Blog
July 2022
We are thoroughly enjoying our weekly trips to Mt. Hutt. It’s wonderful to be so close to the local ski fields. We are getting quite adept at waking up before dawn to make it to the mountain by 8am…Gotta get the close parking spot! We’ve run into friends several times, which is always fun!
June 2022
It’s winter in New Zealand! My brain thinks it’s December and seeing friend’s summer posts is definitely confusing. We loaded up with great used snow gear for the kids from the local second-hand sales. They are so stoked to have their own snowboards and spent hours placing cool stickers. Everyone warned us that the snow here wouldn’t be as fabulous as Colorado, however we’ve boarded a bunch on the US East Coast, and I would say that it’s about in between…not super powdery but not all ice either. All in all we are just excited to have access to mountains within driving distance from home.
Matariki, the Maori New Year celebration, is the 24th of June. It is a time for the country to reflect on the year that passed, honor loved ones, and celebrate the coming of a new year. The Matariki star cluster (9 stars) appears during this time in the night sky and the communities celebrate the stars with lighted shows and fireworks. I really enjoy the meaning of the celebration. Each star represents a different gift from the earth (from rivers to trees) and for me it’s a good opportunity to reflect and be thankful for the beauty around us.
May 2022
What a busy and incredible month! We celebrated birthdays and anniversaries with an overnight hike to Packhorse Hut. It is one of 4 rest houses (Sign) built on a proposed summit route from Christchurch to Akaroa. We, in fact, made it to almost all of the signs in one weekend. Packhorse hut did not disappoint with its amazing views and incredible sunset. The kids thoroughly enjoyed being able to eat noodle cups for dinner and pre-make pancakes for breakfast. I was so impressed with their resilience and determination to hike for hours carrying an overnight pack.
April 2022
April is the start of a very eventful May (many birthdays and anniversaries).. Fall weather is starting to bring brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows to the landscape. We are enjoying hiking and exploring on the weekends. The kids are making good friends and getting into a comfortable routine. We enjoy having family meals together almost nightly, which was rare for us in the US. Life here focuses much more on community and living life and we are soaking it in. I have come to appreciate having no easy access to buying goods. Of course the essentials are there, but the cost and lack of instant cart to door purchasing allows me to only buy what I really want or need. I miss inexpensive moderate quality kids shoes. The affordable kids shoes here are rubbish as the soles wear away in a week or two. I can’t make myself spend more than $40 on shoes when the buddy has puppy feet that grow a size overnight.
March 2022
Getting settled in New Zealand. The kids are making friends and loving their new school.
We had an opportunity to travel to Wanaka and Queenstown this month. The Otago mountain lakes are absolutely breathtaking! Since New Zealand hasn’t opened to travelers yet, we had the place to ourselves…which was one of the reasons we wanted to travel to this heavily touristed area.
February 2022
Turning lemons into lemonade. Due to getting slotted for MIQ in Auckland, we missed our connecting flight to Christchurch. Unfortunately, or fortunately it turned out, the airline would not give us baggage credit on a future domestic flight for our 9 bags. Instead of paying overage fees once again, we decided to rent a van and tour the north island on our way to our new home. What a fantastic trip it was! You never think of missing a connection as luck, but this time it truly was.
January 2022
Texas to LA…with some boarding and National Parks along the way. It was hard to say goodbye…or “see ya later” to family and friends, but we were equally excited for our adventures to come.
“On the way” to LA we stopped by Steamboat, CO to snowboard with great friends in one of our favorite places. Then we made our way to Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Zion, Hoover Dam, Death Valley, and Joshua Tree.
Fall 2022
Are we really doing this??? It sure seems real. Over the course of about 8 months we went from finding a job that was intriguing to selling our house and acquiring an MIQ spot. We realized how little we actual needed and selling most of our “stuff” felt quite liberating. We packed our most prized possessions into a small storage unit and loaded a crate with the items we couldn’t live without: snowboards, camping gear, a paddle board, and extra clothes…then sent it out to sea for it’s 3 month trek across the ocean.