Arriving back in Auckland was odd. I kept having memories play across my mind and I felt like a rolling mixture of happiness, exhaustion, and bittersweet melancholy as certain things would trigger reminders. A billboard advertisement. The familiar accent. The style of the houses and size of the yards. We flew for 15 1/2 hours… Read More Auckland
It was about 2 years ago – when I was fully stuck into grad school and wondering if there would be an end in sight – that I found myself sitting across from Chris, looking up from my notes, and saying, “I want to go back to New Zealand. I want to plan on it.… Read More Return to New Zealand
A few weeks back, I was contacted by David Hammond from FreshTake Publishers. Turns out, we had a couple of things in common. For one, we both have lived/live in New Zealand. David’s wife is an American (like me), named Jennifer (like me) and has spent time living in Virginia (like me). Easy to see… Read More “A Fresh Take: New Zealand” Calender and 20% Off Discount Code
My mind is flooded with thoughts whenever I attempt to share how our lives have been since returning to the States. So many different emotions. It’s hard to know what to focus on and where to begin. For starters, let me tell you something about a little-known phenomenon called “reverse culture shock”. I’d heard of… Read More Former Expat: Where Do I Begin?
We decided to take a day trip this past weekend to Cathedral Cove in the Coromandel Peninsula. image via Google Maps It was about a 2 – 2.5 hour drive from where we live. Joe did so well in his car seat and Chris and I were able to enjoy the beautiful Saturday morning scenery.… Read More Coromandel Peninsula: Cathedral Cove
These bars are the kind of thing your dentist warned you to stay away from. Sticky? Yes. Chewy? Yes. Sweet? Oh yes. Not-Quite-Scotcheroos I decided to call these “Not-Quite-Scotcheroos” because they’re like Scotcheroos, but not quite. Not very original, but there you have it. Why aren’t they scotcheroos? Reason #1 – I can’t find butterscotch… Read More Recipe: “Not-Quite-Scotcheroos”
We’ve been spending the last week or so in Wanaka. Where’s Wanaka? Good question. Wanaka is represented by the “A” on that map. If we were to drive from Auckland to Wanaka, it would take between 20 – 22 hours, involve a ferry ride, and cover just under 1,500km (~930 miles). We decided to fly… Read More Wanaka in Photos
We’re in Auckland again, but not for long! After 5 days of being home, we’re about to set off for the South Island to explore Queenstown and Wanaka for 9 days. I can’t wait! image via You might think that we’re slightly mental to head out on a trip to the South Island a mere… Read More We’re Back, and Now We’re Leaving Again!
This morning brought with it a sight that I had never seen in New Zealand: snow on cars. I woke up just before 6:30am. Joe was sleeping in the lounge of our hotel suite, and apparently got confused in his new surroundings. Chris got up with him first, as he was nearer the door, but… Read More George Street, Dunedin
Alright, blog people – I need suggestions for things to do in Dunedin! Did you know that even though I live in New Zealand and even though my Google Maps is set for NZ settings, the first “Dunedin” that pops up when I do a search is “Dunedin, Florida”? I’m sure that it’s much warmer… Read More Dunedin?
When we first moved to NZ, one of the things we were told was that the traffic in Auckland was horrible. It’s not. Well, not compared with Boston. Or New York. Now that’s terrible traffic. Traffic here just seems like regular, big-city traffic, the likes of what you’d expect in a country’s largest city, but… Read More Living in New Zealand: Give Way Rules
Apparently, writing a post at the end of the day after a glass of wine and a busy couple of hours in the Emergency Room isn’t always the best idea. Or maybe it is. I don’t know, but I feel the need to clarify, and that’s probably my fault. When I said that I didn’t… Read More A Clarification
This is a quick 1-minute PSA put out by NZ Transport about stopping people from driving drunk. It’s funny and a good example of the Maori/Pacific Island accent here in New Zealand 🙂 It’s a nice change from the typical drunk-driving PSAs…
The All Blacks have beat France to win the RWC 2011!!!! Yaaaaaay, New Zealand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After everything that New Zealand has faced in the last year – the Christchurch Earthquake, the Rena Oil Spill – this win is a huge jolt in the arm 🙂 Go, the All Blacks, you beauties! PS – Pretty cool that… Read More New Zealand Wins!
Do you see that? I’m not referring to the Sky Tower. I’m referring to the other thing. Do you see it? No? Here – let me point it out to you: You still don’t see it?! Ugh. Fine – I’ll zoom in: Do you see it now?! That, my lovely readers, is a human being… Read More SkyJump
Hello, my lovely readers! I’ll be taking a bit of a blogging break for the next week while we are on holiday in Paihia and the Bay of Islands. I’m looking forward to exploring yet another area of New Zealand and spending time with my boys 🙂 In the meantime, you guys can amuse yourselves… Read More On Holiday
I’ve been cleaning and organizing a lot these days. One of the big tasks on my “to do” list was to reorganize the pantry. While not exactly terrible, it was messy enough that finding something took awhile. Also, I wasn’t always sure what we had and what we didn’t, which resulted in sometimes buying extra… Read More Foreign Food
One year ago today, Chris and I arrived in New Zealand. I’d never been here and didn’t know what to expect. Chris had only been here for ~5 days when his {now} employer flew him out for an interview. I was nervous and worried – what if we got here and Chris realized that the… Read More One Year Ago Today
This past weekend was the Chinese Lantern Festival in downtown Auckland, New Zealand. This annual festival celebrates Chinese New Year and is a big deal around these parts. Photo taken from the main room of our apartment We were bums and didn’t actually go, despite its proximity to our place. This is because I had… Read More Chinese Lantern Festival in Downtown Auckland, NZ
I’ve been mainly in research mode up till now in terms of buying baby supplies. On Friday, I took my research and put it into practice: we went shopping! I’ve mentioned before that we decided not to buy a car here. Luckily, some friends of ours are out of the country for the next month… Read More Shopping for Baby Supplies in New Zealand
