18 Hours Later

new additions!

2009-05-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

I've been talking about it for a year, and last week we finally got our chickens! We got 3 chicks, or as we've been calling them, "little peepers." 2 araucanas and 1 rhode island red. They were about 3 days old when we brought them home. Here they are from left to right: Lucy, Adelaide (Addy) and Ruby.

And here they are doing their favorite activity, eating:

Other favorite activities include sleeping, pecking and peeping (it's the cutest sound!)

They also really love to be outside and scratch around in the grass. Here the girls are playing in the backyard today, they're so much bigger! They have "real" wing feathers and are starting to get tails.

Lucy (front and center there) is one of the Araucanas and she's the sweet one, she likes to be held the most and she's obviously very photogenic! We thought Ruby (the red one) would be the "leader" because rhoadies are supposed to be a little more assertive than the Araucanas. However, Addy (the brown and black one) definitely seems to be the scrappiest at this point. So we'll see what the pecking order (pun intended!) ends up being.

You can also see my super fantastic raised veggie beds in the background, with lots of cool things popping up! They were actually pretty easy to build and then Brian did the heavy lifting and filled them with soil on his post call day (after working 29 hours straight! - i let him take a nap first) (thanks babe!)

More updates to come!

Philippines

2009-02-16T14:10:00.000-08:00

Brian and I just returned from a 2 week trip to the Philippines. I'm going to attempt to get the whole 2 weeks into one post because we all know the chances of me posting twice in a timely manner are very, very small.

So we left Jan 31st, flying from Portland to Tokyo then from Tokyo to Manila. We then spent the night in Manila before leaving bright and early for our first stop, the Sangat Island Reserve. To get there we took a 1 hour flight from Manila to the island of Busuanga. Then we had a 45 min van ride to the town of Coron, followed by a 45 min boat ride to Sangat Island. We stayed here for 5 nights. Our daily schedule was basically wake up, lay in the hammock, go to breakfast, lay in the hammock, go snorkeling, lay on the porch of our bungalow (the hammock was in the sun in the late morning), go to lunch, nap in the hammock, read in the hammock, go snorkeling, go to dinner, go to bed. Needless to say, after a few days of this, we were quite rested and ready to do some exploring. The resort only had electricity from 6pm to 6am, and there are no TVs, phones, AC or much of anything beside sand, water and palm trees. Here's a view from the hammock:

and a view of our bungalow:

We also followed the "nature walk". Supposedly we were supposed to end up on a beach on the other side of the island, but we lost the trail in this swamp:

I think it looks like the Fire Swamp from The Princess Bride. We didn't see any ROUSs but the mosquitos were pretty fierce.

We went snorkeling at least once or twice every day, we really enjoyed checking out all the coral, cool fish and other sealife. We also took a scuba diving "discovery dive." We went down to about 10m and saw a Japanese gun boat wreck from WWII. That was pretty neat as well but I had problems with getting my ears to pop and didn't really like the feeling of being that far underwater. I think I'd give it another try sometime...

We were sad to leave our beach paradise but excited to get a look at what else the Philippines had to offer. Unfortunately our 45 min boat ride back to Coron ended up taking about 2 hours due to the weather. The water was super choppy, it was raining and by the time we got back we were soaking wet and all our luggage was pretty wet as well. That made for a pretty miserable plane ride back to Manila.

We stayed one night at the G Hotel where they had aircon (as they call it there) and hot water in the shower. Luxury! The next day we took a short flight to Puerta Princesa . Puerta Princesa is a really neat city. We stayed in Puerta for just one day, giving us time to get some laundry done, take a quick tour of the city, and ride around in the tricycles. Tricycles are the main mode of transportation in many parts of the Philippines. They're basically dirt bikes with some sort of covered seating area attached to the side. Brian and I fit pretty comfortable in one, but it's not uncommon to see 5 Filipinos, plus the driver crammed into one with bags of rice and other supplies roped to the top or back of the tricycle. Another common way of getting around is the Jeepney. Jeepneys were originally converted US Army Jeeps left over after WWII, but now they look like miniature open school buses. Each one is painted with flames, pictures of Jesus or the Virgin Mary, cartoon characters and pretty much anything else you can think of. Add lots of chrome and mirrors and it's a pretty cool looking ride. We didn't ride on the Jeepneys because we never managed to figure out which one was going our way.

From Puerta we took a private van to Sabang, to take a tour of the underground river. Our driver, Royland, was a very good driver, especially considering most of the road wasn't paved and he had to dodge dogs, children and rice drying on tarps on the side of the road. Here's one of the nice views along the way.

Once we arrived safely in Sabang we hopped on a boat to head to the underground river. We had 6 people in our boat and our very strong boatman paddled us to 4km in. Lots of bats in there! The first picture is of the entrance to the cave, the second is of some formations about 2.5km in. Our boat looked just like the one in the picture. Brian got to hold the "headlight" which was hooked up to a car battery.

We stayed in a really beautiful comfortable place called Daluyon Beach Resort. Unfortunately we only got to stay one night, but if we'd have had more time we would have definitely stayed here longer.

From Sabang we took what was supposed to be a 6 hour boat ride to El Nido. Whoever came up with that 6 hour estimate was being a little optomistic because it really took closer to 10 hours. Luckily the boat had a tarp for some shade, our boatmates were friendly and fun to talk to (and had a bottle of rum to share) and the 10 hours went by quite quickly. The beautiful views in every direction helped the time go by. And there was a toilet too:

(Yes that's a plywood box/room with a hole in the bottom that leads directly to the ocean. Needless to say you REALLY had to go before that looked like a good option)

Once we arrived in the bustling metropolis of El Nido we took some time to explore the town. Here's Brian looking like he just took a 10 hour boat ride:

We checked out Corong-Corong Beach at sunset. This is a fishermen's village, here you can see the fishermen in the water with their net. We watched a very pretty sunset and luckily the mozzies weren't too bad.

The next day we went island hopping. Our boatmen were great, the took us to some great snorkeling sites, cooked us fresh fish on a deserted beach, showed us a hidden beach that you had to swim through a hole in a cliff to get to, and got us home safe and sound at the end of the day.

The next day we took a very long van ride back to Puerta Princesa to catch our plane back to Manila. The van was hot, crowded and the music was terrible. For some reason listening to recorded karaoke sessions is very popular in the Philippines and was really not to our liking. There were a couple of Canadians in the van with us and they were in agreement with the music being crappy. However the rest of the passengers were Filipinos and every time what we considered an especially bad song came on they would turn it up and start singing along. We were definitely glad when that van ride was over.

Our last day was spent back in Manila for a day of sightseeing. We saw the Intramuros which is a walled section of the city from the 1500s. It was also a site of battles between Japan and the US during WWII. (There's really a lot more too it but isn't this blog long enough?) We also saw Chinatown and Rizal Park. Our guide, Jorge (or Georgie Porgie, as he referred to himself) was quite entertaining and gave us a whirlwind tour. Then we did some shopping at the Mall of Asia, had dinner at the Pizza Hut Bistro (a Pizza Hut with a huge menu, tablecloths and flowers and candles on the table - it was the strangest thing) and headed back to the hotel to pack up for our flight.

The next morning we had to be at the airport at the painfully early hour of 5:30 in the morning. After about 20 hours of travel time we arrived safely home to our furball family. We're glad to be back but the jet lag is definitely hard to get over!

Anyone out there?

2008-09-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

Is anyone still reading this poor neglected blog? An update is in the works, I swear!

2007-11-16T09:28:00.001-08:00

Time for a quick update on the house. We're all moved in (but certainly not all unpacked). It's amazing how much better a house feels with all your stuff in it. The bare white walls seem a lot better when they've at least got some furniture and familiar things with them.

First, here's a picture of the house (about time i posted this one!) We're not real crazy about the color and the landscaping leaves a lot to be desired, but come spring the curb appeal with be much, much better!

Here's our stove, almost all the way installed. We had a bit of a problem because then vent guy was standing on it to install the venting for the range hood and he stepped on a sheet metal screw and put a dent in it. He says he's going to buy the replacement part to make it better so hopefully it's a non-issue.

And here's the range hood. We're going to have to build some kind of soffit (don't know if that's how you spell it or even if it's the right word or not...) to hide the strange box up there.

And last, but certainly not least, here are the absolutely amazingly beautiful marble countertops.

Maybe you didn't need to see 5 pictures of the marble, but my mom did!

We're heading back to Ohio tomorrow for Thanksgiving. See everyone then!

2007-11-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

Two posts for the price of one today. I found some super cute pictures of our animals today while I was looking for house pictures. Maybe I've posted some of them before but they're so cute they're worth seeing again.

As soon as we moved into our new apartment Lily had to find all the cool spots.

She explored the dryer:

And the tool chest:

And above the cabinets:

Sometimes she'll curl up with her big brother:

And finally settle on an old familiar spot with her BIG brother:

We couldn't figure out why she was so interested in this paper bag:

but then the secret revealed itself (look closely):

Tito is also really entertaining. The thing about him is that he gets really excited when you find him in a new place.

He has completely taken over Brian's shelf in the closet. He even pushed some clothes off to make it more comfortable for himself:

If you find him in a spot he thinks is cool he'll stretch out and show you his teeth. Here's the stretch, but no teeth:

Here's what happens if you don't make the bed in the morning:

But once you find him it's time for the stretch:

Here he finally made it up to one of Lily's favorite spots. He was so proud of himself I thought he was going to roll off with all the stretching he was doing:

Diesel is also amazingly cute but it's hard to take a picture of a 90 pound beast when he's trying to sit on your lap! We're really lucky to have our pets with us during this big move, they make us smile every day!

I also have to mention that Brian and I are really hoping for a Bucks vs Ducks match up this year. The Big 10 is really under appreciated out here on the west coast and we'd love to show them what we're made of!

2007-11-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

Well progress is very slowly being made on our new house! The kitchen has been gutted, plumbing updated (and completely replaced in about half the house, including the main water line from the street). We also had some electrical work done in the kitchen and we started hanging the kitchen cabinets and also did some drywalling.
That's where our range hood will be as well as some cabinets we hope to hang tomorrow.

We also had the hardwood floors refinished. We were so surprised by how beautifully they turned out. Our floor guy was really great, he did a fantastic job.

Last week our appliances were delivered and even though they're all just tucked in the breakfast nook right now, we're very excited to install them!

Hopefully by early next week we'll have some more (and hopefully closer to finished) kitchen pics to share!

2007-10-07T18:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe my last post was almost 4 months ago! I need to update a little more frequently!.

Things are going great out here in Portland. We've gotten to know the area pretty well and we even bought a house! We had a hard time finding http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifthe right place, and we actually had 3 failed inspections and each time the house got taken off the market. But we finally found the right house and closed at the end of September. It's been a rental for a long long time and needs a lot of work. But the house is really great, and it's in a fantastic location. We're just a few blocks from Mt. Tabor Park and just down the street from one of the best neighborhood shopping areas in Portland - lots of good food and fun stores. I just realized I don't have a picture of the outside, so some inside pictures will have to do for the time being.

This is the dining half of the front room:

and this is the living room half. That's a wood burning fireplace!

Off the front room is a wide hallway leading to 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a staircase that leads to the second floor (for some reason blogger keeps flipping my pictures over, so lean right...):

Here is one of the bedrooms. We were very excited to pull back the carpet and find hardwood floors - in great shape too!

Next up is the bathroom. It has the original honeycombed floor tiles which are really cool and we definitely plan on keeping them (again, lean right).

Upstairs is an unfinished attic space that we plan on making into a master suite.

Everything really looks better in the pictures than it does in person. All the windows are painted shut and the walls are pretty damaged. But the floor are gorgeous and will be even better after we get them refinished.

Our first project is the kitchen. Since the house was used as a rental for so long, the kitchen has none of its original charm left and we've decided to gut it and start over. Our goal is to be done an moved in about a month from now. Here are some before pictures.

To get from the dining room to the kitchen you have to go through some saloon doors...

And here is the kitchen in all it's rental cabinets, ancient appliances glory:

So this weekend Brian and I dove in a started the demo process. We did save the cabinets and are going to either sell them or donate them to a build it again center. First the cabinets came out:

Brian had to really get in there to get some of the screws out. But Diesel was able to find him!

Then we started to rip out the old hood that was over the stove and refrigerator. It really made the room feel closed in.

And here is the end product after our weekend of demo:

Clearly the walls were not in good shape behind the cabinets! We're going update the electrical, plumbing and gas line (with help from the appropriate professionals!) before we fix the parts of the walls that will be showing when we're done.

My big job today was ripping out the thousands of staples that they used to attach the plywood to the original floors. Our reward? Some pretty decent looking softwoods. We'll know more once we get the rest of the subfloor up.

At the end of the day, we were tired. Especially Diesel:

2007-06-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

Not too much new and exciting news to post today. It's been a couple of really beautiful days weatherwise. We've been out and about around the town, buying some plants for our patio, checking out some local restaurants and trying to get to know the city as well as we can.

Diesel ended up with an injured paw somehow. He skinned the bottom of his paw and was licking it nonstop so I bandaged it up for him. It never bled and I'm hoping with some creative nursing care we can avoid a costly trip to the vet. His new nickname is tenderfoot, or maybe gimpy, depending on who's calling him!

Today Brian and I went to the Pratt and Larson tile warehouse sale. (Oh mom, you know you're jealous!) Pratt and Larson makes some of the most beautiful tile I've ever seen. The selection at the sale was pretty good, thankfully Brian and I don't have anything to tile so we were able to avoid spending several hundred dollars on tile. We did get some really pretty tiles to use as trivets and coasters. (Grand total, $6) Or maybe just to look at... Anyway, if you're ever in Portland it's worth a trip just to check out the amazing showroom.

2007-06-12T21:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Brian and I took advantage of a non-rainy Portland day and went to the Rose Garden at Washington Park. The garden is very pretty and is terraced so that no matter where you are you're both surrounded by beautiful roses and you have a view of the hills around the city.

The roses were in full bloom and smelled amazing. This particular rose was pretty because each blooming rose was surrounded by several buds.

These roses all seemed to have something to turn and pay attention to. It must have been the sun, but I sure didn't see it!

Tonight we went to a local gelato store. It was pretty good, but no Jeni's. We'll keep trying though!

2007-06-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

After a couple great days with our Spearfish relatives we contiued our journey west. We came across the small town of Aladdin, population 15.

It was essentially a general store, a very small post office and a couple houses. I asked to use the bathroom at the general store and they kindly referred me to their outhouse.

In the pretty town of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho we ate at a restaurant that clearly knows about our cat Tito. (Sorry about the sideways picture!)

Soon enough we arrived at our new Portland home. We're really happy with our apartment. It's got plenty of room for us, a huge walk in closet, it's clean and the location is great. We're just 2 block from the train which we can take anywhere downtown for free. Diesel wasted no time rolling around on the carpet like a madman.

Lily quickly climbed as high as she could and took a nap.

After her nap she was ready for some exploring, including the dryer.

Our apartment also has a fantastic large balcony. I'm looking forward sitting out there with a cup of coffee in the morning!

We've spent the past week eagerly exploring Portland and trying to learn our way around. We arrived right in the middle of the 100th Rose Festival. So there have been all sorts of great activities to check out. Our realtor gave us tickets to a local battle of the bands competition. My favorite was the Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers. They were awesome.

We also went to the Grand Floral Parade which is HUGE here. It was cold and rainy but we still enjoyed all action! This is a picture of the Sherriff's Posse. Yeah, I said posse, make the picture big, it's right there on the horses rump.

After all the horses were the pooper scooper teams. My favorite were the ones dressed as nurses with gloves to their elbows and a giant fleets enema on the back of their cart. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them so here is a different clean up crew.

The floats in the parade were really beautiful. They were all decorated with organic materials only, flowers, petals, leaves, seeds, and hay. There was a great dragon with a flaming hoop:

A yellow submarine with the Beatles on board:

And a breast cancer awareness ribbon...

with a trout? Only in the Northwest!

All in all, we're settling in pretty well, and we're looking forward to visitors!

2007-05-29T20:09:00.001-07:00

Our trip cross country continued to Mitchell, SD. We had some problems finding places that would allow dogs and weren't complete dives. We found that La Quintas were very nice and pet friendly. We also are staying at the Kelly Inn chain were nice and clearly have everything we need to be happy:

Diesel also made a new friend at the Kelly Inn in Mitchell:

Mitchell is also home to the Corn Palace. Every year the Corn Palace is redesigned by a local artist. This years theme was the rodeo. We enjoyed checking it out!

From Mitchell we continued our drive across the plains of SD. I took a picture out the windshield just so you could have an idea of what I was looking at for 4 hours straight. Note the obscene amount of bugs on my windshield.

At one point I was attacked by a tumbleweed. Again note the amazing number of bugs stuck to my car.

When we stopped at a rest area we saw some interested publications for sale:

We weren't willing to pay for them but they do have websites. www.countrysingles.com and www.diabetescure101.com

We stopped at a roadside attraction on our way across South Dakota to have lunch. The cafe was in an old train car which was just was sweet as could be. I did snap a picture of Brian in one of the dining cars:

Next we stopped and drove through the badlands. We saw a bighorn sheep. You can't really see it in this picture but it's on the grassy area to the right.

Finally we made it to Spearfish, SD. My Aunt Molly and Uncle Pat have a great log home on top of a big hill with views of the Black Hills. We had a nice dinner Monday night and on Tuesday my aunt took us on a great trip through Spearfish Canyon, to Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore

where we saw mountain goats

and the DC Booth fish hatchery.

We ended with a yummy dinner at the local Mexican place, Guadalajara. We had a great stay and tomorrow we head on to Billings, Montana.

2007-05-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

It's official! We're no longer residents of Columbus, Ohio. We hit the road today for our great cross country trip to Portland, Oregon. It was hard to leave our families, our friends, our coworkers, our neighbors and our house, but we made it through. We made it to Madison, Wisconsin today where we had a yummy dinner from The Nitty Gritty, recommended to us by our dear friends Jill and Adam. The drive today was long, rainy and made even harder by a very upset Tito who does not like to travel in the car. We even had some sedatives from the vet that didn't seem to make a dent! We're going to try a higher dose sooner for tomorrow. Lily and Diesel are travel pros, nothing bothers Lily and Diesel doesn't care what he's doing as long as we're with him. Now all 5 of us are camped out in a hotel room ready for bed!

A couple recent pictures:

Brian, my dad, our neighbor Stu and his helper returning The Stove back down the street to Stu's place. Thanks for letting us use it for a few years Stu and Gail!

The day after our wedding my bridesmaids painted Brian and I'd bedroom from a really terrible baby poop green color to a nice soft cream color. They also left us a message which I remembered to take a picture of this morning.

And finally, one last shot I took of our first home together before we drove away. (sorry, can't rotate the picture for some reason)

2007-05-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

2007-04-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

Oh holy crap my last post was over 4 months ago! It's been wild crazy here, the house is on the market (and maybe even sold, but more on that later) In order to ease myself back into the world of blogging, here's a little story.

I walked into the guest room and noticed the bed was a little lumpy. I thought, that's strange, I just fixed it this morning (everything has to be rediculously neat when your house is on the market!)

I tried to smooth out the blanket and noticed a lump. So I lifted up the blanket and found:

Tito!

Then I noticed another lump. I pulled the blanket back and noticed:

Lily!

These crazy cats crack me up every day!

2006-12-12T12:05:00.000-08:00

You know what I hate? When I check out my favorite blogs and no one has posted. And while I don't think I'm anyone's favorite blog, it has been THREE months since I last posted. An annonymous commenter asked for an update, and I will oblige because honestly, it's kind of embarrasing that I haven't posted on my own blog in 3 months. Fair warning though, this will be a random grouping of things you probably really won't find all that interesting!

We have some of the coolest pets I've ever met. Sometimes Brian and I just sit on the couch and watch the animals. It's really better than any TV show out there. It's so funny to see their different personalities. Diesel is the big teddy bear that thinks if you even look at him it's because you want him to come over so you can pet him. There is nothing that bothers him, except maybe when Lily tries to take his bones. Which brings us to Lily. What kind of guts do you have to have if you weigh 6 pounds and you're trying to take a bone away from a 90 pound dog? Obviously growing up around him has robbed her of any natural sense of fear she was born with. She thinks the white spot at the end of his tail is her plaything and she will grab on as tight as she can with both paws and chew away at it. They have some quieter moments too:

And she has discovered that by using the Christmas Lights and garland on the railing of the steps she can pull herself up and walk tightrobe style to the banister, which is her new favorite perch.

In that last picture Tito is quietly planning his takeover of the world. Starting with slowly trying to take control of things we use everyday, he is also learning how to open most of the doors in the house so that he can go out and recruit the neighborhood cats for his cause. In this picture he is conquering the sink (don't mind the mess):

Brian and I recently took a trip out to Portland, OR to check out the neighborhoods and decide where we want to make our future home. It was our first visit since we found out we would be living there for sure, kind of overwhelming at first but it will be a great adventure for us! Housing prices out there are much different than they are here, but I'm sure we will be able to find a sweet little (key word there - little) house to make our own.

Tomorrow just so happens to be Brian and my third wedding anniverary. It's so hard to believe it's been three years already. Brian just reminded me last night of how emotional I got during our vows and I remember him helping me get through them. It seemed like it was just the two of us in the church at that moment. I always thought people that cried during their own weddings were a little dramatic, until I got married myself and acted like a complete basket case! Here are a couple pictures of that wonderful day!

I'm enjoying the Christmas season so far, this year I'm making great progress on all the Christmas things I want to do. Brian and I went and saw the Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo. If you go check them out, make sure you see the miniature trains, there's a very cool surprise if you do! Don't worry about being too cold, some of the indoor exhibits are open and you can warm up while you watch the monkeys and such. We also went to see this awesome display. I would definitely say it's worth checking out, but then again I'm a Christmas Light Freak. They're collecting canned goods and non-perishables for the Pickerington Food Pantry so be sure to bring something along. I sent out my Christmas cards today, my Christmas shopping is almost done and I'm going to get started wrapping some gifts tonight. Hopefully I'll have some extra time to bake some cookies and make some buckeyes this year and then I'll really be one of those annoying holiday people! Partake in some of my holiday decorating, if you'd like:

I hope this was a good enough update for anyone that is still reading this. Leave me a comment and I promise I'll try to post more often!

2006-09-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

My mom sent me this in an email today. I think it's important that we realize that dying is a part of living. The mourning is for the loss of the person we loved, not for the fact that they have moved to a better place.

Then Almitra spoke, saying, We would ask now of death.

And he said:

You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heath of life? The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light. If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life. For life and death are one, even as the river and sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond; and like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring. Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.

Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honor. Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king? Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

The Prophet
Kahlil Gibran
Walker & Company
Phoenix Press, 1923

More information about hospice can be found at http://www.hospicenet.org/.

2006-09-11T12:52:00.001-07:00

I've got stuff to talk about so it's time for a blog entry.

First, what's on everyone's mind today. It's the 5 year anniversary of 9/11 today. All the deep thoughts and weighted statements can't reflect the importance of today in everyone's mind. This is one of those moments I will remember forever and that I will tell my children and grandchildren about. I remember that I was at work, as a nursing assistant at the time, standing at a patients bedside watching their television with them. It didn't make any sense to me at first. How did a plane manage to run into a building that big? And then it slowly came together for me and everyone other person glued to the news. And it is something we will never forget.

Now for what's on my mind today. It has not been a good summer to be my grandma. Early this morning my Grandma Ryan died. It wasn't entirely unexpected, she'd been under hospice care, her mental status and physical health had been declining for some time. But even when you're "ready" for it, it's still sad when it happens. There aren't that many people that have known you your entire life. People that have been there for every holiday as long as you can remember. So now I have to remember and share what I remember so that my grandmas can still be here even though they're gone.

In happier news, I had a fun weekend with some of my west coast cousins, good to see you all! See you when we move west!

2006-07-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, so here are some updates:

First, my wonderful friend Julie is pregnant. After a few ups and downs early in the pregnancy, we have found out that the baby is a BOY!! I'm am so happy and excited for her and I plan to go out and buy rediculous amounts of cute baby things immediately. And as soon as the little guy makes an appearance I will be heading south to Florida to eat him up!

Brian and I took the mini down to Southern Ohio to drive on the curvy roads last weekend. Brian took a couple pictures on the road:

We had tons of fun testing the handling of the car. I was really impressed by how fast we could take the twisties and still be in complete control. And it was PERFECT convertible weather. 80 degrees and sunny!

Lily and Tito are best buddies now. Everytime we feed them Lily ignores her food and goes after Tito's. He's still fat though, even with the baby cat theiving all his food!

Tito even lets her sit on "his" couch in the guest room.

I made some curtains for our bedroom. After I turned around to admire my work I saw someone had made her way to the top of the ladder...

Till next time!

2006-07-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

I'm a nurse, and everyday I see my patients at their worst. Pain, nausea, depression, just not feeling good. And I can handle that, I can listen to them, reassure them, reposition them, walk them to the bathroom, get them up in a chair and hopefully make them feel a little better. That's the side of the bed I'm supposed to be on. Yesterday, I had to be on the other side of the bed. My grandma was diagnosed with lung cancer recently, and yesterday she died. It's not easy to be on that side of the bed, it's not easy to make that transistion. Dying with dignity is a big phrase in health care, I've taken classes in nursing school and at conferences since I graduated, but nothing made me understand it like what happened yesterday. It was simple, quiet, peaceful and intimate. She died softly, with her family all around, holding onto her until she was ready to go. So I want to say thank you to the doctors, and to the nurses, and to my family, because that was love, and that was for her, and it was amazing. So to my Grandma, who called me Pretty Little Miss Kate Darlin', and always had fruit rollups in the cupboard when we visited, and gave us books every year from the Book Fairy, and knew all the answers to crossword puzzle, I love you and I'll miss you. See you later alligator.

2006-05-31T18:28:00.000-07:00

Exciting things happening in the Mitchell household!

Last weekend we built a garden shed. I know that doesn't sound exciting to all of you, but trust me it is! We don't have a garage, so everything we use for yard work has to go into our basement. We have those cool cellar doors that make me think of tornado alley. I like them, but I have to say that dragging a lawnmower up a flight of steps is not a good time. We also had to keep all shovels, rakes, dirt, fertilizer, grass seed...oh you get the idea.

Tomorrow is Brian's Medical School Convocation. He'll be taking the Hippocratic Oath and receiving his doctoral robes (I think that's what they're called). This is even more important to medical students than the actual graduation ceremony! Congrats Brian, you've worked very hard the last 4 years and you've earned it. I'm proud of you! You all can start calling him Dr. Brian Mitchell any time now!

Last but not least Brian and I are planning a quick mini-vacation to the New York Finger Lakes Wine Region. It's just and excuse for us to take the Mini on a road trip and drink some wine. Though not at the same time of course!

2006-05-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

Ever seen a Mini Cooper? I have, and I've been obsessing over them for the past several years. And now that Brian is about to graduate and join the gainfully employed, I've taken that obsession to a whole new level. Introducing...

Sir Winston! My very first new car. He's a 2006 Mini Copper S Convertible. 6 speed manual transmission. And I am in love. With a car! Here are some pictures so you can fall in love too!

Brian is enjoying the new car as well. We've put 500 miles on him since we brought him home Friday. And we have had great weather. I can't tell you all how much fun it is to drive this car! He's a zippy little guy and gets a lot of attention. Mini drivers wave at each other, which makes me feel like I'm part of a club. Being in a convertible makes people think they can talk to you. People ask you for directions, they ask if you like your car, all sorts of things. Plus this car is so darn cute!

Here are a couple pics from the showroom when we picked it. I've never seen a car so clean and shiny and smelling so new! The dealer put a little sign on the window that said "Please don't touch, I'm going to my new home today"

If you want to see the interior you'll have to let me take you for a drive. With the top down, of course!

Tito has given up and started liking Lily. She's like his little shadow now. Here they are in the "guest room" (Note to guests, if you want to stay with us and are allergic to cats, please give me a heads up so I can de-cat the room!)

Here're the cats and what used to be Diesel's water bowl. I think he has given up on it and just drinks from the bowl in his crate now.

And here's our little girl hamming it up for the camera. Isn't she cute?

2006-05-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hey there! Still reading this blog? Well lucky for you I have an update. First some pictures from Samoa.

Samoa was absolutely beautiful, undeveloped and hot. So hot we forgot to take pictures. Well not forgot, but it was actually too much effort. All we wanted to do was lay in the shade and look at the water. We also did some snorkeling, which was underwater, so no pictures for you!

Next up in the random combo blog we have pictures from our trip to South Carolina. Brian and I went to Folly Beach, near Charleston last week with my parents. We had a nice, laid back, no hurrying allowed week on the beach. Brian got some neat shots of the moon over the beach.

These were taken from the balcony off our condo. Every day we could see dolphins no more than 10 - 20 feet offshore. Not a bad view, ey?

This is the Angel Oak, said to be more than 1400 years old. No, I did not add an extra 0, it really is 1400 years old!

We also visited a nature preserve in a swamp, where I found a place to hide:

The tree was hollow all the way up to the top so it was remarkably light inside.

On the last day there we built a beautiful sand castle. Then we captured a bird and forced him pose for a picture. Just kidding, nature loves us and came to be in our picture. Congrats seagull, you're gonna be a star!

Last, but certainly not least, we have a new addition to our family. Introducing Lily!

Lily came from my coworker Cortney and is one of 7 kittens. Cortney also has 5 kids who played with the little babies everyday. She is one easy going girl. She's not one bit scared of Diesel. She actually goes and sits in his food bowl while he's eating. Tito is not a huge fan of her, he absolutely refused to be in the same room with her for the first couple days she was here. Today he started swatting at her, and to our delight, she swats right back.

Lily didn't leave her family completely behind. Her sister Emmy went home with my mom. Here's a picture of Lily getting her smack on.

To be fair, Emmy did give just as much as she got. They were both pretty tired by the end of the night. Another member of the litter may be joining our extended family as well. Brian's brother Chris may be adopting one of the brothers from the litter. He was a fantastic little guy that we almost took home ourselves so we're excited that he'll be around for us to visit.

Last but not least, Tito says: "That little kitten is a waste of food. Send her back and feed me more."

2006-04-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I still haven't come up with a new name for this blog. I've gotten some good suggestions. I had previously thought of calling it 3 Hours Earlier since we're moving to Portland next year. But that's still a year away. Maybe I should call it "I Have No Clue What The Hell Time It Is." At this moment I'm leaning towards keeping 18 Hours Later for sentiments sake. What I am going to do is post some of the pictures from the last half of the trip. And only 1 month after we got back. So here we go...

As you know, we spent the last 3 weeks traveling around the South Island. Our first stop was the Kepler Track which we did with Brian's friend Andrew from med school. Andrew spent the month on the North Island but took a weeklong side trip to visit us down south. You can read about the Kepler here.

Here is a picture of Brian and Andrew at the start of the hike.

Before long, we came to an enchanted beast on the side of the trail.

After a long uphill hike through the woods we made it to the hut at the top of the mountain.

The next morning we spied some kea trying to rip off the helipad sign. They may very well have been successful!

The hike on the second day was both physically and mentally challenging. There were wind gusts up to 80km/hr and it was cold and rainy. We were hiking along the ridgelines and I'm sure if it was clear out we would have been able to see forever. Brian did get a picture of the trail, just to give you an idea of how exposed we were. If you look closely you can see the trail meandering along the ridge.

We eventually made it down off the mountain to the next hut. The next morning was my favorite day of the hike. Because of all the rain the night before we passed many amazing waterfalls like this one.

We then spent the day hiking through the most amazing, beautiful enchanted forest I've ever seen. Here's Andrew on a bridge surrounded by ferns.

Everything we saw was green, green, green. I kept expecting a hobbit or a fairy to jump out at me!

After a wonderful day of hiking we came to the hut which was situated on a beautiful lake.

It was nice out when we got there, but soon a storm rolled in. It looked pretty ominous.

Due to the storm we ended up taking a shortcut to get off the trail a few hours earlier the next morning. Here are pictures of me, Brian and Andrew on the last bridge. As you can see from the picture of Andrew, it was raining pretty hard!

We used the rest of our day to take a cruise to Milford Sound. It was partly rainy and stormy but we did have some nice moments of blue sky.

Brian got out on the deck to take some pictures, but to be honest we hid inside away from the rain a lot! (It might be because of the wine, cheese and bread we had brought along...)

And last but not least here is a picture of the scary 1 1/2 lane tunnel with no lighting inside that I had the pleasure of driving through later that night. Oh, did I mention it was over 1 kilometer long?

2006-04-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

So, is anyone still reading this now that we're back from NZ? Probably not, cause there's nothing to read! I have received a couple requests to keep this thing going now that we're back, especially since we're planning the move cross-country. Anyone want to weigh in with some suggestions for new non-NZ-related names? Comments, please!

2006-03-16T13:44:00.000-08:00

We're back! We made it back into town last night around 6:30. Nothing eventfull with our travels. The big news is that today was match day and we now know where we'll be for the next four years. Brian's going to be doing his transistional year here at Riverside Methodist Hospital and then we'll be moving to Portland, OR for the last three years of his training and Oregon Health Sciences University Medical Center. That gives us a year to get our house together and on the market and lots of time to find a great place to live in Portland. We're very please, couldn't be happier! Watch this space because we plan on posting some pictures from the last few weeks of our trip.

2006-03-13T17:26:00.000-08:00

Hi from Samoa! There's something I haven't said before! We arrived safe and sound here early Saturday morning. The airport is very small and when our airplane pulled up they turned on the outside lights to greet us. We had a small issue in customs because they only allow you to bring 1 liter of alcohol in and we both had several bottles of wine we had bought during our travels. I thought we were going to have to drink it right then! But they eventually let us keep it since we told them we were only going to be in the country for less than 72 hours. After that we went out to find the bus to our fale for the night. (Everything is a fale here, a meeting fale, a sleeping fale, a breakfast fale - basically a floor and a mat or cushion with a palm leaf roof on top.) As we walked out someone was holding a sign that said Prine and Kate. You guessed it, Brian's name is now Prine. Anyway, the city of Apia has most of the modern conveniences, but is still very small. We spent the last couple of days on the beach. On Saturday night the place we were staying at had a fia fia, which means celebration. It was very neat, there was even a traditional fire dance! It's very beautiful here but this place is hotter than you know where. Last night I had the bright idea that we should leave the mozzie (mosquito) netting off so that it wouldn't be so hot when we were sleeping. Poor Brian woke up this morning with over 100 mozzie bites. No exaggeration, either. He's being a very good sport about it. Yesterday we went snorkeling and saw thousands of beautiful fish in every color you could imagine. And we were only 20 - 30 feet from shore! I've enjoyed our time here but I'll be glad to go back to the states where them temperature isn't 35 degrees celsius! I think we're going to go see a movie this afternoon just to pass the time before our flight leaves in a place with air conditioning. See you all soon!

2006-03-10T16:55:00.000-08:00

One last post from NZ. Our flight leaves in a little less than two hours. We're sad to go! We've sold the kiwicar (300 bucks, woohoo) and spent most of our NZ money. All we have to do is catch the shuttle to the airport and then start our journey home. We'll be in Samoa tonight through the 14th and then we fly to LA. We'll stay in LA one night and be back to Ohio on the 15th. Just in time for match day on the 16th! See you all then!

2006-03-08T19:44:00.000-08:00

Hello from NZ! We finished the three day Routeburn Track and then stayed at the lovely About Time Bed and Breakfast which had what I can honestly say was the BEST shower I've ever encountered. The owner's were lovely people as well. Last night we stayed at Cardno's which was nice and quiet and had a lovely view of the sea. We're in Dunedin now and will be driving back to Christchurch tomorrow. So sad that our adventure is almost over! We fly to Samoa on Saturday and then we'll be home before we know it. We are excited to come back and see all our long lost family, friends and pets but we will definitely miss this paradise. More stories soon...

2006-03-01T19:23:00.000-08:00

We're back from the Kepler Trek. Unfortunately I can't upload any pictures from the internet cafe I'm at. I can, however, give a quick rundown of our past few days.

We started our hike on the 26th. The first day was a total of 13.8km which is about 8 1/2 miles. The beginning was through very pretty rainforest and then we started the uphill portion. All in all it took us close to hours to get from the carpark to the first hut (Luxmore). The last half hour or so was above the bushline along the ridge - no protection from the winds which we blowing at close to 70km/hr. The hut was really nice with a kitchen and a lounge on the first flour and bunkrooms and flush toilets on the second. The kitchen/lounge had solar power lights and heating, running water and gas stoves, so it was the nicest camping I've ever done! In NZ you usually don't even have to filter your water, you can just dip right into the stream and drink up! (As long as you make sure there's not a sheep farm upstream!) After we got the hut and claimed some bunks we walked to some near by caves where we did a wee bit of spelunking. We climbed down for about 45 minutes and saw some really beautful formations. It was a tight fit at some points but definitely worth it! We cooked a delicious dinner of pasta, mushrooms and onions with some fried tortiallas and had snickers bars for desert. Then we headed off to bed to rest up for the next day.

The next day's tramp to the Iris Burn Hut was 14.6 k, or around 9 miles. This was supposed to be the most beautiful day with the best views. Unfortunately for us it was raining and freezing and there were 80 km/hr winds. We spent the first 4 or so hours of the day crossing the ridgelines of the mountains, passed emergency shelters and finally descended around 800 - 900 meters to the hut. It rained the ENTIRE day. Once we got below the bushline and had some shelter from the wind things settled down, but up on top it got kinda scary for a bit! Mostly we were disappointed about the views, but we learned to appreciate the amazingness of what we saw, even if it was through clouds and mist and rain. It was pretty neat to think we were hiking ABOVE the clouds at some points, not just through them. At the hut that night we had some yummy back country pizzas. We met a Canadian pharmacist named Stacey who was taking 6 months to travel around the world, literally! She had been to NZ 6 or so times and was doing some pretty big hikes while she was there.

Day 3 was my favorite day of the trip. The distance was the longest at 16.2 km (10 mi), but the weather broke and we had blue skies all day. The walk was also mostly flat so I hit my stride and was making good time. I actually got ahead of Brian and Andrew while they were taking some pictures and when they caught up they were both like, what were you doing, running? That's a big complement to me because my motto for going uphill is slow and steady, and I stick to it! Anyway, this day was just amazing. Shortly after leaving the hut we came to an opening the woods referred to as a big slide which was cleared by a tree avalanche after heavy rains in 1987. It was amazing because we could see all the mountains around us, and off of every rocky areas was a LOOOONG waterfall. Usually we wouldn't have gotten to see so many waterfalls but since we put up with all the rain the day before we got a reward! After getting through that area we came to the most beautiful area I've ever seen. It was the greenest, lushest, most amazing enchanted forest you could imagine. There was bright green moss growing on everything and long pieces of soft green moss hanging from the trees. Every fallen log and branch was covered with green moss and lichens. There were ferns as tall as I was and tall straight trunked trees with little curly branches. And every leaf had a drop of water hanging on it so that every time there was any wind everything sparkled every color of the rainbow. I know it sounds cheesy but it was so beautiful it almost made me cry. I spent most of the day walking by myself, just walking around looking up in awe. I almost wandered off a couple of (moss covered) foot bridges. The hut that night was called Moturau Hut. It was on a bay called Shallow Bay off of Lake Manapouri. It, like the others, had flush toilets and all the other good stuff. Around 8 a pretty crazy looking storm started to roll in accross the lake. Brian got some pretty neat looking pictures of the black clouds above the lake and the mountains.

Our original plan was to hike out the long way the next morning and head to Milford Sound for our cruise. We were going to get an early start around 0630 so that we could get our 15.5 k out of the way by 1100 and get some showers and laundry in before the cruise at 430. But when calculated it out we decided we would never make it in time. Lucky for us it was possible to catch a shuttle after 6 km. So we got to start a little later and end a little earlier. This was especially nice because it was POURING down rain all morning.

We headed up to Milford Sound with another tramper we met, Felix, from Germany. The cruise was really amazing. Milford Sound is actually a Fiord. Apparently sounds are carved out by rivers and fiords are carved by glaciers. The weather cleared up right at the beginning of our cruise. The boat we were on was small so there weren't too many people around. We got some really neat views of waterfalls and saw some seals. Then it started raining so we went inside the boat and sat on some really comfy cushions and drank some wine and ate some cheese and bread Brian and Andrew had had the forsight to bring along. Then the rain cleared and we went back outside for some more views. After the cruise we had about a 2 hour drive back to Barnyard Backpackers where we stayed for the night. The people that own it also have a deer farm on the property. It never fails to amuse me that they FARM DEER here! There's nothing like driving down the street and seeing a herd of deer roaming around a farm! Anyway, at the backpacker they had a dog named Zach who wanted to play with Brian and a cat named Honey. You know we liked them!

Today we got to sleep in and then we drove to Queenstown which is supposed to be the extreme sports capital of NZ but is really just the touristy capital of NZ! We're getting some laundry and grocery shopping and such done and then tomorrow we have to do some car shuffling around before we leave for the Routeburn tramp on Saturday. Just 8 days left in NZ and we're trying to make the most of it!

Thanks everyone for all the great comments. There is one rumor related comment I'm going to delete just to keep everyone from getting in any trouble! Some things are better sent in email, even if they did make me chuckle! I miss you all (well most of you) but I'll see you soon enough!

2006-02-24T23:14:00.000-08:00

Well we are officially vagabonds! We packed up our apartment, sent home a bunch of extra clothing a stuff and are now touring the South Island. We're traveling with Brian's friend Andrew. Last night we spent the night at a sheep farm called Buscot Station. It was basically a privately owned sheep farm that the family opened up to let people stay there. It was a nice place to stop for a night. Today we made it all the way to Te Anu which is a nice backpacker town. We met someone from Wisconsin and had dinner with them. Sometimes it's nice to converse with another American! Tomorrow morning we start the Kepler trek so it will be at least 4 days till I have a chance to post again. Till then...

2006-02-22T00:21:00.000-08:00

Well, while we're sharing funny stories about Brian I have one of my own to tell. Last night while I was putting up my post Brian was dropping off some of our purchases at the car (we were downtown at the library). Soon enough he came up to me looking like something was wrong, still holding the bags in his hand. Sure enough, he had locked the keys in the car. Left them right there in the ignition. (note that we now have a lockable gas cap, a key to the "club" and a key to lock the chain holding the spare tire into the trunk, along with a house key on the keychain. So it's not easy to miss) Anyway, I sent Brian off to find the security guard who gave him a hanger to try to break into the car. After all, other people have broken into it, it can't be THAT hard, right? After a few minutes he comes back with the hanger, not looking like he had made much progress. And the first words out of his mouth were "well, you're not doing anything." (We can all picture this, right?) So I take the hanger and stomp out to the car park. About 2 1/2 minutes later (I have just confirmed this time with Brian, I am not exaggerating) I return, triumphant, with keys in hand. So if you ever want to steal a car, give me a call!

2006-02-22T00:05:00.000-08:00

Here is an addendum to my earlier post. I forgot to mention one of the more unusual dining experiences I have had here in NZ. First, I have to provide a little background into my eating habits. Well, back in the day I didn't eat anything. I liked to think of myself as a vegetarian that didn't eat vegetables. I didn't eat anything that came from the sea, no way would I eat beef or chicken or turkey. The only way I would eat any of those is to cut them into the smallest pieces and swallow them like pills. So, you might call me a picky eater. So my tastes have changed dramatically since I left for college a million years ago. So anyways now I love seafood and I like to try local specialties when I go places. Like in Costa Rica when we were going through the rain forest our guide was like hey try some termites- They were yummy tasted like pine nuts. So anyways long story short kate and I were driving along the west coast this weekend and we saw a local specialty on the menu "whitebait patty with chips." So we think hmm something like a crab cake but made with white fish. So, when I got this whitebait patty Kate started laughing hysterically because what I had sitting before me was a 8 inch diameter omelet full of these bad boys. Just like in the picture only envision some yellow egg around them. No my friends they were not deboned or deheaded. Lots of little fishies staring up at me saying "do you really want to eat me?" Well no but damnit I bought you and Kate is laughing at me so I can't very well pass up on this glorious opportunity to eat. I think I did a mighty good job and ate about 40% of that monster including dozens of those little guys.

2006-02-21T20:49:00.000-08:00

Well 4 weeks into NZ and I still haven't posted... So here it is my very own post to go along with Kate's documentary of our travels. Well let's see I can answer a couple of questions first. The camera I am using is a Nikon D70s digital SLR. I have been using a Sigma 18-200 lens with a skylight filter. The camera and lens were a generous graduation present from my parents that they thought would be appropriate to give me prior to our trip. I bought a couple more toys to go along with the camera this weekend. A new, fairly lightweight tripod made by Slik and a new polorizing filter that I hope will do even more justice to the amazing blue of the glacial fed streams and rivers. Ohh yeah what am I doing while Kate is at home keeping the place somewhat clean and writing blogs. I am learning a little bit about how to look into people's eyes with a microscope. The biggest problem is that ophthalmologists tend to speak their own language beyond even the typical medical-speak. So, do I really have any clue about what makes up the 8 layers of the 1 square inch of the cornea? yeah right. Though I am trying to leave early every day so that we can spend our time here seeing the country. Typically that involves me walking out of the clinic after I eat lunch. I have found that it is much easier to walk out rather than make up an excuse. Well, we should have plenty of good stories and pictures to tell in a couple weeks when we get back to an internet cafe and can upload pictures and tales. Until then take care. Brian

2006-02-20T23:16:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone! Not much time for posting today but I wanted to put up a tentative itinerary of our plans for the next few weeks. Brian's rotation ends on Friday and we're packing up and leaving Christchurch behind. Thursday Brian's friend Andrew from medical school is flying into Christchurch. On Friday we're going to go to some wineries in the Waipara region. Saturday morning we leave to drive to Te Anau which is in the Fiordland region of NZ. Sunday we start the Kepler Track which will take us until Wednesday to complete. After that we're planning on a trip to Milford Sound to maybe meet up with some of Brian's other classmates, Chris and Daniel. Then on Thursday or Friday we're heading to Queenstown to take day off before starting the Routeburn Track on Saturday. That one will take us until Monday to finish. We'll spend the next few days exploring, hopefully going to Doubtful Sound and kayaking, taking some short day hikes, eventually making our way back to Chch on Friday. Saturday our flight leaves for Samoa where we'll be until late Tuesday night. We get back into Columbus on Wednesday evening. It's all moving pretty fast, the end is in sight, and I'm not ready to come home! Pair that with the fact that match day is the day after we get back, and I'm on my way to getting back all that stress I've left behind! I'm not ready for someone to tell me where I'll be living for the next 4 years! I'll try to post more info about where we'll be and through some pictures up whenever we get to a internet cafe with a way to upload pictures. But until then it may be few and far between posts to the blog! (Don't worry mom, I'll still call, it's OK!)

2006-02-19T20:31:00.000-08:00

This weekend we fell in love with New Zealand.

Our plan was to drive to Mt. Cook and hike to Mueller hut for the weekend. The hike is supposed to be 5k directly uphill. (It should be called up mountain…) Our plans were almost foiled by this:

Remember when our spare tire got stolen? Yeah, good thing my husband is his father’s son and insisted we go to the junk yard and buy a new one. So we got that changed out and were back on our way fairly quickly.

Soon enough the scenery started to get pretty:

This is the Church of the Good Shepherd on Lake Tekapo in the Two Thumb Mountain Range.

See the seagull on the chimney in the back? Picture perfect! (Except for the obnoxious German tourist that kept walking into our pictures, even though we nicely stood to the side for 10 hours while they took 50 million pictures.)

The drive continued with more beautiful views:

When we got to Mt. Cook village we were a little nervous because no place seemed to have any beds available. We finally ended up in a mountaineering clubs bunk house. We had this lovely room all to ourselves.

But it was clean, dry, warm and quiet. The next morning we got an early start to climb the mountain. Here ‘s what the view was like as we started:

The snow covered peak in the middle is Mt. Cook. Mt. Cook is the tallest peak in NZ. Sir Edmund Hillary (a Kiwi, the first man to climb Mt. Everest) climbed it early in his climbing career. Mt. Ollivea, the mountain our hut was on was actually the first mountain he ever climbed. So, I guess that means we are well on our way to heading to Nepal and climbing Everest.

It was a really steep climb, and all upmountain. No flat areas, no downhills, just up up up up up:

See me negotiating the “steps?”

We stopped for lunch at the tarns. Tarns are lakes in mountains. Here’s a pretty tarn picture.

We were making pretty good progress and enjoying the views. We got a fellow tramper to snap a picture.

Little did I know the worst part of the climb was yet to come! After more climbing straight uphill we came to a section of boulder hopping and then a rock scramble up a scree slope. We were rewarded when we got to the top with another amazing view.

Well, I thought it was the top. The we went around the bend and there was more UP!! First I dropped my pack for a quick look at the view.

The grey part in the middle is a glacier. It was much farther away than it seems. And much higher too.

Finally, we made it all the way to the top. The wardens at the hut took a picture of us when we got there.

They were standing on the front deck of the hut when they took this, so that should give you an idea of what our view out the windows was like!!

The warden at the hut let Brian try out his tripod to take some pictures of the sunset. Of course Brian loved the tripod so now we get to buy one of those and lug it around with us up and down mountains. Here’s Mt. Cook at sunset:

And here is the view behind the hut at sunset:

Just to give you an idea of how much elevation we gained, here is a view of the car park where we left our car.

It’s at the end of the little road in the middle of the picture. We climbed quite a ways! Brian also took a picture of the pools at the bottom of the glacier. The color was amazing.

At one point we saw some people kayaking through the water. The glacier scrapes rocks off the walls as it moves and leaves huge piles of gravel behind once it moves or melts.

Originally we planned to stay two nights at Mt. Cook but after climbing down the mountain we decided to drive over to the West Coast and explore that side of the island for a few days. Here’s another view of Mt. Cook.

This picture doesn’t even do the color of the water justice. It was the same turquoise color you see in pictures of the carribbean and just as clear.

We drove to the little seaside town of Haast and stayed in a little roadside motel that night. On our way we got some more good views:

We stopped at some pretty amazing sights along the way. Like this waterfall:

We also stopped at Fox Glacier, and got to walk within 20 meters of the glacier. The glacier is advancing at about 1 meter per day so it’s not safer to go any closer. While we were looking at it lots of rocks and ice were falling off. You can hire a tour guide and walk on top of the glacier but we were short on time and cash so we had to pass.

The next night we stayed in the little down of Punakaiki. They have a rock formation they call Pancake Rocks:

I guess they’re called that because of all the layers. There is also a blowhole here but it’s only active at high tide and we were there at low tide.

Our drive continued north along the coast. The beauty of this country is amazing, and this is the day we really fell in love with the island. Every turn the road took revealed another amazing sight.

We just kept saying, it’s so pretty, it’s so pretty over and over. Brian took over 1 GB of pictures, over 350 individual shots. There are so many more I’m not putting up! The last place we stopped on the way back to Chch was the seal colony at Cape Foulwind. This was neat to see because there were a lot of seal pups that were only a few weeks old. Here’s a picture of them playing in the “nursery pool”, a natural little wading pool that was calm enough for them to learn to swim in. They were swimming around like little pros already.

And here’s a baby seal and a mom seal enjoying the rocks:

The last picture is of a roadside sign you definitely wouldn’t see in Ohio!

We didn’t see any penguins even though we looked!

All in all we had an amazing weekend exploring a whole new part of the country we hadn’t been to yet. It’s made us even more excited to spend the next 2 weeks seeing more new sights!

2006-02-14T14:24:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone's Valentine's day is going well. We had a quite uneventful day here yesterday. I got Brian a card and he got me...well, nothing. Oh well, you all know Brian. We did have a nice dinner at home. Dinner prices here on V-day are rediculous. Somewhere in the order of NZ$200 per person at the places Brian looked at. So we just hung out at home and got ready for our next backpacking adventure. We're leaving tonight to Drive to Mt.Cook and then tomorrow morning we'll start our hike straight up the mountain. We should be back on Saturday or Sunday depending on what all we see. Check back then!

2006-02-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot! Today is Valentine's Day here! So happy Valentine's day everyone! Also, Happy Birthday to my cousin Beth and our kitty Tito. Two of my favorite Valentine's babies. Well, Beth's not a baby, and I guess Tito isn't either. He's two now, the crazy little furry monster! Also, Happy Birthday to Jill and Adam's cat Pepe, who just had his 13th birthday.

2006-02-13T14:08:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone! Thanks for all the comments! You do love me!

I actually don't have anything big to say today. Last night Brian and I went to see the movie River Queen. It's about the battles between the Maori and the British for the then unsettled New Zealand. I thought it was OK, the scenery was beautiful but I don't like it when all the good people die. Not that ALL the good people died, but a lot of people died and that's sad. But it was good to get an idea of NZ history.

As for the American food, so far I've had KFC for dinner once. It was not so much like American KFC. It was fried chicken, but that's about as far as it went. It wasn't bad, but no biscuit, no mac and cheese. We also had subway for lunch once. That was EXACTLY like it is in the US. Who would have thought that subway would be comfort food?

In the Maori language the letters wha are pronounced like fu. So whakapapa is pronounced like fu...oh, never mind. How'd you like to go skiing there?

I'm at the library so I can't post pictures, but next time I'm at the internet cafe I'll put up a picture of Brian being eaten by a wave (well, not really) and the coolest kiddie ride in all of NZ.

My aunt Kristen was asking about the officers shooting officers situation. Co-workers, any new updates? Is the officer we like still doing OK? Is the officer we're scared of still free to roam around the state and shoot people? You can email me if you're not cool with posting it on here! katemitchell.rn@gmail.com

2006-02-12T14:33:00.000-08:00

Hey, you people suck! Haven't you all ever heard of leaving COMMENTS?!? It's really easy, down at the bottom of the post their is a little spot that says "COMMENTS". Click on it, put in your name and write me a message. I'm not hauling my ass to the internet cafe/library/public computer lab anymore until I get some decents remarks for you people! I even put up a picture of Brian in a SOMBRERO for pete's sake. And all we get is one measly comment (thanks Erin). I put up a picture of me getting stalked by a white deer that practically attacked my for some food pellets and what do I get? 1 Comment (thanks Carrie). Maybe if I get some attention I'll tell you all about our trip to the beach, the proper way to pronounce the name of the Whakapapa Ski Resort and what the first US restaurant we visited in NZ was. Otherwise you'll just have to wonder. :-)

2006-02-11T14:16:00.000-08:00

We had a fairly busy day on Saturday (that’s Friday where you all are). First we drove to Kaikoura, which is a small down North of Chch along the coast. Kaikoura is known for whale watching, dolphin watching and there is a seal colony that lives there as well. The drive there was really beautiful, but a little scary at times. Here is a picture looking back over the road.

You can see the tunnel we drove through on the left side. The tunnels were arch shaped, but they had little corners cut out at the top so semi-trucks could fit through. This road is the main “freeway” on this side of the island, and there were big semis cruising around. The JUST fit through the tunnels, no more than six inches to spare!

Another view of the scenery along the way. That’s the Pacific Ocean.

Mountains, ocean, blue sky, this place really has it all. This is a view back at the main island from a peninsula we drove out on.

Same peninsula, different view.

If you look closely, you can see a seal on the rocks on the left.

We climbed up into a farmer’s field (right alongside the cows) to get this view back along the peninsula. It’s the same view as before, but from about 60 meters higher.

After we got back to Chch we went to a rugby game. It was the Canterbury Crusaders vs Otago Highlanders. They’re crazy about rugby here. Instead of a band they had horses:

These guys came out and rode around a bunch of times with Gothic chanting music playing. It was pretty cool, and a little scary, if you ask me. Their swords were made out of wood though.

Instead of cheerleaders they have the Paul Kelly Motorcars dancers. They were terrible. They looked like the worst strippers from the cheapest club you could imagine. That’s the only way to describe them! Everytime time there was a score they would run out and their goods all around. All that was missing was a stripper pole! At least they left their clothes on.

Although we don’t know the rules of rugby very well at all, we followed along pretty well. We do know that this is a scrum:

The Crusaders won 35 – 12.

Tui is a NZ beer, and if you bought 4, you got a free sombrero. I wore the sombrero first, and after Brian finished all the beers, he wore it:

All in all an interesting Saturday!

2006-02-10T00:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I decided to buckle down and venture out to the beach despite the rain. I walked along a dune trail and lucky for me it didn’t really rain while I was there, just misted and sea sprayed at me. It was still pretty in a grey, stormy, choppy water kind of way. Here are a couple of pictures I took while I was walking.

(and a little bird with a really long beak!)

Brian ended up getting home early. We spent the afternoon at Willowbank nature preserve. They had mostly a collection of random animals that had been brought into various zoos and parts of NZ. It was a pretty motley collection actually. We saw some native NZ animals like kea and kiwi. Here are the highlights of the crazy animals we saw. Most of the animals just wanted us to give them food.

An ostrich that chomped on my finger (no harm done).

A wallaby (they’re marsupials, like kangaroos, and this one actually had a little baby in her pouch!)

Notice that little deer is on the same side of the fence as I am. That’s because she jumped the fence to rip the empty food bag out of my hand and eat it! Luckily it was paper so she'll be ok, but I was shocked the little lady jumped the fence and stole the bag!

Brian and I have a running joke that I brought my own paparazzi to NZ with me. He’s always taking to pictures and there aren’t any with him in them!

Hi to Ivory’s study group! Ivory, I bought you a shot glass today and it is going to crack you up!

2006-02-09T14:05:00.000-08:00

Hi again from NZ. The day started out sunny and I had high aspirations to do a little beach combing. But now it's rainging again, so we'll see what happens.

Dad, to answer your question, the All Blacks are the New Zealand rugby team. NZ is crazy about their rugby. And no, I don't believe that is a gas cap on his face!

Brian and I are hoping to go for a day hike tomorrow. We have to be careful about what area we chose because this weekend is the coast to coast race. Basically a bunch of crazy Kiwis run, bike and kayak 243 km across the width of the South Island. Nuts I tell you. Remember the guy I mentioned who ran 12k back to his car after tramping for 2 days? He's done the coast to coast.

We've been slowly setting up our plans for what to do for the rest of our time here. Next weekend we plan to hike to Mueller Hut in Mt. Cook National Park. It's apparently 5k straight up hill with an amazing view at the top.

After Brian finishes his optho rotation Jan 24 we're going to be joined by one of his classmates from the US, Andrew, and we're going to do the Kepler Track. That one'll take us 4 days. There will be plenty more tramping beyond that, but that's as far as we've planned.

Hope all is well with everyone in the US!!

2006-02-08T12:20:00.000-08:00

This is a great story we've been following in the news that last few days. The family had accepted that he had died, and were praying to Tangaroa (the Maori sea god) that they would at least find his body. It was a sad story until we heard on the news last night he had been found!

Not too much else going on in NZ today. It's gray, rainy, and windy today so I doubt we'll be doing too much exploring!

My dad acted as my personal ambassador and found out that the DMV will send me a lost license packet. The turn around is expected to be 2 - 3 weeks. That's not as bad as I expected. Thanks dad!

2006-02-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

Did you just call me sweet ass?

You might be surprised if you were NZ and someone called you sweet ass. For example, if you were at a restaurant and you ordered your food and your waiter said “sweet ass” as he walked away, you might think, “is he being fresh with me?” However, after you heard this phrase a couple of times and started to wonder if you should be offended, you would figure out the phrase is actually “sweet as…” Apparently this is NZ slang basically meaning “cool.” Not that this happened to us or anything.

There are native birds in NZ called Kea.

These guys like to take pretty much anything you don’t want them to have. They’ve been known to tear parts off cars, unlace people’s boots and steal the laces. So recently, when a car show was coming to town, the Kiwis knew they had to get resourceful to protect all the old cars.

So they hired a local karate club to protect the cars 24 hours a day!!

Last night Brian and I drove to Akaroa to explore and have dinner. It’s about an hour from ChCh, but we took the “tourist road” which added an extra hour on our way there but gave us some great views.

Akaroa is a French whaling settlement from 1840. It’s a cute little town with beaches and mountains all at once. Surprise, I have pictures!

There were a lot of clouds moving around but with the sun coming through it was really pretty.

As we drove home we tried to stop and get some pictures of the sunset. Unfortunately, we never got a good one. Here’s a picture of kiwi-car in the mountains, just to prove the little guy can handle it, even after being violated and having his spare tyre (NZ spelling) and petrol cap stolen!

2006-02-06T14:23:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone. A little bummed in NZ today. After talking to the American Embassy and the NZ police I found out that they can't issue me a temporary driver's license. Their suggestion was that I call the ohio BMV and see if they can send me a copy. Obviously they haven't dealt with the Ohio BMV before. So it looks like it's back to walking. At least Brian can still drive. But now I'm stranded all day with no credit card, no debit card to get cash, and no way to go anywhere I can't walk to!

The good news is that today all the kids went back to school, so summer vacation is officially over and the "new" season of TV shows start here this week. Dr. Phil and Oprah are on at 1:30 and 2:30 today. Since the UV level is too high for me to walk anywhere at that time of day, and I obviously can't drive, I guess I'll be watching American talk shows! Not exactly the reason I came to NZ, but you gotta take what you can get!

Take care everyone!

2006-02-05T17:48:00.000-08:00

This weekend Brian and I went tramping on the Cass-Lagoon Saddles track. The trailhead is about 2 hours from our flat, and we got to drive 100 to get there!!

Ok well, it was 100km/hr. But it still felt fast, even if it was only 60mph. Anyway, soon enough we got started on our tramp. According to the book, the track is 30km long and is of moderate difficulty. It started out pretty innocently, with a flat track along some farmland and down in an old riverbed. There were pretty views to all sides, but it was out in the sun and very rocky.

Then we went up into the woods and it started to get really pretty. Here is a view as we walked along.

After hours and hours of hiking uphill, we made it to the Cass Saddle. A saddle is the connection between two mountains. Think of a horse, if the head is one mountain and the rump is another, we were walking over the saddle (well, that’s how Brian explained it to me anyways). There were some amazing views from up there, and we were happy to have made it that far!

After crossing the saddle (elevation 1326m) we went down down down hill to get to Hamilton hut where we were staying for the night. We took breaks for Brian to take pictures.

I saw a rock that looked like bunny.

After what felt like 100 more miles we finally walked into another riverbed and saw the cabin way in the distance.

You can see it if you look for a very small building with a green roof just to the right of the top of my pack. (You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.)

Unfortunately we didn’t take any pictures of the hut, but it was actually really nice inside. It had 20 bunks with surprisingly clean and comfy mattresses. My only problem with getting sleep was the woman snoring so loudly she was rattling the beds. She woke me and several others up multiple times throughout the night. I think eventually someone shook her pillow so she would wake up and roll over. I’ve never heard a woman snore like that before!! (Brian- Suckers can’t sleep through snoring! I slept on the bunk above her and didn’t wake up through the night)

Anyway, we met lots of neat people in the hut. There was a threesome of Kiwis that were in medicine(two PTs and a med student). The medical school system is different here than it is in the US. People can go into medical school straight out of high school. That lasts for 6 years, and then they do residency to be general practioners. I think that program last 3 years. After that they can choose to specialize if they want to. Then they do an additional residency in their chosen specialty. They were pretty hardcore trampers. After they got to the hut the guy went for a 20 minute run through the mountains. After hiking for 16km!

We also met an American that has been living in NZ for around 3 years, Dave, and his girlfriend T. The third member of their party was named Richard, he was from Texas and had just arrived in NZ the previous week. We all sat around and played cards and talked. The huts are very social places!

The next morning we set off to finish the last 14km of the track. We started out crossing a swing bridge. Here’s a picture of me bravely crossing first:

And here is a picture of Brian looking across at me after I safely made it:

And here is Brian looking down. Don’t they always say “don’t look down?”

So we made it across the obstacles and here on our way. It was pretty rainy the second day, and we were getting quite discouraged with the wet and the cold until we ran in to some of our hut friends from the night before at lunchtime. We hiked with them off and on for the rest of the day. There were some pretty neat views from Lagoon saddle in the afternoon.

There’s Brian hiking ahead (see the orange on the right side?)

Then I saw some lichens growing on a rock that looked like a bunny.

(I just had to throw that in.)

The good views continued:

and I was glad there were no more uphills!

All in all, we hiked from 11am to 6pm the first day and 845am to 530pm the second day. We were tired and sore but proud of our first New Zealand tramp! If you want to leave the day on a good note, stop here. If you want to hear about the bad part of our day, keep reading.

Title: “They even took the gas cap.”

When we finished hiking, one of the guys ran back to the car park at the other end of the trail to get his car. That’s 12km from where we were. Seriously, this guy hiked 22km in two days with a pack on his back, then ran 12km to pick up his car. These people are crazy! Anyway, after he had his car, he came back and picked up his hiking friends and also took Brian and Dave to get their cars. About 20 minutes later, Dave came back to get the rest of his group and told me I had to go with them because he was going to give me a ride to our car. Apparently Heath (the runner) had dropped them both off at our car and Brian went to give Dave a ride down the street to where his car was parked. When Brian started the car, it was slow to start and turned out it was low on gas. Anyone who knows Brian knows this is not an unlikely possibility. So this is the story I was told, and I hopped in the car with Dave, T, and Richard, ragging on Brian (nicely) the whole time. (Brian- Ok let’s get this straight people [Kate], I run low on gas when I am near my house in my own car. I.e. I know how many miles I have left before I really need to get gas rather than relying on the odometer and the gas light to tell me when to fill up. And, I haven’t ever run out of gas. I just prefer to go to the gas station as few a times as possible in my life. That being said I would not take our new old car much below a quarter of a tank in the middle of the mountains in NZ.) When we get to our car I found out the real issue is that the car is low on gas, AND it was robbed while we were tramping. Our quick inventory revealed that my purse and wallet (which were shut in the glovebox) were missing. Also missing, our spare tire, ½ qt of old motor oil and a small bottle of power steering fluid. Not missing, the radio and the jack. Strange. So Dave and friends insisted on following us to the nearest gas station 60km away. The whole time we were driving (with the gas light on) I kept saying, I know we had more gas than this. I bet they stole our gas too!! We eventually coasted into the gas station on fumes, and low and behold, not only had the stolen our gas, they stole our gas CAP!!! I mean seriously! Anyway, Brian filled the car up and I went in to talk to the attendant about a petrol cap. She didn’t have any for sale, but she did have a bucket full of ones that had been left behind. She brought them out, and lo and behold, we found one that fit! Thank you nice gas station lady for the gas cap! Then Dave and friends took us across the street to dinner and treated us to a beer (Brian) and a hard cider (me). Thank you new friends for taking care of us when we having a rough time of it! The good news is when we got back to the apartment I was able to call and cancel my credit card and nothing had been spent on it. There was no cash in my wallet and nothing else of monetary value in my bag. And now I’ve learned my lesson (a lesson I really already knew, I was just stupid). But we’re still safe and sound in New Zealand and no worse for the wear.

2006-02-02T21:41:00.000-08:00

6 more weeks of winter, ey? Lucky for me, we're HERE for another 6 weeks :-)

2006-02-02T15:41:00.000-08:00

More New Zealandisms today. Kiwis park their cars in car parks. If you’re going fast, watch out for these:

I have to assume that means speed bumps.

We also have:

Opening hours instead of operating hours.

One more random thing I took a picture of this morning:

I told you guys they didn’t like him down here.

Last night Brian and I went out for dinner. Brian decided to get the beer sampler.

Excuse the blurry picture. It’s hard to discreetly take a picture in a nice restaurant! In case you can’t tell, there are 7 beer samplers on that contraption. Good thing they were small beers!

Another cool thing about NZ is they have Cadbury Cream Eggs ALL YEAR ROUND!!! Most of you probably know how much I love those. I wait all year for Easter to come around so they’ll have them in the States, but they ALWAYS have them here! It’s great!

Aunt Kit, here are the answers to your questions: It’s summer down here, actually, all the kids are on summer break and start back to school on Tuesday. The water is pretty cold in the ocean here, but not as cold as the West Coast (at least I don’t think so). New Zealanders definitely consider themselves much different than Australians. Actually, when there are little kids making a ruckus in the supermarket, they’ll say “those are Australian kids here on holiday.” Australians are viewed as being kinda rough and loudmouthed. At least that’s the impression that I get. And we’ve been here for a week yesterday, so I’m obviously an expert, right?

Thanks to everyone for passing this blog on. I’m really excited about how many people have stopped by to check it out (Hi Darcy and Jeff!). Brian and I are going to have to do something interesting to keep you all entertained! Keep up the comments!

2006-02-02T07:43:00.000-08:00

Another day without too much to share. We went back to the botanical gardens yesterday before dinner. Brian took a picture of the punters on the river.

These guys spend the whole day pushing people up and down the river with a big stick (not an oar - they push, not row). Going downstream probably isn’t too bad, but I would think upstream would be hard work! They never look tired or hot though.

Here’s a picture of me with the kind of flowers I want get from now own. They never need water, never go bad. Just kidding, I prefer the live kind.

Brian’s mom wanted to hear about some words that we hear down here that we’re not familiar with. I hear a bunch every day but I always forget them when it comes time to write! Here’s a picture with a couple good ones.

A “tog” is a swimsuit, “nappies” are diapers, “jandals” are flip flops. Let’s see…there’s the “dairy”, which is like a convenience store. The “chemist” is the pharmacist. “Entrees” are appetizers and they refer to the main course as “mains”

About that hole in the ozone…

Everyday in the newpaper they post the UV Index. Here’s one from a couple of days ago.

Yeah, on a scale of 1 to 11, it was an 11. “reschedule outdoor activites” It’s enough to strike fear into the heart of freckled people everywhere. The weird thing is, it’s not even that hot or THAT sunny out!

Not too much else to talk about today. We have a three day weekend coming up because Monday is Waitangi Day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitangi_day (why doesn't the link maker work on safari!!!???) We’re going to try to go up to the mountains and do a little “tramping” – hiking in NZ terms.

Isn’t today groundhog day? I guess that would be tomorrow to you all. Let me know how much more winter is left! It better not be too much cause I just saw the gas bill online. $253.75 and we're not even living in the dang house!! The next one better be like $10 or Columbia Gas is going to get their first call from NZ!

2006-01-31T17:57:00.000-08:00

Hey folks, what's up in North America?? Not too much going on in NZ today. It's actually cloudy today, and doesn't look like it's going to clear. I've decided I'm allergic to to southern hemisphere. You can't take a girl out of the depths of winter and through her into the middle of summer with flowers and trees and all that crap and expect her immune system to cooperate.

I learned how to order a coffee yesterday. I kept asking for coffee with cream and sugar and everyone would look at me like I was speaking French. Turns out, coffee is called short black or tall black depending on the size. if you want cream you order a flat white. How the heck was I supposed to know that??

I've also mastered roundabouts. This is a big deal because I used to break out in a cold sweat everytime I saw one coming. Who's on the right? Am I on the right? Do I get to go now?? AHHHH!!! Brian just lets everyone else in the roundabout go first, but I'm braver than he is (sorry Brian, your secret is out!)

No new pictures today because we haven't been anywhere new and I think you all have seen enough pics of ducks.

Cheers!

2006-01-30T17:06:00.000-08:00

Man, this place really sucks. It won't stop raining, it's windy as hell, and the snow, oh man, the snow. Hahaha suckers, it really is that great here! Blue skies, sun, a great breeze, gorgeous flowers and all. Hey we earned it! We had to travel for over 31 hours, including 4 separate flights! And do you know how many hours of overtime I had to work to save up enough time to pay for us to be here??

New Zealanders really don’t like George W. Bush. The first thing our landlord asked us when we arrived was “you didn’t vote for Bush, did you?” Our neighbors are Americans from Colorado, and they said that most of the mention of the US in the New Zealand papers is pointing out stupid things Bush has said or done. We were surprised that people this far away from the US would have such strong opinions about our government!

One of the first questions the doctors Brian is working with asked him was, “Do you own a handgun?” When he said no, they said “Well you’re different from most Americans then.” Of course Brian had to point out that not all Americans are gun-toting gas-guzzling crazies. Hopefully by then end of our stay we’ll have convinced at least a couple Kiwis that we like hiking up mountains, thinking independently and recycling just as much as the do!

Well I’m successfully learning to drive on the wrong side of the road while sitting on the wrong side of the car! Here’s a picture Brian took of me dealing with a gear shift on the LEFT!

I was scared to death to drive at first but now it’s kind of fun to zoom around in our little car with our one little radio speaker blaring.

We’re picking up NZ terms pretty quickly. We had to laugh when we drove past the Trundler park at the grocery store.

I’m highly amused by NZ TV. Mostly because all the shows are American! The second season of Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy starts on Monday, I’ve also seen Martha Stewart, last years Survivor and The Bachelor, and Days of our Lives from about 3 years ago., Plus old reruns of Party of Five and 7th Heaven. At least if I get homesick I can watch American TV!

The center of Christchurch is called Cathedral Square. The name is pretty self explanatory.

Cathedral Square is where the World Buskers Festival was held. It’s a fair with street performers from around the world. Ch Ch (the abbreviation they use around here) government actually paid for the Buskers transportation and accommodations while they’re here because it brings so much business to the city. Here is one of the acts we caught.

Last but not least, look what I found! Tell me that’s not a Buckeye tree!

2006-01-30T16:04:00.000-08:00

Today Brian starts his rotation at Christchurch Hospital. That leaves me with a lot of spare time, including a chance to do some catching up on this blog.

Christchurch has a population of about 410,000 people. It’s a very English city, all the houses have little courtyards with gardens out front. The amount of roses and other flowers growing here is amazing. Out in front of our house is a lavender plant that is as big as I am. It smells great.

The main river that flows through town is the Avon River. Apparently this is named for the Scottish Avon River, not the English Avon River. Go figure. Anyway, the river is beautiful with huge willow trees growing alongside it. There is also a path that follows along the river all the way from where we’re staying into the downtown. The best part about the river are the ducks! I know ducks aren’t that exciting but I’ve really been enjoying these ducks. There are normal “American ducks” as Brian calls them. Here is an especially flattering picture of an American duck trying to get some lunch.

There are these smaller darker ducks. When they go under for food, the go all the way under and stay there for around a minute.

The last kind of duck, and I don’t have a picture of them yet, are paradise ducks. They’re about twice the size of normal ducks, and they are the native species of New Zealand. They’re black and the girls have white heads and the boys have black heads. We haven’t seen any fly yet, but apparently when they do, they have beautiful colors on the bottom of their wings.

OK, enough about ducks.

A little ways from our flat is this store.

Milk and honey is a little ice cream/flower store. The ice cream is unusual because you chose either vanilla ice cream, vanilla frozen yoghurt (NZ spelling there) or frozen soy cream and then chose a frozen berry to mix with it. The machine looks like a huge drill and a funnel and it smushes it all up together and it tastes SO GOOD!! We’re been here 3 ½ days and we’ve already had it twice, so I think that counts as slightly addicted.

Right across from this store is a small triangular park dedicated to all the firefighters who lost their lives during September 11. These beams are actually from one of the twin towers. Apparently the World Fire Fighter Games were held in Christchurch shortly after 9/11, and they made this park to show their support for the US Firefighters.

If you were to follow the Avon River farther from our house to the other side of downtown, you would come to the hospital where Brian is working. Just past that are the Christchurch botanical gardens, which are beautiful. Trees in Christchurch are enormous. I don’t think I’ve seen a small tree since we got here!

The coolest part of this tree Brian is standing by is that inside it are no less that 20 little kids climbing around on it like a jungle gym. You know how sometimes you walk past a tree and here a million birds in it but can’t see any of them? This was the little kid version of that tree. We kept hearing giggling and squealing and then finally we saw all of them hidden in the tree. We’ve only made it through about 1/10th of the gardens this far, but we saw a gorgeous rose garden. It’s summer here so everything is at it’s best. Here are a few rose garden pictures.

We also found a conservatory in the park, with a room full of begonias. Have you ever seen begonias like these??

We’re planning on spending more time in the botanical garden, so I’ll post more pictures when we take them.

Here’s a short geography lesson. New Zealand is made up of two islands, the North Island and the South Island. Christchurch is located on the eastern edge of the South Island, in a region called the Canterbury Plains. To all the sides of Christchurch except the east, there are mountains. To the east is the ocean. We drove to the east in our little kiwicar and walked out on the pier. Here are some pictures of the mountains to Southeast of town.

Brian also snuck this picture of some New Zealand newlyweds. What a great place to take some wedding pictures!

Yesterday we took a 3 hour minibus tour of Christchurch and the surrounding areas. Of course Brian wanted to sit in the front seat with the driver, so we ended up getting a front row view of everything. The tour took us up to the top of the mountains to the southeast of town. The view was amazing. These pictures are of the bay southeast of Christchurch. We plan to go back there soon and get our feet wet!

Our tour also took us to Mona Vale. Mona vale is a neat old house built in 1905 with really pretty gardens around it. Brian got a chance to play with his new camera and took some pictures of the gardens, the lily pond and the fern house.

Thanks everyone for all the comments! It makes us smile to read all the good wishes from back home. The weather here is around 18 - 24 celsius. The formula to translate that into Farenheit is 9/5 *c +32 = f, good luck with that! It's been blue skies, sun and a nice breeze almost the whole time we've been here (yes mom, I'm wearing sunscreen and I'll go buy a hat - there's a hole here in the ozone you know!)

2006-01-28T21:03:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! It’s finally time for my first real post from New Zealand! We’ve spent the past couple days wandering around Christchurch, transitioning to the time change and just being generally discombobulated. Here’s a quick run-down of what we’ve been up to.

First, our apartment. Here are some pictures of home sweet home.

The kitchen. Which, if you turn around, conveniently becomes…

The “lounge.” (Which is apparently a living/dining area.) Directly behind Brian is the little bedroom.

Our apartment also has a bathroom with a toilet (obviously). But the interesting thing about New Zealand toilets is they have two buttons to choose from when it’s time to flush. See:

Has anyone ever seen this before?? We decided that the one on the left means “half-flush,” to be used for number one. The one on the right is “whole-flush, for number two situations. How logical! Co-workers, this would mean that our bathroom in the nurses’ station should only have the button on the left!

Finally, our flat has a very cute front patio:

and backyard.

Our big event from yesterday was buying a car. Here’s a picture of our new mode of transportation.

It’s name is Kiwi, due to it uncanny resemblance to a Kiwi Bird, the national bird of New Zealand.

This fine piece of automobile set us back NZ$ 900. That’s about US$ 630. It’s a 1985 Mazda Familia. The little guy actually drives great and will be enough to get us out to see the South Island.

Hey dad, if you were in New Zealand, today would be your birthday!! So Happy Birthday on January 29, whenever that may be!

2006-01-27T16:13:00.000-08:00

Kia Ora from New Zealand! We're getting used to the time change and slowly learning our way around town. But we don't have internet access in our apartment like we planned, and the card reader isn't working so I can't download any pictures yet. But we're figuring things out and I'll update as I can! The good news is Tito came home safe and sound! We miss everyone!

2006-01-25T18:30:00.000-08:00

We made it! Over 31 hours of travel later but we are safely in Christchurch. I'll post more pictures and info tomorrow (too tired now) but until then, check out the www.worldbuskersfestival.com - we were there!

2006-01-24T09:20:00.000-08:00

Hey, did you know Port Columbus has free wi-fi? How cool is that?? We're waiting for our flight to Atlanta, apparently the airplane has a flat tire. Then we'll be off to LA and then it's bye bye USA. We did pretty well this morning, Brian got to pick up his new glasses, we had breakfast with his parents at Northstar (yum!) and then we went home to finish the last second stuff. We did have one minor meltdown, though. When it was time to leave, Tito was missing!

I think he's hiding somewhere in the house, but Brian thinks he got back. Tito come home! Hopefully my parents will be able to find him soon so we don't have to worry about him the whole time we're gone. More updates soon!

2006-01-23T20:26:00.000-08:00

We're really getting close now! Brian is packing up his stuff (finally) and all the other loose ends are getting tied up. The lights are on timers, the neighbors have keys and the plants and the cat are all ready to go to my parents house tomorrow. It's crazy to think this trip is finally here, we've been talking about it for over a year and now it seems like it just snuck up on us! Tomorrow our flight leaves Columbus at 1245PM and connects through Atlanta before we go to Los Angeles to board our Air New Zealand flight. Then we fly about 18 hours to Auckland, NZ and then a couple more hours to Christchurch. We should be arriving in Christchurch around 1000AM Thursday, NZ time, which will be 4PM on Wednesday for all you Ohioans (I think.) Well, I'm off to finish one more load of laundry before I try to get some sleep! Take care everyone, next time you hear from me I'll be surrounded by Kiwis. (The people not the fruit.)

2006-01-22T12:01:00.000-08:00

Things are not going as planned! Two days until we leave and the airlines are out to get us. The good news is I have all my clothes packed and ready to go. I just have to get together our toiletries and the rest of the backpacking gear. Brian, however, is 0% packed, and here is why. He was supposed to fly back from Chicago on Friday night, but there was a blizzard or something and all the flights to Ohio were cancelled. Of course, they couldn't just say that, they had to prolong the whole ordeal for 4 hours before they officially canceled the flights. Anyway, Brian ended up landing in Cincinnati and his parents picked him up and brought him here around noon on Saturday. To make a long story short, we (he) procrastinated all day and was planning on getting some packing done this morning before he left to go back to Chicago for another interview tomorrow. Then, surprise, most of the flights to Chicago were cancelled, AGAIN, and we ended up finding out at 0950 that the only way he was going to make it to Chicago was to be at the airport at 1030. So he threw his suit in a bag, jumped in the car and off we went. So now I'm back to getting ready for the whole trip on my own! ARGH!! If I'm still sane by the time we get to New Zealand, it'll be a miracle.

2006-01-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

Tonight was my last night at work for two months. I can't say I'm sad about the two months off, but I will miss everyone. I'm lucky to have a job where I have friends, not just coworkers. You guys are great and I'll try to find all the mugs, shot glasses, thimbles and whatever else you all asked for! I'll also think of you while I'm relaxing on my extended vacation!

Diesel is in Virginia now, apparently harrassing his sisters and having a good old time. This house is rediculously quiet without him, I really miss the big lug. Molly (the breeder) has promised to send pictures, and I'll be sure to post some if she does.

I found out today that we can use our cell phones to call from New Zealand for only 1.50 USD a minutes. What a bargain. I think I'll just buy a calling card.

5 more days till we leave! Maybe I should start packing...

2006-01-05T13:12:00.000-08:00

OK, so here's the story about this blog. Brian and I are taking a 7 week trip to New Zealand and Samoa. A few months ago I started a blog to keep everyone up to date on our travels. Apparently I'm not very good with the whole time zone thing, because I miscalculated the time difference between good old Ohio and Christchurch, New Zealand. Anyway, if you want to read the old blog, go here.

So why New Zealand? Brian had always been interested in going to the land of the Kiwis, and when we found out we could get a grant through the medical school so that he could do a rotation abroad, we decided to go for it. When will we ever have another chance to travel across the world, and have part of it paid for. Plus, Brian starts his residency in July and we will have precious little time do much of anything outside the hospital let alone spend weeks exploring a foreign country! Seeing the gorgeous scenery in this movie just helped convince us it was worth it.

So what will we do for all that time? Brian will be working at Christchurch Hospital doing an opthomology rotation. I'm planning on doing some reading and enjoying the time off. I had to work a lot of overtime to save up enough hours to go on vacation for for 7 weeks! On the weekend we'll be tramping (hiking) and seeing as much of NZ as we can. We'll be staying in Christchurch in a "1 and 1/2 bedroom" flat called Bricky's house. Tito the cat will be staying with my parents and Diesel the dog will be staying with some of his brothers and sisters (and mom and aunts and uncles) in Virginia.