Sorry about the silence on the blog. I got really depressed for a while and couldn't think of anything to write that wasn't negative, so I stopped posting. I found posting removed me a little from the 'here and now' and I had an attitude of judgement and watching instead of doing and being. That wasn't helpful when I was feeling bad, but I am doing a whole lot better now and really enjoying myself.
The kids are off school for 6 weeks of summer vacation. We have done some traveling. We went to the west coast one weekend, to Greymouth (about three weeks ago) and it poured (it is a rainforest over there, so it often pours), but we were expecting it and were prepared. We went to a place called Shantytown, where you get to experience what the pioneers in the 1800's live like. The kids panned for gold and saw a sluice gun and other cool stuff. We went to a place called Pancake Rocks and saw the natural formations and the blowholes when it was hightide. We learned about Pounamou or jade which is an important part of the Maori culture and is found in that area. On the way back, there were historic 150 year floods. It was cool to see the rivers in flood stage and see their raw power. It did add about 4 hours to our driving home as passes and roads were closed due to wash outs and rockfalls, but made us go a way with the great hot springs in Hanmer, so we stopped there and had a good time for a couple of hours.
We went again to the west coast this past weekend to see the Franz Joseph and Fox glaciers. This time the weather was magnificent. We walked as a family to the terminal face. Ruby was too young to walk on the glacier, but E, Sam and I took a four hour tour and it was really neat. (Though coming from Maine, there were parts that just felt like walking on the front lawn in Feb.) The Franz Joseph is the more spectacular of the two. It is in a massive valley. The scale of everything is so large that it is deceptive. The terminal face of the glacier looks like it is just a few minutes walk through a dry river valley away when in fact it is over two kilometers. The walls look high, but not two high compared to the glacier, but they are about 9,000 feet. When you see the helicopters that land every few minutes against the glacier, they appear as only a dot. That gives you an idea of exactly how large everything is. It is a valley of the giants.
Next week, we are taking the grand southern tour. We are going to Twizel to see Mt. Cook and Lake Punakaki for two nights, to Queenstown to take in the adrenaline for two nights, to Te Anau to explore Milford Sound for two nights and then stopping in Wanaka on the way back for a night to break up the nine hour drive. It should be fun.
After that, everything gets a little crazy. Steve is moving to the far north to start a different job. The kids and I are staying in Sumner because my father and stepmother are coming to visit and have arranged their whole trip. The kids will start school here and go for a month, then after my Dad and stepmom leave, we will move up north also and they will transition into school there.
I am excited about going up to a new place. There are some amazing things about Sumner: it is beautiful, a small village with everything you need and a lot of independence for the kids, but the people are just not genuinely friendly. They are very closed and insular. I am not sure if this is Kiwi or Christchurch, with Sumner as the epitome of Christchurch, (as I have been told it is.), so the chance to be in a totally different place will be nice. I don't want to leave NZ thinking this is what Kiwis are, if in fact this is just what Christchurch is. Also, up north is a lot more Maori. Christchurch is almost exclusively white and the most British city outside of England (so it is said). It will be interesting to get more exposure to Maori culture. The job is for three months unless we like it and want to extend it. After that, we are working on going to Samoa for three months too. Of course we still have to see Australia. Working there takes six to nine months to arrange, so I think it is out of our time frame. We will just visit.
Our plan at the moment is to return to the States in time for the kids to start school in Sept. So that is it for now. I will try to post more regularly and keep you all up on our adventure.
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