july 1 around 7am. our flight left greensboro at 2pm and then we spent about 3-4 hours in LA before taking the looong flight across the pacific.it was an easy flight --
most folks slept and there were some good movies to watch ("becoming jane" and others.)
we left with 8 checked bags and 8 carryons (the limit of 2 per person! and arrived in NZ with 7 so we spent some time at the baggage check filing our "lost
luggage" paperwork.Luckily we brought along our own "baghandlers". (just a grammatical change in the southern hemisphere -- the punctuation always goes OUTSIDE the endquote.)
customs was a breeze and after about 90 minutes we easily found our pre-arranged roadcat van that drove us the hour and a half trip south to hamilton.
hamilton is a nice town of about 130,000 and the waikato pronounced WHY-CA-TO with the strong stress on the TO; CA is pronounced like the "ca" in "cat") river runs through it.
we live on a street off River Road -- which runs parallel to the river on the north side of town and the city centre is on the south side of the river. there are at least 5 bridges across the river and it is about a 15-20 minute walk to town from our house.
we live in one of the older houses -- which has not been updated intentionally in order to keep its charm. everyone that i've met in the neighborhood sa
ys "oh, you live in that house." there are only a handful of gas heaters in the house and the bedrooms are heated by small electrical heat blowers which are fairly common here. the house sits on a very deep lot which is very natural and to the right of the house is a neighborhood park where small kids play during the day when it is
not raining. our house is located in the lower left corner of the photo at right. this open park used to be the fairgrounds before they decided to created a convention center and green area. we live in the area of hamilton called claudelands.
we're cat-sitting two cats -- "jeanjean" and "lucy" -- both very sweet
cats. jeanjean comes into the living room (one of the rooms with a gas heater so it stays warm) and is very sociable, laying on our laps and wanting to be petted. he was seems to druel quite a bit when you pet him. lucy is quite the loner and stays pretty much to herself. she will let you come close to her BUT if you get too close -- she runs away. this is the rainy season in hamilton but i've heard that we're lucky it hasn't been
foggy or colder. the daily temperature seems to range from about 35ish to 60is and we're nearing the end of the winter season. apparently spring is very much like winter though -- about the same temperature and lots of rain. for instance, today the sky was north carolina blue with just a few white cloud up until 2:30 and then there was havy downpour for about 20 minutes. there are lots of rainbows here in hamilton -- and sometimes we see a "double rainbow".both katy and jimmy like their schools. since they've come into the classroom at midyear they were both a little nervous about meeting new friends but after school they talk about their
friends and the things they did at school -- like play netball or learn folk dancing or work on a textile project. katy is going to hamilton girls high school (photo right). we walked and took the transit system as well as lots of taxis in the first
month we were here but now we own a new used car! we got it last week and john has driven it to work, to the grocery, to the video store, etc. -- all fairly closeby places. i've not yet been drawn to the car although i have ridden in the car with him once. we really needed to have a car in order to see anything outside of hamilton. it is a 1994 mazda -- which has its own
pronunciation here: you pronounce "mazda" like this -- say "maz" like the "daz" in "dazzle" and then add the "da". it is a little difficult to get used to. 
john is teaching in the communication management department at university of waikato. it is a very serene campus -- with a lake as a center area where students meet.on one of the first saturdays -- when it wasn't raining -- we went to "mooloo
day" -- a 3 hour event at the waikato stadium where the
waikato chiefs (the rugby team) was
holding an "open day". all the players were there and they meet the fans and there are LOTS of things to do -- like eat, throw the rugby ball and such. there has been one home game that we got family tickets for but it was pouring down rain. katy and i
decided to stay home but jimmy and
john went til half time and
had a grand time.here are a few other things about new zealand that are interesting:
prostitution is legal. hamilton is the hometown of riff raff -- the author of "rocky horror picture show" -- and one of the lead characters in the movie. there is a casino (skycinema) in the city centre.
the bus system does not run on sundays.
sundays are not observed in the same way as in the states; when we first arrived i learned that the farmers market ran on sundays from 8-12 on sunday mornings.
there are not very many "stop" signs in NZ -- because "give way" is used much like a "yield" sign so the cars really never stop moving unless other cars have right-of-way or it is a red light.
rugby and netball are fun to play -- according to katy and jimmy.
roundabouts are the most wonderful things in the world -- and, of course, merging traffic doesn't really stop at a roundabout for very long.
much of the cold weather comes up from the mountains just to the south of hamilton.
raglan -- a town about 45 minutes due west of hamilton -- is at the coast and is famous for its black sand beaches.
the "east coast" is about 90 minutes due east from hamilton and many of the countries vineyards are located there and north.
kiwis don't like to be confused with aussies.
after about the 10th time i met a new person and they asked me if i was canadian, i asked what that meant and the fellow said, "we ask if you're canadian first -- before learning that you're american -- because we want to like you".
the maori language is very melodic.
lots of good stuff can be found at the second-hand stores which are run by organizations for causes like the salvation army or churches. private secondhand stores can be found too but are much more expensive. hamilton is the only interior city in NZ.
the maori people's name for NZ is aotearoa.
many things are expensive. for instance: 2 rolls of paper towels were $4+, jeans can run between $65-100, new books (and even used books) are VERY expensive ( i.e., new paperbacks are around $15).
there is a lottery here.
they don't serve "black" coffee -- you can't find any "regular" coffee because all coffees are cafe or boutique coffees.
jimmy has fallen in love with spicy chicken from neco -- a sushi restaurant.
not more than a 15 minute walk from our house -- on the same side of the river -- is 5 cross roads where there is a handful of takeway places -- mcdonald's, noodle canteen, hell pizza and more. there is liquor store and a butcher shop so i find myself there every other day to get meat for dinner.
since we've been here we went to visit hamilton gardens -- a beautifully landscaped public place with designed gardens from a
number of historical and geographical locations, and wide
open spaces.
