First Week Completed!

The week certainly went by quickly. But we were quite productive and managed to get a few things done, while also getting some rest. 

We bought a car! (with the help of some good friends) And got car insurance. 

Check out our 2021 Honda Jazz Crosstar! 

It was fun test driving it and then driving it off the lot. It had been over a year since Eric had driven here and even longer for me. But he did great! And we are both driving now- taking turns to make sure we both get used to it again. It came back quite quickly. Although we are still laughing each time we mix up the turn signal and windshield wipers. lol

As you might notice, it has been wet and chilly most of our first week.

But that just made staying in and relaxing feel more appropriate. 

We got our NZ cell phone numbers and have been working away at updating things and sorting out all the various tech devices. Still a work in progress. Feel free to email us, that’s still a safe bet. 

We had our first appointments with our doctor -GP to get ourselves re-registered as patients here. 

We had an “interesting” evening on Wednesday as we attended a local “meet the candidates” function. It is election time here too. There are about 17 different parties all in, but there were 7 individual party candidates speaking. Let’s just say there are no easy choices here either. Is it better than the US? Probably, but there are issues that seem to be the same globally right now. We were glad we went, it was partially amusing if it was not so tragically sad. 

We have been able to catch up with a few friends, saw a screening of the film The Creator and looking forward to more next week.

AND we have been getting some much needed down time. Sleeping in, napping, reading, relaxing etc. 

Today the sun is shining and it is a little breezy - We will be going out to see a few open houses. Nothing to quite right yet, but trying to get an idea of what things are looking like.

:O)

And we made IT!!!!!!

Sorry for the delay, but it has been a crazy last 10 days. We tried to see as many friends and family as we could. If we were unable to see you before we left we are truly sorry. We hope to see you when we visit in 2024. We will make sure to let you know when we have exact dates.

We did make sure to get our "last" In n Out Burger (for awhile) as well as some good Mexican food.

The long flight over wasn't too bad. But it was long! 

We got to the airport with all our bags - 5 suitcases and 4 carry-ons! at about 6:00pm for a 10:00pm flight.

We had hoped to relax in the Air New Zealand Lounge since we had 2 eVouchers for access. However, apparently there is no Air NZ Lounge at LAX - only the Star Alliance Lounge which Air NZ is a member of. BUT they do not accept eVouchers - It all seemed pretty odd and I was sad and disappointed. So we found a nice place to sit in the terminal to wait until boarding at about 9:30pm.

We both managed to sleep on the plane at least for a little while and we landed in Auckland a bit ahead of the scheduled time. We managed to get all our luggage and processed through customs in a very reasonable amount of time, with plenty of time to make our connection to Wellington at 10:00am.

Although a bit tired and stiff the 10-minute walk from the international terminal to the domestic terminal was glorious! It felt great to stretch our legs, breathe the crisp fresh air (masks off) and we were grinning from ear to ear- excited to be back.

We enjoyed a fruit smoothie and donuts before boarding our connection.

It was a very easy flight to Wellington. When we arrived we were greeted by 4 very dear friends. They helped us collect all our luggage drove us to where we are currently staying. We visited for a while and then went to get some lunch and do some marketing. The rest of the day was a mix of resting, unpacking and going to bed early. It was a great first day back. We have several things to tend to over the next few weeks, but nothing overly pressing so it will be nice to do it all at a leisurely pace. 

And that’s a wrap!

 

It is official! House is sold. This was an amazing home and we will miss it. But we look forward to our next one.

Well….drats!!!!

 

We have been sooooo careful. But alas, even with our precautions we were not immune.  

The good news is that it was not Covid, but the Flu! And less than a week after we both got our flu vaccines. LoL! So far it only got Stacy. Eric seems to have dodged this one. Fingers still crossed! So we had checked ourselves into a lovely Holiday Inn Express for a few days to avoid sharing our germs with friends and family. It has put a bit of a damper on our Seattle leg of our “see you later” tour plans, but trying to make the most of it. 

If we were unable to see you in person to say “see you later” we are sincerely sorry. Even when everyone is well, it’s challenging, and now with so many getting this new wave of germs, gatherings have been difficult. 

Know that we will miss you very much. We hope you will come down south for a visit at some point. And we will certainly let you all know when return to the states for visits. 

… And Back Again! (2023)

 

Where to start?…

This has been a long time coming. Eight years and three months to be exact. Longer that expected, but with no regrets. 

We left Wellington, New Zealand in July of 2015 returning to the states so we could spend some time with aging family. We had thought it might be about a 3-5 year stay before we would return to New Zealand where we both very much wanted to be.

Without drawing out all the details, suffice it to say that life does what it does, and the pandemic only added to the complications of returning.

But here we are!!!! Starting our new adventure.

We placed our Seattle house on the market in early July and are scheduled to close escrow mid-September. It has been a wonderful home and we will miss many of its features and comforts. 

We have been busy pre-packing, culling and prepping for many months. This week five packers/movers spent 3 full days packing all our things and then filling about 30 feet of a 40 foot container to send on the water to Wellington. It is expected to arrive in about 8 or so weeks.

We are excited, nervous, and sad to be saying “see you later” to many friends and family. (We hope they will visit us once we get settled) And of course we will be planning visits back to the states. We will land in Wellington on Saturday, September 23rd (that will be Friday the 22nd still back in the states)

So many have asked for photos and updates as our new adventure unfolds. So we have created a new blog where we can post and share and you may follow as you wish. We will look forward to hearing from you too. Feel free to reach out. With technology today, there’s no excuse not to stay in touch. (email, Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, FB, Messenger, Discord, txts, Vonage phone, etc.)

Stay tuned…more to share coming soon!😁

Stacy & Eric