Owhiro Bay

Hi all, we've been neglecting the blog as of late, but we've been busy. We've been busy buying cars (see below), chasing huge waves (see below) and just basically hangin' around trying to figure out what we are going to eat (there's no Mexican here).



The colorful shacks seen here are actually boat houses right on the beach. They double as club houses for guys that want to elude their wives.















Believe it folks this is the biggest wave I've seen in the last couple weeks.















Another scenic coastal shot.

















Maribeth posing for the November shot in the Extremely Used Car Calender

Wellington's Badlands

We finally got out of the city today. One of my coworkers is out of town this week and left us the keys to her car (thanks Marianna!) We headed out through the Wairarapa (home to lots of sheep and wine) and then down to the coast.


It was a beautiful day for a hike so we walked up to see the Putangirua Pinnacles, Wellington's badlands. We didn't have much time for wine tasting on the way back through the Wairarapa after the hike so we'll have to go back for that. It's supposed to be a good region for producing Pinot Noir (like Oregon.)

We're looking forward to getting our own car soon so we can get out of town more often. There's so much to see!

Oriental Bay etc.d

Hey all,

Mb and I went for a walk around town, as we do often because we don't yet have any mode of transport other than our feet. We enjoyed a great day in a part of the city we haven't been. Here are a couple colorful pics (courtesy of Mb), one of Oriental Bay, and the other of some oranges from the local vegetable market.

The Bucket Fountain

The Bucket Fountain returned to Cuba Mall on Thursday. This was apparently very exciting news.

The fountain is located right outside of the office where I work so we got to watch them reinstall it, with it's shiny new fresh coat of paint. And now I get to listen to it splash all day. Much of it's charm seems to stem from the fact that it doesn't work properly and tends to splash water all over the sidewalk along with any unsuspecting pedestrians that get too close.

The fountain has quite the following. It has it's own Wikipedia page and a webpage devoted only to the Bucket Fountain, complete with souvenirs and screensavers!

If you're curious, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bucket_Fountain
http://www.bucketfountain.co.nz/index.html

Things we have learned this week...

New Zealand is a great place to be gluten free. There are plenty of gluten free options at the grocery store, however no corn tortillas or all natural peanut butter. We're looking forward to going to the veggie market in the city on Sunday.

Oregonians are everywhere. We met some folks from Eugene while attending an election party at a bar on Cuba St. It also seems that everybody here is excited about Barack Obama.

November is not summer in Wellington. Apparently the weather doesn't get nice here until around Christmas (hopefully). Spring is very windy.

Non-profits don't pay very well. Two of my new coworkers have resigned this week to take better jobs. There were only ten of us to begin with so that's pretty high turnover.


More photos from Island Bay (and Scott). As far as I can tell, this is a Maori wood carving (or in the style of a Maori carving) similar to a totem pole.

Welcome to Wellington!

Island Bay

We arrived in Wellington on a beautifully sunny Friday morning. Suzi and Norman and their daughters Manu (6) and Roma (3) very graciously offered to put us up for a few days at their house in Island Bay until we found a more permanent place to live. Island Bay is a suburb of Wellington, directly south of the city center. It is so named for the island in the bay (who would have guessed?) and there's a view of the South Island from the beach on a clear day.



View of South Island from Island Bay









The weather seems to be very fickle. After a lovely day on Friday, it was raining sideways in 40 to 60 mph winds on Saturday. Sunday was beautiful, but the wind started to pick up again on Monday and now (Tuesday night) it is raining sideways again. This will take some getting used to. I haven't taken many photos since the weather has been so bad but I've posted the few I have. Hopefully in the next week or so I can take some more.



Waterfront in Wellington