a day at the races

today we went to the wellington cup carnival – a week long series of events centered loosely around the sport of kings. the race course is at trentham, about 30k (~20 miles) north of the city. as with most events…

a kiwi hero is gone

sir edmund hillary passed away last friday. i haven’t been here long enough to fully appreciate how much he meant to new zealanders but it is clear that he meant a lot to a lot of people bridging many cultures.…

grrrr

great day today so i suggested we go to the zoo. looking at the google map it didn’t look that far so i proposed we walk. the trouble started almost immediately. on all maps melbourne road is a nice straight…

the real new zealand christmas tree

pōhutukawa is a new zealand native evergreen that produces amazingly vibrant red flowers each year from november to january with a peak in late december. accordingly it is referred to as the new zealand christmas tree. quite stunning. the flowers are…

closed for the holidays

ok – so i guess the whole thing about a better work life balance in new zealand was not just marketing hype. new zealand has nearly shut down for the next 2 weeks. i was looking forward to my time off, but…

special edition – all fine in wellington

there was a 6.8 earthquake last night off the east coast of the north island near the town of gisborne. we didn’t feel anything here in wellington and all is well. and now back to our regular programming…

o tannenbaum

today we went off in search of a christmas tree. this was a bit of a surprise to us but putting up a tree is much less common in nz than in the states. and many of those who do…

toasting jackie’s birthday

today is jackie’s birthday. happy birthday to the jboss in the most-creative-birthday-card category we have a clear winner. heidi, debby, glenn, jim, and barb have added their entry into the now international images-with-toast competition. well done.

green for being green

as i flashed my bus pass to the driver today i started thinking about how much less we were spending on just getting back and forth to work. i understand that the comparison is a bit flawed since the jboss…

planet 1, santa 0

it seems in nz most items are shipped in their original packaging rather than placing them inside a plain shipping box. score one for the environment, but it can spoil a bit of the surprise of what you’re getting for…

it’s not easy being green

he buses in wellington are a mix of diesels and electrics. the locals call the electrics “trolleys” referencing back to the days when they ran on rails. the #1 island bay line is electrified so many of my rides are…

gotta love your stuff

today our container arrived. after 94 days in transit (actually 113 since i left boston) me and my stuff are once again one. maf (the biosecurity people) are way behind so about 20 items/boxes had to go back for inspection,…

long live the king

forget the queen, the king rules here in island bay. in the too good to be true category this portrait of elvis is featured prominently in our local grocery – the island bay new world. not sure you can see…

sitting on the dock of the bay

88 days after our container left our house it framingham it has arrived in wellington. Tracking Information Container : MSCU5003138 Type : 40′ DRY VAN Status : IN TRANSIT Shipped To : WELLINGTON, NZ Shipped On : 30/08/2007 LOCATION DATE…