The Legend of Mount Taranaki

Found this cool little movie about the legend of Mt. Taranaki. "Our" mountain which has dominated our lives for the past year.  We will miss him.

Titletown, New Zealand.

In the centre of the rugby universe we have been swept up by the excitement surrounding the 2011 Rugby World Cup, hosted by New Zealand and finishing as it should be with a New Zealand victory! Their first Rugby World Cup Championship since the inaugural World Cup in 1987. The legendary All Blacks, think Canadiens or Yankees or Celtics, the winningest rugby team in history but time and time again denied the Webb Ellis Cup since 1987. The pressure was akin to the pressure over the Red Sox now the Cubs as they tried to get the monkey off their backs. They dominate world rugby but choke when it comes to the Cup. Not this year, the Boys in Black gutted out multiple injuries to their top players and outlasted the pesky French in the final by a score of 8 to 7.

Eli at the Wellington FanZone RWC 2011 Finals All Blacks v France

We were on our holidays and trying to return to Opunake in time for the final but due to a delayed ferry, we decided to stay in the capital, Wellington, to watch it. It was pretty exciting watching the final in a "Fanzone" with thousands of other Kiwis. The excitement and anticipation prior to the game degenerating into silence and tension as the game was far too close to enjoy until the final seconds ticked off. The echoes of Al Michaels' legendary call of the final seconds of the USA vs USSR 1980 hockey epic in my mind, "Do you believe in miracles!?...Yes!"

Locally, our region, Taranaki also got in on the "hardware" as they brought home the provincial title having scored the Ranfurly Shield at the end of the season. This was highlighted by their defense of the Shield during their final home game. The Shield made a dramatic entry via helicopter to open the match.

Henrik, Shelley, Logan and Izaak entering Stadium Taranaki .

Ranfurly Shield Defense

Ready for USA v Ireland

These colors don't run!

Nuff said

Stars and Stripes down under

Irish bodysuits, they're fannnntastic! Or something...

USA v Russia

Yeah!

Lastly, though not in rugby, Eli's Kaponga Soccer Club U-15 Team took home the Title for the first time and received their trophy and medals in an awards ceremony in the basement of Peggy Gordon's, New Plymouth's Irish Pub. Ya gotta love it!

Kaponga U-15 Soccer

U-15 Soccer Prizegiving

Unexpected seal encounters.

Over our ten months here we have seen our fair share of seals, up close and personal.  Only once were we actually looking for them.  The pups are darn cute, and the mammas and pappas rather intimidating when you accidently come upon them.

Hike to Red Rocks in Wellington, totally worth it!

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A little too close for comfort.  We didn't notice him when we hiked up a rock on Waverly Beach.  Interrupted his nap

A Day In The Life-Peter

A day in the life...I usually get up around 0645 ish and head out for a run/walk with Shelley for about 45-60 minutes typically I do the Opunake coastal walkway as it affords great views of foreshore, the mountain and of course, cows. Occasionally I will head up the Ihaia Rd if I want a change of pace.

 I arrive home and cool down for a bit, making myself a cuppa and helping the kids off to school but at a pretty leisurely pace as I do not have to be at work until a little before 0900 and they usually don't leave for school until 0830.

My commute is a rough one, a gut wrenching 5 minute walk into town. Talk about road rage, there is nothing worse than having to wave at people walking or driving by...sheesh!

I start my day and see patients from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM. Calling them in from the lobby and into my lone office/exam room. I take their vital signs and listen to their needs. On site phlebotomy is performed by the nurses. A small general purpose procedure and urgent care room gives us space to perform most office based procedures. The visits are straight forward and to the point. A quick review of anything which may be due in addition to their presenting issues, then write my notes and on to the next one.

Lunchtime! I may brown bag it or return home for lunch, however now that my 'partner', Ken Taylor, has returned to San Diego via Bali, I am a bit busier so I am returning home less often. I see more patients from 1:00 PM until 4-4:30 PM. I tidy up my notes, review the inbox and am usually home by 5-5:30 PM with little to no work hanging over my head.

The medicine here is very similar to back home in terms of rural healthcare. I have said many times it is as though I took my practice from Wilmington and plopped it down under. Scheduled patients occasionally punctuated by some urgencies/emergencies. By virtue of our geography as well as the 'system' we try to take care of the majority of the problems which walk in thru the door. I find the patients pleasant, hard working, tough and hungry for regular consistent healthcare. The fact I am actually staying for a year is a welcome surprise to them. Honestly, if I was in a different place in my career, not so rooted to our home in Vermont and were not a half a world away from family and friends, I would be sorely tempted to stay as I sense the need is great.

I am blessed to work alongside a very dedicated and skilled staff. They work hard but love a good laugh and always have time for tea. They have helped make the transition a smooth and painless one. Even the patients respect the idea that we have needs and are quite accommodating.

Afterwork varies depending on the day of the week; Mondays Eli will have an Opunake Senior A Basketball Game and/or Izaak will have his Opunake Dragonballers games. Tuesdays I try to make it to Logan's basketball games; Thursdays I take Eli to his Kaponga U-15 soccer team practice; and Fridays I am off to see Eli's Opunake Basketball League games.

Home for dinner then, surprisingly enough, a little TV, as we did opt to get the NZ "freeview channels". We often watch a show or two. Afterwards we will end the evening with a game of cards or some reading time. As it has gotten quite chilly here we often have the kids bring in wood from the shed for a roaring fire. We do not have heat per se just a wood stove in living room, a gas stove in the den/kitchen and a hallway space heater. The kiwi way is to take hot water bottles to bed to get you a bit warm and cozy. The mornings are quite chilly and the air is damp so it is a down to the bone chill. The actual temp is around 0-10 degrees celsius usually. Highs up to 15 degrees.

On the weekends; Saturday we are trying to keep 3 boys on the move and not forget anyone; Izaak has his rugby games; Logan his soccer games and Eli has his Kaponga U-15 soccer team matches in the mornings and his Kaponga Men's Senior League games in the early afternoons. Afterwards if the weather cooperates I will take the kids to the beach at Kina Rd for some fun while I fish for dinner. We usually eat something I catch about once a week.

Sundays are generally a day to do something as a family and we try to do something outdoors or perhaps a little more afield. Trying to balance the 'we here in New Zealand and need to do (touristy) stuff' with the 'we live in Opunake and have friends we want to see and do things with.' It is not as if we go to Boston, NYC or Walt Disney World every weekend when we are at home in Wilmington.

Special family time a.k.a. 'forced family fun.'

Shelley and I wondered about how our family would be affected by this trip. We wondered if the kids would be able to adjust to a new life. Well, here we are at the halfway point and the kids, after a sluggish start have come right. An unintended consequence of our journey has been the time we have had to just "be" with one another. I am not sure what is so different as we are increasingly busy here with friends and school and sports just like at home but I guess because we are the "only ones here" and have a little bit of a "we are all in it together" mentality I see a more open and obvious closeness now. I smile as I watch my sons interact with one another. We look forward to watching a TV show together or playing a game of "Hearts". There are giggles and laughter between a 15, 11 and 8 year old. I am reminded of those nature shows where the great apes are grooming each other as my kids pick through Shelley's hair looking for nits (yes we all got lice except for me! a silver lining to having a shaved head). Eli, the teenager, actually seems to enjoy his family. Of course if asked, he would rather be off with his friends doing other things but being stuck here with us he has embraced this rather than being moody and sulking about it. We spend days at the beach, building forts, collecting bones and fishing for kahawai.

Maybe its not them, maybe its me, me having the time to reflect on these moments as they happen, realizing they will be short lived, and soon relegated to imperfect memories. It has been really really nice to have this time together, I wonder what it will all look and feel like years from now when we think about our time here....

Wilma, our little girl!

Most people connect sheep with New Zealand.  So why not become sheep farmers while we are here? OK, I guess we are not really sheep farmers, we are in fact 'townies". However, we are raising a lamb.  She was born during hurricane Irene, so we named her Wilma after our hometown! (We thought about Curly or Betty, but Wilma won!)

Izaak will be showing her at the annual calf and lamb day competition at his school.  Because most of the people raising lambs live on farms ours gets special attention from all the neighborhood kids whose parents wouldn't let them get a lamb.  She spends most of her day lounging on the deck by the door, but starts "baaing" when the kids come home from school.

Yes, we were putting pj's on our lamb for awhile because she was always sleeping in her poo!  But she has cleaned up her act a bit so we have stopped humiliating her.  But she was darn cute in pj's.

We have eaten quite a bit of lamb here, it's tastier than in the States, but Logan has put a moratoreum on lamb as long as we have her!

I know it sounds kind of silly, but having an animal around has helped us all feel a little more settled in.  Helps make this house feel more like a home.  Eventually she will be going to live out her days, which may be numbered, on our friends dairy farm.

Raising a lamb has us toying with the idea of trading in our lawn mower for some sheep. We know some of you have tried this.  Any advice?

"There's no place like home!"

We haven't posted in awhile, as we've settled into a nice routine here, and in part because in the face of Hurricane Irene, our adventures seem trivial.  For those of you who may not know, Hurricane Irene missed Manhattan, but hit our beloved hometown in Wilmington, Vermont.  Although schools and roads have reopened, and water and sewer are repaired, the Village of Wilmington has suffered losses and faces an uncertain future.

It is interesting to notice how human nature responds to tragedy. One would think we would feel lucky to be so far away from the trials Irene has wrought.  Instead we feel a longing for home more intense than any homesickness.  This is an important time for Wilmington, where the future is being shaped and we long to be there.  We are not alone.  Through Facebook we found kindred spirits in others who "missed" the flood.  Those who happened to be away or recently moved, or second home owners who couldn't get there.

Our hearts go out to the business owners who have suffered and need to make really tough decisions.  It's been inspiring to witness the outpouring of support and encouraging to discover what a community we are!

We are headed to Napier this weekend.  In the early 1930's the entire city was destroyed by an earthquake.  The city organized and was rebuilt.  They made the decision to rebuild in the popular style of the time.  Luckily, it was the time of the Art Deco movement.  Interestingly, it took fifty years to realize what a treasure they had built. Today it has a strong tourism industry and is a destination for those interested in architecture.

The tragedy to our town may also present an opportunity to be reborn, one I hope we don't pass up!

We are with you in spirit and will be with you in body soon!

Shelley, the clear winner in this rugby race!

Touring wine country with these French Boys!

Napier destroyed 1931 earthquake, rebuilt with vision!

Home!

Stay tuned for more Kiwi adventures!

Hannah and Eli's Excellent Adventure

Eli's movie of his friend Hannah's visit to New Zealand, specifically our holiday in the Queenstown and Wanaka area. We had some concerns regarding having enough snow but the day of our flight from Wellington to Queenstown, we got too much snow as our flight was cancelled as we circled above Queenstown and we were diverted back to Christchurch. We then had to take a bus which would take 7-9 hours assuming the passes and roads were open. Having spent all of our first day travelling we arrived in Queenstown. Stayed for a few nights at the Black Sheep Lodge, snowboarded at a ski field called "The Remarkables" a 45 min bus ride from town to the base lodge. We then moved on to Wanaka's "Snow Park", a terrain park/mountain and "Snow Farm", a nordic ski center and winter testing ground for car and tire manufacturers. We finished up at the Cardona skifield. We coped with weather related delays as well as illness as Eli and Shelley took to their beds sometime during the week. But all in all a good time was had by all and no major injuries. Peter, Logan and Izaak successfully got their feet wet snowboarding and Eli and Hannah got to hang, board, shop, chill, eat, drink and be merry. Good times. Thanks for coming across the world to visit!

Polar Bear Swim Opunake style

To "celebrate" the shortest day of the Southern Hemisphere's year, Opunake has its annual "Polar Bear Swim." Some of us at the Opunake Medical Centre and the Park family decided to join in the festivities. It was a lovely day for a dip. I am sure this was the sentiment of those on the Titanic's maiden voyage as well. Unfortunately neither were to complete their journey.  Bon voyage!

Chaddy's--"A three hour tour...a three hour tour..."

Why coupons are overrated. We get these online coupon offers and decide to go for some coupons for Chaddy's Charters, a boat tour of Port Taranaki and the sugar loaf islands.

Well the thing about coupons is that they expire...so now we come to the last day of the season, in the middle of the winter and come hell or high water...

Forced Family Fun on the Queen's Birthday

We got to celebrate the Queen's Birthday with a long weekend. We stayed close to home and did a few things as a family for some "forced family fun."

After doing all of our sporting duties on Saturday, we had a nice dinner with the Luond Family (Kerrin, Jade, Mia and Journey) featured on the roller rama video. They left for Queensland in Aussie and they dropped off their new kitten for us to watch over. We snuck in a few rounds of family gin rummy.

Sunday brought a road trip to Paritutu Park, with a climb up essentially a large rock on the coast. A little scarier as it rained pretty hard making things a bit more slick.

We then hit the Centre City Mall to get some new shoes for me and Logan. Got something to eat at Puke Ariki and off to the next adventure at Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.

We managed to sneak in a walk and skate at the East End of the walkway near the Te Rewa Rewa Bridge before hitting a very busy KFC for a bucket (Shelley craving this from her childhood) and a double down (Eli has been dying to try this for months).

Monday brought a trip out to Kina Rd to fish and comb and build forts with the Ackerman Family (Steve, Sue, Jade and Jonah).

We made it back home and cooked up some fresh kahawai and relaxed after a busy fun filled family weekend!

Kings and Queens of the Roller-Rama

Our last family outing with the Taylor family was a trip to a local burger joint then off to the East End Roller Rink in New Plymouth, the closest we can get to an ice rink without a 6 hr road trip.

For your viewing pleasure.

The Soundtrack: Deirdre Flint's "King of the Roller-Rama"

The Plot: Um, we go round and round and fall down and go boom. And we bid adieu to the Taylors.

The Players;
The Luond Family--Kerrin (in the grey cap); Jade (in red shirt and green top and hair pulled back); Mia (green top) and Journey (pink top)
The Ackerman Family--Steve (slow-mo guy); Sue (funky hat); Jade (blond with black top) and Jonah (little blond guy with blue top, I think I can I think I can...brave little guy chugging along)
The Taylor Family--Ken (grey top); Lori (lavender top and slo-mo); Griffin (red sweat shirt then to dark blue top) and Griffin (blue sweat shirt-"Taranaki Hard Core" on the back)
The Park Family--Peter (shaved head); Shelley (short and sassy hair-do); Logan (Vermont green mtn t- shirt) and Izaak (green and blue hoodie shirt)

Grandparents Down Under

We had a few visitors this April and May.

First to arrive were Shelley's folks, Milt and Jeanne. They came in April for nearly the entire month! Arrived and spent their first week with us here in Opunake, then off to travel on their own for 2 weeks then we met them for a holiday in Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula.

Here is a movie of our trip to the Driving Creek Railway, a fascinating little tourist trap...35 yrs ago this man came to create pottery, he slowly built a railway to transport the clay to his studios and eventually became an environmental learning center, nature preserve and history/educational center. Look it up if you wish to learn more....

The next movie is just about a short jaunt from our holiday 'bach' to the next bay, Lonely Bay. A ferry ride across and then a walk to a funky cafe followed by a tramp up and over the Shakespeare Cliff down to Lonely Bay. It rained most of our holiday, it felt right out of the Matrix Trilogy, but at least once per day we managed to get out to do something.

Right on their heels the following weekend was my Dad, Greg, and Joanne his wife. They did the trip a bit more whirlwind, landing in Auckland, driving down to Opunake then off to Wellington where we spent a long weekend together, before they headed off to the South Island.

Kia Ora!

Kia Ora!  (hello in maori)   Legend has it my great, great, great , great Grandmother on my father's side was a full blooded Cherokee Indian.  Perhaps that explains it.  Explains why I've always been more comfortable singing around a campfire, than going "clubbing".  Prefer a tent near a river to a flash hotel.  Prefer a small town to a bussling city.  Feel whole when I pick berries in the wild to prepare a pie.  Perhaps she is why I care little for privacy and swap it for a full house whenever possible.

Here in New Zealand, I get to live amongst a culture that continues to hold on to this communal way of living. Their song, their dance, their language.  The Maori people came here about 1000 years ago by boat from Polynesia.  White (Pakeha) people arrived about 200 years ago and colonized the country.  There is a long sad tale, not unlike the treatment our own American Indians experienced.  However, modern day New Zealand seems to be on a path to try to heal the hurts and move forward as a bicultural country. Easier said than done, there is still a long way to go.  One of the biggest differences for the Maori, compared to Native Americans is that they make up a significant part of the population on the North Island and have a voice in modern politics.  The region we live in is only 26% Maori, but our town is closer to 50%, and my kids are surprised to find out that most of the kids at school, even if they look white are part Maori. Nation wide they make up 15% of the population, and the are growing faster than their European counterparts.

As a school, we spent a day at a marae (Local Maori cultural center)  learning the more traditional arts.  We made and spun poi, weaved with flax, played string & stick games, as well as lots of song and dance.  We topped the day off with a Hangi.  A traditional method of cooking meat and spuds using hot rocks and burying the food in the ground.

Enjoy the little film and see if you can spot Logan and Izaak doing the Haka.

Eli's NZ surfing video 2011, Opunake Boardriders Club

 Saturday is surf day. Izaak, our surfing conscientious objector.

Nana Jeanne made it all the way out to our beach!









Surf's up dude.

Logan ready to catch some waves.


Shelley taking a break this Saturday but most days she is in the thick of it all. Peter the intrepid photographer and occasional novice surfer. Thanks to Pop-pop he gets to be in a picture this time.

Eli put this little movie together with some clips from our Saturday morning surfing expeditions.

Kiwi-isms, a public service announcement, version 2.0, the answers

In an effort to make things a bit more exciting AND interactive instead of just giving you the meanings of these kiwi-isms I would encourage you out there to fill in what you think these mean...no cheating please. Answers will be available in approximately one week. Thank you for your support. (Oh by the way for those wise guys out there this is Peter's idea NOT Shelley's!)

"chilly bin" cooler to keep food cold
"cuppa" as in a cup of tea or coffee
"crook" not feeling well, sick
"gridiron" american football
"good on ya" congratulations

"Invictus" the book review. And you guessed it, it is better than the movie.

I just finished "Invictus" the book upon which the movie is based. It was a quick read and made me want to rush out and read a Nelson Mandela biography. It focused much more on him and his path rather than just the South African Rugby World Cup victory. A behind the scenes look on how he got his enemies to not only change their minds but to trust and admire him while coming over to his way of thinking. For those who are not aware of the story, Nelson Mandela had been imprisoned for many years during that time he realized the way to accomplish his goals was to no longer be the leader of the terrorist wing of the ANC but to learn how to be the leader for all the disparate black groups and eventually the leader for all South Africans. It is one thing to unite South Africa politically, and to end apartheid but he realized he needed to create South Africans. Imagine a magic alchemy of direct, pragmatism and philosophical idealism. He uses the idea of sport as unifying people, the Springboks-South Africa's Rugby Team-to start the process of socio-cultural unification. The author uses input from many of the protagonists of the time which does much to inform the reader of what they thought of Mandela during this tumultuous time. Anyways the book is an easy way to get a flavor for the man and the times.

A fishing grand slam.

Over the course of one week, one glorious week we fished several methods in several venues...

Lake fishing for catfish with a string and baited (bread ball) hook!

Wow a big one!

Izaak favors catching over fishing.

Logan the Man on Lake Taupo



Fishing Lake Taupo from a boat, using streamer flies on weighted spinning gear, "bouncing" along the bottom.



A River Runs Thru Them...

And of course the noble art of fly fishing.

Here fishy fishy.

Logan on the Tongariro River, Major Jones' Pool



Kahawai keeper.

I'm a fisherman and that's okay...

Izaak's favorite types of fishing; lake fishing off a boat and surf fishing--gee those happen to be the ones where he caught fish...coincidence? I think not.

Sweet as!

Goodnight, Sun.