I can’t believe it’s been a week since I wrote last, sorry! We kept pretty busy at Randi and Matt’s, exploring Christchurch and some surrounding area. It was really fun to see them and get to know their kids better. There was some earthquake damage still visible in Christchurch, but not so much that it was readily visible; it almost had to be pointed out as it looked like usual construction work. Plus, we really only saw a small sample of the city. Where Randi & Matt have lived in Darfield was really the center, but it is such a small town and has no 2 story buildings, so we saw nothing there. Our highlight in the town of Christchurch was seeing the Ron Muenck exhibit. He does very lifelike sculptures of people in every size except life-size, ie, doll-size and HUGE. Really very interesting, if you ever have a chance to see his work, do so! We also went to the nearby beach, and took some walks to nearby natural features, Castle Hill (huge boulders spread out over several acres) and a hike up to a waterfall, the Devil’s Punchbowl. Both were really fun, some of the Spencer-Berg family favorites!
We arrived in Levin on Monday evening, Dec. 13. Kevin’s “boss”, Dr Alan Hull and his wife, Chris, welcomed us warmly and took us down to our new home, about a mile from theirs. Our new address, permanent now until March 15, is 29 Matakane Rd, Waitarere Beach, Levin 5510, NZ. It’s small but clean, 2 BRs with a 3rd attached to the rear of the garage; some privacy for our guests! We can hear the Tasman Sea surf from our front porch, barely, since it’s always pretty quiet at our little “suburb”. We have about a 12 minute drive into “town”, Levin, where Dr Hull has his clinic. We really like our surroundings, both in town and out, so far after a whole 2 ½ days :), though we are still waiting for the wi-fi and that is the only thing we’re really missing. (Well, we have one TV station, but I’m not too disappointed about that…..) We’ve walked on the beach each day; last night we went there (3 blocks away) for the sunset and it lit up the sky over the surf, AND the mountains to the east, just fabulous pink/yellow/purple. Temps vary alot, generally around 68-75 so far I’d say, but I’m guessing because here it’s centigrade! Driving has been interesting too, trying to keep your speedometer at 100 on the highway, while driving on the left, with the car a mirror image of what you’re used to. Steering column is on the right hand side of the car, turn signals are on the right, gear shift on the left. We keep walking up to the wrong side of the car to unlock the driver’s door, and laughing while we wonder who saw us! I’m just glad we’re not in the big city. Oh, the worst too is that you yield to drivers on your right, somehow even if they are turning in front of you? So instead I go verrry slowly…..and the 100 speed limit is because it’s km/hr, which translates to 60 mph. But when you are driving on and in a mirror image, it’s quite intimidating!
We’ve got more funny stories, but for now I’m going to sign off and try and write again tomorrow. Since we pay for internet minutes, I’ve been writing in a word processor on the computer, then cut and paste it to the blog when I get online. AND, tonight I get to go out with the women, so must get cleaned up! Ciao!
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