Two Americans emigrate to New Zealand from Colorado,
USA.
We talk about
our life in Nelson, New Zealand.
May 2007 | Blog home | July 2007
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The coffee (and tea for that matter) culture is huge in New Zealand and especially in Nelson where cafe's and carts are numerous. However, there are some differences between here and the States with the biggest ones being that drip machines are basically non-existent here and instant coffee is widely used.
You can buy drip machines in some stores but if you want to get a cup for takeaway, good luck, I think Starbucks is the only place in town where you can get one. The majority of the coffee you get here comes from the espresso machine - latte, cappuccino, flat white (my favorite), long black, etc.
I have also found the extensive use of instant coffee a bit odd. Almost every hotel has instant coffee rather than a drip machine and, if you haven't had instant, try not to - it is terrible but works in a pinch. We have it at work and I only will use it as last resort but others in the office don't take as much offense.
The Nelson based Pomeroy has excellent beans and supplies many of the cafe's in town. Another high quality brand is Toxic which also happens to be organic and Fairtrade certified. Starbucks is viewed as a lower end coffee and mainly just frequented by tourists. I tend to agree and will not drink the coffee from the Starbucks here - it is simply not as good as some other places in town.
My favorite places in town to get a cup: the Creme cart at the top of Trafalgar (Trafalgar & Selwyn), Sublime (on Haven road - conveniently just down the block from my office), and Café Kush (at the Craft Habitat - they have their own brand). At home I use a plunger and buy my coffee about once a week.
Well, it has been a long time in coming, and that's just fine because it's HERE. Today I was offered the position of Communications Adviser with Nelson City Council. Phew!! I tried to accept right away, but was told that I should wait for the contract offer and think it over, although I was also told that my anticipated start date should be 18 June. Apparently, due to a legal case human resources insists that people not accept on the spot, but after contract review (makes sense) and time for contemplation. All I could think was: I've been thinking about this for NINE LONG MONTHS! I'm ready to sign on the line.
I will be part-time but the hours are anticipated to easily grow from 20 minimum to 30-32 pretty quickly, with expectation that the role will be full time eventually. The pay is good (Don yelped "great, for Nelson") and now that I will be a government employee, I have a job for life, right?!
I will be doing much of what I already do maintaining the web site, adding in project management, public consultations (yes, we ask the public their opinion on pretty much everything, imagine!) civil defence duties (in case of emergency), graphic design, public relations, and media relations. I am looking forward to being part of the election, from the inside.
So this long tale has come to an end and I'm really, really glad to have fallen into this job that has turned out to be pretty much exactly what I was looking for when I moved here (a local government job, using my MPA, in a technology-related field). Wow, that's a close fit.
But I have to admit I'll miss having '(temp)' after my name in my email signature. NOT.
HOW WONDERFUL!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! I'm happy for you, but not surprised. Of course you were the best candidate. Great news!!
~Mom
First stop - local government. Next frontier: prime minister's office??? Does NZ have a prime minister? Soon you'll be running the country with access to the direct phone numbers to other world leaders. You'll have Hil's number (or Obama's?) on your speed dial. Universal health care for all! Congrats on your job! It seems like a wonderful fit. CU Denver would be proud.
~Wendy
When you come to New Zealand, you cannot help but notice the sheer quantity of cars on the road that have car writing (as a Kiwi called it) all over them. They are driving advertisements for everything from your local grocery store to a recruitment agency and even city councils. Apparently businesses purchase these cars and stick advertising all over them, then give them to employees (and owners of course) to drive around. I assume they are writeoffs of some sort, why else would people do this to their family car?
This one appears to be a home builder.
It looks like this one's a car rental company. They stuck their car out here in the middle of this lot and left it, free advertising, I guess. I thought this would be the only car of its kind on the road, I mean look at the shape of this thing. Bug-eyes.
But I was wrong. We shop at Bin Inn, a natural and bulk foods store franchised across the country.
This is one of the many, many cars in the fleet for the yellow pages, part of Telecom, the main telecommunications provider in NZ.
You'd expect this type of thing from a radio station, so this car comes as no surprise. We see this one all over town. Many times they are parked in front of a vendor in the CBD giving away free burger lunches as a promotion, Don especially likes seeing the car on those days.
And here's my employer (now :) ), they have a fleet of these cars, most of them driven by managers as part of their compensation package. Sometimes there are 3 or 4 that get really decked out for the Nelson Arts Festival and and other events. I got to drive one of our fleet over a couple of days, not sure it's a good thing as people don't really think favourably of NCC!
Some of you will recognise the name on this car ... it's Don's employer and this is Don's car. We drive it everywhere and leave our own car in the driveway. You may be saying to yourself: does the company know you take the car on weekends and drive out to Golden Bay or Kaiteriteri beach and run personal errands, and on and on? Well, yes, and that's the point apparently: the more the car is out, the more it is seen and it is actually Don's job to drive the car everywhere! As a result, we spend about $50 every 2 months on petrol for our own car, not too shabby.
Next you're saying: but that car is really a piece of shit, isn't it? Well, yes, it is a total hunk of crap, and watch your language. But, Don is slated to get a new Hyundai Tucson in the coming months because the Nelson office, under his astute guidance, is going gangbusters. With two FT employees sharing this one car, it's become a problem. So the new car is in the works and Don has earned the right to have it FT. Best part: it's a mini-SUV, so we'll be higher off the ground. Oh, how I miss my Chevy Tahoe...(I admit to thinking more about my burgundy Tahoe than Chipotle)
When you move halfway across the world--or anywhere outside of the U.S. I suppose--you don't expect to see the worst of America all over the place. Yet, that is now what exists across the street from my office: the city's first Burger King. Whoopee. Or maybe I should say Whopper-whoopee.
I took these photos from one of the meeting rooms at my office. Let me zoom in so you can get a really good look. Yep, blasted Burger King.
Across the street to the right of these photos is the new visitor information center and bus depot, where all backpackers typically arrive in town. Most travellers visit the VIC regardless of how the get into town. And now they can go across the street and eat at Burger King.
This building and lot used to be a car dealership. That's not an attractive business to have on arguably the most prominent intersection in the CBD, but the Burger King has gone one step further.
Residents, including myself and tens of thousands of others who work in the city and drive home each night, have come to learn what a grand STUPID idea this has become: the drive thru winds its way around the back of this building, entering from the left of your picture (Halifax Street) and exiting on the right (Trafalgar Street). Both of these streets are major thoroughfares, so when the drive thru is busy--meaning about 10 cars--the line extends out into the street and backs up down the road, clogging this busy intersection until the drive thru moves, one car at a time. You know how drive thrus work, eh? Not too fast.
In addition, because of the backups I just described, about 3 other major intersections that lead into this intersection become clogged up as well. Congestion hits its worst at drive-home-time, and I suspect people's stress levels are highest at this time as well.
Anyway, the poor city planning and lack of consideration of traffic flow has made it into the papers more than once already since the "restaurant" opened about 2 weeks ago. Just what we needed in Nelson, New Zealand: a crappy artery-clogging American fast-food place that causes massive traffic delays, hassles, and headaches. Yep, feels like a bit of America right here in our little town.
If I am boring you with this somewhat irregular feature, sorry! But I continue to track the differences in the English language between America and New Zealand because I find it fascinating. Here are even more things that go by different names here in New Zealand.
period, as in the punctuation kind / full stop
stroller, as in baby stroller / pram
checkmark, or check box / tick, here you tick a box and tick off things
male underwear, or tidy whities as they are affectionately known / yfront
car hood / bonnet
headlight / head lamp
seeded fruit, like apples and pears / pipfruit
cola, soda / fizzy drinks (did I do this one already?)
parking space / carpark
parking garage or lot / carpark
the hair tail that was popular in the 80s, that long braided piece some people would keep with short hair / appropriately enough, a rat tail
expiration date / expiry date
cookie / biscuit
voicemail / answer phone
As part of Council (officially starting on Monday) I recently learned that there is a verb "to busk" which, I found out online is also in the American English language too, but is primarily English and therefore used here. It is to entertain or perform on the street, a busker is the noun. Never heard that before, but I'm sure some of you probably have. We have many buskers here and Council just updated it's laws on busking.
Hi - fun list. Have you seen the book: A Personal Kiwi Yankee Dictionary? It has some fun stuff in it, but some is pretty outdated now I think. We were all over the rattail in the 80's in Kansas (and called them that). Voicemail is often used the same as in the US, and an answering machine can be an answer phone.
~ Matt
You might remember my blog on the wonderful fruit we have found here in New Zealand, the farm-fresh fruit that comes in a wonderful annual variety. Click here to re-read or read that blog entry. We keep getting surprised even as we get to our one-year mark.
Recently the market stalls have featured the feijoa. Being of wishful-Spanish descent, I pronounced it "fee-ho-a" for awhile until my friend Nan told me it was "fee-joe-a" with a hard-j. I still say fee-ho-a cuz it sounds right, and partly because the fruit is native to South America. I am making a guess here that in South America they pronounce it like I do.
Anyway, the main reason I've come to love this cute little fruit (photo is taken of two of them on our countertop) is because they are so fragrant, they make the kitchen smell wonderful! People bring them into work (presumably from their feijoa trees) and I grab a few and stick them on my desk, only eating them at the latest point.
I'm told you either love them or you hate them. Don and I both have come to really like them. They are related to the guava and the pulp is juicy, only getting more gritty and tart toward the skin. I'm told you can eat the skin too...neither of us eat the skin, but I've seen a Kiwi work colleague bite right in, but she also eats the entire kiwifruit as well. These Kiwis are hardy folk. But you mostly eat the feijoa like you eat the kiwifruit, scoop it out with a spoon.
You can read more about the feijoa on wikipedia.
Our trip to Wellington was a great four-day break from small town life as we ventured into the heart of the country’s capital city. Coincidentally, we remembered where we were one year ago on this same weekend, and we were packing our shipping container over another four-day weekend, albeit one far more physically intensive! I fondly (not!) remember lifting everything 4 feet off the ground to load it up.
But I digress. Our departure from Nelson Airport was significantly different than most airport experiences in that we walked in, went right up to a check-in counter, and gave our names. Usually at this point one is asked for identification, asked security questions, etc. I offered up my identification but it wasn’t really necessary, apparently. The check-in lady took it, didn't look at it, and gave it back to me. Don, standing beside me, didn’t even speak. Once I gave my name, we were both checked in, our luggage was taken, and we were off to the boarding area. Two seconds later, we were in the boarding area. We didn’t have any security checks, no one asked to see our carry on items, nada. Simply hilarious! Within 30 minutes we were on the plane.
Soon we were called for the first boarding onto our flight. Five minutes later, the final boarding was called out, and we scooted off to our plane. Walked out the back door, walked over to the plane, and up onto the stairs and into our little itsy bitsy jet. Thirty-five minutes later we touched down in Wellington, pretty much due east from Nelson. Off into a cab and into the city.
After checking in and leaving our bags in the hotel (photo is view from our hotel room, there is a water view just beyond the buildings), we walked out onto Lambton Quay, one of the main streets, and WHOOSH, we were attacked by a throngs of people going one way and the other, taking up the entire sidewalk. Lunch hour! We’ve come out of the city during the lunch break, and the city was alive, energized, and full of people. How wonderful to be back in a city again!! We ventured out onto the sidewalk and made our way onto the city streets, being overpassed by pretty much everyone. Cool!
Day one we ventured out and headed to Te Papa (photo shows it just in the distance to right of the crane), New Zealand’s national museum, and spent a few hours going through there. It is really stunning architecturally inside and out, it’s free, and the exhibits are well worth the time and a donation for entry.
Afterwards, we made a bee-line for lunch to Wholly Bagels for our first bagel in nearly a year, if not more. Bagels in Nelson are not even worth the effort. I don’t know if it works that way throughout the country, but the grocery stores and bakeries sell “bagels” but they are really bread made in a circle with a hole in the middle. It’s so soft, it’s worse than biting into a baguette. Blech. My friend Jade told me about Wholly Bagels and we made sure they were on our list for fine dining.
(Photo is of civic square near the city council, civic buildings, waterfront area.) Lunch at Wholly Bagels did not disappoint: while they don’t make a garlic bagel, my favourite, they do make onion and everythings, and our tuna sandwiches on onion bagels were fabulous, especially compared to what we’ve encountered thus far in Nelson!
(Photo is looking back at waterfront from base of civic square.) For dinner we ate a curry at a restaurant my friend Kate recommended—awesome too, we stuffed ourselves silly and walked home in the rain just to work off the carbs.
Day 2 continues in the next blog…
Day two of our trip to Wellington was most anticipated: our mid-winter Christmas celebration / anniversary gift / holiday shopping expedition. I had been looking forward to it so much that I actually went shopping for months prior, and bought nothing because I wanted to wait to get things in “the big city.” Oh, the anticipation of a true shopoholic! And Don would gladly admit he was looking forward to the shopping venture as well, bringing along his own wish list of items to purchase that wanted. I think I taught him well.
We walked out onto Lambton Quay under a blue sky (left) with no wind, were we really in Wellington??? Yes! And basically, we hit the shops hard: clothes, shoes, purses, jewelry (faux J ) from 9am to 7pm, taking a break only to refuel for lunch again at Wholly Bagels. 
I tried on knee-high leather boots, lots of merino wool, and leather gloves. Don scoped out wool sweaters, brown cords, and merino hats. First stop: our only department store in a year, Kirkaldie and Stains Ltd (photo on right). My friend Kate warned me that it wouldn’t be all that I hoped, and she was right. It was great in many ways—just to be inside a department store was almost a gift in itself—but it was a bit foo-foo in some parts, and not enough in others.
Because we were pretty much the first ones in the door, I was followed endlessly by various retail workers as I browsed this dress or that top or jacket. Annoying! Just leave us to shop, puleeeeze. I spent an hour there looking around and came out with something. We proceeded down one side of the road, then crossed over. Mid-day it was looking bleak as if we wouldn’t make it through all the shops before the end of the day (keeping in mind we had another day!). Don’t fear, we did make it through in the end.
Day two’s dinner was totally for Don, some kebab fast food place where we shared a bench with a local bum in the Courtenay district. But Don is big on good fast food and especially kebabs. It was okay, I’ve had better in Nelson, frankly. I think he agreed. But it got us onto the Cuba Street Mall (on photo to the left), allegedly a “bohemian” section of the city when all I really saw was a bunch of teenagers and early-20-somethings skateboarding around and piercing some body part. Eh, I could do without it, it’s not the “culture” that really appeals to me.
But day three was approaching, and we had to rest up. We determined we’d head out to our first mall in nearly a year, Queensgate in Lower Hutt. That meant a bus ride. A MALL!!! THRILLING!!!
