Settling in in New Zealand

I wish I could say that we've been having nice relaxing days sight seeing this weekend. But actually we're just in the mode of day to day living and chores. The weather is a bit hit and miss, with rain showers and clouds, and transportation is difficult. We did go on a nice walk yesterday afternoon with two other families. The scenery here looks so much like home. Vinca, dandelions, clover, and evergreen trees growing along the rocky shores remind me more of home than anywhere else we've been. The air is perfumed with spring flowers and early fruits are coming out on trees. Lisa and I picked out our dream houses along the waterfront and the kids ran off their energy collecting pine cones.

Buying a car is proving more difficult than originally anticipated, so we're still without wheels. Hopefully we'll find something in tomorrows paper, or Pete might get a ride the an auction this evening. School is taking up most of our days, since we'd like to take some time off when Willi and Lou come. I've been reading the guidebook and making plans for next week's sightseeing.

Wyndeavor hopes to be in by Friday and is currently having not a lot of wind and/or wind on the nose. Kelly and the kids are staying with friends in Auckland, so we look forward to being all together over the weekend and celebrating our accomplishment. About half of our friends are moving to Auckland after the weekend, so a time of saying goodbye is coming up. It's part of cruising, but it's really difficult to make friends and then be separated so quickly. I really do miss the continuity of home and the comradary of close friends.

Every country we go to has different facilities, so each time we arrive, changes are made to our day to day living. Garbage, water, groceries, laundry, and transportation all have to be figured out anew. In Mexico garbage was generally easy to dispose of. In remote Pacific islands, we threw food waste overboard and burned the rest. In Tonga, a local guy picked up plastic and cans each morning for a small fee, everything else went in the water. At sea everything except plastic went overboard. Here, we can't throw anything overboard, so we're using the marina cans. Every time I make a cup of tea or peel a potatoe I have to think twice about what to do with the garbage. Water is not always easy to get, so sometimes we're on rations and sometimes we're not. In Tonga, we relied on rain, and kept up fine. Here, we have to use the holding tank so every so often we'll go to the marina dock and pump out and get water. Usually I use salt water to do the really dirty dish work in the kitchen and then wash and rinse in fresh. The saltwater here is a bit green, so we're using all fresh. Habits are hard to change, so I keep reaching for the wrong faucet. Even the butter lives in different locations. Starting in about Puerto Vallarta, we had to refrigerate the butter or it would melt just sitting on the counter. Now I have to remember to put it in the cupboard and it's still too hard to spread on toast in the morning. We also have to get used to shoes, socks, coats and pants. I haven't worn shoes with laces in a year. My feet weren't too happy yesterday being crammed into running shoes. I guess we'll all be a lot more adaptable after this year of changes. The constant need to adapt no longer makes me crazy and the luxuries of living in a house seem too good to be true. The things that are taken for granted at home are really luxuries on a boat. All the cruising moms are expressing the need for a break, so New Zealand is really a land of refuge to us all.

Enjoy the constants in your life and if you are wishing for a change, take a deep breath and go for it. -Kellie