a little history...

Hola!

We are finally just over the jet lag...  What an incredible journey!  The highlights according to the children - "meeting Janet and Paul", "seeing the cave dwellings", "meeting Guy and Tessa", "it was the best holiday ever!", "seeing the actual cave paintings", "spending time with new family"...

Tessa trying out her flying wings
at the Science Museum

The conference in Valencia was great and Adrian learned heaps!  Many of the sessions were appropriate for the work he does and the ones that were not were well done.  We had fun at the opening night dinner - Adrian was the best New Zealand recruiter!  He did not enjoy his paella at all as he was speaking with new radiologist friends about the wonders of New Zealand and how terrific doing a long term (one year) locum is!  He is right of course.  The closing dinner and flamenco dance performed by an xray tech and her partner - why she does xray I do not know -
was terrific.  We really had a nice time.

Arts and Science Center buildings 

While in Spain we were met by Guy and Tessa!  Adrian was thrilled to see two of the three (Alex is busily working so could not join us).  They seemed very happy to see their father. The girls and I enjoyed it too.  We were able to spend some time in the city and at the hotel pool together.  We shared meals and good conversation.  Adrian took them all to the Science museum while I was learning to make paella and they all had a really good time by the sound of it.  The Arts and Science Centre in Valencia is an architectural marvel!  Gorgeous inside and out.  Enjoyed time walking around the old city of Valencia  The Central Market was something to see with a huge array of meat, fruit and veg and chicken heads and chicken feet, nuts, whatever you wanted.  The architecture in the old town and the Cathedral were awesome.

old town Valencia

in the Cathedral - statues of kings

fun!

Guy and Tessa left on Friday to head to Barcelona for some young adult fun and we left on Saturday to drive the 7 hours to our gite in Domme in the Dordogne region of France.  This region is at the heart of the prehistoric cave painting and dwelling area.  There is evidence there of human life dating back 35,000 years - yes that is thirty five thousand years! - shocking and amazing and really quite hard to grasp.

The last 45 minutes of our travel from Spain was spent on tiny roads not intended for automobiles but for knights in shining armor...

We eventually found our gite down a farm track past an abandoned car and a hungry horse.  The gite was a converted pig sty and had been done out well by the British owners and their son in law Ben.  That night we drove the two miles into Domme through a 13th century castle gate and found what turned out to be our most frequented restaurant, the Auberge de la Rode, in the tiny village square of this ancient hill bastide.  The Knights Templars were imprisoned here in the 13th century.  We had a great prix fixe meal.  Foie gras is the local specialty - the girls love it!  It was walnut season as well so the salads and desserts reflected the abundance.

Adrian's sister, Janet and her husband Paul joined us for the first week.  What a treat!!!!!  This was their first encounter with the girls and a great time was had by all.  We spent the week exploring the local chateaux and ancient caves while having some good evening meals.  We loved seeing Castelnaud and the jardin de Marqueyssac (gardens).  During our travels, Paul even stopped the car to let me take photos!  While not so great for the traffic situation it was great for me.

dinner in the gite

Highlights of our time in this area included visits to Lascaux II ( the original caves have been closed to the public but not before Adrian and Janet went there on a family trip as children), Rocamadour where miracles occurred as recently as the 1600's and the cathedral is built into the rocks, the Chateau at Commarque, a ruined 13th century castle built over troglodytic dwellings in an ancient river valley, and seeing 13,000 year old cave paintings at the Font de Gaume.  We waited for almost two hours to get tickets to one of only a few viewings daily.  What an incredible experience.   We went by gondola into the depths of caves at Gouffre de Proumeyssac to see the Cathedral de Cristal's huge stalagtites and stalagmites - mites go up and tights come down(;-) thanks Janet...).  We also went to the Chateau des Milandes, the former residence of Josephine Baker - a french obsession.  We can highly recommend a visit to this area by anybody.  We were worried that two weeks would be too long but in fact we could have stayed much longer. You know I could go on for a long time and use lots of words but I will spare you and just say - What a great time! What a learning experience for all of us!

Domme

Adrian and Janet overlooking the valley from the
cave dwellings at La Roque Saint-Christophe

cave dwellings at La Roque Saint-christophe

La Roque Gageac from the Norbert River Boat

Dordogne River

The trip back started with a six hour drive through near hurricane winds down to Barcelona.
Followed by a 48 hour epic journey with almost enough Dramamine and not nearly enough sleep.  We have come to love the bustling Dubai airport which at both 2 am and 6 am is heaving with people.  The shopping there is world class and there were many people going at it full throttle.  We, however, were the zombies moving through to find our gate.  Kuala Lumpur was just a blurrrrrr.  Melbourne was very quiet from 2am - 7 am and Auckland was a great place for a short nap.  Again my driver did a stellar job from Wellington to Palmy under very brutal conditions of lack of sleep, grumpy family and there are more conditions of note but I cannot remember them.

We had a wonderful trip even with some rough spots and it was certainly one that we would do again even now with suitcases still holding special treats.  We really must spend more time in France.

Au Revoir...

and we are off...

We have been celebrating around here this week - Grace had a very successful dance with her schoolmates - they came in second for this region with their dance to the wiz (some of us remember that one).

 I had a birthday - thanks so much for a great two day celebration - the family treated me to snuggles and coffee in bed, then the sweet girls at work surprised me with gorgeous orchids, a sweet card, and lunch at a neat cafe called The Bee's Knees.  We had dinner out and I am the proud new owner of a gas-powered blower!  I have used it and love it!  I should get lots of use out of it as the wind blows what I blow right back where it started - it will be an ongoing battle - I don't have a chance of winning but I do love using my new blower!  I have lots of cards on the mantle and loved getting a package from Mom and Dad.  A great birthday - thanks!!

We continue celebrating - we are leaving in a day or two for our much anticipated trip to Valencia, Spain for Adrian's conference and France for holiday.  We will see family!! Guy and Tessa will be coming and the girls and I will see Kelsie in Alicante!  When we leave Spain we head to Domme, France.  Adrian's sister Janet and her husband Paul will join us there.  We are so happy to see family!!  It is what we miss being here.

Of course I cannot sleep as I am so excited so I spend time in the night looking on the internet at all the places we will be.  Not a great idea really because I get more excited and sleep is virtually impossible.  The travel time is around 36 hours for this journey.  We fly from Wellington to Auckland to Melbourne to Dubai to Barcelona - we will be shattered I am sure.  Luckily we will recover as we are still young!  Yes we are!  We are still young.  If I keep saying it...

We will be in touch during our time away but will fill you in on all the details when we return.

Did I mention that it has been sunny for five days in a row?!?!  We can walk in the back garden without our gum boots!  We do not sink in the mud - yahoo!!  Spring is indeed coming and should be in full swing when we come back.  There are gorgeous flowers blooming -

Victoria Esplanade lane

The girls are both riding bicycles like pros!  It is a gorgeous time to do that now so we have been outside a lot lately with the great weather and practicing our biking - we will have bikes in France and plan on using them.

The girls are sleeping, Adrian is at his journal club meeting with his peers to review articles of interest  and have food and a bit of wine.  They are good about getting together regularly.  Adrian is enjoying his work and is learning new things.  He is involved in the interviewing of consultant radiologists.  He is enjoying that and is getting a handle on the time differences around the world.  There was that one South African interview that may have happened at 3 am but never mind...  I better get the last of the packing done.  Until next time. xoxo

a little more of the weekend

We had our first ballet recital yesterday - It was a great success.  Here are some photos in our other blog, just click on the link... Photos  Each class did a ballet performance which was followed by a great performance of Peter Pan.  There will be another performance today and we will be able to purchase the video so that will be fun. Abigail really loves her class and said, "I hope ballet never ends!" - wonderful to love what you are doing, right?!?

We have had wild weather - high winds, rain hissing down with a few rounds of hail mixed in to make it all a bit more spicy!  We are warm and dry so all is good.  We love to see a storm and we are having lots of opportunities to do that.

We have only a few more basketball games - both teams have made it to the semi-finals!  I hear through the grapevine that there are children at the school who are imitating the American hollering at the games (Dad, you would be proud and Wubus, you would cringe remembering how Dad cheered you on!). As we say, the nut doesn't fall far from the tree.  The girls have come such a long way in basketball so maybe we will do it again next winter.  Summer sports are on the horizon, field hockey, touch rugby, and others, we will soon sign up...

Apparently the kids at school are begging for Grace to talk "hillbilly".  She does a really nice job!  When working in the library she has kids put away books and rewards them with some hillbilly talk.  Again that saying about the nut comes to mind.  They call me cowgirl - I like that!!!  If only I could find the boots - I came up empty in Australia as the pointy toe kind do not help a rancher much.  I am hoping to find a fancy, very pointed-toe pair in Spain - what do you think?  Matadors must need pointy toed boots, right?

I heard from some sweet girls in the States - thanks for calling!  What a treat!!!  We had a mexican feast that night to celebrate hearing from San Antonio - nachos with jalapenos, a $5 can of beans, chips, salsa, guacamole and Corona!  De-lish!!!

Now that our friends have gone to the UK our phone rarely rings - thankfully Adrian's sister Janet calls!  My dad calls too but we are not supposed to let Mama know that...  Just kidding mama, you know he would never do that!  He knows which side of the bread the butter is on...  We also hear from Adrian's sweet friend Harry - he does love those calls.

Off we go to the next performance, no pre-performance jitters here! just some urgency about getting the makeup applied - cute!  As our weekend comes to an end, I hope y'all enjoy the rest of yours. CHEERS!

saturday in palmy

windy and warm, sunny and nice, laundry is hanging out, children have ridden bikes without event! all the work is done.  Adrian has been watching the golf and a bit of tennis although with less enthusiasm than if the great Federer were still involved.  Abigail has her dance recital today, Peter Pan, at The Globe Theatre.  We are all very excited...

Last weekend we went to a gorgeous spot - Jan and Jim were right - Castle Point.  Here are some shots.

what's the difference?

It is a bit sad around here today.  My friend, gym partner, confidant and sushi eating pal is gone with her family back to the UK via Singapore and Malaysia where they will visit her family.  We had sushi for lunch today in their honor.  I know that people come and go but this week two sets of friends left, one to return to the UK and the other back to Texas.  Our lives are richer for knowing both families but we will miss them!  We will see them both again, I hope.  Bye AiLan, Jonathan, Jennifer and Jessica. Bye Jim and Jan... Haere rā!

I work with two women - one from Australia (across the ditch in Oz) and another from here, a truly lovely kiwi woman.  It is hard to find people from here - I met an Emergency Department physician from Huntsville, Alabama!  I was in a group of people - a South African, a Brit, a German, a Texan, and a Kiwi!  Talk about a melting pot!  With all these people from all these places there are lots of differences.  I don't want to think about all the differences between all the places from which people come but just about Nashville and Palmerston North.  Tennessee and New Zealand.  There are lots (heaps) and I will jot them down as I find them but here are a few.

There are about 4.4 million people in New Zealand in 103,733 square miles. There are about 6.4 million people in Tennessee in 41,234 square miles.  There is room here!   We walk to a lagoon where there are ducks and swans and now baby black swans!  Lovely to go feed them on the weekend.  We spend so much more time playing as a family now.  There is so much less stress in our home here. It is really balanced now.  Here people DO balance work and life.  They do not talk about it like we do in the States.  People go on trips, spend time with family, do stuff together.

baby black swans at Hokowhitu (pronounced Hawkofitoo) lagoon

The police do not carry guns and can pull you over for random breathalyser test - anytime day or night without cause... It happens - a friend was running errands and came to a road block where the drivers were funnelled down to one lane and asked to breathe in the tube - it was 9:30 a.m.!!!  Yes, she passed... Now that is a deterrent! The police ticket bicycle riders without helmets!

Here when someone calls my child precious I now know that it means something more like obnoxious/pain in the rear/spoiled... It has not happened except once...

When someone is making evening tea, they are cookin' dinner...  Took me a minute on this one, couldn't quite figure why people were stressing over making a cuppa (cup of tea or coffee)...

There are no hired crossing guards, teachers and students trained by the police manage the job beautifully at no cost!

There is no tipping.

There are heaps of differences at the grocery (market) - prices are high!  Fruits and veggies can only be purchased in season (prices outrageous otherwise), no graham crackers or grits, no Crest toothpaste, hamburger is called mince, chips are crisps, fries are chips, cookies are biscuits,  catsup is called tomato sauce, the eggs are sold from a shelf not the cooler... The avocados are very nice!  We love kiwi fruit. There is not enough competition in the grocery business to make prices reasonable and offerings more diverse...  Did I mention that there is not a hot wing anywhere - I have tried to find one and cannot.  I contacted the Melrose Pub and they gave me some pointers but I have not perfected it yet.  That will be one of my first stops when I return!!!  Hot wings, chunky bleu cheese, cold beer and laughter!  Looking forward to that!

We have choices for who provides our power, gas, cable, phone - who knew??  There is no central heat or air.  Proper insulation is not the standard if it happens at all.  There are no double glazed windows.  Homes can be really draughty.  We stay in our kitchen/family room with the fireplace going and get our bedrooms warm just before we go to bed.

Recycling is done without question or thought.  It is a part of life here.  Approved garbage bags (biodegradable ones that the trash man will take) are $2.50 each and some weeks there are only one or two from our cul de sac.  People really take the environment seriously here.  People compost, the city council provides recycling bins and pick up.  We take care of and are thoughtful about the environment.  People bike/walk to work.  We hang our clothes to dry.  Kids are brought up this way.  It is smart.

The children do not wear shoes (flip flops are called jandals) and wear shorts and tank tops in winter!  The seasons are milder - not the shift in temps that we are used to but - wow! - it blows a gale here!  and does it ever rain - sometimes in the front yard while the sun is shining in the backyard or garden as it is called - even if there is not a flower or vegetable in sight.

There are no snakes or squirrels.  There are lots of birds, animals, flowers that we have never seen before.

Children walk or ride scooters or bicycles to school alone from a very early age, rain or shine, without parental supervision, safely.  People are more fit, less fat!  They move here - walk, run, cycle, scooter, etc...  There are great sidewalks and parks and gyms... Adrian's jeans are bagging off of him as a result of his walking!

There are flowers blooming year round here - my garden is full of blooms even in the winter!  lovely!

I dropped my phone in the road where I park my car while I work.  I realized it was missing, re-traced my steps and could not find it.  My co-worker called, I hunted, no luck.  I called the gym where I had been earlier, no luck.  I worked and hoped that it would turn up.   I received a call from Adrian in the afternoon, my phone was found!  I called the phone (again!) and a gentleman answered and gave me the address - He pulled over on the road, picked up my phone, tried to find me, returned my phone, reinforced my very strong belief that people here are NICE and GOOD!!!

I took Abigail to the dentist because I just knew that her permanent teeth were coming in above her baby teeth - I over-reacted come to find out (shocking, I know!) but we had an exam, an X-ray, and an appointment time slot - Guess how much I was charged?!?!?!  NOTHING!  ZERO! FREE!  See, reasonable, nice and good...  It helped that the kiwi dentist had a wife from Tennessee - I know, small world!

There are less rules - people mostly do the right thing... People help each other, are kind to each other, a lot like home really.  I believe more now than ever that we are all the same on the inside.  We may sound different, look different, but we all want the same stuff no matter where we are - peace, kindness, good friends, laughter, hot wings when you can get them.  Cheers!!!

Check out Abigail's accent!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc-nPWk9MNQ&feature=youtu.be

ski pics

heading to the slopes

like ducks to water

day two - cannot wait to get going!

TSS Earnslaw - coal fueled steam engine

The Remarkables

enjoying the boat ride

heading home from the plane...

check it out

So we love Air New Zealand - we have been with them on some great trips.  They are good to us.  They are funny.  We enjoy the video instructing us about masks and floatation devices.  So we want you to check this out!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZLBY3lYtsQ&hd=1

Funny as...