Greetings from New Zealand!

We have been here since Friday, so not quite a week yet. However, a lot of things have happened to us (of course, because that happens when you are transplanting yourself somewhere completely unfamiliar and then trying to regain balance and composure without being overcome by vertigo - or so we have heard).

Among the things that have happened include:


Auckland
A. Stayed in a dorm for free at the U. of Auckland and got shown around the city, which included
1. Delicious Kabobs
a. Which are unlike shishkabobs that you grill with pineapple and mushrooms, etc. They are much more like gyros. Dana and I split one that had falafal in it. They are cheap and we highly recommend them.
2. Terrible dorm food
a. Their pies were good, though. With a sort of flakey crust and mash potato filling.
b. There was also as much free coffee as we wanted, which was nice.
3. Watching a rugby game at the pubs
a. This is a very big deal here and it was fun to see people so excited about something, i guess.

B. Buying a cell phone and a car
1. We bought the phone used from a french man who had been traveling around and was leaving (or, really, who stole it - who knows) and keep recieving phone calls and text for him because it is still the same number.
2. The car is a black honda inspire with wood paneling on the inside and it cost us $1700. It has a three cd player and the back right window doesn't open.
5. Learing to drive.
3. Dana is great at it

C. Leaving because the city was beginning to suck the souls right out of our bodies.
1. We are not city dwellers and were very happy to leave the city.
2. The drive leaving the city was one of the best I have every experienced. It was so unbelievable green and hilly and pure and idyllically pastoral.

Hamilton
A. We are staying with a friend of Dana's Dad.
1. Hamilton is beautiful
2. We love families
3. We went out to dinner at "The Cook" last night and highly recommend it.
a. It had a great fun atmosphere and veggie burgers and delicious white wine.
B. We finally recieved our WWOFer book in the mail.
1. The book is amazing - everyone who hosts wwofers sounds incredible.
C. Today we drove and hiked around a bit.
1. We saw Bridal Veil Falls
2. We went to several beaches in Raglan.
a. Both were beautiful. At twelve noon today we were sitting on a black sand beach watching the Tazmin sea. Both of us agree there is no place we would have rather been.
3. We listened to a bunch of early 90s hip hop
a. including the song blow job betty by too short, which we both agree is very inappropriate and not at all what you should listen too while driving along the west coast of the North Island.
b. We discussed why we drive on the left vs. right side of the road.
i. We looked this up later. It is very interesting:
ii. http://www.brianlucas.ca/roadside/

The tentative future
A. Going to Cormandel where this family has a beach house and staying there for a bit.
1. Working
2. Or WWOFing
a. We are interested in Emus, horses, bunnies, kayaking, buddhists, and free yoga. All of which seem entirely plausible
3. Or ?
B. Printing out Absentee Ballots
C. Tatty remembering to print out her working holiday visa