Two Americans emigrate to New Zealand from Colorado,
USA.
We talk about
our life in Nelson, New Zealand.
July 2008 | Blog home | September 2008
DATE |
Click on any blog entry to read it |
1 |
|
6 |
|
15 |
The Olympics in New Zealand (and an update following) |
| 22 |
|
27 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
So today's our first official moving day, but we've had access to the house since Wednesday night, the night of the infamous (maybe only in our part of the world) storm that battered most of the country. As an aside, we're told more like that are on their way, icky, I was on emergency alert most of the day at work!
Anyhoo, amidst the terrible rains and winds and under an advisory to stay indoors, Don and I made three carloads in Tillie (our green toyota wagon) to the new house on the hill. We just couldn't wait, although Don blamed it on me when he told his work mates what we did (wives know this routine very well too). Last night we took 2 carloads in Tillie and had friend Wayne's mega huge van into which we stuffed 2 loads as well and nearly cleared out most of our stuff save the big furniture!
Today we begin bright and early--still under rain clouds--and go pickup our new dryer and microwave (the washing machine comes in a couple of weeks) and then do more loads of mostly light furniture and our fridge (that's for sale, anyone need a fridge?? : ) ). Since it's our first look at the place in daylight (without the owners living there--we wouldn't demean ourselves to be stalkers just to share photos with you all!!), below are some photos of the place in empty-to-move-in mode.
BUT FIRST, we had quite the shock yesterday that led us to question, are we moving to 'executive row,' as Don's boss Mike calls our new neighbourhood, or possibly hicksville, as my friend Jade has commented after the fiasco yesterday. I was at work and received a call on my cell phone from Telecom, our provider for land and cell phones and internet broadband. This very calm woman asked me if, when I ordered the change of service for our move, I was informed that broadband service was not available at my new location?
WHAT????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Uh no, no one told me that. She said they only have limited equipment in the area and people are queued up to receive service (when someone stops their service, the next in line gets to sign up). So when my landlord ceased his service, it didn't stay with the house, but transferred to the next in line -- NOT ME! They don't have plans to put in new equipment to expand service until FEBRUARY 2009! Hicksville indeed!!
Ugh. And that's putting it mildly. American Angela in all her huffiness came out in force. To no avail of course, I couldn't rattle that girl who is probably very used to huffy people like me.
The good news in all this? We have free, unlimited dial up access. Wow, I think I don't remember what dial up was like, think I was still in diapers way back then. Goodbye youtube.com, goodbye Skype, goodbye downloading TV shows from iTunes or from the internet. Goodbye shopping online at all my favourite retailers. Goodbye to complex web postings on my very own web site. Who knows, goodbye very own web site?? Time will tell on that one. What a pile of shit, honestly!
Hello waiting forever and ever and ever for one page to load. Oh, it's like we've been damned to a dungeon!!
Everyone I tell can't believe it either - most everyone, some of the longtimer Nelsonians shrug, essentially. I mean it's not like we've moved to the country, we're still in Nelson!!
So here goes, pics of the house so far, sorry about the weather (not really, not much I can do about it!) but it's making everything pretty dark and gloomy. When we have a nicer day I'll take more careful photos and, dialup willing, post larger versions as well.
 |
This is the front entrace, with double wood doors, opening up into a hallway with two bedrooms on either side, then the hallways leading to either side, and french doors (open here, but see next photo) leading to the main living areas. |
 |
French doors. Glimpse of guest bath to left. |
 |
Bedroom that is off to right, as if you were walking into house, with large front window and you can see through to the open garage. This will be Don's second room, and Livvy's litter location (Don volunteered it!). |
 |
Bedroom that is off to left, with window peeking out to front drive and beyond. Angela's second room. |
 |
Guest bath shower. You just walk right into it, stand under, and there you are. That is a glass partition to the left of the photo separating tub from shower. But no other rods or anything. I can't imagine this will be warm, but am told it is. Lovely though. Italian stone tile. |
 |
Huge tube in guest bath and sink. |
 |
Master with window looking out to the main view (you can't really see it today) beyond the back patio. The carpet looks discoloured, doesn't it? TAKE NOTE soon-to-be emigraters, this is what the sun does to fabrics and carpets. We have double glazed windows and the darker spot is where the bed was sistting, the lighter spots around it are what has been discoloured by sun!! It's a real problem here for sure. |
 |
Master closet, nice amount of organisation, Don is chomping at the bit to get in. |
 |
Master bath, same tile and setup (no door to the shower) only just a bit smaller. |
 |
Study area, or a very small 4th bedroom. But our study/den/office. Window looks to stone wall that separates property line and is a small retaining wall. |
 |
Having walked through french doors, we head into the kitchen, covered in boxes, but granite countertops and a nice big fridge with gas stove. Lots of good space, that's an island on the left, with the sink and dishwasher on it. |
 |
Looking to the left from the kitchen, this is the main eating area, where we'll put our dining table. All the windows are so lovely, it'll be so nice in summer! |
 |
If you look at picture above, you see on the left through a doorway (another set of french doors) you walk into this room, to left, called the living room. Its got that huge front window giving us our view, and double folding doors that lead out to the patio. |
 |
Before you walk into the above living room, you can turn left into this room, the lounge, where we'll put the TV and comfy couches. That's a gas fireplace. Nice window views here too, but unfortunately the TV will sit in front of most of it as our TV is huge. |
 |
Heading out the living room to the patio and then to the deck. |
 |
Off the deck, see the patio with glass fencing, you step down into the xeriscaped landscaping below. |
 |
Stepping down... |
 |
View from the patio, but not all that stunning in this weather. |
 |
These two views are of Marsden Valley which is out the front door of the house and across the street. No one will be able to build across the street as it is a steep decline, but there are plans to develop some of the land in the valley. There are cycle tracks and walkways back here, right out our front door. |
 |
It's so quiet and peaceful, it was amazing how quiet it is at the house, and this reminds us of rural New Zealand, hopefully it stays rural for as long as possible. |
Enough for now, gotta go move. Catch you later!
For those of you who haven't seen the near miss video from our storm a week ago, here's the original, and then take a look at the followup. Here's hoping dialup will get this up for you!!
First video: Tree Falling Nelson
Tree video a hit
New Zealand Herald, 5 August 2008 (SHORTENED)
An Auckland advertising agency working for United States vehicle brand Jeep has seized on the popularity of a video showing a near-miss on a Nelson city street during last week's storm.
The original video, shot by Nelson man Dave Finlay, has been digitally altered to create an advertisement for Jeep.
Called "Near-miss in Nelson - what you didn't see", the ad shows a four-wheel-drive Jeep Wrangler climbing over the tree that just misses crashing down on a car at the intersection of Collingwood and Hardy Sts last Wednesday.
99 Advertising account director Matt Dickinson said the YouTube link to the original video was emailed around his agency's office on Thursday. Ten minutes later, its creative staff came to see him about the idea. The ad was created in half a day in the agency's graphics suite and was loaded on to YouTube on Friday afternoon, but a slip-up meant it was not linked to the original footage until Monday morning.
Second video: Near-miss in Nelson - what you didn't see
First off, sorry for being away, but I warned you! We've been unpacking and adjusting and last weekend we went to the Rainbow Ski area for some sledding and fun in the snow - too bad our small digital camera went with us and decided to not work, so you won't get to see the only local ski area, which was pretty interesting. For reasons I won't elaborate on, I won't be going back any time soon!
But I digress. Most everyone in New Zealand is rapt by the summer Olympics. I fancy myself more of a winter Olympics girl, but can get into the swimming and gymnastics. Of course watching the cycling is mandatory. We've found that most kiwis are keen to watch nearly everything every day and every night. That kinda surprises me because they don't have much stake in it, not like big countries like Russia, China, or the US.
Don and I have watched several things over the past few days, some during the day that we've taped, and some at night. Apparently the big ticket items are oddly on during the workday, when most people in New Zealand work. We asked ourselves why this would be in New Zealand, why would the TV1 station air those events during the day? We got our answer a couple of days ago when the daytime announcer remarked that the really exciting events were on during the day in our part of the world because the US and their big money and pull insisted on it so they could air those events at night in the States on prime time TV. Those were his words, not mine! Hmmm. Sounds like no matter where the Olympics are, the US owns them.
So Michael Phelps has been swimming in the middle of the day in our part of the world, at like 1 or 2pm. Rather than waiting to get home and watch our digital recording and be surprised, I've been alerted to the news by the New York Times who sends me an alert every time he wins a medal, which have all been gold. Surprise ruined. BLAST! I can only wonder if you all in the States think he's the only athlete at the Olympics, because that is my impression from the news alerts and the local media. I don't get news alerts when anyone else wins, and he's the only one we ever hear about over here.
It was particularly piss-worthy on Wednesday because the men's 200m butterfly final was on and of course Phelps was in it, but so was New Zealand's Moss Burmester. He qualified and was swimming in lane 1.
Now here I'll depart a bit to do as the TV stations do and give you an update on the all important medal count. Granted, this is as of this writing:
Looking farther down ... farther ... no, farther ...
There we are!! On the official Olympics site we aren't even featured on the list cuz I guess you gotta actually win a medal first.
So back to the race, we were all really excited to see one of New Zealand's medal hopes swim in a final, our first real chance so far to get a medal. Of course we watched it delayed as we work during the day and had it recorded. But the New York Times had already alerted me to the fact that, surprise surprise, Phelps won gold. So I knew that, but I didn't know who won the other two medals, we had a chance!!
We started our digital recording and discovered what thousands of other Kiwis already learned - TV1 had a glitch and nearly half the country missed seeing it live - and they were freaking out, really ticked off. A glitch, during the first real Kiwi hope. Thankfully they replayed it and HEART BREAKINGLY saw Moss go stroke for stroke with Phelps for 3 lengths only to lose steam right at the end and come in FOURTH. Fourth. BLAST, I bet Moss is really really ticked. And New Zealand still has no medal. Gutted, we all really felt badly for him. So here's an update:
Fingers crossed for the rowing, we've got a good shot there. Amazingly, Kiwis still love to watch, they truly love their sport even if they cannot seem to win on the international stage (can you say Rugby World Cup????).
Saturday and Sunday were awesome days for the kiwis who scored very well in the rowing and track cycling and a gold medalist in the shotput! Fabulous, so we are FINALLY on the scoreboard. As of this morning:
I think the major work is done, we've been settled for awhile now, since we are pretty mobile in the first place, but we've had a few things to do since the move that have taken some time, not to mention that whole annoying thing people call 'work.' I like my job, I like the people I work with, I'm pretty content, but boy if there was any way I could stop working and not ever work again, boy would I JUMP at the chance. I am pretty sure I wasn't meant to work my entire life, yes, quite sure of that. But, life being what it is, I trudge on. Wo is me.
Updated photos with our stuff in it, and larger versions at that. There are still no pictures on the wall, which is pretty much the last thing that needs doing, and the lowest priority. We're getting different reactions by visitors seeing the place for the first time. My friend Sharon thinks it is really, really, really white -- it is! Bright and white. She thinks I have to start putting stuff on the walls. I kind of like the whiteness of it because it gives the illusion that the house is cleaner than it is in all likelihood!!
 |
Here is the entry way from the inside looking out the front door. I'm not convinced about laying the rug in the foyer, but am considering doing it in winter months. I have two other carpets and am thinking of doing the same, a seasonal change. I really like the stark, clean look of the white tile and it will be much easier to clean in summer when trudging in sand and dirt. Off to either side of that front entry are the two bedrooms I've shown you before, and there's nothing much new about them except that Don occupies the one on your left that has the only real colour in the house - a red wall. I occupy the one on the right and in both of them are just our extra things, clothes, yarn, bike gear, etc. We'll use them mostly for second bedrooms and storage as they are a bit messy and will likely stay that way! |
 |
And here is the foyer looking inside from the front door. Not much of a change here from the last time, except the sun is shining today! The french doors lead into the living areas, while to the left you'll have the guest bath that I've shown you before, and off to the right is the hallway that takes you to the master bedroom, office and garage. |
 |
Here's the hallway, don't think I showed you this last time. Woo hoo, a hallway. The master is down to the left, garage and office to the right. There's a nice big closet of on the right, and to the opposite side there is an airing cupboard, must be a kiwi thing because I've not heard of one. They are used for taking the clothes off the line at the end of the day, then you can fold them and put them in the airing cupboard, turn on the light heater, boom, all dry by night or morning. |
 |
Here's the office/den/computer room. This is pretty much what it's gonna look like, we have very little in the way of items for this room. Why accumulate? That window is nice, but shows the side path that runs along the house from the garage to the back patio. The fence is the neighbours, who live in Europe six months of the year. |
 |
Here's the hallway through the laundry room/mud hallway out to the garage. Those are our two new purchases, the front loading washer and on top of it the dryer. German, stackable, energy efficient. Awesome. |
 |
Master with bed, dresser to left, side dressers, large window looking out to view and patio. WARM. Did I mention it's warm?? |
 |
Master bedroom looking out, to left the ensuite, middle is the walk in closet with built in drawers and shelves, and right is the door. There is full length mirror on that wall between, it's a bit tricky as it looks like it is the dresser, but no! |
 |
Kitchen again, nothing new here apart from the mess! |
 |
From the kitchen looking out to the dining table and wine rack (full, of course), with a door out to the patio. White tile floors, and the french doors lead to the living room, which also leads out to the patio. |
 |
Lounge or TV room. We had to split up our sectional, putting the chaise part of it on the near left wall. But it's cozy, we can pull it out and lay it right in front of the TV. Plus there's room to bring in other furniture for bigger crowds. |
 |
Living room, looking a mess because the damage to furniture and fabrics from the sun is very real, even in winter. There are no window coverings in this room, the room that gets the most sun. For the time being I have the red couch covered where the sun hits it, the green rocker covered, and the top of my buffet covered because the sun will damage the wood too. I usually have a blanket over the bench. However, as of last week, Don hung drapes, so the room looks normal again-all linen coverings gone! Have one of the Nepali rugs down here too, but am thinking it's a cool weather decoration only. The white tile is too pretty in summer. |
 |
The deck, from the double bifold doors in the living room. You can see a better view today with the sun out. We found some awesome patio chairs on clearance a week ago to go with our table and umbrella. Next: a bbq |
But I'm going to save the view photos for another blog ... there's enough here for you!
We are very fortunate in our new house to have retained our amazing view of the bay across to Mapua, Motueka and the Abel Tasman. But we also now have a view of the Marsden Valley behind us, where no one can build, so the view will always be there. (Whether we are always HERE of course is not likely, since we don't actually own this house, but for the time being, we are at home, right?)
So you've seen the deck before, but the view was blocked because of the awful weather on move in day. Here's a sunny day! Above and below you can see our views out across the water -- these are just farther away views from the ones we used to have. Isn't Nelson beautiful? We are too lucky to live here. If you look at that little green hill in front of us, that was the hill we used to live on, but on the opposite side facing the water. Now we are in a bit of a valley where there is a hill on our left blocking out Richmond and a hill on the right coving Nelson, but looking out front is worth it! And no more view of the Mitre 10 Mega (like a Home Depot but the entire building is painted orange - nice).
Below here you can see the hill ridge off to our left where the other houses are being built up, not much likelihood of houses down below as the gradient is too steep.
Below is a close up of the same shot taken above, just close up with our fancy new camera. Those are the mountains of the Arthur Range we've shown you a million times before from our old house.
Above and below are a snowy day on the hills behind us. We have been having quite the winter in New Zealand, many storms all around the country, but nooooo, there's no global warming. Snow at this level is pretty rare in Nelson. But this is the Marsden Valley just outside our front door and across the street. You can see over the edge into the pasture and green land. It's lovely, although the valley itself is a target for development, no one can build across the street from us due to the gradient, so we'll always have the view of it. What can you do??
