Merry Christmas, I am off...

I am off to the South Island for a few days, just with the car and my tent. Fingers crossed that the weather will stay as it is now (sunny, warm). I will be using the Dept of Conservation camp sites and the first one will be Kerr Bay at the Nelson Lakes. From there to Arthur's Pass and then on to mount Cook to do Muller's Hut. Looking forward to do some walking and getting some fresh air. In any case a Merry Christmas to you all and an enjoyable New Year's Evening!

Antonello da Messina

I walked to the water front this sunday, found myself a bench to sit on and started (and finished) reading my library book (something I haven't done for a while). It was fiction but it was about the theft of a painting by Antonello da Messina. The name of the stolen painting was made up but I did an internet search on the painter and found the above painting instead. This book also talked about IFAR, an (non-fiction) organization that keeps track of stolen art works. Anyway, yeh, weather is getting better over here.

River & Eastern Walkway

In the last post I mentioned a scenery that reminds me of a Dutch landscape. Well I went back there and by the time I got there it was raining cats and dogs which actually added an extra flavour to the similarity to "land van Maas en Waal". Just to clarify, the river is on the left, on the right (what looks like water) is a wet foot path/cycling lane (in case you wondered whether I had acquired any special magic walking powers)

It is labour weekend so I went for a walk in the neighbourhood and discovered the "Eastern Walkway". Here are some pictures







Last but not least, I discovered the "slow food" web site (http://www.slowfood.com/), some interesting thoughts, just FYI :-)

Dan Mills

A couple of weeks ago I went to Eastbourne. It is on the other side of the water from where I live and there is a tiny ferry boat that goes courageously from one side to the other. So out of curiosity I took the car (I could not find the ferry time table and had only one day left of my weekend) and drove all the way round the water front. It was a lovely drive, once off the motor way it was like driving in the country side, actually it brought back some memories from a road trip along the Mediterranean to Nice, not quite the same but something was familiar. Anyway, once I reached Eastbourne I parked my car and walked around, through the main street (which was perhaps 100 meters long), onto the pier (looking towards my house which was just a dot in now where) and along the beach which was deserted. By the way, the main street had perhaps a handful of occupants, just to give you a sense on how metropolitan this community is. When I got off the beach I found myself on a walk way along some lovely houses which led me to a little sports ground and a community centre. And there I found this large but beautiful mural that was painted by Dan Mills. For a change I had a piece of paper and a pen on me so that I could scribble his name down. It is only now a couple of weeks later that I find that piece of paper again. Anyway, hope you enjoy those visuals as much as I do.

Going back from Eastbourne to my home on the other side of the water one passes through Petone which is a slightly bigger community and has also more small businesses. Two of which have attracted my attention. One is the Dutch Shop where I can buy 'hagelslag' and 'oude leidse kaas' (and where I can practise my Dutch), the other shop is called "On Trays' which I think is a terrific name since it is a delicatesse store with lots of delicious food on offer. So one of my weekend routines has become a quick trip to Petone to keep me going for the rest of the week. And then (to round this off) I found a lovely walk way in that same area which reminds me very much of my home country. It is along a river with a dyke on either side on it. And it is just the birds that you hear and the water that runs along. The best part is that this walk way leads to a two track railway bridge with a narrow foot path next to it. So you can wait at the midway point for the local train to pass by. The other charming part is that because the foot path is so narrow people say 'excuse me' and 'thank you' when one direction is squeezing past the opposite direction. Anyway, next time I go there I will take my camera so that you have a better idea of what I am talking about.

Morning Walk

Walking from home to work takes about 30 minutes in the morning. However it takes about 40 minutes in the evening when I walk back from work to home. The reason being is that I live up the hill and my work place is in the valley. The photograph hopefully gives an idea about what I am talking about. To be honest, it is taking at that spot where on the way back I need to rest for a while in order to capture my breath, hence the 10 minute difference in commuting time.

Morning View

It has been a while, all to do with changing home (again). Anyway last week I moved into a new place and hope to stay here for a while. I woke up this Sunday morning at an early hour, leaned back on my pillow to see what the weather was like and noticed this big sailing boat that was passing by. Needless to say that I feel lucky to have found this spot!

It looks as if spring has arrived in NZ, last week we had a few days with a lot of sunshine. Today it was the same deal and hence I decided to go shopping for some furniture, something one does on a beautiful day. Funnily enough, NZ does not have an Ikea which is a real pity because that would be the ideal place to get some funky book shelves and the like. The closest shop in respect to the Ikea style I was told is called "Freedom". Well let me tell you, it is definitely not even near the same stuff as Ikea, it is expensive, shop assistants follow you through the store ready to pounce, there is no warehouse with carts where you can collide with other customers, no yellow bags, yes the style is modern but it does not have the "easy" component, does not serve Swedish meatballs either, and they don't have a restaurant which is probably the reason why the meatballs are not on the menu. So no book shelves for me today, fortunately I shipped my Ikea work table from LA and on second thought I should have shipped the rest of my furniture as well, this stuff is not cheap over here, provided one can find it in the first place ofcourse. But on a positive note I did buy a long table for the living room at the "Office WareHouse" which is a cheap chain that sells stationary and office equipment. It was on sale for NZ$199 and after questioning the shop assistant it appears to be called a "canteen table"... what ever, the size is perfect, I put it in front of the window so that I can keep an eye on those big sailing boats while eating my muesli in the morning!

Te Kopahou Reserve

I took the car for a spin today and drove along the south coast (Island Bay, Owhiro Bay) till I reached the end of the road (and the world). It appeared that I had gotten to the entrance of Te Kopahou Reserve, it felt like a portal to a different universe. The sight was just spectacular, just a massive and bare rock formation all the way to the horizon. Their presence gave me a strong sense of "don't mess with us". Just another moment that I was touched by the New Zealand scenery. It was a bit late to go for a stroll along the ocean side but that is definitely something that I would like to do at another time. There are walking trails and there were quite a few people out there (considering the number of cars in the parking lot).

On the way back I visited a colleague of mine who lives in a converted warehouse on the water front in the city. Very high ceilings, looked like a loft with an extra floor in the middle. Very nicely done, very different than the many old and drafty old houses in Wellington.

Yesterday I took my car back to the garage because the clutch had a wee bit play. Since it is under warranty it was better to take it back to the place where I bought it which is about 18 km north west of Wellington. Once lesson to be learned from my car buying adventure is that next time it might be better to buy the vehicle locally. Anyway the owner was happy to look at it and to fix it. Once he was done he asked me to test drive the car, just to make sure that everything was fine. Well that was an interesting experience, it was like being back at the driving school. "You should take your foot off the clutch, I see that you keep your foot on the clutch between the first and second gear, your foot should not be on the clutch at all, keeping your foot on the cluth will wear out the clutch much quicker than usual and (and here is the key part) it will affect the warranty". Well Cliff, I hardly put any pressure on the clutch, I just keep my foot in position for the next gear shift... Yes but any tiny touch of the clutch will wear out the clutch and the clutch may need to be replaced much sooner than expected... Cliff I don't apply any pressure on the clutch... by the way it is pretty cold and wet today, I take it that you have very few customers today... not really... you have to let go of the clutch between shifting gears... yes but I DON'T apply any pressure on that pedal Cliff. Needless to say that I was relieved that my driving lesson was over. Perhaps his tactics is to put me off for a next warranty issue... well Cliff don't count on that too quickly mate, I may take you up on that :-)

Greytown and Rita Anges

This was quite a weekend. Yesterday I took the car for a spin to Greytown (about 75 km from Wellington) and today I went to see the Rita Anges exhibition in the 'Te Papa' museum here in Wellington. The word 'quite' refers to 'I liked it, it was inspiring, it was beautiful, I rediscovered the joy of exploring new places, I met nice people'. So where is Greytown, well it is slightly north east of Wellington. First it is a 4 lane motor way but then at some point it becomes a 2 lane road that goes up and up and up (and to top it up there are lots of curves as well). But basically one has to go over a mountain pass and the view along the way is just terrific. It had started to snow by the time I reached the summit. Here are some pictures. My little new Subaru was doing a good job but for the locals I went obviously too slow (mainly because I did not use the 2 wheels only trick in a 35 km recommended curve). Fortunately there were road stretches where they could over take me, I guess when you do that road day in day out one knows every curve as the back of your hand (but not me, besides I am not in a hurry to replace my car tires any time soon). Anyway when I arrived in Greytown it was just passed lunch time hence a good excuse to look for a place to eat. The town is really small (about 2000 people) and it has one long main road with various tiny shops along side it. But it seems an upcoming community, a few trendy interior stores and cafes and even art galleries. There was even a tiny art supply store, the owner was sitting very close to her heater and turned out to be from Surrey, England who got married to a Kiwi. Before I could ask her whether she would stay in NZ for ever her friends arrived and the conversation came to an end. But I also got to talk to Johanna in the Rivereast gallery and to Lisa in the Harvest Gallery, obviously as gallery gate keepers they get lots of people who just enter the gallery, walk around and leave without exchanging a single word... but not me at least not yesterday. I finally had my lunch in the local French Bakery and thought of having a second home in the area. It is a wine growing region and Lisa gave me a map of the Wairarapa Wine Trail along a dozen or more wineries where one can even stay the night. So I may do that the next time, sounds simply too good to be true. Anyway Greytown gave me a sense of calmness and artistic serenity which is always good for the human nerves in particularly when they are exposed to a regular dose of frenzy movie making stress. Needless to say that on the way back the cars behind me behaved in the same manner as earlier in the day. Even though my Subaru is a 4 wheel drive that sticks pretty well to the road surface I did not get tempted to do silly things with those crazy mountain curves. So I arrived back in Wellington in one piece and with a satisfied feeling of having done a successful NZ expedition.

So then there is today (Sunday)... I needed to return some books to the public library in down town Wellington and thought about seeing the new exhibition in the 'Te Papa' museum of Rita Anges. But I got to the museum $3.60 lighter since the library charged me for late return fees (no mercy from them). But hey the museum was totally free (which seems to be common in this country). I went to the fourth floor and I was totally blown away by this Rita Anges exhibit. She was a NZ artist who lived from 1908 till 1970 and her water colors and oils are just beautiful. This is a link to a more detailed description of her. And here are a few of her paintings, the one I really like is "Island Bay" which is a great composition of boats off the coast of Wellington. I wanted to buy an 'Island Bay' post card in the museum store but unfortunately they were sold out. But the lady behind the counter suggested that I leave my number so she could contact me when the next batch would arrive. So I left my number, collected my library books from the cloak room and started my walk back to my car (which was parked about 20 minutes away). In less than 10 minutes my phone rings, the museum store on the line, they had found another batch in the far corner of museum (at least it sounded like that), would I be interested in picking them up... oh and by the way 'how many would you like to have'. I felt I could not simply say 'one' since it sounded as if they had turned the museum upside down just to gratify my needs. 'uhh four perhaps'. On my return to the museum store the same lady decided to give me a discount anyway (honestly I did not ask), maybe she felt a bit guilty that she had not mentioned the price of $5.99 each. Anyway she even gave me a big paper bag for my library books since they looked heavy she said. Where in the world do you still get such service, welcome to New Zealand. To finish the day (and the weekend) I had a meal at an Indian restaurant and went home realizing that I had barely thought of work during the last 2 days.

Traditional Thai vs Exotic Thai

Went to eat in the "Traditional Thai" this evening, a place that sits above a pub and which has no windows. Saturday night so one would think that some other people had the same idea of having some food in there too but noop, I was the only one which was not a 'promising' sign. Nevertheless I gave it the benefit of the doubt and ordered my drink: cider (I had it last week and was delighted that I was in a country again where it is being sold). I was directed to go down stairs though and buy it in the pub and bring it back up again. "But don't tell anybody otherwise I will get in trouble" the waitress told me. I put my hand on my heart and became an instant accomplice which is what eating out should be all about. Anyway, got back to my table with a green bottle hidden behind my arm in case the "who ever was in charge" crossed my way. No need to be concerned though, still nobody else around, anyway why worry, I could always stop being an accomplice and point the finger to the waitress... no I wouldn't. But nevertheless the cider tasted good, and so did the coconut soup and the mixed veggies with tofu even though I needed a magnifier to find the latter. But still, did it compare with the Exotic Thai in Burbank... well apart from the cider, I don't think so.

I shopped around for a bike today, I would like to use one to get to and from work. So it should not be a mountain bike or a "Tour de France" bike, just a plain bike without shock absorbers or any other fancy stuff. It turns out that what I am looking for is called a hybrid or a commuter bike over here. In two stores I was told (and shown) that they come with 27 inch wheels rather than the 26 inches that go with a mountain bike. Well that was before I arrived in a store where they claimed that 27 inch wheels don't exist in NZ. He was a nice guy though but his credibility went out of the window right there and then. Anyway I am a bit wiser in terms of pricing, quality and sizes. Will do a bit more research tomorrow. Once I have a bike the main challenge will be to climb the hills near my home, something that I am not looking forward to at the end of a working day. But hey, I want to loose a few kilos so I should give it a try.

Another thing I did today was to extend the audio CD from the public library. Initially I thought I had to go down town and do the renewal in person. Then it struck me that perhaps I could do it over the phone which was a major revelation in my mind... so I found the piece of paper that I received the last time during check out (it lists all the items that I borrowed) and yes it had a phone number. What made this exciting as well was that I now could use my new phone for the first time (nothing more exciting than using something new for the first time). Anyway I got through to a nice sounding voice on the other end who informed me that no I could not extend the item over the phone, the only way to do that was by means of the internet. No worries, that would give me the opportunity to use my computer for something else than blogging and e-mailing (nothing more exciting than using something for a different purpose). Anyway after three or five clicks I could use the audio CD for another week, something to be proud of considering that my alternative approach had worked out in the way it was supposed to be. Sometimes simple things are great to validate oneself :-)

Last but not least, I bought a 25 meter long ethernet cable (which turns out to be a bit too optimistic in length but anyway). Since the internet company provided me with a very short cable I had to put the computer close to the access point that is near the front door. But now I can have my computer on the big dining table which allows me to have paper, books and food and drinks around me as well. I bought two speakers in the same store so I have been listening to BBC 6 while typing this blog. No need to be concerned about the volume too much, the neighbors are not on the other side of the wall (like in Burbank). Made myself a nice cup of English breakfast tea and even opened up "Die Gestalt des Menschen" by Gottfried Bammes. Life is good :-)

Moving In

Yesterday I moved into my new home. It was a bit difficult to say good bye to the Dixon hotel, in particularly to the huge and delicious morning breakfast but anyway I finally made it to Seatoun. I parked the car on its parking pad which is a platform that stands on poles and is attached to the road somehow (underneath there is a steep slope). Somehow I managed to carry my bags down the 60 step stair case, unlocked the front door and voila my new home was mine! Had a quick look around before heading to work but felt that I had completed a major step in my New Zealand life.

So when I came home last night I had to get the wood stove working somehow, well it took me about 2 hours before I had a small fire going, which is promising for the days to come. It changed my plans for the night though, not a lot of time to sit in front of the heater and read my library book. But anyway, today it went a lot better, I just threw a bit more wood in the chamber and somehow the fire got going. But I keep going back to see if things are still burning as expected, which seems to turn into a full time job. I also need to get wood from outside and dry it in doors otherwise... no fire.

Got the phone and the internet installed today, which means that I don't have to pay the high internet charge in the hotel anymore. But at least I can use Skype again for making international calls, the local telecom company is charging its customers a small fortune for those type of calls.

Woke up this morning by the sound of the boats passing by. I also hear the sound of the waves which is very soothing and comforting. There is not much sun though which means that the house doesn't get warmed up from the outside. But I should be ok with the heaters, the main challenge is to keep the humidity out, hence a good reason to keep the wood stove in good shape.

Work went well today, I got something working and have been asked to show my stuff tomorrow to a wider audience. Fingers crossed that it will be well received.

Anyway, next project is to get a car and a bicycle, the former should be economical since petrol costs a fortune these days. I got some petrol last weekend and this pump kept going and only stopped when it reached an astronomical amount of $78... quite different than what I was used to in LA.

Well the fire is still going which I consider quite an achievement, good night!

Second Weekend

This is the second weekend for me in New Zealand, so far so good, got a house to live in, did my first day of work last friday, met nice people, I like the pace and traffic is definitely less aggressive than the previous town I lived in (people really give way). Oh and there are public toilets all over town and they are clean (i.e. no inclination to puke). I went to the main public library yesterday and found a great art section which made me happy. I also walked to the railway station which is super clean but tiny to European standards but nevertheless it breathes like a real railway station, people hanging out waiting for the next train, little shops, people running, people queuing up for tickets, people looking for the platform and departure time etc. I walked back to the hotel along the water front and passed a tiny historic building that used to be the first ferry ticket office. It included a text on the side that explained the history of the Wellington ferries. It also mentioned that there used to be trams running through the city... that must have been a great sight, trams with ferries in the back ground :-)

I know I should post more pictures but so far I just enjoy walking around the city and not being concerned with extra responsibilities :-) By the way the weather is great for walking over here, cool and windy, a great sense of being outdoors. I hope to strike out to nature areas outside Wellington and start to recover my sense of smell (unless I completely lost that in LA :-) )

A New Home

Yesterday I signed a lease on a new home. I will be living in Seatoun, in a great but small house that has a view on the ferry pier. It comes with 2 bed rooms, a large living room with a separate dining area, a garden and a large deck. It just has a lot of character so I decided to go for it. I will move in next wednesday June 11th. Oh and it has a wood stove too, and the kitchen has a view on to the water as well and it is nicely furnished. Anyway, I am happy with the prospect of living there for a while. I have posted some pictures below. On another front, I became a member of the Wellington public library today (one more piece of plastic to carry).

House Hunting

Got up relatively early this morning and had breakfast before cashing in my first check at the bank. Subsequently I went over to "Dick Smith Electronics" to buy a microphone for my computer so that I can call people through Skype. Dry but cloudy today by the way. Took the car for a spin and ended up in Seatoun where I placed an advert in the post office window: "Looking for house rental". I offered the lady behind the counter some money for the advertising service but she refused. "Just tell me when you find a place so that I can remove it" she said. I walked back to my rental car and drove to two places that were for rent on the north east side of Miramar, on the ocean front. One house was far too big for me, the other one was better and I will have a look on the inside this coming thursday. It feels good to have a look around, getting a sense of what is out there will help to narrow down my house search list. Later this afternoon Matty the runner showed me one more place (which happened to be very cold and damp) and I finished the day by going to Breaker Bay where I saw another home. Anyway, needless to say that my left hand driving is improving (even though I drove on the right side some where today, no incoming traffic though :-) ). To change the subject, I enjoy the fact that there are a few Indian restaurants in Wellington, had a meal in one of them this evening and felt that it had been a good day!

PS I managed to add "e-mail subscription" to my blog. Not sure if my "compelling" writing will make people subscribe to my blog but in general I find it a simple but amazing web feature that allows people to get the latest news alert delivered to their electronic mail box. More info to look at :-)

Mnt Victoria Tunnel

Raining cats and dogs this morning, breakfast is on the 9th floor and the rainy and windy view was spectacular. Anyway a colleague suggested to explore the Hataitai neighborhood so I looked at the map of Wellington and decided to walk rather than taking the car (my hotel is on Wakefield, in the city center). I ended up walking through Mnt Victoria tunnel, a busy 2 lane car tunnel with a pedestrian walk along side it. Needless to say that the fumes and the walking are not really compatible. Once on the other end I walked around Hataitai and felt that it was ok, nothing spectacular really (one can see the airplanes landing though), just a few shops and the rest is very residential, a 'may be' in terms of renting a place over there but I think I will try Miramar and Seatoun first. Took the bus back, not because of the rain (which had stopped falling a long time ago) but because I didn't want to go back through that tunnel again. Tomorrow will be more house hunting for me...

Just to give you an idea about internet and mobile phones... there are no free WiFi spots over here, I am using the one in the hotel at the moment which comes for $20 for 24 hours. I bought a pre-paid vodafone sim card... 89 cents a minute :-( When buying a phone plan the price is less (not much though) but the number of minutes are minimal. In the US one can get 1000 minutes, the equivalent over here is about 50 minutes. I looked into an internet connection into my future home, and it seems that there is a limit on the number of downloadable bits. When you exceed that number then you have to pay for an extra 'gigabyte package'. So watching tv shows or other movies on your computer is a risky business over here... just so you know :-)

First Week

I arrived last wednesday here in Wellington, New Zealand, to start a new job at company MMC. At the airport I was collected by a so called runner who drove me to The Duxton, my hotel in down town Wellington. I was wide awake so I walked through town for a number of hours and felt that things were very friendly and civilized indeed. The weather was cool and a bit windy, so much different than the LA heat :-)

On Thursday I was driven to a bank where they opened an account for me (I even got a credit card, something one normally get after a 6 month waiting period, it appeared that a letter from MMC was sufficient). Contrary to the States, there are fees for every little transaction. Then on to the MMC company where I had an orientation i.e. an explanation of how things work over there. Got a driving lesson afterwards, turning on the wind screen wipers every time I indicated my intended left or right direction which is at least better than ending up on the wrong side of the road. Anyway, later in the afternoon I tagged along with another new comer who was looking for a place to live in down town Wellington... which made me realize that I want to live further out of town. Afterwards I went back to MMC to meet my new colleagues and to say hi to my desk and chair. I think my new noise canceling head phones will come very handy indeed.

On Friday my runner Mat collected me at 10:30 in the morning to see a one bed room apartment in the harbour area, very nice place with a very nice rent as well. Good to have seen the place though, the name of the game for now is to see a few places and see what my money can buy.

Saturday... drove to Seatoun (pronounced Sea-toon), a small water front community on the same pennincula as Miramar. I walked around and made some pictures. It felt very much the same as Avalon Beach in Australia and it might be the place to go for (in terms of housing, which of course is not cheap considering the water front views)

Sunday already... I set up my computer in my hotel room (a colleague was so kind to lend me a LCD screen) and I am back on the internet. There is a web site that is called "TradeMe" which is useful for finding apartments, cars, and what not. I also drove to "Island Bay" which is another water front neighborhood that was recommended to me. On the way back to the hotel I dropped off my time sheet at MMC, handed in the car keys at the hotel reception and had dinner at a Asian restaurant around the corner. Tomorrow is Queens day, a public holiday over here.