Break time (or is that afternoon tea?)

We continue to have lots of things to take care of; we now have a high chair for Quinn and a bed rail for Amelia (try living without those for a few days) and I managed to get the computer up and running. I've run out of steam, so hopefully more to come within the next few days.

Oh, and the rain pants came in handy because it rained again today. That's 4 out of 6 days so far.


We're beat. And no, that's not pee on the couch.

PS, pic of all our luggage added below...

"Windy Welly"

So much has transpired since we left home that there's little hope of covering it all adequately in one or two posts. Add to this the fact that jet lag has me waking up every morning at 5:30 and crashing by 7pm and you'll understand why I'm taking one topic at a time.

Tonight's subject: the weather. Normally this is topic is reserved for filling uncomfortable silences in conversation. Wellington's weather deserves mention, though, because it was a major concern of ours prior to moving here and it continues to have quite an impact on our lives.

Wellington is the world's southernmost capital city. It is the only capital city with the distinction of being located within the roaring forties. Sailors cringe when they hear that term, and with good reason. If you want to win a sailing race around the earth, the best way to do it is to sail south until you hit these latitudes, then hold on for dear life as the uninterrupted winds circling Antarctica whip you around the globe.

We had heard it could be windy in Wellington and we fully expected it to be freezing, rainy, and cloudy in addition. The good news is that it's not freezing. The bad news is that it is definitely windy, rainy, and cloudy. The weather really hasn't been terrible; it's just not been very good at all. For winter, it feels pretty mild. It's in the 50's and the wind can indeed be very impressive at times. The weather can change more rapidly than any place I've ever seen in my life. It routinely switches from nasty to beautiful in a span of minutes, then switches right back again.

Someone told Amy that it wasn't humid here, and that person is going to hell. We have two dehumidifiers running full time downstairs. With them, everything is fine. Without them, I'd have moved home already. It has rained everyday except yesterday (which was 75 degrees and sunny) and the wet weather shows no signs of abating though the locals assure me that the summers are quite nice. I'll just have to take their word for it. In the meantime, I'm buying myself a nice pair of rain pants (an umbrella wouldn't stand a chance in this wind).

Alive and Wellington

We made it.

In retrospect, the trip over here was a lot like childbirth (from what I gather, anyway). It wasn't particularly pleasant, but the hard parts seem to fade from memory pretty quickly and we've got something pretty neat to show for it.

I'll spare you all of the details, but the trip really could have been worse. The flight to LAX was the hardest as the kids were wide awake. Quinn got bored, then vocal. Both kids crashed for a long time on the long flight to Auckland. Oh, and the guy who booked our flights was at least two hours off on the travel time; 10 hours and 40 minutes of flying will only get you to Tonga. It was more like 13 or 14 hours, but there were lots of other kids on that flight and the outstanding flight crew really helped out by letting us use a roped-off area of the plane as a nursery. I'll revisit the fact that this country is overflowing with common sense and courtesy which I find quite refreshing.

The low point of the trip occurred when we had to retrieve all of our bags to go through customs in Auckland. That means that Amy and I had to split this between us (plus Quinn, of course):



Anyway, we had very little time to make it through customs before our last flight, and they have a policy that anyone running late for a flight is asked to head straight to their gate with all of their luggage instead of checking in again. The only issue is that the domestic terminal is over half a mile away. I can't say enough about how well my wife and daughter handled this. Amelia ran the entire way hopping like a bunny, never getting the least bit upset (she cried for less than a minute during the entire trip; in return, I will buy her a pony).

From there, it was all downhill. We met one of my future colleagues on the next flight and it turns out that she went to med school with one of my best friends from residency (Kirk, it's Amy Johnson). Small world and all.

I expected Wellington to be pretty. It's gorgeous. Pictures really don't do it justice. The coastline reminds me of Hawaii with beautiful water and waves crashing over steep rocks. The hills around town are indeed very steep and the houses cling precariously to them. In typical Wellington fashion, the houses right next to ours are completely below us so that I see my neighbor's roof when I look down out of my window. The views from our house are really something.

I'm realizing that there is absolutely no way to cram everything I want to say into one post, so I'm calling it a night. Suffice it to say that we are quite happy with everything so far, and we'll tell you more soon.

Exodus

Well, tomorrow is the big day. Amy and I are quite ready because we've spent a very long time preparing for it, but I'll admit that I feel about like I did the first time I went away to summer camp. I'm not talking about the two week version, either- I'm talking about the one that lasted a whole month.

Funny thing is, I'm not really that worried about whether we'll like New Zealand or whether my job will work out or whether we'll like our house. What's got me concerned is the trip there.

Re: logistics, it's a 1.5 hour drive to DC, a 5 hour flight to LA, a 4 hour layover, just under 11 hours to Auckland, and (just to rub it in) 2 hours more to Wellington. This seems pretty manageable to me given that it's a 9000 mile trip, more or less. So, what's on my mind? Why the butterflies? I'll show you:


The Mighty Quinn.

Quinn's a good kid, and he's really blossomed over the past week. You know how kids have those not-so-obvious milestones where they clearly make a rapid change even if it's not crawling/walking/potty training? Well, the boy has started to come into his own, complete with a wonderful belly laugh and a very outgoing personality. Thing is, he's still a baby.

I have very few concerns about Amelia. After months of intense brainwashing, she appears convinced that New Zealand is made entirely of candy and is populated by friendly, talking dolphins. Seriously, she seems to have a reasonable understanding of what's going on and I think she'll be up for the adventure. Aside from the fact that she is excited about the trip, we have an entire bag of loot which should keep her occupied for a while. Quinn, on the other hand, won't give a damn about our bag of goodies if things start to go bad. Oh man, do I not want to be That Guy With the Screaming Kid for the next 2 days.

We may be offline for a while while we travel/recoup/get internet service. Hopefully, we'll be able to post something within the week. Until then, lots of love to all of you. We'll miss you very much.

Departure, Barfing, etc.

That's our to-do list, mostly done.

At this point we are homeless and unemployed and living in Amy's parent's house in West Virginia. They are now helping us out by letting us crash their place, and I do mean crash. We showed up with two carloads of stuff crammed into random bags along with two not-so-well rested kids. I really can't thank our families enough for all of the help they've given us; there's no way we could have pulled this off without them.

We were relieved to find that international passengers on Quantas are allowed two 70-pound bags, so we now own 5 "magnum" sized Cabela's duffel bags. We now need to figure out how much can actually be crammed into these beasts, then ship the remainder. I'm spending a lot of time talking to insurance companies: health insurance in NZ, health insurance in the US, disability insurance, homeowner's insurance, and car insurance. I know the blog takes its name from a Mallory quote, but I'm getting sick of thinking about all of the bad things that could happen to us.

On a brighter note, Quinn has more or less stopped barfing and his personality is really starting to shine. Amy and I are getting excited about the trip during the rare moment of quiet, and so far things seem to be going according to plan. I don't think I've ever had my life and possessions in such good order, and the weather is nice right now. Now, back to the to-do list.

Leaving is Painful

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This week has been interesting. For the most part, it's been better than I expected because we've somehow managed to stay on schedule. It hasn't all been easy, though; we've had to tell a lot of friends and family goodbye. It's been wonderful living in C'ville for the past 6 years and it's sad to leave everyone, even if it's only temporary (we keep telling ourselves that).

I also managed to smack my hand into my cactus while repotting it and drove a few thorns right through my fingernails. Undeterred by my experience, my buddy Shawn of positoid fame agreed to babysit my cactus while I'm gone. Only later did it dawn on us that out of all of my friends, I picked the hemophiliac with AIDS to take care of the cactus. Shawn appreciated the irony.

Mi Casa, Su Casa

Well, the housing saga appears to be over. After encountering several dead ends in our housing search, we got some great news today. We'll be staying in a quirky house (of our own choosing) in the suburb of Kelburn. For those of you who know something about Wellington, that's where the cable car stops. The neighborhood is perched on the mountains surrounding Welly, so while we're only about a mile from the water it would be a pretty serious hike without the cable car. Click here to see some pics.

In addition, my parents came through big time by combining a 72-hour babysitting marathon with a home-improvement weekend. Almost everything we own has been stacked tetris-style into the basement and we'll spend the next week sleeping on a mattress and doing last minute home repairs and errands. Between the termites in our front porch, wasps in the chimney, plumbing repairs and painting, I think we'll fill the week easily.