First off, we want to say that Jeanette gifted us with an awesome lunch that was such a treat (lots of delicious treats, actually!) to munch on during the whole day on the train, getting to Wellington. Thanks so much to our new friend!
We’ve had a busy 3 days in Wellington. Kevin spent his days in orientation at NZ Locums office. He was one of five people being oriented, the others being from other English speaking countries and NOT American;o Wales, Canada, Scotland! One couple is returning to the small town that they served 5 years ago for a year. This time they intend to stay for good! Yesterday, the last orientation function was a tour of Te Papa, spouses included :) Te Papa when built 12 years ago was the largest museum building in the world; there is no admission, and it is spectacular. Much of the tour was directed towards Maori culture, aspects that doctors might need to know (always ask before touching someone’s head!) and their special greeting, involving a handshake and possibly something like cheek or nose touching, and “sharing the breath”. Glad I don’t have to anticipate knowing when to do that! We learned how to introduce ourselves; first say the land you are from (Iowa, in “the States”), the water (Upper Iowa/Cedar River, that flows into the Mississippi), the mountain (Kevin said Pike’s Peak!, I didn’t have one for CR), your tribe (none of us had one!), your parents names, siblings, and your name. We were only there for about 2 hours, we’ll definitely be back. Last
night we finished the days with dinner with some of our new friends; we exchanged emails and will be in touch as we all travel the country.
Wellington, the capitol city, is attractive, interesting, very compact and walkable, and we’ll be living only 1.5 hours away from it!. I spent time walking, and getting logistical items checked off the list; getting cell phones up and running (thank you, Crawfords!), lining up internet in Levin so we don’t have to wait for ten days after we get there, opening the bank account. Free wireless was not easy to come by, and my days were not too exciting, so that’s my excuse for no posts for a few days. Our other highlight, besides meeting some people who we hope to see again and Te Papa, was attending the Old St. Paul’s Family Christmas service on Tuesday night. http://events.stuff.co.nz/2010/dec/wellington/old-st-pauls-international-christmas-festival-2010 This too was by donation, and just luckily we sat off to the side in front where we had a great view of the kids who went back out into the audience to find dolls representing the nativity. One was reminiscent of Little Orphan Annie, at least two were barefoot and at least one was in her PJs.
We were up early this morning (Th, Dec 9) and now are on the ferry to the south island. The map above shows our route. I'm obviously still learning how to compose a blog, so bear with me! At Picton we will board a train to Christchurch, which is to be more spectacular than last week’s train ride. The ferry itself is across Cook’s Strait, which is also to be lined with huge rocky outcroppings, and beautiful. Once at Christchurch we’ll pick up a rental car and do our first driving (aaagh!) and go to Randi & Matt Spencer-Berg’s home in Darfield. She is one of Kevin’s partners from Decorah,and they are finishing up their 6 month stay here. It will be fun to see them and their family! We are told that the period just before Christmas through January is the school holiday, when NZ families take to the road (it’s early summer here, don’t forget!) and everywhere will be very busy, to the extent that it will be hard to get reservations in hotels, etc. We’re happy to be getting a short trip to the south island in right away.
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