Happy Holidays

 

This is a Pahutukawa tree- also known as New Zealand Christmas tree, as it blooms in mid to late December. They are all in full bloom now and are quite prominent throughout the city.

Tis the season… the week leading up to the holiday break was a bit crazy. 

Most of our friends were busy finishing up work related stuff. Here in NZ it is the norm to close down from a day or so before the 25th and not return until the 8th-15th of Jan. Very nice. Many people travel during this time of year, and Wellington starts to feel very quiet, except when the cruise ships are in.

The sellers of the house we have been hoping to buy were suddenly eager to get an agreement in writing and signed before the break. So we spent time going back and forth with the lawyers to get that done. Exciting !

Buying a house is a very different process compared to the US. And buying a house “off market” adds some complexity. 

It has been a great experience so far. We have met the neighbors on both sides. As well as enjoyed getting to know the sellers for 3 hours at the local pub. 

We did get back to Zealandia for another great walk in the sun among the birds. And helped decorate a few trees. 

Also saw the Miyazaki movie, The Boy and the Heron. I enjoyed the story though it was certainly odd. It was visually remarkable and was pure joy to see the artwork. He is truly a master. 

We had some nice evenings with friends as well as our “regular” group on Friday night. Henri made her famous and delicious bacon and mushroom risotto. Kim and Warren provided two salads -potato and mixed greens. Eric made a pumpkin pie, I made cookies and Lance provided the beverages. Great holiday fun was had by all. 

We watched “Violent Night” on Xmas Eve eve with friends. And then had a quiet Xmas eve and day just the two of us. 

The weather was not great but finally broke on Boxing day - yes that is a holiday here. So we enjoyed a walk and meet-up at the Chocolate Fish Cafe. It was a beautiful day!

There won’t be anything new to report on the house or the job front until things start rolling again in the new year. So just gonna enjoy the sun and time with friends. 

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays! And a healthy and happy New Year!

(NZ Flax providing the silly reindeer antlers.)

Two more weeks have gone by...

 

Still can’t believe how quickly time is flying. Even when we have very little to do in the overall scheme of things, the days just keep flying.

The last two weeks…

We continue to enjoy great meals and catch ups with friends. Walking almost every day when the weather cooperates. Oh- if you missed it, we had a freaky insane storm blow through on Tuesday. Thunder! Lightning! Hail! and a tornado (small) that hit lower hutt area!

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/301025728/mini-tornado-causes-havoc-in-lower-hutt-as-violent-storm-sweeps-new-zealand

We have finally watched the latest season of Loki. And really looking forward to the Xmas Dr. Who episode. Eric has been enjoying playing Baldur’s Gate 3

We have moved to our current accommodations where we will be staying and caring for two sweet kitties -Bella and Penfold, until Jan. 11th.

We are also caring for another friend’s kitties starting next week so Eric and I will split our time enjoying the company of kitties through the holidays.

I managed to get invited to the Weta FX holiday party. This is no ordinary party…but an all out extravaganza of a party! Eric and I had been fortunate enough to attend a few of the Halloween parties when we were living here before. But never The holiday party. 

It was held this year at TSB Arena and Weta FX had created about 8 separate areas/party spaces. Each with its own theme and vibe. There was live music and DJs, a silent disco, an interactive experience and more. Amazingly catered with a multitude of types of food and treats, and lots of beverages- themed and otherwise. It was all truly impressive.

I have been told by many that this year’s party was not up to the usual standard for Weta FX, but since I had no comparison I couldn’t say. The bar must be pretty high if folks thought this was a “lower budget” party. Sheesh…

For some the mood was certainly subdued due to the Unity announcement made earlier. Unfortunately it is a rough time for many as layoffs are abundant through many sectors at the moment. And holiday time is the worst time to have to deal with such things.

Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast just made their announcement and many friends and colleagues are now finding that they are in search of new jobs in the new year. It really sucks and my heart and thoughts go out to all who have been affected this year by layoffs. It has been nice to see the outpouring of comments and support on social media. 

On to better news…

I have started baking holiday cookies and Eric is planning some pumpkin pies! We have ventured forth to the “US store”- yes that is a thing, and have procured some Libby’s pumpkin purée. (At a cost that might make your head spin) There WILL be pie!

www.us2u.co.nz

Speaking of treats!

The Chocolate Fish Cafe has reopened! 

For those that do not know, this cafe is an amazing place located on Shelly Bay. It has been a local gathering spot for many years. Originally located at Scorching Bay and then moved to Shelly Bay. It is one of my favorite places. It was closed down earlier this year due to a fire and asbestos contamination (toxic air quality) from an old building that was across the way. There have been other controversial issues surrounding the development of Shelly Bay, but thanks to Peter Jackson & Fran Walsh

Shelly Bay is now being restored to its natural beauty for us to all enjoy for years to come! 

House update

We have seen several more open houses…and still nothing that fits with what we are looking for. The housing market here is very different from the US, and it would take another several blogs to get into all the challenges and differences. But suffice it to say -tough market, tough times. And Eric and I are a bit picky- LoL 

But there is a silver lining - we hope…

We met up with some great folks that are wanting to sell their house.

It is quite an amazing home. We have had several conversations and enjoyed hanging with them at a local pub. Nothing has been solidified yet but we had a building/home inspector do a report on the property and were thrilled to learn that there were no surprises. (It needs some work, but we expected that)

The talks continue and we hope to be able to report more soon.

Fingers & toes crossed. 

Happy Post-Thanksgiving!

 Hope your feasting and shopping went well.

We had a wonderful feast with about 20-25 people. It was pot luck and many dishes were shared. Eric made a homemade batch of salsa and I made a 5-layer dip. Both were well received as they were the only appetizers until dinner was served. Stephen was our host and it was fun to meet a bunch of new people. I was sorry I did not get a photo of the whole group. But I was enjoying the company and conversations - I don’t automatically think about pulling out my phone for photos (I think that is 

a good thing?)

Not quite sure where 2023 went. It has flown by. Not going to recap the year at this point, but suffice it to say, it’s hard to believe there is only one month left before we look at ringing in a new year. 

This last week was spent mostly relaxing. We moved from a nice air bnb to another friend’s place for a few weeks before we start our house/pet sitting stint that will get us to almost mid-Jan.  

We saw a subtitled foreign film called “Society of the Snow” based on the Uruguay flight with the rugby team that crash landed in the Andes. It is an amazing film. Really intense and hard to watch though. Not sure I would recommend it. 

Also saw “The Marvels” which was just a fun popcorn movie. 

We enjoyed it. 

And we are really enjoying the new Dr Who episodes! 

Not much more to report on the house or job front yet. We saw a few more homes, but nothing to pursue. Trying to just enjoy ourselves and the holiday time among friends. 

Wow- 2 months!

Not a whole lot new to report this week.

Still enjoying ourselves.

Pretty flower in Henri’s garden. 

Two new puzzles completed.

One was super easy, but was a type I had not seen before. The image on the box cover is not the actual puzzle image but what they are seeing through their eyes. They are called “Wasgij” - jigsaw spelled backwards. Fun concept -they are typically 1000 piece puzzles, but this one was a little 100 piece puzzle.

We went to a fun community craft market. 

Eric and Lance found the playground Lol

We saw the new Hunger Games film - intense and good. Viola Davis was fabulous!

We are now staying in a sweet garden cottage for the week. It is nice to just be the two of us for bit. Next week we are back with some friends and then we have some pet/ house sitting arrangements. It’s great to have all the options and opportunities, but truth be told, living out of suitcases can get tiring. 

The house hunt continues..

Saw a house we really liked but it has some issues, so I think we will continue the search…a few more to see this week.

Eric has now applied for two different photography jobs. We are hoping he will get the opportunity to choose. I have had some good meetings as well and we could both potentially be back to work in January. 

… stay tuned

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

There is always something to be thankful for!

Just a casual week

 …Saw some more houses but still not any we are interested in. We will likely have to wait until January for more homes to become available. But we will keep looking. It is both entertaining and sometimes scary to see other people’s homes. 

Our container with all our stuff has now cleared customs and is in storage until we have a place to live. 

We had a fun adventure of “lost & found”. Eric’s car keys (remote fob and house keys) fell out of his pocket somewhere along a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood. We rewalked the route hoping to find them, but no luck. Stopped in to several businesses to ask if anyone had turned them in. Still no luck. This was on Thursday. On Sunday we went to the local market to pick up a few things. Eric had left a note with the manager earlier and we asked again if any keys had been turned in. At the same time I took a look at the community board that is on the market wall. 

And there it was!

Some amazing person, Mandy, had found them and posted a note.

We got Eric’s keys back. Yay! This was just another reminder of what we love about this place. Community! And great people. 

We also celebrated not having to get a replacement fob. They are crazy expensive! ($770 NZD) Eric’s keys are now tethered, and will no longer be able to “fall” out of his pocket. 

We have been enjoying staying with our friends Henri and Steve. Henri and I tackled a 1000 piece puzzle with a little help from Kim and Eric. Henri has a nice collection of puzzles but had not attempted one in many, many years. Really enjoying some down time.

We have also met some very nice people who are in need of a house/pet sitter for 5 weeks while they go on holiday. So we will be taking care of 2 sweet kitties starting early Dec. It will be nice staying in one place for over a month. From there we are not sure, but we know we have options. 

And so the adventure continues….