescription for a course of antibiotics. She apparently has some secondary infection on top of her cough/cold. Even Grandma spent the day in bed! Papa cancelled a trip to Auckland because of his ill-health…

The previous blog did not elaborate on the cold. Winter has definitely revitalized itself for one last blast. (It would have been handy for us if the box with winter clothes--mailed ages ago--had arrived. Perhaps some hardy boys have shaved while camping in conditions where the breath is visible but for me, it was a new experience (inside, you understand…) This introduces a new factoid that will serve as a subject some other time...the cold INSIDE (houses)

pervivid piffle and persiflage...

...snow & hail

Monday’s weather prediction for Waikikamukau (down under) was as you read. Saturday was quite the opposite. A birthday caller from Vermont alerted us to the nice day ahead and a great day is what transpired…we visited the public swimming pool--a water paradise consisting of an Olympic pool divided into two with lanes for laps (the scene of Wim’s tryout which turned out to have been one Olympic length!), a diving board in a separate pool, a second high diving board and pool, a wading pool, a wave pool with a little circular partially walled-off section with a current that sweeps you around, a large hot tub and a lengthy water slide (for an extra charge).

Later in the afternoon, we had a walk (Kiwi for hike) into a bush area of the city that leads to a reservoir. Two things stand out as noteworthy: the sense of being far removed from any sign of civilization and the variety and lush quality of the greenery, which really must be experienced to be appreciated. Fish and chips were the perfect reward for hungry hikers, accompanied by local brews (!)

Papa (G) having succumbed to whatever cough-y, cold-y thing we may have brought, the Kiwikirks set off to Knox on their own to sample the service and the Sunday School. A re-written or modernized Lord’s Prayer was the nadir of less than inspired worship event…we may look elsewhere. The afternoon was playtime with cousins for youngins. T & moi went for a moderate walk—attempts to burn off the effects of endless tea added to meat/potato dinners are all to the good.

Monday went off pretty smoothly but Tuesday weather and (over?) activity caught up to us. There was snow on the ground in the morning. Some schools delayed opening, some did not open at all. This was moot for the Kiwikirks because L had a fever and was coughing still. W had a pretty weak affect too and was suffering from diarrhea. That solved school attendance for those two. T & me rehearsed...

Oh, also on Monday we signed on for a red 5-door hatchback Suzuki Liana. We were surprised to be given a car to use while the car we are buying is shipped from the north island (it should be ours next week)…very cool. Interesting factoids: ‘low’ octane down under is 91, 96 is ‘high’. We planned to purchase a 1.6 litre engine but were talked up a size to 1.8 (for a discount of one grand). It happens that the larger engine takes ‘low’ where as the smaller engine requires ‘high’ (that was your second factoid)…meaning a hair less mileage will be balanced by the use of a lower grade of ‘petrol’ (what a gas…or what, a gas) (eats, shops (shoots) and motors off (leaves))

Tomorrow we are off to appliance land to equip ourselves with putative food cooling and freezing plus clothes washing and drying. We will next sign papers allowing the bank to help us ‘buy’ our abode-to-be and figure out how much it would take to replace our clubhouse in the event of total disaster (and insure for this figure). Okay, one more factoid—in NZ you can save by using the same entity for car and house insurance. (Back to cars—would you pay $350 (special deal, regular price—$650) for Teflon coating guaranteed for three years…it means washing only with water for period and probably more…included is a wide Teflon-flim strip along the bonnet to protect against pebbles and such…)

And this just in: we are filling in on a concert this Friday—someone else is sick…plus I have agreed to participate in a student cello sonata at the ‘Uni’(versity)…so, back in the saddle again. On dis que: play now because people will get to know us and soon concert activity will pause for the vacation period…Dec-Feb.

well…that is probably enough for now,,,hello, good-bye and good night

It’s Saturday in Waikikamukau

The Kiwikirks have survived and thrived for a week now. We have had some bone-chilling cold and some sunny warmth with temperatures in the high 60’s. Blossoms are all over downtown and on the hills that get full sunlight for much of the day.

L is thrilled with her school, her new classmates and her older cousin’s circle of friends. Her teacher is super. (Mrs. Hogg turns out to be petite, neat and very good.) As far as we can tell, the work may not be challenging enough for our clever little girl. The teacher is definitely savvy enough to figure this out if it is true and perhaps put L ahead at the end of this term.

W won recognition from his teacher on Friday--a fish, which was accompanied by a chocolate--an award “for fitting in so quickly”. His second Phys Ed class consisted of a walk to the huge public swimming pool nearby and tryouts for the swim team. Wim did not seem particularly disappointed not to have made the team. To me, he seems fast in the water but he really does not have the breathing down yet for a proper crawl across the width of an Olympic sized pool.

In this week, we have accomplished uniforms and onset of school for W & L plus mortgage application and approval! I guess we are feeling very chuffed! Yesterday saw the completion and mailing off of my application for residence. I arrived here with a work visa, but the form we sent off was the form that required chest x-ray, blood tests, police and FBI file check, etc. [The three-month period from the time of these tests were performed ends on the 24th, hopefully we should just make the deadline.]

Shopping news: The helpful salesman at the big appliance store recommended by P & G that we visited yesterday told us that they are having a sale next Wednesday. Since we are in the market for a refrigerator, washer, dryer and color printer/fax/copier, buying this necessary paraphernalia at 20 % off would be great. Today we might have a chance to look for wheels again—a Suzuki 1.6 litre hatchback or mini-wagon thing is probably the way we’ll go. Other market activity will be a paddle for W to use in gym and recess (expected cost of this present from Papa—as Grandpa G is known--$4). Also on the docket: the kids have been promised that they can open savings accounts...
.
Shipping news: C & G live where they can see the huge container ships unloading. By consulting the newspaper, we will know when our ship comes in and in theory at least, will be able to see our container unloaded! We'll keep you posted.

Today's news events: The Early Settlers Museum has an exhibition of old cars and the other museum has a traveling exhibition of the world’s fastest Indian (I saw it on the plane—you should see it). One of those sites will provide an activity for the morning. Otherwise…depending on the weather, today’s birthday plans call for a walk with T’s sisters & brother in law, cousins and the four of us. [G & P are busy with the university graduation.] We will celebrate with fish and chips washed down by NZ beer plus mac &cheese for kids.

that's all for now, folks

Wednesday…already

Today was W’s second day of school. Yesterday, Twenty minutes into his first morning, he joined his gym class playing some form of racquet ball outside. Without his ‘tracksuit’ (sweatpants that his providers were unaware were needed) he was fairly frigid, clad only in gym shorts and a t-shirt. In Math, which followed, he reported that he had difficulty holding a pencil and writing the figures because his hands were so cold. Apparently today was a bit easier. He is in the warm kitchen at the moment doing his homework--making the first graph of his life for science which is plotting the results of an experiment measuring the efficiency of three different insulators.

Yesterday, we shopped for Lily’s school uniform. Today we equipped her with a regulation backpack plus pencils—plain and colored, pads, markers, ruler, pencil sharpener, tape, glue etc. Needless to say, she is very excited. We met with her teacher, Mrs. Hogg and the headmistress, Mrs. Wilson this morning. They both seem very nice, capable and generally excellent!

We toured our new home today! It is everything we hoped for and full of good surprises…beautiful wood, generous storage in the kitchen and good closet space throughout. We had hoped to move in before the 29th, but apparently that is no longer convenient for the sellers. The view from the windows and the light streaming in were equally wonderful!! Much organizing is left to do but we now have a better idea of what the near future holds in store...

…our dance card

...back to Friday for a moment…after we arrived at Otoitu (the Petersen moniker for their domicile) a major tea was enjoyed by arrivees and greeters—both joined by Anna, Chloe and Christina, Tessa’s elder sister and her two daughters. Savory meat pies, sausage rolls and at least three different biscuits, snaps and lemon squares were enjoyed with an ocean of tea. As late afternoon morphed into evening, all and sundry sat down to a roast dinner with potatoes and kumara. A joyous and festive time for kept us all from any hint of jet lag.

‘Saturday in NZ’ cut out with the arrival of the Hamilton’s, the ‘new’ American string players from the U of Otago. Kate and Greg are each easy to talk to, savvy and pleasant. If our musical collaborations go as well as our introduction to each other, it will be great.

Sunday, I went to church with George. Mainly the Sunday School students took the service. This seemed especially ironic since Tess—to whom this service should have been of vast interest happened to NOT attend…George and I did some car shopping; Tess went to the concert of the Sinfonia; Wim and Lily went off to play with their cousins. Christina telephones at every opportunity to converse with Lily.

Today, Monday, we had an appointment with the headmaster of Wim’s new school. It is a large school—500 boys—and was very impressive. We picked up a few more bits of school uniforms. (This is a pricey business.) In every classroom we viewed, it was quiet with the appearance of concentration and serious application. The library was completely silent…boys looked up briefly from their books and quickly resumed what they were doing. (As we were leaving George and I agreed that we wished we could trade places with Willem and start over at that school.)

Off to open a new bank account, lunch, a meeting with the mortgage broker (very encouraging!) and lastly more car shopping (we transferred our allegiances from the Mitsubishi ‘Colt’ to the Suzuki ‘Liana’). We are looking at very small cars…the sort that have small engines, large interiors and mpg’s in the 40-45 per range. George has computed the price of petrol here to be about $5 per gallon (American style)

When we returned to Otoito, Lily had set up a special dinner for Wim—in preparation for his first day of school tomorrow. It was sweetly endearing…

we now (eagerly) anticipate Tuesday…

...more details

Wednesday, the big travel day, seems ages ago. I suppose the fact that one day was gratuitously skipped courtesy of the International Dateline adds to the distance.

That day started slowly. Because the hotel was fully booked, late check-out was not an option. We received a phone call at
7:30 AM asking for confirmation of mailing address from Rovshan, the Musician’s Union Pension Fund guy. He had noticed the Warrender Street address and said that direct deposit (which we thought was taken care of) was only possible beginning with the second payout. No change of address was possible over the phone—a letter or fax would be necessary (ASAP). After one visit to the lobby (internet access with printer available but no word processing program) I went back to the room to write and email a document from me to Tess. Then back to the lobby to receive and print this document and take it to the front desk for faxing. Finally, time for breakfast.

[There was a last minute, similar disappointment on Monday—some detail having to do with money that we thought was settled weeks ago and needed even one more last detail seen to…]

We went off to Beverly Hills having rented the Legoland car for two days. On the way to the Petersen Car Museum (!) we passed several showrooms for the fanciest sport cars. Heeding Willem’s cries of anguish, we doubled back, parked so that he could feast his eyes on Lotus’. Ferraris, Maserati’s, a very special Jaguar (only 5 made, $500,000 a piece) and his favorite, the Lamborghini.

We went on to the La Brea Tar-pit Museum—totally fascinating…Tessa had memories of seeing it first visit 25 years ago. We were back at the hotel around 4 for a final swim which was meant to make sleeping on the plane that much easier.

The short hop to the airport was made at 6 PM and we were soon at the check-in counter where we were told that due to some equipment problem (air-conditioning?, hydraulics?) there would be a delay. The plane finally took-off c.1:40 AM rather than the expected 9:00 PM. It is not surprising that we did not have a huge problem sleeping on the plane.

It was not until standing in line for customs that we heard about the latest London terrorist business. Obviously, the delay became less important in context of this news (our flight originated in London)…

Air NZ did not hold the connecting flights so we flew to Christchurch on the way to Dunedin (2 hours in the Christchurch airport). Out total travel time from the hotel to 47 Maori Road was twenty-five hours.

more catching up tomorrow…

Sat. in NZ

Yes, we are well and residing in Waikikamukau.

The detailed description of our taxing travel day will have to wait because of the heavy social schedule. We all slept well, a BIG bonus as you can imagine.

This morning we shopped for uniforms for Wim & Lily’s school, started lunch at 1 PM with Anna, Carola & Geoff in attendance. The first driveby viewing of house and schools has added to the excitement (also topics to return to…). In a few minutes we are expecting the a bevy of visitors; to wit, Kate and Greg Hamilton, the new American members of the Otago Music Department—she a violist and he, a cellist. (They have three children ages 15, 10 and 8 or something like that.)

George called up this morning to arrange for internet from this house (Yeah!). I will test the connection now…if you are reading this, we were successful!

Love to all…
The Kiwikirks

Legoland

We drove down the beautiful coast of southern California to Legoland. Five hours went quickly (most of the time--the shopping was tough for parents). Generous stored gifts flew from pockets after careful decisions were arrived at. Wim pretty much knew before we got there what his big box was to be, Lily had more decisions to make. Both kids cleared their goals of spending at least $100...(!)

Lily: Legoland is really fun—I would highly recommend it to every child in the world. My favorite ride was the Aqua Racers…Wim: I was surprised to see how many Lego bricks they must have used to make the displays. My favorite ride was the Lego Technic Test Track Roller Coaster!

My favorite moment was when Lily looked across a pond and recognized the Sydney Opera House

Now it's packing, a possible trip to the Petersen Car Museum and the La Brea tar pits; then Air New Zealand at 9 PM.
Are we ready?

non-noho, day one

Here we are on Lego day in L.A. (!) some thousands of miles closer to Waikikamukau. It was a surprisingly (pretty) easy trip thus far, The Hartford/Springfield (International!) Airport was not exactly humming like a beehive which made our first steps feel unrushed and uncrowded. Our first plane was a rather modest jet—two seats on either side of the aisle. The plane from Philadelphia was over-booked but we eschewed the offer of free round-trip tickets anywhere in the US in exchange for taking the next flight.

Wim says: The second plane trip was long and slightly tiring. There was nothing to see out of the window except for long strips of desert. (He did watch The Inside Man.) (Tessa says she thinks she saw Palm Springs.) Wim adds: every moment brought us closer to Legoland.

We are all set to begin the day--time: 6:00 AM!—Tess in the shower, Dad and Wim waiting for their turn in the shower. We will try to hook-up to the internet in our room (it happened, obviously) check the hotel info to find when breakfast starts, then cross the street to the Budget Car agency. Tomorrow’s flight is in the evening. The one daytime activity we have talked about is a possible trip to an exotic car dealership. Wim especially, is in favor of this.

excelsior!

getting mobilised (sic)

the kiwi kirk's will get in gear today. the initial stages of our antipodean journey border on laughable--pick-up by the Valley Transporter at 8:15 for an initial flight that will land us about an 1/8 of an inch to the west at W.C.Field's Philadelphia. at the top of the list of anxieties: will all eight checked items of luggage make the initial stage to la-LA? will the hotel there have wi-fi?

is there time now to contemplate/compare the various beauties of Truro/Wellfleet, Henderson Harbor and Lake Champlain? sampling them all was such a luxury (much appreciated by all the kirk's plus friends and relations)...what stands out at the moment are the stunning sunsets available at each venue occurring as the sun dipped down to water. could this be nostalgia? another observation is that the delights of Lake Champlain--ever changing compositions of mountains and water-- seem more available to everyone...no boat, no special beachfront required for their delectation.

Waikikamukau seems so very far right now. we trust that your keyboard and ours will maintain the close contact we all need in order to thrive--keeping the distances easily elastic...