Gavin & Erin

Busy Busy

2010-07-27T09:03:00.002-04:00

Hello from the cottage! I am enjoying some quiet time to myself this morning...I've been up for a while, have done some wedding emails, and am now enjoying my coffee and looking out at the St. Lawrence River.

Lots of things have been happening lately, so here we go!

Our friend Phil from New Zealand got a 1 year working holiday Visa so he's in Canada now and came for a visit last week. It was so nice to see him again! We mostly relaxed at the cottage, but also did a 1000 Islands boat cruise from Rockport, went up to Ottawa and did a Parliament tour, and took him to see our new place in Aylmer.

Speaking of that, we signed a lease on an apartment! It feels good to have that done. Gavin and I went up for the day on Sunday and puttied the walls and sanded them down. This weekend and a couple days next week we'll go back up to tape and paint. That way, after our wedding, we'll be able to move in and set up. So exciting! We decided on a paint colour for the living room, dining room, kitchen and hallways (it's called "toasted cashew") but we're still undecided on what colour(s) to paint our bedroom and the guest room/office. So many choices!

We love love love our new car. Although, when we were out to dinner in Ottawa with Phil last week, someone hit us (just the plastic bumper) but they left a plate number or something on our windshield (they wrote it in the rain) so we've emailed our insurance guy to ask what to do. The damage is extremely minimal but better safe than sorry! Anyways, it's a great car and very comfortable and it drives beautifully. The sport suspension is a bit much at times, but I think that can be fixed.

Our wedding is in 11 days so we're really busy with trying to do last minute things for that. It's going well though, and we're just doing a bit at a time. My mum and sister are going to help me with some things this afternoon so we can tick more more things off the list - it feels good to get things done!

Gavin has been working at his sister's clinic and I've been working at my dad's office. It's nice to get some extra money (okay, money period!). I'm definitely looking forward to being back on salary, though! I start work on August 25th and I am pretty excited to be back. However, I know that when I'm back at work I'll wish it were still summer vacation, so I'm trying to enjoy each day for what it is!

I'll post some pictures of our new car and apartment soon :)

Lots of errands...

2010-06-30T21:54:00.002-04:00

Well the past few days have been pretty busy! We bought phones, registered at Sears, and bought a car!

We bought a 2006 Mazda 6 GT Sport. It was a good price and fully loaded - grey with black leather interior, sunroof, lots of space, and a CD changer. We registered at Sears and have an appointment to register at The Bay on Sunday. There are a more things that we could use in our future home than we thought, but still not as much as usual. We also got phones - I don't even know what Gavin got but I got a Blackberry, which I have no idea how to use, so tomorrow will entail relaxing, lounging, and learning how to navigate our way through our phones!

Needless to say, we're looking forward to Canada Day tomorrow and the long weekend so we can relax at the cottage and take a breath.

Wedding plans are coming along. We met with the caterers yesterday and taste-tested the salmon (delicious!) and talked about the menu. We have been getting reply cards and are figuring out center pieces and decorations. We have our band all set up and are really looking forward to August 7th - 38 days!!

I went into work on Monday and got my workload - I am teaching two grade 10 English groups and three grade 9 History groups. I start work again on August 25th and am looking forward to it. It'll be good to get back into a routine.

That's it for us - until next time...

More Canadian Soil

2010-06-22T10:33:00.000-04:00

Good morning from Vancouver! It’s not yet 7am and I’m sitting on the couch at Bryce and Chantelle’s house, overlooking Vancouver and waiting for my coffee to be ready. Gavin woke up a little while ago and has gone for a walk – I think he likes having quiet time, especially in the midst of all the busyness! Vancouver has been great, but it’s definitely more grandiose than Christchurch…or any other city we’ve spent any amount of time in this last year! The skyscrapers are insanely high, and there are so many of them. There are people everywhere, and they’ve all got somewhere to be. It’s never quiet. It’s a real change of pace here, and that’s been a huge shock to our systems, for sure. Cities in New Zealand had a few 10-15 story skyscrapers, if any, really, most people were tourists so they were doop-de-dooing along, and it was generally peaceful and relaxed. This is my first time here, but between the “culture shock” and jet leg, I’m definitely looking forward to another visit in the future when my head is a bit clearer!

Yesterday Gavin and Bryce went out to finalize their “outfits” for our wedding. I don’t get to know what they are wearing. Gavin says that my dress is a surprise so his outfit is a surprise, too. Fair enough! We met his friend Tom for lunch and then we headed out to UBC to walk around campus. Not in stark contrast to New Zealand and Vancouver, the UBC campus is insanely huge compared to Bishop’s! It is definitely a pretty campus, though, especially the rose gardens with the ocean in the background. The sun even came out for a while as we were sitting on the bench, having a coffee and a cookie (two coffees and a cookie for under $5 – amazing!) enjoying the view.

Last night we went to Erik and Sara’s for dinner and games. It was a good night, but we didn’t get into bed until after 11pm and we were up at 6:15. Not as much sleep as I thought our bodies would need…I’m sure the flights, time differences, and overall exhaustion will set in soon enough! We figure when we get back to Ontario…that weekend will be busy but tiring. That’s the name of the game, I suppose!

Today we need to tidy up our room here. We arrived on Sunday and literally plunked our bags down, and instead of being alert enough to realize we should have some semblance of organization, we have been throwing things everywhere trying to find that top or those shorts or a clean pair of underwear. After that and some breakfast, we are going to check out Stanley Park and Granville Island (didn’t make it yesterday) before meeting my friend John Horn, hopefully his wife-to-be (11 days!) Michelle, and Gavin’s friend Newman for a drink late this afternoon.

Gavin is back from his walk, so we’re going to have breakfast and start our day. More when we return to Ontario…

Back On Canadian Soil

2010-06-21T01:09:00.003-04:00

Hello all,

Just a very quick blog entry to say that we made it back to Canada, safe and sound! We are in Vancouver, visiting some friends and checking out the city before heading to Ottawa on Thursday, June 24th.

Our flight was good...very, very long but good! There were a lot of movie, TV and game choices to keep us somewhat occupied for the 3.5 hour flight from Christchurch-Sydney and the 14.5 hour flight from Sydney-Vancouver.

Today we walked around Vancouver a bit and then Chantelle (Gavin's best man's wife) and I went to the spa for facials. It was so relaxing - I fell asleep a few times! Then we played some cards, ordered pizza for dinner, and we're just about ready for bed. Neither of us slept much on the plane (I don't think Gav slept at all!) we made it to 10:15pm Vancouver time - hopefully we sleep well!

Until our next posting...

Love, E&G

Last Weekend...and Week!

2010-06-15T20:13:00.001-04:00

As I write this, we have 7 more sleeps left until we are Vancouver-bound…but by the time I post this, it’ll be down to 6! I won’t say what I usually say about time, but know I’m thinking of it! (Actually, I didn’t make it to the library until today, Wednesday, so it’s only 4 more days until we leave for Vancouver!)

Friday night we celebrated Gavin’s birthday with a big party celebrated by about 30 of the friends we’ve met here at Speight’s Ale House. Then we headed down to Vespa Bar on Poplar Lane for a true night out – surprisingly, our first trip “downtown” since we’ve been here! Saturday morning (Gavin’s actual birthday, he’s 29 now!) we went out for breakfast, picked up our rental car and drove up highway 1 to the Brew Moon. It’s an extremely small microbrewery that we’ve passed tons of times but have never had time to stop at, so we made a point to make that our “ultimately destination” this weekend. We had a great meal there and taste-tested all 4 of their beers (delicious!) and then decided to extend our weekend and kept heading north towards Hanmer. We stayed in a really quaint lodge and spent a bit of time in the hot pools relaxing. The All Blacks played Ireland last night and kicked butt so we also took in that game! Just what we needed before our hectic week! Sunday we had dinner at our Korean family’s house and relaxed back at home.

This week will be pretty busy for us – we have a huge list of things to do, including packing, some last minute shopping, cleaning our flat from top to bottom, school and work, saying our good bye’s (or “see you later”’s to some!) and, of course, quiz night on Tuesday! Our landlord is coming for our bond inspection on Saturday morning and then we’re staying in a hotel by the airport that night. Besides the fact that we will be homeless as soon as the bond is taken care of and we hand over our keys, it’ll be easier to stay as close to the airport as possible as we have to be there Sunday morning around 5 o’clock. We are really looking forward to being home!!

Long Weekend

2010-06-07T21:48:00.000-04:00

This weekend is the Queen’s birthday, so New Zealanders celebrate it by giving everyone (well, mostly everyone!) the day off, which means we had a long weekend!

And a great weekend it was. Friday night was date night. When I got home from work Gavin had dinner all ready – it was warm enough to BBQ! Afterwards we went to Coffee Culture for a hot drink and dessert, and then we saw “Sex and the City 2” – it was hilarious! Mum was right – “Lawrence of my labia” was a classic Samantha line. There were lots of funny moments and we both laughed a lot. (For the record, any boys who are reading this, the weekend before we went to see “Iron Man 2” – it’s a give and take!)

Saturday was a gorgeous day – a bit chilly, but it is wintertime. The sun was shining so we took the bus out to New Brighton to watch our friend play rugby. Afterwards we walked along the pier, took some photos and then headed back to Riccarton. We celebrated our anniversary (engaged for 1 year!) by going out for wine, brushetta and antipasto. Then our friend Tom came over to play Scrabble and have some drinks. We had a really nice night.

Sunday we had a big breakfast and then went bowling with Tom and our Korean family. I won the second game! It turned out to be a rainy day so afterwards we just came home and relaxed – I read and hung out, Gavin did some work. We had dinner with our roommate Brad and watched some TV in the evening.

Yesterday, Monday, was the holiday. All major stores were open and offering big deals on most of their items; we skipped out on buying anything and instead cleaned the house (partially because it needed it, but also because someone was coming through to take a look at it). Then Gavin and Brad went to the gym and I went to Divine to buy Gavin’s birthday cake and then headed to Starbucks to go online. (It was too cold, rainy and windy to make the trek downtown to free Internet at the library!) Last night our Korean family had us over for a birthday celebration dinner at their house. It was delicious! Lewis and Ashley each made Gav a really cute card and Sophia made us a great meal. And may I say – the signature chocolate Divine cake was to die for! (I’m trying to not sneak a piece for breakfast…)

Today is back to school and work – and getting back into the “real world” this week also means the return of insane amounts of rain! Our walkway is already half flooded and it’s just 9am. Hopefully there is no more major flooding as the last downpour was pretty devastating.

On a completely different note – wedding planning is going well and we’re looking forward to being back in Canada and face-to-face with our parents to finish the smaller details in the planning stages! We get married in 2 months…it’s very exciting!

Relaxing Weekend at Home

2010-05-30T20:51:00.003-04:00

(This picture is when we were in the Coromandels! Our only day of sunshine...)

Gavin and I had an amazing weekend of doing…nothing! (It really was exactly what we’ve needed after basically 10 months of traveling. I think during our Auckland trip it really hit us that we’re tired from being on the road so much!) Friday night we made dinner at home and then went down to our local pub and watched the rugby game (Auckland Warriors vs. the Leicester Tigers - an English team, I believe) but it was a waste of time. The final score was something like 50-6 – not much of a game. Saturday Gavin made pancakes for breakfast, and during the day we started sanding down paua shells that I picked on the beach in Kaikoura (it takes forever!!). We played Scrabble and then our roommate, Brad (yes – our 5th one!), made a delicious chicken dinner with all the fixings – even gravy! Gav and I went to see Iron Man 2. I really enjoyed it and thought it was a lot better than the first one! Today we went to the library to do some e-mail and wedding stuff and then watched the first playoff game at the Holy Grail. It’s a sports bar downtown that is set up like an field or stadium with actual stadium seating and a gigantic screen. Brad made soup with the leftover chicken so we had that for dinner. We played some cards and another came of Scrabble and watched Bones. Now I am writing in the blog and Gavin has a map of New Zealand out, outlining all of the routes we’ve taken on road trips since we’ve been here. Earlier in the week Brad spilled an oversized glass of wine on the carpet, so we’ve just put some cleaner on it (I hope we didn’t leave it too late…) and we’re waiting to vacuum it up before calling it a night.

The next three weeks are going to be insanely busy, between finalizing things here before leaving and organizing some more wedding details. Three full weeks in Christchurch isn’t really a lot of time so we’ll have to make sure we’re really organized in terms of laying out what we have to do and close off so we don’t forget anything! I was talking to my Aunt Karen today and she mentioned she’d bought a new outfit for our wedding, and it made me think of everyone getting all dolled up…I’m excited! Speaking of being all dolled up, I should really get on having my dress shipped to my parents house. I had a nightmare a couple months ago that it was the week before the wedding and I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off doing all the last minute things we had to do, and all of a sudden it hit me that I had forgotten to ask my cousin to send my dress and I had nothing to wear! It’s an omen – I need to take care of this!

The weather is getting colder here and all I keep thinking of is getting back to Canada, and especially back to our cottage and enjoying the renovations mum and dad just had done. Despite all the wedding craziness, we’re definitely going to have to find time to relax on the deck, swim in the St. Lawrence, have a cold drink, and BBQ up a good feed…

T-Minus 24 Days!

2010-05-26T22:50:00.000-04:00

It will be surreal to be able to say, “We’re going home this month!” in less than a week. We’ve definitely had such an incredible year here, being able to travel this beautiful country so extensively. But in the midst of our conversation mid-air heading home from Auckland, we both looked at each other and said, “We’re so over traveling.” Then we broke out into giggles because we’re literally exhausted from all of our traveling! As we’ve said, it’s been an amazing year but it’s a long time to be away from home. It’s definitely the longest I’ve been away, and Gavin has been away for about 3 years. It’ll be bittersweet to leave but it’s time to go home.

The weather in Christchurch has been pretty crap since Gavin has moved back home. It’s been rainy almost every day and cold – we’re happy to be leaving before winter really hits and flying right into summer again!

The next two weekends we have decided to stay in town and not do any more traveling. We’ve seen most places we wanted to, but there are a few we missed so we’ll have to come back. In terms of the south island, we haven’t made it to Oamaru (to see the Moeraki Boulders), Dunedin, Queenstown, and Milford Sound. In the north island, we didn’t see Rotorua, Gisborne and New Plymouth. We’d also like to go back to Auckland in nicer weather! We’re planning on coming back to New Zealand in the future at some point, so we’ll be able to structure our next visit around the things we missed this time. Plus, hopefully we’ll have a bit more money so we can really enjoy Queenstown!

Our second last weekend here is Gavin’s birthday weekend. Friday night we have planned a joint birthday/goodbye/graduation party at Speight’s Ale House and on Saturday, Gavin’s actual birthday, I am planning a surprise in Kaikoura. More details after we’ve actually been there!

Our last week/weekend here we have to make sure we’re packed, our bags are weighed, and our flat has been cleaned, and then our landlord will do a once-over on Saturday so we can get our bond back. Saturday night we’re going to stay at a motel close to the airport as our flight is Sunday morning at 7am. We fly from Christchurch to Sydney, have a layover there for a couple hours, and then straight to Vancouver. We get into Vancouver on Sunday at 7:30am so we’ll have 4 full days to travel around and see the sights. Our flight to Ottawa is on Thursday and we get in at 7:10pm. We are very excited to touch down and see our families again!

The North of the North: May 21-24

2010-05-26T22:46:00.002-04:00

Day 1: Friday

Our day started bright and early with a 6:40am flight from ChCh to Auckland. It worked out well, though, as we landed in Auckland, picked up our rental car and were on the road by 8:30 heading south. After stopping in Huntly for breakfast, we checked out a historic homestead called Woodlands in Gordonton. It’s a beautiful 98,000-acre estate that was purchased from the crown in the early 1800s (for 25¢ an acre!). One hundred years later about 30,000 acres of swamp had been turned into pasture. The actual homestead was built in 1872 as a Manager’s residence, and after being lived in by a number of different managers, it has been restored and is open to the public for tours, as well as weddings and other functions. After checking out Woodlands, we made our way to Hamilton, the most populous inland city in NZ (130,000). Other than having to deposit our rent money, Hamilton didn’t really serve any other purpose for us – it was just a bit metropolitan town. So we got back in the car and started to drive east, stopping in Cambridge (a really cute little town) and then in Matamata. It was an unplanned stop as Gavin was intrigued by a sign for “Hobbiton”. It’s basically a movie set and farm tour. The movie set tour is, as you’ve probably guessed, part of one of the many Lord of the Rings tours in this country. This particular tour would have started with a drive through the 1,250-acre sheep farm, where you could see for miles across the Kaimai Ranges. The actual film site is only 10 of those acres; there were 36 original hobbit holes from the movie, but only 17 are there presently as the land had to be returned to its original state after filming. They were in the process of restoring some of the other holes when we were there, but the tour was $64/pp so ultimately not really worth it. Plus, when we first arrived, we accidentally saw the end of a sheep shearing and we got to bottle feed baby sheep, so we ended up participating in the end of the tour without having to shell out any money! Then we stopped in Lower Kaimai to check out the McLaren Falls and nearly were attacked by very person-friendly (and well fed, apparently!) roosters. We survived that, and headed northeast to Tauranga. We wanted to hike Mount Maunganui as we thought we’d heard that you could see the crater from the top. So, up we hiked, for 35 minutes, but alas – no crater. The view was gorgeous though, and the hike was nice, albeit in the pissing rain. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to Thames, which is at the bottom west of the Coromandel Peninsula. One of Gavin’s roommates from Blenheim has lovely parents who opened up their doors to us for two nights so we luckily used their home as “home base” for a couple days.

Day 2: Saturday

John and Lyn, our hosts for the night, made us a lovely big breakfast to give us energy for our 360° drive around the Coromandel Peninsula. To add to the perfect beginning to our day – the sun was out! (It was our only non-rainy day the entire trip.) We started off in Thames and headed northeast past Pauanui to Hot Water Beach, where we took some lovely pictures and also bought some artwork! We both got hook necklaces and a really cool mirror. Then we headed to Cathedral Cove in Hahei. It was really pretty, but super busy. We went to Whitianga for lunch and then headed up to the top of the peninsula and then west to Coromandel town. We were pretty exhausted by that time so other than buying a bottle of wine and fresh mussels for our hosts as a thank you, we didn’t really stick around. It was an interesting and extremely windy drive home, down the west side of the peninsula beside the Firth of Thames. The sunset was gorgeous so we stopped for photos!

Also, we have to say Happy Birthday to Nicholas Raymond, our new nephew, who was born as we were buying our Good Luck Maori necklaces ☺ We’re glad mum and dad are doing well and look forward to meeting Nicholas!

Day 3: Sunday

This morning we woke up and had another amazing breakfast at John and Lyn’s – cooked by Gavin! We were sad to leave the Coromandel, but excited to check out the big city of Auckland. We headed west across the bottom of the Firth of Thames and then up north to Auckland. Unfortunately, we had another rainy day so by the time we arrived at our friend Katie’s house and made it downtown – we just did a small walking tour of the harbour and then went out for dinner at an amazing Mexican restaurant.

Day 4: Monday

Our last day in Auckland – surprise, surprise – was rainy! We went out for breakfast at a cute little restaurant in Mount Eden called Circus. Then we took the bus downtown and walked around a bit more – checked out a couple souvenir shops and picked up some post cards…real tourists! After visiting the iSite we decided to take a ferry over to Devonport, which is a small village across the Waitemata Harbour. It has lots of really unique restaurants and shops. The Royal New Zealand Navy also operates a base in Devonport. It was a really neat tour around the village and we learned a lot of early NZ history! Thanks Barb, for suggesting it ☺ We headed back to Katie’s place to pick her up when she was done work, and went to The Cloak Room in Mount Eden for a drink before taking Katie back home and heading to the airport.

6 weeks left to take in the sights of NZ

2010-05-08T19:35:00.002-04:00

There's not a whole lot to report on this end (sorry to disappoint, Aunt Sue!) but thought I'd jot a little something down anyhow for those of you who check our blog.

First and foremost, though - Happy Mother's Day!

I am in Blenheim, perhaps for the last time, visiting Gavin. It's Sunday, late morning, and we just had breakfast and coffee, Gavin is now putting a fire on and we're lazing around, doing some work (e-mails, planning, marking, etc.). It's nice to have a day like this - we haven't had one in 8 weeks because when I come to visit we have so little time we try to get out and take in the town. This time, however, we have no rental car and I am also staying until tomorrow (Monday) morning, so there's no rush to get things done so I can get on the road and back to Christchurch before nightfall. A lazy Sunday by the fire together is just what the doctor ordered!

I say that I'm here maybe for the last time because Gavin only has one more week of placement left before he's back in ChCh. We're still unsure if I'll rent a car and come up next weekend to move him back home, or if his other roommate is taking her car back to ChCh on Friday. Either way, one week of placement and 5 weeks of university - and that's it! We are officially Canada-bound in 6 weeks. I'm sounding like a broken record, but the time has really just flown by. We get married in 3 months!! I guess time flying is a good sign, but also a bit frightening!

So far we only have one more trip planned and that is May 21 - 24 we are flying to Auckland! We are going to check out the Coromandel's for two days and checking out Auckland for two days. Pretty exciting!! We are flying on points and also have some contacts at both locations where we can stay for free, so it'll wind up being a pretty inexpensive trip. We are also wanting to go to Queenstown, but we don't have enough money for sky diving or bungee jumping so really we'd just be going to say we've been. I mean, it's supposed to be really pretty, especially Milford Sound, but to be honest I wouldn't really care either way. We'll have to play it by ear.

Well that's it for now...I'll update again after our Auckland trip :)

Taking on the North Island

2010-04-19T03:19:00.003-04:00

Day 1: April 2 (Good Friday)

Blenheim – Picton

Picton – Wellington via the Interislander Ferry

Wellington – small tour of our 3 work areas

Wellington – Masterson (camped at Mawley Park)

Day 2: April 3

Masterson – Hastings: toured around, went to Park Estates, Church Road and Mission wineries.

Hastings – Napier: toured around, watched rugby, camped at West Shore.

Day 3: April 4

Napier – Taupo: Orakei Korako Cave and Thermal Park, dinner, played pool and watched rugby, camped at Discovery Lodge en route to Mount Ruapehu.

Day 4: April 5 (Easter Sunday)

Taupo – Wellington: lots of traffic, training meeting at Pride Lands.

* * *

I’m sitting on the TransCoastal from Blenheim to Christchurch, sipping on a glass of Montana Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon (albeit out of a plastic cup) and enjoying the beautiful scenery. It’s nice to have “someone else drive” so I can relax and take in the sights.

Our road trip up to the middle of the north island was really nice. We camped the whole time and really just had one really cold night. Our route was Wellington-Masterson-Hastings-Napier-Taupo-Wellington. Hawkes Bay (Hastings/Napier area), the north’s wine region, was neat – we were able to visit three wineries: Park Estates, Church Road and Mission Estate Wines. Mission is an old converted seminary that has been producing wines since 1851, making it New Zealand’s oldest winery. The building itself is gorgeous, the views are gorgeous, and the amount of vintage products they have is insane. I think we needed to go “off the beaten track” to really see the sights of wine country as it was pretty blah other than Mission. In Taupo we went to Orakei Korako Geyserland. In English it means “The Hidden Valley”. We took a boat across Lake Ohakuri to check out the geothermal area, which was a pretty incredible sight.

April 6th – 16th we were working at a day camp called Pride Lands. It was a good experience, and we pretty much came out at $0 after traveling but it was the only way we could really afford to see the north. Anyhow, the hours were long (10+ hour days) but worth it. We saved a bit of money by hostelling some nights and camping others. I have enjoyed the camping we have done while in NZ, but camping at this backpackers was not fun. The ground was super hard, our air mattress had two unfixable leeks, and Windy Welly sure as heck lived up to its name. I was happy to have a bed when we got back to Blenheim! I have to say, though, that John and Rachel at Rowena’s Backpackers Lodge on Broughham Street in Wellington were awesome hosts. We had some great conversations with them, they were always more than helpful, and just all around really accommodating. If anyone is looking for a great, affordable place to stay in Welly, we highly suggest it!

We had one weekend in Wellington between weeks one and two of camp, which we spent taking the cable car to the top of Mount Victoria to check out the Botanical Gardens, walking through Te Papa (a pretty awesome museum) visiting Parliament, more commonly referred to as “The Beehive”, indoor rock climbing, and just generally wandering about.

I should note that a couple paragraphs back I started to feel a bit ill on the train (lack of sleep, feeling like a human bobble head, typing, and the red wine was probably not the best combination) so had to stop mid-sentence. I’m now happily settled back home, listening to music, and okay – yes – having a glass of Mission Sauvignon Blanc.

Friday after our last day of work we cleaned our respective areas and caught the 8pm ferry back to Picton. Tony dropped Gavin and I off in Blenheim and I spent the weekend there. We did a whole lot of not much, which felt awesome! We were exhausted, and probably still are. As I mentioned at the start of this blog entry, I took the train back to Christchurch yesterday (Sunday).

Gavin is doing well at Marlborough Girls High. He’s been observed twice and passed, so right now it’s a bit difficult to motivate himself to work as he’s essentially done. But he’s still enjoying his school and associates. Next week he’s at camp somewhere (haha, I’m not sure where) so he won’t be teaching – well, it’ll be a different type of teaching – and so this Friday he’s at the camp doing a run-through of safety procedures, etc. It’s a good break-up of his last 4 weeks there. After camp he’ll have two weeks in Blenheim to finish off his final teaching practice, then back to Christchurch at university for 5 weeks, and then we’ll be en route to B.C. and then Ontario! We are very excited and counting down the days.

I’m about to head to Sophia’s for dinner. I miss her and the children a lot – it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other with them being in Korea and then me being up north! I’ll post this from her house so you can all be up-to-date on what we’ve been up to.

Canada-bound in 62 days, wedding in 110. Yahoo!

My second week

2010-03-27T03:22:00.002-04:00

Sooo It is a bit lonely up here in the north of the south. Haha but I made it through my second week which means onlu 4 days before Erin gets to come up and visit me again. My trip over to Welly gave me a really great indication of what we are in for, for our two week break. I am now very excited as Welly is a great city (and its actually a city, not like these fake ones that we have been living in :) .

My second week went well. I taught my first class on the wednesday which went well. It is a topic that I am comfortable with so I was quite nervous but made it through. I had 3 classes on thursday which started off beautifully. My year 10 history class (which I went to welly with and got to know) went very smoothly although i did have one girl give me death glares because i told her that she was going to be moving if she didn't stop talking. That was fun. My year 12 class which was right after, also went swimmingly and then there were the grade 9's. Hmmmm didn't see this one coming. They were awful.. Well I overestimated their level and tried to do toooo much unstructured work (ie discussion based activities) so they got a bit wild. Not a fun way to end the day. So I had to rework my lesson plans for the next day which was not as fun as it sounds. Queue four lesson friday!! what a way to finish the week. haha But all went well and I finished the week on a high note.

I decided to go out last night and drown all my sorrows away. I have some great roommates and they were nice enough to let me tag along to a local watering hole. We met up with all of their friends that work in the wine industry (which was weird for me since I am used to only hanging out with teachers) and we talked shop for the rest of the night which was awesome. So much better than complaining with fellow teachers about the little punk sitting in the back row.

Anyways, I have had a very quiet day of resting and missing Erin. I really hope this is the last time we have to do this as I can't wait for us to be together at the end of the week.

Mussels + Wine Country? Yes Please!

2010-03-21T17:44:00.002-04:00

What a great weekend! Not only was it wonderful to see Gavin again, but we happened to be around Havelock for it's annual Mussel Festival! Havelock is only about 30 minutes from Blenheim, so we headed down there for some more of their world famous green shelled mussels.

I'm getting ahead of myself, though. First of all, I can't take credit for the photos. My point-and-shoot crapped out after about 8 good years, and Gavin's camera takes great photos but it's huge and he has to upload photos onto his old computer before transferring them to his new one...anyhow, it's a pain. So I've stolen these pictures from online.

Friday I left ChCh around 10:45 and made it to Blenheim around 3:00. I picked Gav up from school, we dropped the car off at his flat, and we walked into town to the Scotch Wine Bar for a glass of wine and tapas. Then we stopped at the grocery store and headed home to cook dinner. We laid low after dinner - just had some wine and chatted with two of Gavin's roommates, Amanda and Charlotte. (They're an absolute hoot, hilarious girls! He also lives with Tim and Amanda's boyfriend, Nick. Amanda is teaching with Gavin and the other three work on the vineyards.)

On Saturday we got up and headed to Havelock. Looking back, it was pretty pricey, but we didn't mind so much seeing as we'll never be back! It was $20 to get in, but the food and drinks were reasonably priced. We both had a seafood platter - mussels, crab legs, shrimp, scallops. It was delicious! We had a glass of wine and a beer while we sat on the grass, ate and listened to "The Lady Killers" - this all girls group, who were hilarious and had very nice voices. There were tons of tents set up with food, drinks, jewelry for sale, bags - tons of stuff! There was also a big mussel competition - they were trying to break the Guinness Book of World Records and open 100 mussels in under 2 minutes! We stayed in Havelock for a few hours and then headed back into Blenheim. We stopped at The Vavasour Wine Company - they have Vavasour, Goldwater and Clifford Bay under their label - and did a wine tasting. Really lovely wines there! Then we headed home and made fajitas, had some drinks with Amanda and Charlotte, watched some TV (the Food Network - yum!) and called it a night.

Yesterday morning we made a big breakfast and then went to Huia Vineyards. The lady there was really helpful and knowledgeable, and also gave us the name of two companies (one in North Van, one in Montreal) who carry their wines. (We want to have our white table wine be a NZ wine, if possible.) We stopped in at Moa, which is a local mostly organic brewery, but they are closed on Sunday - next time! After lunch I got back on the road and made it back to ChCh before dark. All in all it was a great weekend!

Gavin's first week of placement is going well, and he's already got himself on one, maybe two, field trips! Tomorrow he's going to Wellington for the day to a museum and the second week after the school holiday he may be going to camp! That one isn't 100% yet - depends on the number of students who sign up. He has a really supportive group at the school, and it's much more relaxed in many ways than Burnside. He sure did get lucky with both placements!

Wedding stuff is progressing steadily...right now I'm working on finalizing the guest list (addresses, etc.) and booking a block of rooms. We get married in 139 days - woohoo! We are also en route home in 13 weeks - I know I say it often, but the time is just flying!

That's all for now... :)

"Project Mum" - Test Run

2010-03-15T02:56:00.002-04:00

No no, we're not expecting - I'm just practicing. Our Korean family has gone back to Korea for 4 weeks but Tom, the oldest son, is staying in New Zealand. Because he's under 18-years-old, he needs a legal guardian to stay with him at all times. So - that's where I come in! I moved into their house last night and they left this morning, so I've begun the first 24 hours of practicing being a mother. I'm more worried for Tom, though - I don't know how my mum varied my lunches all those years, but that's my first and probably most difficult challenge!

Other than that, Gavin left yesterday morning for Blenheim. Amanda, a girl is his program, is also teaching at the same school, so he got a drive up with her. They arrived at their new place, were completely disgusted by it (between the stains on the carpets, the cockroach Amanda saw in the lounge, the screaming neighbours, and the pit bulls across the street) and refused to sign the lease! They stayed at Amanda's boyfriends uncles place last night and managed to find a good place tonight. He is just getting settled in now. His first day went well - he had a long chat with the deputy principal and got a great feeling about the school. He didn't spend a lot of time (if any) in the classroom today, but he has met most of his associates, who seem really nice, and is feeling really positive about this placement. He says it may be even better than his last one at Burnside, and that was a pretty awesome experience so he's really excited and relieved! There are also a few field trips schedule while he's up there, so hopefully he will be able to participate in one or two of those! Nothing like getting right in there...what's the saying - go big or go home? That's Gavin :)

Summer in March, BBQ’s and China in ChCh

2010-03-06T17:48:00.000-05:00

Even though we are on the other side of the world, Christchurch’s summer seem to be a lot like Ontario’s – with the end of the summer being the most beautiful weather! We’re into March now, and although summer should be winding down, we’ve been blessed with gorgeous weather for about two weeks now! It reminds me of September back home.

Gavin has one more week of university before heading up to Blenheim for his second and last placement. He’ll have 3 weeks of teaching and then there’s a two-week school holiday, where we’ll head up to Wellington. Our friend Tony worked at a sports camp there over the summer, and was really helpful in getting us jobs there, too. Although the days are pretty long, it’ll be great to live in the north island for those two weeks and be able to travel around. After that, Gavin goes back down to Blenheim (and I head to ChCh) for a final four weeks at Marlborough Girls’ High. Then he’s back at university for 5 weeks and – voila! – home sweet home. It’s so hard to believe that we’ll be en route back to Canada 5 weeks from tomorrow (and married in 154 days!). We’re really looking forward to being home.

Later on this afternoon our Korean family is coming over to our house for a BBQ. We are having salmon, Korean meat, chicken, potato and kumara, and corn on the cob. Mmm! Afterwards, we are heading to Victoria Park downtown to check out the Chinese Lantern Festival.

There was just a preview for “Alice in Wonderland” on TV – I’m excited to see it in 3D!

Last night Gavin had a bit of a flu bug, but we had previous dinner plans, so I still went. I met up with Nicole and Phil, plus Sarah and Tom. We went to Buddha Stix. It’s got a good reputation, and although we thought it may be fusion food, it was just Thai. It was reasonably priced, the atmosphere was great, and the food was delicious! Too bad Gav missed it. He’s feeling better now…I told him he may be allergic to chocolate (it’s what he ate before he started to feel sick), but he doesn’t want to think about it ;)

I’m half watching cricket on TV. It’s New Zealand vs. Australia. I do not understand this game…it’s like a ridiculously long version of baseball, but with no gloves. Phil says it’s similar to a hockey game where Canada is playing the U.S. Phil told me to throw in some cricket lingo – silly mid on. I have no idea what it means..he says it’s a fielding position. Also, the score is 173/4 with 36 overs (with Australia batting) but I also have no idea what that means. This game will probably take about 8 or 9 hours to finish, but sometimes test matches take 5 days. Shoot me.

Wedding planning is going well. The only big thing we’ve got left to book is a photographer, and mum’s looking into someone. Also John Boy (my best friend, Joe’s, dad) is a retired teacher who has some contacts of ex-students. Other than that, we’re thinking about centerpieces and decorations. The next big ticket item will be flowers. I also have to think about how I want my hair, and who I would like to do it, and then book a test run when we get home. Gavin is excited to spend the day with Bryce in Vancouver choosing their suits. As soon as my sister gets her MOH dress, we can start looking at what colours the guys will wear!

We recently received two packages in the mail – one from my girlfriends and one from my Oma, Tante and my aunt and uncle. They all sent Tim Horton’s coffee (I guess they know we miss it?!) so we’re all set until we get home! We have a cup almost every morning and totally savour the taste!

* * *

So it’s Sunday morning now, we are sitting in Starbucks checking e-mail and trying to Skype. I was okay Mac-Mac with my sister but Gav had problems Mac-PC with his parents. Too bad; our niece, Gwen, was there squealing away and rolling around on the floor! Too cute. We’re really excited that we will be home just in time for her 1^st birthday party!

The Chinese Lantern Festival last night was beautiful but extremely busy. We were also there with 4 kids, so it was a bit intense and stressful to keep an eye on all of them among the throngs of people! We may go back tonight (it’s only on for two days and tonight there are closing fireworks) as Gavin wants to take some more pictures. Speaking of cameras, when Sophia goes back to Korea she’s agreed to buy us another point and shoot! Mine is toast and there’s an electronics store in Korea that has amazing deals on name brands, so we’re going to show her what we want and she’s going to grab it for us. We have Gavin’s huge camera, but I have no idea how to use it so we really want a good point and shoot.

15 weeks from today, we will be have landed in Sydney and will be waiting for our connecting flight to Vancouver. We get married in 154 days. Exciting times!

E & G xxoo

Canadians Turning Korean...and Vice-Versa

2010-02-20T23:40:00.005-05:00

I've been told that my Canadian family and friends miss my blog updates by my Korean friend, Sophia. So - she's set me up at her dining room table and instructed me to write. She is making (kal-be-jim) beef stew (ribs), which you put beside rice. So far, Sophia has made us Korean feast after Korean feast, and I've even learned how to make sushi!! It's been great to be able to have a family here - we have become close with not only Sophia, but her son Lewis and her niece Ashley. We have dinner once a week with them and she always spoils us with her delicious cooking. Also, I tutor the children once a week and Gavin teaches Lewis about world history once a week. We love learning about Korean culture and traditions (and food!) and they enjoy hearing about how we do things in Canada. We watched the Olympics together today and we were all cheering for the Canadians and the Koreans. We are definitely a melting pot, but still preserve our multicultural heritage heritage when we are together...east meets west!

Lots of changes have been happening around here...summer is finally here, after February proved to NOT be the best "summer" month. The last few days of the month have been beautiful...blue skies, hot, slight breeze, bright sun. We realized that we are en route back to Canada in 4 months, or 16 weeks. I know I say it often, but the time has really flown since we've been in New Zealand. We are really excited to get home, but also we're definitely sad to leave.

Another change is that Gavin found out where his last placement will be - in Blenheim! The bad news is that it's 5 hours north of Christchurch, but the good news is that it's in wine country! Gavin will move up there for 7 weeks (plus a 2 week school holiday in the middle of placement) and we have to decide whether I'll go up with him and work in a vineyard or relief teach, or whether I'll stay put in ChCh and go up on weekends. The train is quite good and fairly inexpensive - $80 round trip. We're looking forward to spending some more time up there, and also it's easy to take the ferry or fly to Wellington so we're planning on doing that one weekend. We still have the entire north island to tackle so we're quite happy that he's being sent closer to the north than farther away!

Work for me is going well. I teach every afternoon from 4-6 and I have three separate students for private lessons two nights a week. The money isn't great but it's better than nothing. The saving grace is that I'm in love with the Korean kids at Golden Section and so I really do enjoy going to work every day! Gavin hasn't been working much, mainly because he'll be leaving soon.

Gavin's sister Shannon is in Vancouver as a volunteer physiotherapist for the Olympic Games. She's been posted to the women's hockey and is loving her time there, but it's pretty exhausting. I also think she's probably missing her boy back home, James ;) Courtney and Dennis seem to be doing well, and Gwen keeps them busy! Gavin is really excited to be able to act like a true uncle when we get back home and meet his niece for the first time! Court told us that we'll celebrate Gwen's first birthday the weekend after we get back from New Zealand. I'm glad we aren't missing it!

I think the spicy kimchi is calling my name...it's also become a new favourite of mine. It's cabbage marinated in some sort of red sauce...delicious!

GO CANADA GO! :) xo

To the North of the South

2010-02-05T00:43:00.000-05:00

Monday, February 1^st, 2010 – DAY 1 (Christchurch-Mangamaunu Beach-Kina)

Our road trip started out in true fashion with us getting about 45 minutes out of Christchurch and realizing that we had forgotten our tent! As cash is a bit short at the moment, tenting was essential in order to make this week feasible for us. It was a bit annoying as it added not only time but money (backtracking equals gas!) but it was worth it. We drove north along the ocean and stopped at Mangamaunu Beach just above Kaikoura for lunch. We pulled out our chilly bin (cooler) and lawn chairs and headed out to the beach to eat lunch and watch some surfers. Pretty nice way to spend some time and take a break from driving! Our ultimate destination was to head up and play in the Abel Tasman, so after lunch we got back on the road and decided to get as close as we could to either Kaiteriteri or Marahau. We made it to Kina, which is just below Motueka, pitched our tent, made some dinner, and sipped on a Speight’s while sitting by the ocean. It was a pretty amazing night! We slept alright on the air mattress…definitely not the most comfortable way to sleep for either one of us, but it was okay! The lull of the Pacific Ocean (the spot we were in was actually part of the Tasman Bay) definitely helped us to at least relax all night, even if we didn’t get a whole lot of sleep.

Tuesday, February 2^nd, 2010 – DAY 2 (Kina-Motueka-Marahau)

We were up with the sun this morning and after a quick breakfast and packing job, we stopped in Motueka for coffee. We found ourselves in this really neat shop and café called Arcadia Organics. A local Motueka couple owns it and we had a really interesting chat with the husband about organics and sustainability in New Zealand. It basically boiled down to the fact that New Zealand talks a green talk, but very few people walk the green walk. He says that while it’s definitely improving in some areas, there’s still much to do. Afterwards, we headed up to Kaiteriteri to figure out our day. Unfortunately, all of the kayak stuff was booked and while the sailing looked great, it was pretty pricey. We decided to take our chances and head up to Marahau – thank goodness we did! We ended up booking a walk for today and kayaking for tomorrow. But we’ll start with the walk. Basically how it worked was that you could take a water taxi to a number of different locations and then walk back to town through the Abel Tasman National Park. Gavin saw an estuary near Torrent Bay that he really wanted to see, so I just went along with it. Well, it wasn’t until we got off the water taxi at Torrent Bay that we realized that all in all from Torrent Bay to Marahau was 19kms! We had eaten breakfast (cereal) and had packed some snacks and water, but we definitely only had about 1L each and NO lunch! Anyhow, we struggled through, took little breaks for pictures, and had a slight detour down to one of the many beautiful beaches for a wee dip at Anchorage Bay to cool us down. The walk actually ended up being about 21kms because you got out of the park but then it was another couple kilometers back to the town. Needless to say, when we saw a little restaurant called “Hooked on Marahau” we stopped and split some fish and chips…and drank an entire pitcher of water between the two of us! We were sore, exhausted, and parched…but we made it, and it really was a lovely walk, so we tried to focus on the positive, grabbed showers, made some sandwiches, played cards, and I think we were in bed (we got a campsite in Marahau) before the sun went down! We needed to recharge our batteries for kayaking…

Wednesday, February 3^rd, 2010 – DAY 3 (Marahau-Havelock-Blenheim)

This morning we woke up on the ground. After our exhausting day, all we wanted was a good night’s sleep, but I guess it will have to wait. We were up early again to clean up our campsite, make lunch for our kayak trip, grab breakfast, and douse ourselves with sunscreen. As an aside – our instructor is a fellow Canadian from Dartmouth, N.S. who is starting teacher’s college on Monday and will be in some of Gavin’s classes. Small world! After a “seminar” about kayaking (safety, the area, etc.) we were off! It was interesting to be on the water and see where we had walked the day before…and although I was glad to be giving my legs a rest, I certainly don’t have a ton of upper body strength so after about the third paddle I was already sore. Anyhow, once we got out of the bay and into the more sheltered areas paddling was a lot easier – and definitely more beautiful scenery! Around Appletree and Stillwell Bays there were lots of little cave crevices that you could kayak into and see how the ocean has eaten away at the rocks over the years…pretty incredible stuff. We stopped at Observation Beach for lunch. Our guide recommended it because it’s the only beach along the kayaking area that isn’t accessible to hikers. We pulled our kayak up on the sand and quickly realized we were the first ones to set food on the beach that day – that was definitely a special moment! We had a really peaceful, tranquil lunch and just as we were finishing up heaps more people started to pull their kayaks back on shore. So, we packed up, launched ourselves back into the ocean and headed back to Marahau. We were pretty tired from our 20+km walk the day before so we were looking forward to getting back to shore. We made it back and showered to wash the salt off our skin, and then decided to get back on the road and start our journey home.

A colleague of mine spent some time in New Zealand last year and before I left, she told me a few things she thought were “must do’s” – one of them being eating some green-shelled mussels. Apparently, you can only get this kind in New Zealand. So, when we approached a little town called Havelock, which boasted having the best green-shelled mussels in the world, we knew we had to stop! Gavin and I split a pot of traditional garlic, white wine and herb mussels…and man, were they delicious!! While we were sitting at “The Mussel Pot” we decided that we would continue driving to Blenheim and stop there for the night. We also decided that we would look for a good deal on a motel as we were both in desperate need of sleeping in a bed that was off the ground. We made it to Blenheim, found a really reasonably priced motel, made some dinner watched half of the “Sex and the City” movie, and were sleeping like babies by 9:30!

Thursday, February 4^th, 2010 – DAY 4 (Blenheim-Christchurch)

What a great sleep! We were both really glad that we spent the extra money to stay in a motel, that’s for sure! To top off our vacation, we were visiting some wineries in the area. You could honestly spend two weeks in Blenheim because that’s how long it would take you to sample each vineyard’s wines, but seeing as we just had half a day, we had to narrow down our temptations and choose 3:

1) Seresin Estate: This was the first vineyard we decided to check out. It was partly my choice, as it is an organic and biodynamic winery. When we drove up to it, it was a pretty uninteresting looking building so we were both a bit skeptical. However, as soon as we stepped inside the tasting room – wow! The wines were amazing (we bought a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc), but they also sold olive oils and little trinkets. I’ll stop here for a second to try to generally explain what a biodynamic winery is. Pretty much, it’s similar to the tides where growing, weeding, watering, and harvesting correspond with the phases of the moon. They have been practicing biodynamic wine making for the past 7 years, and figured it would take 7 more to be fully biodynamic. One of the most interesting things I think we learned from Seresin is that the roots of their vines go so deep into the ground, soon enough they won’t need to water anymore as the roots will pick up water from the soil and pass it along to the rest of the plant. Their logo is a hand, and it’s because that’s way everything is done – by hand. Another interesting thing we learned that isn’t related to wine in any way is that the owner, Michael Seresin, is also a cinematographer and has worked on movies such as “Harry Potter”. Crazy!

www.seresin.co.nz

2) Te Whare Ra Wines: Stopping at this vineyard was definitely my choice, as I wanted to check one out that had a Maori name. Te Whare Ra means, “house under the sun”. A number of things (including the wine!) about this place struck us as really interesting. First of all, the new owners have been in the process of making this an organic vineyard since they bought it about 6 years ago and are on the second phase (out of three or four). Secondly, they run the entire vineyard (25 acres) with two helpers. Thirdly, the owners have two sets of twin girls, ages two and five, completely naturally. Needless to say, we were happy to hear that they were on vacation! Nick gave us a great run through of the history of Te Whare Ra and the wines that they make. The last interesting piece of information that we learned is that Te Whare Ra first opened in 1979, making it the oldest vineyard with a tasting room in New Zealand. We bought a bottle of their Syrah.

www.te-whare-ra.co.nz

3) Fromm Winery: This was, unfortunately, our last stop on our wine tasting. Our friend’s brother and his girlfriend were visiting New Zealand and had a glass of the Fromm Syrah with dinner one night and suggested it to Gavin and I, so we thought instead of ordering a glass, we’d just go see the vineyard! Rachel was very helpful and we had a great time sampling their selection of wines. An interesting fact about Fromm is that they focus more on red wines, which is pretty uncommon in N.Z., as they’re known for their whites. I was also pleased to see that they’d just pulled a bunch of Merlot vines at the front of the vineyard; however, they were replacing them with Chardonnay vines. Anyhow, we mentioned that we were getting married and wanted some New Zealand table wine at our reception but it was difficult for New Zealand wineries to export wine into Canada, so she gave us a contact in Toronto that she’d been speaking to. Kiwi’s can be very friendly and helpful!

www.frommwinery.co.nz

Good News - We Booked Flights Home!

2010-01-30T20:03:00.001-05:00

Some good news to report – we’ve booked flights home! The Flight Centre had a travel expo yesterday and some destinations were offering cheap flights and/or vacations. So after Gavin and I dropped his parents off at the airport and returned our rental car, we walked down to the Convention Centre near Victoria Square. To cut to the chase, we’re officially coming home! We leave Christchurch on June 20^th and fly into Vancouver via Sydney. We hang out in Vancouver for 4 full days, and then we take off on Thursday and land in Ottawa on June 24^th at 7pm. Yeay! We’re both really excited that flights home have been booked, but it also makes us realize all that we still want to see and do around New Zealand, and the fact that we only have 4 months and 3 weeks to see and do it all! As I mentioned before, though, as of Friday we’ll have seen almost all of the south island (just Queenstown, Milford Sound, and Dunedin left to tackle). My dad and sister are coming in May, though, and they want to see Queenstown (we’re thinking of sky diving!) so we’ll get that and Milford Sound taken care of then. Dunedin isn’t too far away – a 5-hour drive south. It’s manageable, but it sure did make us realize how our time here is just flying by – we haven’t even seen the north island yet, unless you count flying into Auckland…which we’re not J

So again, sorry to have been neglecting our blog, but I’ve been working on the trip entry the whole week, so between reading about our adventures and this blog, I hope I’ve made you happy! More next week when we return from our northern south island adventure…

South Island, NZ Road Trip: January 24th-30th

2010-01-30T20:01:00.001-05:00

Sunday, January 24^th, 2010 – DAY 1 (Christchurch-Lake Tekapo-Twizel)

Bob and Barb made it into Christchurch once again yesterday afternoon and we had a lovely dinner at our flat. This morning, after making some food for the road and packing up the car, we set off on our 6-day road trip through part of the south island of New Zealand. Our only unplanned stop for coffee in Ashburton led to an interesting interlude. After coffee and making it just past Geraldine (about 40 minutes away) we got a phone call from the coffee shop, wondering if someone had forgotten their (entire!) purse. Anyhow, because Barb and Bob had been on the ship for two weeks and they had a locked, secure room, Barb wasn’t used to bringing her purse around with her. As a result, she’d left it at the coffee shop! After driving all the way back to Ashburton we finally made it to Tekapo. It actually worked out okay, though, because even though we had to backtrack and it added about an hour and a half onto our first day, the skies cleared up and the rains stopped during that time and we ultimately had great weather at Tekapo!

We are now in our B&B in Twizel. Gavin found a great cottage for us – three bedrooms and a huge kitchen and lounge area – it’s great! We’re in the process of preparing dinner. I was in charge of chopping up some veggies, Bob is supervising and he’s also in charge of the television, and Barb and Gavin are doing up some potatoes and also some fresh fish that our roommate and her family caught for us in Kaikoura. The sky is pretty dark but heaps of rays are peaking out from somewhere…we have yet to see the top of Mount Cook (this is the second time we’ve tried), and apparently if the skies are clear you can see it from our B&B – so here’s hoping!

It’s after dinnertime now; Gavin and Barb just got back from a wee walk, Bob is falling asleep in front of the television, and I should close off here. I think a comfy bed, country atmosphere and my book is calling my name! That, and the fact that check out is at 10am…an early night will be good.

Quick Visit & A Look Into The Future

2010-01-18T14:45:00.002-05:00

Just a short blog to say that Bob and Barb made it to Christchurch after schedule changes and much anticipation on our part! While I went to work yesterday, Gavin picked up the rental car and then got his parents at Lyttelton Harbour after a bout of panic about the possibility that they had jumped on the wrong shuttle and were en route to the city centre. However, crisis averted, they found one another and made their way to our place and then walked down to Coffee Culture to catch up. They picked me up on my lunch break and we went for pizza. I taught in the afternoon and the three of them headed into the city centre to tour around Cathedral Square. We met back at our flat and hung out for a short amount of time (opened some presents from Canada – just like Christmas!) before taking them back to the harbour. They are heading up to Wellington tonight, then Napier, Hawke’s Bay area, and Rotorua is their second last stop on their way to their final cruise destination of Auckland. On Saturday they fly from Auckland back down to Christchurch. We’ll spend Saturday relaxing, making some food for our journey and do some last minute plans for our trip, and then we are in Tekapo on Sunday!

The week after Gavin’s parents leave (on January 30^th) the two of us are heading to the south of the south island (Dunedin, Invercargill, maybe Stewart Island, Queenstown) for a few days. By the second week of February, we’ll have most of the south island covered, so we can tackle the north after that!

This week is pretty uneventful for us. Wednesday we are either heading to our Korean family’s house for dinner or we are going out to allegedly the best Korean place in Christchurch. We’re hoping to go out to this really neat Japanese restaurant on Friday…our friend Sarah’s brother and his partner are visiting, so the six of us (including Tom) are planning to do that.

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost February 2010 and we’ll be on our way home in about four and a half months. Gavin is done school on June 18^th; our plan is to leave as soon after that as we can (we’d like to leave on the next day) and fly up to Auckland, spend a few days there, and then head to Vancouver. We plan to spend about four days in B.C. so Gavin can scheme up a wedding outfit with Bryce, and I can see the west coast! If all goes to plan, we’ll be back in Brockville by the end of June. That will give us about 5 weeks to do all the crafty wedding things and catch up with our family and friends! It’s a whirlwind year, that’s for sure J We wouldn’t change it, though!

Hope this blog entry finds our followers doing well and enjoying the snow, if you’re in the northern hemisphere, or at least the cooler winter weather!

Enjoy the last half of January…the time sure does go by quickly!

G&E

xxoo

Lazy Sunday

2010-01-16T19:23:00.003-05:00

Hi again,

Just another quick post to appease my aunt (and others who are following this!). Gavin's mum misread their schedule so they're not in ChCh until tomorrow, Monday, but the rest of our trip timeline is alright. Gavin will take tomorrow off to tour around the city with them, but I'll still work. We'll either meet up for lunch or for a coffee before they get back on the boat.

It's been pretty rainy for the past week or so. Yesterday we went to Mud House Winery in Waipara with our friends Tom and Sarah, and then up to Hanmer for a dip in the hot pools. On the way home we stopped at a little market with fresh and local fruits and veggies and bought some delicious cherries and blueberries! We went home, ordered pizza, and played cards. All in all a great day and pretty relaxing!

Today we are heading to the Avonhead Pub. Sarah and Tom heard that they have live music and good drink deals so we're going to check it out!

Hope everyone in Canada is managing with the snow...

Work and Preparations

2010-01-11T21:52:00.002-05:00

Not much to report, but to keep my Aunt Juice happy - here is the latest: ;)

Gavin's parents are en route to Christchurch! They left last week and flew into Australia, where they are doing a cruise down to New Zealand. They make port in Lyttelton (a subdivision of ChCh) on Saturday, spend the day with us, and then we get them for the whole last week of January. Can't wait! We have booked our stops and places to spend the nights, and are just sorting out a car.

Gavin ended up getting work this week, so that's not only been a huge relief money wise, but also for his sanity. He was pretty bored last week!

Better get back to planning! I think Gavin just found a car for $50/day, the cheapest so far!

Starbucks, Sun & A New Year

2010-01-05T17:26:00.004-05:00

Happy 2010 all! Well, I received a call from my Aunt Sue and while it was mostly a lovely conversation, I did get a bit of grief for not writing on the blog often enough! So I do apologize, but it's difficult without our own Internet...but enough excuses, here it is!

So 2010 started off quite well but unfortunately Gavin didn't get the work we were told he'd get. Not enough registrants, which happens, but we were guaranteed work about 2 months ago and Sunday night at 5:30 we got the call. It is what it is, as Gav says, but still frustrating nonetheless. Obviously, as it's half way through summer, there are no jobs around ChCh, so other than leaving the city for a couple weeks...we may just be living off one income. Not the worst, but we'd spent Sunday budgeting pretty much for the rest of our time here, so it was a bit of a let down.

We've spent a bit of time at the beach and relaxing...hanging around with friends, going for walks, just enjoying our time here! Tonight we are going to see Avatar 3D so that should be quite good!

Bob and Barb (Gavin's parents) left today for Australia, and they will be in ChCh for the day on the 16th and then we travel the south island for a week beginning on the 23rd. We are really excited to see them! Also, my dad and Monica are starting to plan their Australia/NZ trip for May so that's exciting!!

Took a couple photos this morning to post...just one of our house, with the roses in the front and clothes hanging on the line, and the other one of our beautiful January sky! Not to make you all jealous, but it sort of is ;)

Hope your 2010 has started off on a good foot!

xxoo

Christmas 2009...Kiwi Style

2009-12-26T20:38:00.003-05:00

Gavin & I...

Gav, me, Hailey, Tom & Sarah - Family Christmas at the Mega...

Merry Christmas! We do apologize for the delay in blogging, but we lost our Internet and have yet to see if we can get more.

Anyhow, we had a great Christmas and celebrated in true Kiwi fashion! On Christmas Eve we had plans to go sing carols at the church in Cathedral Square, but got there too late and it was absolutely packed. We got home after midnight and opened presents - thanks again to my in-laws for the Olympics/Canada gear! Christmas Day we made a yummy breakfast and geared up to go to New Brighton beach for the afternoon. We swam in the Pacific Ocean on December 25th! It was crazy - a lot of fun - but surreal! Then, our very dear friend Hailey took off for Canada (her program is done) so a small group of us sent her off at the airport. Then we headed over to a friends place to watch "Shrek the Halls" and "National Lampoon's Family Christmas". We ended the night with a BBQ - another surreal Christmas experience!

We are in the process of doing a lot of planning - both for the wedding and for Barb and Bob's visit. They leave Canada on January 5th and make port in ChCh for the day on the 16th, then they're back on the 23rd for a week of traveling around the South island! We will go from Christchurch to Mount Cook, Wanaka, Fox Glacier, Franz Josef, Hokitika, and back through Arthur's Pass. Should be a great 6 days!

Beach Volleyball in December

2009-12-13T15:37:00.004-05:00

Gavin trying to serve in extremely windy conditions...

Gavin spiking the ball...

West Coast Photos

2009-12-05T18:19:00.003-05:00

Photo #1: The sun peeking through the clouds at dusk after a day of rainfall in Moana.

Photo #2: Lake Brunner in the background.

Photo #3: Gavin, Justin and Paul taking full advantage of the "free reign" given at the Monteith's Brewery Tour.

Living the "single" life

2009-12-05T18:08:00.004-05:00

Now don't get all worried - the "single" life is in quotations for good reason: Gavin is out of town once again. Last week he was in Timaru coaching his volleyball team (they didn't do well...out of 16 teams, I think they came in 13th or 14th?), was home for a day and a half, and left this morning at 6 o'clock for Picton (the north of the south island) en route to the Queen Charlotte's. He is going with some mates from teacher's college, other teachers from around ChCh, and 18 students up to Blumine Island for a sustainability trip. They stay in a hostel tonight and leave bright and early tomorrow morning to catch the ferry to the island. Luckily, I've stolen our roommate's boyfriend, Phil, for the week so he'll be keeping me company. (Nicole, Hailey, Sarah, and Nicole's brother Mitch are touring around the south island at the moment, which is why they're not around! It has made and will continue to make for a lonely couple weeks!) In the mean time, I've got a few hours at Golden Section to keep me somewhat busy, and am also applying for a couple long term maternity leaves for term 1 (starting in February) as well as going into a few schools to talk about relief work come February. Wish me luck!

With the help of my mum and an old friend of hers, I'm connecting with an old friend from back home tonight! She's actually the little sister of a very, very old friend - they went to my mum's nursery school! Anyhow, Katie Brown and her fiance are traveling around New Zealand and are taking the train from Kaikoura to Christchurch tonight, so we're meeting up for a drink. (Of course, they're calling for heavy rainfall starting this afternoon...figures.) Small world, isn't it?!

I keep seeing status updates on Facebook about people having just bought their tree or decorated it or that they're putting lights up...and while Gavin and I said it would be a waste this year (of time and money), I think we need to be a bit festive...maybe I'll surprise him with stockings and a few small ornaments when he gets home...

Tim Horton's, meet New Zealand

2009-11-23T20:35:00.003-05:00

Mmm...what a great morning we just had! Although it would be nicer to pick up a few more shifts at work, with me not working mornings and Gavin on summer/Christmas holidays, we have time to hang out together! This morning we slept in (what a rarity!) and then grabbed a small bowl of cereal and a quick cup of tea before heading out for a walk. Our walk through Hagley Park turned into a bit more of a workout, as there are heaps of stops along the way where you can do chin ups, sit ups, push ups, leg things (not sure of the technical term for that one), and lots of other exercises that don't know the names of! To top if off, we've decided we want to be able to go for runs, so we also did a bit of running along the way, too. We'll have to keep working on it!! Such an amazing start to the day, though. Plus, the weather is absolutely gorgeous (sunny and not a cloud in the sky, we're sitting at a balmy 21 degrees). I can't believe that a) December 1st is in 1 week and b) that will be the official beginning of summer.

As if that wasn't enough, we came home and made a delicious breakfast (scrambled eggs with veggies and cheese, asparagus, tomato, golden kiwi fruit, and toast), which we ate outside, and accompanied it with TIM HORTON'S COFFEE!! A friend is en route back to Canada soon, and gave us a wee packet of it...so we're trying to make it last. It sure was delicious to take in that sweet scent again! (Thanks Hailey!)

It may not seem like much of a blog post, but we sure did enjoy ourselves :)

A few more photos...

2009-11-21T00:02:00.003-05:00

Picture 1: The rose garden in bloom!

Picture 2: In the Botanical Gardens...there are heaps of really neat trees!

Picture 3: The sunset from our back door.

Picture 4: At the beach in Sumner - these are some of the homes overlooking the ocean. Lucky bums!

hello Fans

2009-11-16T01:39:00.006-05:00

Soooo I thought since I was on helping my lovely fiancee Erin edit our blog that I would write a lil diddy to show all my fans some love. hahahah ok but seriously just thought I would be involved in the process.

So I have just finished up school which is wicked since I had SOOO much work to do. Hahaha (sorry I should explain that my education so far is dead easy) gotta love teachers college in New Zealand unless you are a primary teacher. I really enjoyed my first two terms of college but I just wish they were teaching and challenging us a bit more. I feel that with the ease of this program, it allows too many people that might be on the fence in terms of passing, to get through. We should be striving for the best teachers not just whoever is willing to pay. OK no more ranting for this evening.

I am preparing for a couple fun things for the next couple weeks. I am currently coaching a boys volleyball team from Burnside (the school I did my placement at) and they will be heading off to nationals in a couple weeks and guess who gets to go with them. ME. This trip will be fully paid for and I will get a bit of money on top. Then the weekend I get back, I will be heading off for a week long trip to Blumine Island. Blumine is an island in the queen charlottes (just off from picton). I will be one of three teachers heading a sustainability trip for year 12 students. This should be a wicked trip as we will be camping and learning for the week. After that I guess it will be time to find a job.. wahoo... waaaaahhhooooo!!! As you can tell, I am very excited about finding work although we have been looking into doing fruit picking for a portion of the summer which could be wicked.

Anyways enough from me for now.. Miss you all.. Love my girl. Ciao

Long Weekends & Windy Tekapo

2009-11-15T18:58:00.006-05:00

Photo #1: Tekapo at sunset.

Photo #2: Mount Cook is somewhere back there!

Photo #3: The Church of the Good Shepherd.

Hello all! Sorry for the delay in updates - I often think of writing but when there isn't much news to report it seems a bit pointless. This weekend, however, we headed southwest to Lake Tekapo (basically to the middle of the south island) to take in the sights and try to catch a glimpse of Mount Cook. At 3754 metres, this is New Zealand's highest mountain. However, there are 27 other mountains in this area which peak at over 3050 metres, and hundreds of others not far short of that. All of these mountains make up the Southern Alps. Unfortunately, we weren't able to actually see the top of Mount Cook because of all the cloud cover. We'll go back though - there are only a few passes (i.e.: ways) to get over to the west coast, and Burkes Pass is one of them, so we'll have more chances! Tekapo is also where the famous Church of the Good Shepherd is, which was built in 1935 as a memorial to the pioneers of the Mackenzie Country. Congregations of the three main faiths worship regularly in the church, and the view of the lake and mountains through the altar window are pretty amazing.

We also had another "first time" as a couple - staying in a hostel! We're trying to see the sights but in economical ways when possible, so we thought we'd stay at the YHA in Tekapo. It was $33 each for a bed, plus $1 per towel (they were more like hand towels than bath towels...poor Gavin!). Also, the single/private rooms fill up months ahead, so we were staying in a 6-bed room. We got to our room and noticed a single backpack on one of the beds (there were 2 bunk beds and 2 single beds) so we grabbed the bunk the farthest from the door, which happened to be beside the taken single bed. We came into our room later on to find a couple totally under the duvet and sharing the single bed! Anyhow, it was a bit inappropriate (very inappropriate) for shared accommodation (it's one night, people!!), and on top of that the beds weren't comfortable and Gavin didn't fit...so we decided in the future, unless we're traveling with a big group, we'll fork out the extra $30 and get a proper hotel room.

On the way to Tekapo we stopped in a town called Geraldine, and they had a huge festival going on. Live music, food, crafts, everything! It was neat to take a bit of a walk around. On the way home we stopped in Methven for lunch, which is a pretty cute little town.

Other than being extremely windy, the only other mishap is that on the way there, a rock flew up and hit our windshield. It caused a little crack in the glass - which we later found out would have been free to fix - but with all the wind (and cheap windshield!) the crack grew to be pretty big. (There's a picture on Facebook.) When Gavin returned the car this morning, we were told it would be $250 to fix, and out-of-pocket. Car insurance is pretty dodgy here (as in they don't ask you if you want it, so you don't have a chance to accept or decline it when you're hiring a car, and if you own a car it's recommended but optional) so we'll have to sort out whether or not Visa will cover it. Hopefully they do! All part of traveling, I suppose.

Video: Dolphin!

2009-11-02T19:43:00.002-05:00

Harbour Cruise

2009-11-02T19:27:00.003-05:00

Spent the weekend in Akaroa, which is actually the crater of an extinct volcano. We went on a Harbour Cruise and saw seals, dolphins, lots of different birds (including Canadian Geese, which were imported from England), and I think a little penguin but not up close. We started in the Akaroa Harbour and saw the Onuku Marae, Cathedral Cave, Palm Gulley, Te Ruahine, and Wainui. We were unable to go much past the mouth of the bay and into the ocean (to see The Lighthouse, Scenery Nook and Timu Timu) due to the high winds and choppy water, but we saw a lot of wildlife!

1 Year Older

2009-10-26T00:44:00.004-04:00

This past weekend Gavin spoiled me (once again!) for my birthday. Saturday morning I got tea in bed and then a great homemade breakfast! We relaxed during the day and then went out for what I thought was going to be a romantic dinner for two. After a lengthy walk downtown in my heels, we made it to South of the Border - a delicious Mexican restaurant in the heart of Christchurch! When we walked in, about 10 of our friends were there waiting and yelled "Happy Birthday!" It was a huge surprise! The food was delicious and the company was great. They also had a cake and everything which was super sweet - the restaurant turned off the lights and everyone sang - I felt a little bit silly as there was a big candle on it that said "27" - but I really loved every minute of it! Haha, shows how much of a kid at heart we can be at any age. A few of our friends also pooled together and bought some really beautiful and colourful plastic costume jewelry, plus a book of NZ Wines and these little wine glass tabs...you know those ones you put on the stem so you don't get them mixed up with someone else's? I guess people know I enjoy my wine down here?? After we were done dinner, we went to this bar (I forget the name) which was pretty eclectic! What the Canadians found the strangest is that they had these steel garbage cans outside with fire in them - to keep you warm. It was a covered ceiling and then plastic pull down drapes on the sides...and we kept going, "In Canada, this would NEVER fly - it would violate about a thousand different rules, plus open fire and alcohol??!!" Anyhow, seemed pretty normal to all the Kiwis around, so we didn't really say much. We had big plans to go out dancing, but after our huge dinner and the brutal music at the restaurant and bar (put-you-to-sleep stuff) we were all pretty tired and ended up getting home just after midnight.

Sunday Gavin stayed home to do work and I headed off to Ashburton to Hood Lake. It was okay...there are pictures on FB...it wasn't at all what the Canadians were expecting (me, plus two other Canadian girls - Nicole and Hailey - and Nicole's Kiwi boyfriend Phil). It's a man made lake with a pebble beach...and people just jetski and seadoo. But if you call it seadooing the Kiwis get upset because seadoo is a name brand and they all have something else. Anyhow, the weather was beautiful so it was worth the strangeness...we just BBQed and soaked up some rays and applied sun screen a LOT. Anyhow, I wouldn't rush back but it was a gorgeous day so I'm happy that I spent it outside.

The Roommate Swap

2009-10-14T18:45:00.003-04:00

Well, I suppose it's not exactly a 'swap' as that would imply a simple switch. I like the title for the blog though, so I'll stick with it. Right now, we live with Katie (the blonde), who is moving out mid-November. Her friend Sarah, who is also in the elementary program, is presently living in residence. When Sarah applied to Canterbury, the university told her that all the grad students lived on campus and it was the place to be. They subsequently put her in a shared accommodation with three 18-year-old undergrad girls. Needless to say, that match isn't working out so well. The elementary program is ridiculously intense (seems that way with most BEd programs!) and as most undergrads are, the girls enjoy their fair share of partying and late nights. So Katie wanted to move in with Sarah.

In the meantime, our friend Nicole (the brunette), who is also in the elementary program, lives with a family who prefers to sign students for 1 year. She moved in with them in February and her program isn't done until April, so she was also looking for a place to live.

These two things happened at the exact same time - so it's worked out well! Katie is going home for Christmas -- she has 5 sisters, and a billion nieces and nephews -- and leaving mid-November. Nicole's brother arrives November 21st and so she was hoping to get set up in a new place before he got here...so really, it's perfect timing!

It will be nice for everyone to switch it up a bit mid-way through the year. Katie is leaving on great terms and we still plan on hanging out - and we're looking forward to seeing her and Sarah's place! They're thinking of moving right near the city centre, so it'll be a different pace than Mona Vale/Riccarton, where we live now. Nicole is dating a kiwi, Phil, who Gavin and I really like, so it'll be nice for Gavin to have a guy around here from time to time :)

The South Island in October

2009-10-11T17:09:00.002-04:00

Good morning all -- I hope this blog entry finds you all doing well. Around here, things have been pretty busy! I've been getting lots of hours at Golden Section tutoring ESL students and enjoying it. It's a lot different than teaching high school to English speaking students at a high level, but it's a nice change! Gavin and I both worked the school holiday program - only hardworking Koreans are keen to come to school during their holiday! The students, for the most part, were really well behaved. Gavin is hoping to get a few hours a week in the evening tutoring, and I've got part time work here. I think when the new school year starts in February, I'll try to get some relief work at some of the high schools. I am helping some Christchurch Boy's High School students get ready for their English exams, so for the next 5 weeks, one night per week, I'll tutor a few of them. It'll be nice to get back into some higher level English!

We've done a couple day trips. Two weekends ago we went to Akaroa, which is the only French settlement in New Zealand. We went during their French Festival, so it was pretty busy but we had a great day...amazing weather and lots of great photo opportunities. We sampled some wine, had lunch, watched a strange form of French cricket, and went for a walk along the beach. The next day we went to Castle Hill, which is where a couple parts of Lord of the Rings was filmed. It's basically a huge field with even more gigantic rocks all around! It was really neat, but I wasn't so much a fan of the hail. Oh well - all part of the experience! We are looking forward to doing a few more day or overnight trips between now and Christmas, and then we head to Australia! Nothing is planned for that trip yet, but we'll start figuring out the details soon.

It's a beautiful day outside -- spring time in New Zealand sure is pretty. The flowers in the Botanical Gardens are starting to bloom and people seem to be even more friendly when the sun is out! I am at work right now, but my students haven't shown up...so I still get paid, I got to have a nice bike ride, and now I get the rest of the day off!

Hope all is well...until next time :) xxoo

Akaroa - October 2009

2009-10-03T03:32:00.001-04:00

Job? Check. Update? Check.

2009-09-10T05:32:00.002-04:00

Hello!

I finally got a job! It's working at an ESL school (run out of an old house) called Golden Section. It's in the Avonside subdivision of Christchurch (through Hagley Park and east...sort of near the water). I worked tonight from 4-6 with 3 adult students (two twenty year olds and one thirty year old). Two are from Japan and one from Korea but Karl (the director) says that 99% of the students are Korean, and most are younger children. Next week and the week after I have 3 two hour morning sessions with one 9-year-old Korean boy and 2 two hour evening group sessions. The following two weeks is a school holiday so both Gavin and I will be working from 9-3. The pay is really good, so if I can get some steady work and pick up some relief teaching or something in retail on weekends, I should make enough money to live!

Last night Gavin and I had date night. Our local LCBO is called Liquorland, which back home looks and sounds totally seedy. Anyhow, when Gavin first got here he signed up for this Wine Club where he would get e-mails about deals, etc. So he surprised me and signed up for a wine tasting through Liquorland from Seleni Estate Winery in Hawke's Bay. (Hawke's Bay is in Hastings, which is on the east side of the North Island.) One of the wine makers was hosting the tasting. Basically it's $10, you pay at Liquorland, they give you a wine glass, and you head next door to the Ground Floor Cafe for the seminar. There was tons of information and some really great wines! We were the youngest people there by about 10 years (most people were in their 40's to 60's) so we made lots of friends and even got invited to sit at some other tables next time! Their Cellar Selection Pinot Noir (2008) is described as this: "Traditionally fermented in small open top tanks with regular hand plunging, the wine then completes melolactic fermentation prior to maturation in the cellar. It receives a light egg-white fining prior to bottling." Gavin and I hadn't heard about egg-white fining before, and when we asked this is what the wine maker said (copied and pasted from a wine consultant website for accuracy): "Egg whites are used on red wines to reduce the amount of harsh tannin. It also helps clarify the wine to a limited extent. The amount that is used is usually about 1/2 to 3 egg whites per barrel (225 Litres). The process of fining is about mixing a material (in this case egg white) into the wine, and then allowing it to react with a component of the wine (in this case tannin) and settle to the bottom of the tank or barrel. The wine is then decanted or racked off the resulting sediment. On the labels they will say something like "traces may remain". This is because the egg white (essentially the protein albumin) binds with tannin and falls out of suspension, leaving very little, if any left in the wine." You learn something new every day! We signed up for a couple more tastings and are looking forward to them!

Gavin's new MacBook Pro finally arrived so he's transferring files as I type. He can't get over how much better the picture quality is! He splurged and got the program Aperture so he'll be playing around with that for sure! He's got a lot of beautiful pictures from his travels so it'll be nice for him to play around with the photos. He has two weeks and one day left of his first placement at Burnside. It's been a really positive experience and his associate teachers have been really supportive and open. After the two week "holiday" (in brackets as we'll hopefully be working!) he goes back to university for classes and has his second and last placement in April/May. The time sure does fly by!

Our wedding...well, it's on hold until mum and Barb figure out the caterer (nudge, nudge). Just kidding :) We've been thinking of centre pieces and decorations and whether we want to write our own vows or say the traditional ones. Oh - and the guest list. That's proving to be more difficult than we anticipated!

This is turning into a bit of a novel so I'll sign off for now. I hope you're enjoying our updates and all is well! We love hearing from you all so drop us a line :)

And the verdict is...

2009-09-01T22:08:00.001-04:00

I'm not getting deported! Got approved for my work visa today (in a record breaking 3 days!) so I can stay in this lovely country until June 23rd, 2010! What a relief.

Now if I could only find a job...

A few photos...

2009-09-01T20:40:00.002-04:00

Update: The Latest & Greatest Info.

2009-08-27T05:03:00.003-04:00

Thought I'd send along a little update about how things are going here...not much to report actually, but here's the latest:

So I've applied for about 21 jobs and put myself up as a tutor on Gumtree (similar to Kijiji) and all that has come out of that is a marriage proposal from some man named Ahmed who lives in Algeria. Seriously. Actually, that's a lie. A couple days ago someone called from Esprit and I had an interview there today. The manager is still interviewing some more candidates but hopefully I get it and I can get some hours and go from there. It's been pretty frustrating...I should have done more paperwork before I left but as I've never done this before I had no idea it would take so long.

We met with a lawyer a couple days ago. He signed our papers for the partnership part of my Visa. (Basically because I don't have a job offer yet but Gavin already has a student Visa, it's easiest for me to try to get my Visa as his fiance, or I'll be deported on October 22nd.) I have filled the application out I will get it sent off tomorrow. However, I'm a bit nervous about this all...our roommate Katie (in the elementary program) sent off her student Visa from Canada...and they lost everything so she came here as a visitor. She sent everything off again from ChCh, and just found out on Monday that they lost her medical records (because she's here for 15 months - over 1 year - she had to get a medical done). Anyhow, she's having a tough time with this all, just started her first teaching placement, and her student Visa runs out in less than 1 month so she may have to make a quick trip to Australia if she doesn't have her Visa by the time her 3 months are up.

We have started going to quiz night on Tuesday's at a local pub called the Fox & Ferrett. The grocery store gives 2 for 1 drink deals on the back of receipts so we save them up all week and head down to the pub after dinner. It takes about 3 hours to play, it's a ton of fun and there's always lots of people playing (teams of 4 max, 20 teams can play total). We went two weeks ago and came in...I don't even remember - we didn't do well. But this week we came in 3rd! We got a $20 bar tab and I think 2nd also gets $20 but first place gets something like a $50 bar tab, so that's what we're gearing up for. When Gavin's parents and mum, dad and Moni come visit we're definitely going to go down - it's really a lot of fun!

We were planning on doing a big tour by car/van/camper van up to the north island during the first two weeks of October, but seeing as I don't have a job yet, we've decided to forego that plan and do it another time. Instead, we may take a long weekend during the last weekend of the break and go to Milford Sound and/or Queenstown. We'll play it by ear. It's also super cheap to rent a car here...rental plus gas for 3 days costs us under $100. For Christmas we are planning on heading to Australia. We're going to stick to the eastern part and miss out on Perth etc., but we're prefer to see the southern and eastern parts. I think we'll probably leave mid-late December (we don't want to be in ChCh for Dec. 25th as we're sure it will be depressing) and head back mid-January. Gavin's parents are doing a cruise and make a 1-day stop in ChCh on January 16th, which we may or may not be back for, but then they're spending a week with us from January 23rd - 31st. They'd like to see ChCh (they were here a long time ago, but didn't really get to do too much exploring) but we're also hoping to do a couple day trips or 1 longer trip for a couple days. We wanted to take the TranzAlpine Express (train) over to the west part of the island to Greymouth to see the Franz Josef Glacier...but his parents have already done that. Anyhow, there's lots to do here so we'll figure something out!

Gavin is done his third week (holy hell, that flew by!) of his first teaching practicum at Burnside High School. (They do 2 7-week placements...the next one is April/May.) He has 4 associate teachers and gets along really well with them. Some things have been challenging for him, but he's learning to cope with it and approach situations as they come up. He's focusing on China's one child policy, looking also at India, and bringing it back to New Zealand, who are essentially having the opposite problem - their population is going to decline significantly as not many people are procreating - or just having one child. The students seem to enjoy it, and Gavin is very passionate about human geography, plus he's been to a lot of the places they're studying so that is a bonus as well. He definitely likes teaching more than he likes being a student again, but that is pretty normal, I think. He does enjoy his classes, but some are redundant. I felt the same way at Bishop's - you stick it out until you have your degree in your hands!

We're still in winter here (until September 21st, I think...) but it's been beautiful and sunny all week and is supposed to stay that way. It's 18C today but windy as heck...apparently it gets like this in the warmer weather with the north westerlies. I can't believe this is what they call winter. I'm nervous for the summer though...the hole in the ozone layer spread from Antarctica and is now over Australia and New Zealand, so the UV is intense and skin cancer is more of a concern. Mum will have to send me some Ombrelle SPF 45 or 60! I'm not sure my 30's going to cut it.

Well that's about it for me...I'll keep you posted on the job front and whether or not I may get kicked out. Haha, I'll be fine, and I hope I don't have to make an emergency weekend trip to Australia mid-October!

Hope all is well for all of you...missing you guys a ton but loving it here :)

Erin (& Gavin!) xo

Rainy ChCh

2009-08-16T00:00:00.003-04:00

I suppose rain is better than snow? It's been raining here all week. It seems like a huge drag to me, but I think it's because it's August, and for the past 26 years August = summer. To be fair to the south shore, it's above 10 and misty...and this is winter. Apparently, though, we've heard from our kiwi friends that it's been known (often) to snow in September. We move from winter to spring on September 21st, so we still have just over a month of this type of weather left.

Gavin has just finished his first week of his first practice teaching session at Burnside. He has two 7-week sessions in total. He's really enjoyed it so far and has already taught a couple of lessons. He's tackling population and birth rates using China and India as examples in one class and is having a great time hooking students using pictures from his time in China. They're loving that he can relate to what he's teaching, and that helps hook the students.

Being the thoughtful guy he is, he got me a hookup at his school with one of his associates and also the woman who organizes relief work. I filled out the paperwork for that on Friday and also applied to an English position at St Margaret's College. Tomorrow I'll head to the girl's high right around the corner and try to speak to someone face-to-face. I have to get my Brevet (teaching license) translated into English and then I can send my documents to be assessed. That's what's "stopping" me from getting on relief work lists. Anyhow, hopefully I'll be able to figure that out tomorrow, as well as get my Visa application all set by mid-week. Tons of stuff to do - the paperwork aspect is slightly overwhelming!

Last night we had a couple friends over for dinner and we started making plans for our 2 week trip up to the north island. There are 6 of us going so we thought we'd rent an RV type vehicle but it's expensive to plug in at campsites and although the water tank is pretty big, it's not going to be enough for all of us for the 2 weeks. Anyhow, we're thinking of renting a van now and camping along the way. We've still got over 6 weeks to figure out the details, but it was fun to start talking about it and looking at maps and websites!

Until next time :)

7 weeks in

2009-08-10T04:51:00.003-04:00

Gavin says:

Well hello friends, oh and some family.

I have just started my teaching practice and man was it tough. It was actually really easy. I got to watch three difference classes and had a whole ton of prep time which will come in very handy later on.

I felt very comfortable in class today and really wanted to teach at least one of them. I am stoked about the topics that they are working on right now. All about Asia.. woot woot for me.. I was really worried they would be dealing with topics that I didnt know very well.

Erin says:

Hello hello, hope this blog entry finds you all doing well. We are sitting in the living room relaxing and watching Transformers I - great movie! Gavin and I had date night last week and saw the second one...great movies.

We had a relaxing weekend - just hung around, played outside and went to a BYO (bring your own...wine) at Thai Orchid. They have delicious food, it's always hot and it's a decent price! The only crappy thing is that they have a 5$ corking fee :|

No plans for me this week aside from job hunting. I am going to go to 4 schools I'm particularly interested in (Christchurch Boys' High, Christchurch Girls' High, Papanui, and Burnside). Although they don't have positions available, Gavin's associates say I'll have a better chance of getting relief (supply) work if they see me. Those 4 schools are reasonably close by so that seems like the best option!

Until next time :)

Hanmer Springs

2009-08-03T17:21:00.005-04:00

Good morning :)

Like the saying goes, "A picture says a thousand words" - our trip to Hanmer Springs (thermal pools) this past weekend would be well described with a picture or two (or four)! I'll also accompany the pictures with some words...this is the first time I've posted pictures to bare with me!

Friday we rented a car - that in itself was half the adventure! First of all, for those of you who know Gavin, he's very tall (6"4). We got a Corolla II, which I'm sure don't exist in Canada, nicknamed "Lime". It was a 2 door hatchback and when we first saw it, I didn't know if he was going to fit! However, it was much roomier than it looked and so we piled in (him driving on the right hand side of the car, on the left hand side of the road...) and me holding on for dear life! Gavin was a great driver, and once we stopped for coffee I felt much better. It was funny though...the windshield wiper controller here is where the clicker is back home...so for the first little bit when he went to signal, the wipers would turn on.

The drive to Hanmer is north and a bit more inland...through the foothills - about an hour and a half drive. It is a very pretty drive and we were able to stop a couple times to take some great shots of the mountains and snow capped peaks in the distance. Oh - and lots of sheep! I read online that the ratio of sheep to people is 10:1.

We arrived on Friday, got our vouchers for the hotel, and stopped at a pub called The Monteith, which is a brewing company in New Zealand, for some lunch before checking into the hotel, throwing on our bathings suits and walking up to the thermal pools. (For those of you who have been to Le Nordik in Chelsea, it's similar but bigger and much better scenery.) The pools were great and very relaxing. We must have spent two hours floating around. The pools are all different (warm) temperatures, aside from the waterslide and laps pool, neither of which we ventured to. That night we ate dinner at the pub in the hotel and watched the end of the rugby game. Saturday we got up and had a good breakfast in preparation for our tramp (hike) that afternoon. We walked through the village and started the Conical Hill walk up to the top of the summit - beautiful scenery! We could have stayed there for hours and taken a million more pictures. After heading back to The Monteith (they had these really great taster wheels that we were hooked on!) for an afternoon drinkie poo, we went back to the pools. However, this experience was not as great as the first as it was extremely busy (teenagers, families, a ton of people). We only stayed for a short time before heading back to the hotel to get cleaned up. We had a late dinner at The Pickled Pig (best hamburgers ever) and then went back to the pools for the last hour before they closed. This was a great idea as it wasn't as busy. Sunday we grabbed some breakfast treats from the local bakery and headed home.

On our way to Hanmer we had passed some wineries and so we'd planned to stop on our way home. We decided to try out the Mud House winery in Waipara. Although the region is better known for their whites, and therefore the tastings were mostly of whites, it was a great experience and the vineyard is beautiful. We'll definitely go back when the growing season is underway! They also have a great little cafe with a beautiful terrace, which would be lovely in the warmer weather.

The only mishap of the entire weekend was when we were turning into the winery and our hubcap flew off. We did go back to get it (after the wine tasting) but seeing as they were basically held on with twist ties...we didn't feel bad and the company didn't seem too shocked that it had flown off. They were shocked, however, that we went back to pick it up as they said "not many people do". Must happen a lot!

So all in all it was a great weekend and we'd definitely go back!

Hopefully next time I write I'll have a lead on a job or two...? Keep your fingers crossed!

Helllllooooo Christchurch!

2009-07-22T05:05:00.000-04:00

Well I made it safe and sound! This will be a very short blog simply to let you all know I've arrived. My flights were great (the LA - Auckland flight went by surprisingly quickly!) and it's a good thing I had a 5 hour layover in Auckland as I got lost about 3 times in the airport. At one point a very nice lady who worked there had to "escort" me (but not in a criminal way) back through security as I'd managed to check myself into the International departures terminal. Anyhow, I made it (eventually...) and was very happy to see Gavin at the airport! We have been organizing our room and went out for Thai with our roommate Katie. Tomorrow is a day full of more exploring and getting my bearings...then job hunting!

Oh - and Ottawa's winters kick Christchurch's butt by a long shot! We're in the "dead" of winter here and it's a balmy 14 degrees Celsius. I love it!

We'll write more when there's something to report...

So long, SoCal

2009-07-19T23:06:00.001-04:00

Well my time in California is almost over - I can't believe how the time is flying by! First it was the time between Gavin leaving and me leaving...now it's my time here. I had a great few days with the kiddies and my family. I spent most of the time at Gwen and Albert's, hanging out with Jeffrey. He's the most mellow kid ever. Everyone got together at Uncle Jeff and Aunt Kathy's tonight...Carrie, Tom, Aidan and Kendall came down from Mission Viejo instead of Anthem, AZ! Everyone loves having them close by again, and they are happy to be back in SoCal.

My flight is late tomorrow evening so we have a half day planned...breakfast with grandpa at CoCo's and pedicures in the early afternoon. I packed and weighed my suitcases after everyone left so that's all done...one is just under 50lbs and one is 2.5lbs over...hopefully they let it slide, but if not i'll pay the extra little bit (I think it's by pound).

I get to see my sweetie in 2 more sleeps!!

More joint adventures from NZ...

2009-07-19T05:44:00.000-04:00

Welllllll good afternoon friends... I feel very weird sending all of these blogs.. and when I say all I obviously mean three. I think there needs to be more two or multiple way convos.. hahaha

so today was a wonderful day. well at least it started off well but unfortunately when anything ever goes wrong, it apparently goes wrong in threes. I went off on a long bike ride today to go find the beach and I did find it. It is beautiful. I mean it isnt the best beach in the world but definitely somewhere that I could see myself hanging out at on a regular basis. So it took me about an hour to get there which isnt too bad and I think if I had been just going rather than checking out all the pretty things on the way it might have gone faster.

ANYWAYS, on the way back, I decided to go a different way as I wanted to get a work out so thought a long bike ride would be fun. well about 2/3s of the way back, I noticed my front end was getting a little loose so I pushed down on the handlebars only to find out that the front tire was going flat. FUCK.. sorry but it is the only words that properly expresses my annoyance. Now I should explain why I am so annoyed as a flat tire really isnt a big deal.

The reason is that Christchurch people 'apparently' have a problem with throwing their garbage in the garbage; now - not all garbage - just glass. So there is a ton of it on the roads. I was warned about this when I picked up the bike but it still pisses me off.. well in the end it took me just over an hour to walk my bike which was not fun. ok enough for today. ciao

2 More Sleeps!

2009-07-13T20:30:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

Well I'm SoCal-bound in 2 sleep times! I can't believe how the time has flown by. When Gavin first left and it was going to be 5 weeks before seeing each other again, I thought the time would crawl by. However, we've both been so busy!

Gavin is enjoying school, although he already has classes "off" to do planning. He seems pretty set up in the apartment and he and Katie are slowly filling it up with some more furniture, etc. He bought us bikes (he told me he got me "a kids large" - pest) so it'll be nice to explore that way.

I am sort of packed...clothes are in suitcases...just deciding on handbags and shoes. Tough choices!

We have our wedding date - August 7th, 2010! Very exciting :) We are getting married at his parents' church and our reception will be at the Yacht Club. Mum and I bought invitations today so that was exciting. Still lots to do but the important stuff is covered - well, aside from a caterer but we'll get there!

Monica and I are getting ready to watch the second Harry Potter - the new movie comes out on Wednesday - can't wait!

More updates soon...

To satsify my new friends

2009-07-12T17:31:00.000-04:00

Hello Ladies, I hope you took care of my fiance during her final weekend in Ottawa. I am sorry I am making her go so far away but you should come see this place. It is amazing. I had a wonderful weekend. We went tramping (hiking to you, Canadians) up one of the many mountains that surround Christchurch. We we got to the top, there was a spectacular view of the city and the surroundings. I cant believe how beautiful this place is. I was also amazed with the fact Christchurch is so flat. It is situated between two huge mountain ranges but is on a very very very flat plain. Oh then we went and had beers and food by the canal that runs through and around christchurch. It has been a bunch of very beautiful days.

So I also started school last week and am just about to go to my first class of week two which should be fun. I really enjoy my classes. I am started to learn a lot which is good as I am paying enough for this experience.. hahaha I have met some wonderful people. Too many Canadians for my liking but I am planning on changing that soon.

Alright well I should go to class but I hope this will satisfy you for at least a day or two..

Ciao

2009-07-02T22:31:00.001-04:00

Erin says I have to contribute to this blog.. so I am contributing.. hahahah I am never big on sending random messages or talking about myself... but here goes.. Christchurch is cold.

Becoming a reality

2009-07-02T17:37:00.000-04:00

The countdown is really on! I leave for LA in 13 more sleeps and NZ in 19 - so exciting!

Gavin had his first day of orientation yesterday (Thursday in NZ) and said that it was a bit on the blah side...because he's lived overseas before, it was mostly information that he already knew. But - good that they go over it for the rest of the students! He's settled into our apartment now and we have a roommate, Katie, so that will be nice in terms of having more company and a bit of extra cash for traveling and the wedding with the split rent. He also bought us bikes so we'll be able to use that mode of transportation a lot - apparently bus passes are pretty pricey! I'll probably need one to get to work, but it will be nice to see the sights outdoors as well - and we'll get some exercise! Gavin starts school on Monday and is anxious to get back in the classroom. He's a bit nervous (he's been out of school for 4 years) but he'll be great!

Speaking of being anxious - I am really looking forward to starting my trip! LA will be great, although for the past two years I've either flown in or out on Aunt Kathy's birthday (sorry about that!). Carrie and Tom have moved back to SoCal with Aidan and Kendall so it'll be great to have them close by as well! I can't wait to see how grown up Jeffrey is getting, and how he's taken over Gwen and Albert's house! I think he just rocked her world ;) Uncle Jeff works really hard so we'll be able to hang out on his lunch breaks (but before he has his nap!) and on the weekend. As always, I'll be able to have some short visits with Grandpa. He's a character!

I'm sort of dreading the 12 hour and 45 minute flight from LA to Auckland, but I figure if I tire myself out in LA and bring a couple good books and some earphones, the time will fly by. The worst part will be the 5 hour layover in Auckland before I board my hour and a half flight to Christchurch! I'll be so excited to see Gavin by that point, the time will drag and the clock will seem like it's going backwards.

Monica and I are off to Toronto this weekend to see Cait, Tal, Eve and Peter. Should be a fun trip and a nice time for us to bond and chat about the wedding, school, boys, and all the other things sisters talk about!

Now if only the rain would let up for my last couple of weeks here...

Phase 2: Officially landed and lonely

2009-06-22T21:35:00.001-04:00

Well Gavin is officially in Christchurch! He got there earlier this evening. ChCh is actually 16 hours ahead of "us" - so it's Monday at 9:36pm here, but it's Tuesday at 1:36pm there. Anyhow, he arrived early Tuesday morning ChCh time and had a great trip. He had been doing a lot of running around in Brockville before heading off, and he also tried to fit everything and everyone in while he was in Vancouver. Needless to say, the 14 hour flight from Vancouver to Auckland gave him lots of time to catch up on his sleep! When I spoke to him earlier he was just settling in at the hostel and getting his bearings. He'll sort out his cell phone and a flat as soon as he can. Orientation doesn't start until the beginning of July, so he has 1 week to figure the town out. He told me ChCh reminds him of a small English town - lots to do, but not a huge party town. That's good for us - we're looking forward to exploring!

As for me - packing is a slow process. It'll get done though - mum and dad have rented a van and are coming up on Wednesday to move the last of the stuff out. The only part of the move I'm worried about is getting rid of my car...but things have gone so smoothly up to this point, I'm sure I'll figure something out :)

23 sleeps until LA and 30 until ChCh - can't wait!

Phase 1: 14,746 kilometers of separation

2009-06-17T18:37:00.000-04:00

The adventure begins.

Gavin has arrived safely in Vancouver, is storing his very large bags at the airport, and is hanging out with old friends until Sunday. He arrives in Christchurch on June 23rd. I will be following shortly...sort of. I am LA bound on July 15th and arrive in Christchurch on the 22nd. 36 more sleep times. BUT - well worth the wait; we have quite the adventure coming up!

I won't be posting a whole lot until we are together again, but check back on a semi-regular basis to hear about our separate adventure...and then our joint ones starting at the end of July!