Driving in the USA - VF
I just wrote a few sentences in an e-mail to Viv about driving so I thought Id add them in here FYI, along with a picture of my lovely car sitting outside the garage surrounded in leaves! The previous week it was covered in red maple leaves which kind of stuck to it and resulted in my wonderful husband going out and cleaning it for me (hence it is so shiny in the picture - note the wheels especially!).
I am managing to get around on the right side of the road/left side of the car with not too many episodes of hitting the window with my left hand when trying to use what is now the wrong hand to change gears! It’s still a challenge to look over my right shoulder when backing down the drive as my neck doesn’t seem to turn quite as far that way. However on Friday I realised that the people across the road have a driveway that is practically an extension of ours and so I tried lining that up in the rear-vision mirror instead of trying to turn so far around and that seems to work better thus far! The other challenge is remembering to go to the left side of the car to get into it when I am in a shopping mall or car park. I usually end up putting the shopping on the passenger seat so that it looks like I meant to go to the incorrect side! I also often repeat Dad’s mantra for driving here when I turn corners of right, right, keep to the right, which Jamie adapted in NZ to be left, left, keep to the left! Thus far I have only had one minor mishap and that was when I didnt say it due to talking to Maria on the phone at the same time (whoops, best find out if driving and talking on phone is illegal here like in Australia or not).
 

Letter from America - VF
I had a message from my good friend Maria this week. She has taken over my role in Teen Sabbath School in Auckland (given than she used to always help me AND used to teach kids this age ie 10-16, I think she will do an even better job than I did). Anyway, she wanted some ideas so I decided to write the kids a letter so they could know what Im up to and also send some questions for discussion. Here is part of it. The rest was about the lesson of the week, but it will be too long to fit one posting here. I included the Michigan map above.

Friday 29th October 2004

Hi everyone in TeenSS

I thought it was time that I wrote to you (or wrote you as they say here in the USA) and seeing as Maria said when I spoke to her this week that she was taking Sabbath School this week, I thought I would send a letter via her along with some thoughts on this weeks lesson.

I am having a wonderful time so far. Things have been very busy and we have done a lot of flying (out of the last 8 weeks since I left NZ, I had a week at my parents house in Sydney, 3 weeks in my new home and the other half of the time has been in hotels). I know Maria showed you the video she took of our wedding (even I haven’t seen it yet!!!) so you know that we had such a great time. I am going to send her a CD of photos soon too. We had a week in Hawaii before our wedding and a week after with lots of our friends and family so that was great. The weather was so warm after coming from winter in Auckland! You could only go the beach for a few hours as it was so hot. The local people seemed to be able to stay there all day with their radios tuned to an interesting Hawaiian-reggae mix music station. We zoomed back to NZ for a few days in order to get my international drivers licence, new passport and have the interview with the US immigration people (no it wasn’t quite like in the movie Green Card). We were back here in Michigan for 3 weeks and have been away again for a week as Jamie (it’s weird saying 'my husband’) had a conference in New Orleans which is further in the South. New Orleans was a weird, creepy place. I think it is because they have a lot of things going on there that are definitely not Christian like voodoo and the people are very open in flaunting their various lifestyles and behaviours. It was quite strange as you could definitely feel the undercurrents and I don’t think I have ever been in a place where you can feel it like that.
Michigan is way up near the top of the USA on the Canadian border (in fact there is a part nearby where Canada (a city called Windsor) is actually south of the United States which I never realised before - a good Trivial Pursuit-type question to be aware of! Michigan also is bordered by 4 of the 5 Great Lakes (Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and Lake Eirie; the other one Lake Ontario is further to the east bordering New York state. Here is a map so you can see.

The city I am now living in is called Berkley, it is part of what they call the greater Detroit area. This is about 5 hours flying from Los Angeles, so after flying 12 hours from New Zealand to get to America, there is still a long way to go. Detroit is also known as the Motor City (AKA MoTown) as this is where the headquarters of the main USA car manufacturing companies are. It’s quite strange when you are driving along and you get to Ford Road and through suburbs called Pontiac and Fairlane. These are all (obviously) near the world headquarters for Ford. Driving is pretty interesting in itself. Not only am I having to drive on the right side of the road, but remembering to go to the left side of the car to get into the drivers side is quite a change. Once you get going it’s easy as no matter where you are in the world, you only have to remember to keep the steering wheel in the middle of the road! But going around roundabouts the other way to what I am used to is a bit weird! After not having a car in Auckland for 5 years, it is nice to have a car to drive around in whenever I feel like it.

I have been to church here quite a few times. It is about the same size as Royal Oak and the people seem quite nice and friendly. Some friends of ours take Pathfinders so we might help them out occasionally when the weather is warmer if there are camps to cool places like by the lakes. Right now it is getting colder because we are about to come into Winter. I guess I didn’t time the moving too well because I will have two Winters this year. There are lots of trees in Michigan and they are all turning the most incredible autumn colours (I refuse to say “fall” and will always say Autumn!). It is quite like Christchurch where I grew up, but there are a lot more trees. In the garden outside there are lots of squirrels - black, brown and grey ones and there is obviously an oak tree somewhere nearby as they scurry about picking things up so I assume they are getting acorns for the winter. When I was here over the Christmas holidays it snowed. Apparently we can expect snow in the next few weeks. It can snow anytime between late October and about March. When it snows can be half a metre or more deep, so that will make driving rather interesting! We are planning to come back to visit sometime over winter here to get some New Zealand and Australian sun. At the end of January, my parents will be moving from Sydney back to New Zealand so that will mean that we will visit New Zealand more seeing as we wont have to go to Sydney to see them. They used to go to Royal Oak church before they moved to Sydney so I assume they will come back to Royal Oak. But even if they don’t I will still visit whenever we are in Auckland on a Sabbath. The first time should be sometime in the first part of next year.

I had a look on the General Conference website for the lesson. That’s the one I showed you on-line in Sabbath School before I left. I really encourage you to join up as they have good on-line discussions about all sorts of things as well as the lesson each week. The url is http://realtimefaith.adventist.org/index.htm
 

French Onion Soup - VF
Yesterday I made French Onion Soup. Jamie had purchased a collection of DVDs by ‘Alton Brown’ a TV chef. I initially had thought it to be a rather extravagant purchase, but I have since recanted as they are completely fascinating as he gets into the science of everything as well as having amazing recipes like this one which I will put into the blog (a la popsie). It came out looking exactly like the one in this picture that I found, although we did not have the bread on top as we are attempting to be a low-carb household. I adapted a few ingredients such as the beef consommé and eliminated the cognac, but it still came out tasting quite phenomenal (if I don’t say so myself!)

10 sweet onions (like Vidalias) or a combination of sweet and red onions
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups white wine
10 ounces canned beef consume
10 ounces chicken broth
10 ounces apple cider (unfiltered is best)
Bouquet garni; thyme sprigs, bay leaf and parsley
1 loaf country style bread
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
Splash of Cognac (optional)
1 cup Fontina or Gruyere cheese, grated

Trim the ends off each onion then slice from end to end.
Remove peel and finely slice into half moon shapes.
Set electric skillet to 300 degrees and add butter. Once butter has melted add a layer of onions and sprinkle with a little salt. Repeat layering onions and salt until all onions are in the skillet.
Do not try stirring until onions have sweated down for 15 to 20 minutes. After that, stir occasionally until onions are dark mahogany and reduced to approximately 2 cups. This should take 45 minutes to 1 hour. Do not worry about burning.
Add enough wine to cover the onions and turn heat to high, reducing the wine to a syrup consistency.
Add consume, chicken broth, apple cider and bouquet garni. Reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes.
Place oven rack in top 1/3 of oven and heat broiler.
Cut country bread in rounds large enough to fit mouth of oven safe soup crocks. Place the slices on a baking sheet and place under broiler for 1 minute.
Season soup mixture with salt, pepper and cognac. Ladle soup into crocks leaving one inch to the lip. Place bread round, toasted side down, on top of soup and top with grated cheese. Broil until cheese is bubbly and golden, 1 to 2 minutes. 

Our House - VF
As promised, here are some picture of our cute little house! The one on the left I took the other day (after I removed the old screen door) and the one on the right Jamie sent me at the end of 2003 when I was about to come and visit for the first time. He sent quite a few pictures so that when I arrived I would have a sense of familiarity (which I did).  

Autumn colours (i.e. fall colors) - VF
I took these pictures only two weeks apart. I wish I had taken the 2nd one yesterday because the colours were brighter and there was a red tree further down the street as well as the yellow. But you can get a good idea of all the autumn colours.... Oh and do note the recently trimmed hedge with the new clippers we boughts at 'Home Depot', our current favourite store! Apparently you just rake all the leaves into piles on the street and the council people come along in a big leaf-sucky truck like a huge vacuum cleaner and suck them up for you. 

Removal of The Tank (as referred to in an earlier post) - VF
On day 1 of the 'basement project' a major issue was discovered by the 'basement guys'. Back in the far corner of the laundry under the stairs was a huge old diesel tank. This posed a problem for them as they needed to access all aspects of the perimeter of the basement. There was much 'hmmmmmm-ing' and shaking of heads and consulting of the job plan (which did not show the monstrosity under the stairs). We came to the conclusion that the house had probably been built around the tank and so the chances of getting it out (let alone up the extremely narrow staircase) were rather slim. After lunch Tyson came to me with great glee and said that his boys had managed to move it several feet and thus could get their job done. Jamie and I had discussed the need to get rid of it for once and for all and so I asked them if they could move it further, like, how about out to their truck. He hesitated and said it wasn't part of their job but when I suggested it might be worth it for 50 bucks each, he quickly reconsidered. The next day he came to me again and said that his boss had come when they were in the process of moving it toward the stairs and said that they were not to touch it as it was not on their job sheet. He had however emptied at least 15 gallons of diesel out (plus what was on the floor) and they could possibly consider coming back on the weekend but seeing as they lived 80 miles away and had to get a truck, he couldn't arrange it for less that $200. "Deal" I said (how else was I going to find a willing crew of tank removalists for a 60 yr old tank 1/4 full of decades-old diesel???). Sunday morning dawned bright and early and there they were yet again attending to what had become task 1 of every day - removal of the back door. Eventually, with only 2-3 millimetres to spare and $200, one squashed finger, a strained knee and a confession from 3 burly men of a week of sleepless nights thinking about logistics later, the evil tank was on it's way to becoming a pit-oven in a back garden (back yard) far away beyond the other side of town. The pictures speak for themselves....  

Here are a few of our wedding photo proofs that were taken by Prolook Productions and all 400-500 of them are online at:-
http://www.prolookproductions.com/client.php
username: victoria (all lowercase)
password: wedding (all lowercase)
They can purchased online for US$6.67 each for 4x6 inch size, US$10.00 each 5x7, or US$15.00 each 8x10
NOTE: If you have high-speed internet this will take a few minutes to download and you will likely need to ‘refresh’ several times whilst viewing for all the thumbnails to eventually appear. Double-click each photo to view. If you do not have high-speed, the photographer states that it will take about 15-20 minutes to download and possibly more time for each pic you click on. 

Fine dining in New Orleans - VF

"Emeril" is a well-known chef here in the US who owns a number of fine-dining restaurants and has a show on cable TV. He is originally from here in the South where we are visiting and so we thought we would take up the opportunity and visit for dinner!

One night we went to "Delmonico" which is portrayed as as steakhouse, but is not exactly what I thought a steakhouse would be (it has a strict dress-code and starched linen)! Jamie did have a steak however and I had fish. We took two of Jamie's residents (registrars in NZ-speak) and treated them seeing as they are here for the week presenting posters at the conference. You can see the dinner menu here....
http://www.emerils.com/restaurants/delmonico/dinner.htm

Last night we went to the main Emerils restaurant. The food was particularly delicious. http://www.emerils.com/restaurants/emerils/dinner.htm I had the tuna (cooked through though, not just seared) and Jamie had another steak! One interesting thing about the restaurant is that they colour-coordinate the serviettes (napkins here in the US) so if you are wearing black (as I was of course on both occasions) you get a black one and if you are wearing a lighter colour clothing, you get a standard white one. (All linen of course)

Laundry Transformation 1

New walls, floor tiles, cupboard etc!

Laundry Transformation 2

Here are a couple of before and afters showing the 'laundry transformation'!

New Orleans - VF

Here we are in New Orleans ("Norlins" as they say here) as Jamie has a conference here for 5 days. We have a wonderful room in the Wyndham hotel overlooking the river and all it's comings and goings. This morning we had breakfast at "Brennans" which is famous for 'Bananas Foster' - flambeed bananas on ice-cream. This is eaten for BREAKFAST (I had the strawberry version of it). The menu was quite amazing - like a dinner menu, in fact there was a 3-course option (which even included french onion soup) that even came with wine options for each course.

The events of weeks 1-3 at the Berkley Estate - VF

26th September - 15th October
Well we have had interesting times at the Berkley estate after returning from our honeymoon. We got back in the afternoon of Sunday 26th September and spent the next many hours emptying out the basement in preparation for the demolition builders to come and remove sections of internal walls, a few stairs and an in-built cupboard or two. There was 60 years of dust and dirt to work around but eventually we triumphed and things were cleared away sufficiently.

Monday morning came far too soon as Jamie was off to work for Day 1 of his 12 days in a row and so at 5.45am we heard the unwelcome sound of the alarm clock heralding the commencement of our first day home as a married couple. The first of the building crews to arrive was Brent and Brandon - two brothers who live 90 minutes north of town. They are rather blokey characters - very into their hunt'n and fish'n. They set to work with a vengence down in the basement and soon mountains of gib-board (dry-wall, sheet-rock or whatever), old wood, and other unknown items began appearing in pieces up the stairs and out onto their trailer. There was much huffing and puffing and sneezing on account of the dust and the effects of the dreaded 'black mould', but within a few hours, amazingly they announced that they were done. An hour after their commencement there was another knock on the door and there was Bill and his co-worker with their "Closet Factory" truck. Bill has been working with the Closet Factory for many years, but it was his new trainee's first day. Judging by several of their strained conversations they might not be working together for long! But this did not hinder the assembling of the new floor-to-ceiling wall of cupboards in our bedroom and a new selection of storage compartments and hanging space in the exisiting wardrobe area. By the end of the day, not only did we have a partially dissected basement, but we finally had enough new wardrobe space to commence hanging up our clothes. Along the way I managed to talk Brandon and Brent into a couple of extra little tasks including moving some of the original wooden shelves upstairs from down in the basement, cutting short a metal bar so I could make some other shelves, fixing the wires that make the doorbell work, advising me on paint stripper and discussing how best to rebuild the stairs. In the evening I raced downstairs to do as many loads of washing from our honeymoon as I could as I suspected that there would be minimal opportunity for the next few days (how right I was!!). Day 2 brought "Tyson" and the other B-Dry boys along with their jackhammers. They commenced making trenches all around the internal walls of the basement, approx 18 inches in from the wall. This process took 3 days - so not the most fun of times for Mrs Finch listening to the sound of the weapons of mass destruction and wondering how many times in one day that workboots could possibly tramp through the house in search of the loo (bathroom). I found it mildly amusing that within 3 minutes of the jackhammer starting on the day he was home in the morning, the husband decided it was time to go to Home Depot (the hardware super-store)! He did return with a number of useful bits and pieces including a very thoughtful present of a stepladder that now enables his wife to reach the high cupboards. The mess in the basement continued for the next 4 days and by lunchtime Friday it looked worse than ever. I couldn't imagine how they were planning on getting it finished it by the end of the day as there were big piles of rubble and stones and pieces of pipe all over the place. The concrete mixer outside droned on and all of sudden there seemed to be a lot of men having lunch on the lawn and new ones joining the queue for the loo. It seems like Tyson had called in reinforcements and there was an entire army working hard-out on our "basement drainage system". At 2.30pm a voice was heard in the kitchen saying "Excuse me Mrs Finch-Ma'am; we're ready for your final inspection". The army stood proudly to attention as I walked though, exclaiming that I couldn't believe the transformation over the past 4 days but particularly within the previous 2 hours! What surprised me most was that the evil musty smell was completely gone! They apologised profusely that they couldn't help the fact that the cement wouldn't be dry until Monday and so someone would return then to put back the washing machine and dryer and obviously they couldn't be used until then. They weren't quite sure what to think when I cheerfully responded that it wasn't a problem at all and what a great excuse to not do any washing.

On Sunday around 9am Tyson and his merry men re-appeared (unofficially of course) for the extra task we had created of 'removal of the tank' (see separate post). Amidst much heaving and ho-ing and and with only millimetres to spare, the nasty tank vanished from it's hiding place of 60 years to somewhere the other side of Flint.

Sure enough, as promised, on Monday the washing-machine-connector-man came. He visited at the same time that Brent and Brandon were back to measure for our next project - the new laundry. Much washing ensued later that day, and now we had a stylie wardrobe to put it all in!

On Tuesday at 9am, Hilda arrived. The reason for requiring Hilda's assistance was to establish some kind of a baseline in the household as the Berkley estate had thereto been a bachelor pad for some 8-9 years and was rented out for 20 years or so before that. I was told by a couple of people here that I wouldn't find a decent cleaner for under $35/hr and even then there's no way they would do the kind of heavy-duty work I wanted done. But Hilda came and has done a phenomenal job for only $20 an hour. She is from Central America - has been in the USA for over 20 yrs after escaping from Nicaragua with her 2 babies the day before the communists took over (her husband was killed in the civil war when she was 5 mths pregnant with the 2nd one; she has now re-married an American - and he went off to the first Iraq War but luckily for her he did come back). She has had her cleaning business for 4 years, having previously been area manager for a courier company for 13 years and now has 4 people who work for her. She also owns several rental properties so she was quite a fascinating person to talk to as we worked side-by-side (I did the easy things like cleaning out the fridge and moppnig hte floors!). Hilda scrubbed and scoured for hours on end until the windows looked as thought they didn't have any glass in them, the steps were unrecognisable and the bathroom tiles looked almost like new. With the ivy removed from the lovely bay window (by the new Mrs Finch hanging out it backwards!), the lounge looks completely different - so light and bright and airy. Every day it seemed that the furniture is in a different place so that we could clean under and behind it and throughout all this Jamie has managed to somehow avoid potential spells of disorientation as his home is completely realigned and rearranged and reorganised. Hilda has also gone the extra mile, giving me tutoring in how best to care for the lovely polished floors we have and has explained all about the various the different cleaning products etc. I did need such tutelage as it's quite strange when one is confronted by the vast array of products in the supermarket because everything apart from the window-cleaner looks so completely different to what I'm used to so it was all rather confusing, (no Jif, Ajax, Pledge or Spray 'n Wipe). With hundreds of products in the shops and it's almost impossible to know what is what! So now I have the 'preferred options' list. Everything here in the cleaning product department comes in individual wipes also - like those baby wipes - quite fascinating, very handy and very useful to keep in bathroom cupboard etc.

After 3 days with Hilda, just when we had made some headway into the dust issues, Brent and Brandon were back! Again I raced down to do some washing - just as well because my suspicions were indeed correct.... as it transpired, it would be 7 days before I could do wash again. Brent and Brandon installed themselves in the laundry, pausing only for regular journeys to Home Depot or to the loo, and, of course, on the way to those destinations, making hints about needing coffee, feeling the need to share long stories about fishing or the significant others in their lives (Brandon's 15 month old baby and Brent's current girlfriend). I continue to attempt to look busy with my cleaning and cupboard re-organisation whenever they show their faces as listening to stories is definitely not part of their (or my) job descriptions. However they have been kind of helpful, providing advice as I endeavour to hone my handyman skills which have extended thus far to putting up shelves, mounting the new door-bell, removing the 30yr old screen door from the front, attempting to de-stick the door through the use of a very ancient rasp and a vast amount of sandpaper etc (my grandfathers would both be impressed!). The builders seem to find my attempts at home rennovations rather amusing and have apparently named me 'Hard Case'. Over that week, the laundry was transformed (see pics to come) from a place that I'd rather not go to, to a functional place that is both spacious and waterproof. Finally, on Friday 15th October we had a full day with no-one visiting to perform tasks..... and then it was time to catch a plane again. This time to New Orleans.... (see next post).

Honeymoon Musings: A New Collective Experience - JF

18/19th September 2004
Air NZ Flt #9 HNL-AKL
Apprehension regarding airport policy and proper documentation of marriage and name changes melted away while a man with a stern countenance tapped away at his keyboard not showing signs of whether our fate would have a positive or negative outcome. He reached for the phone and said, “I have the Finches here,” and then smiled slightly as he issued us a ticket of entry to the Business Class waiting area which featured cool, refreshing beverages and small snacks. Newspapers, magazines and a television set also were available for guests.

A virtual red carpet was rolled before us as we mentioned casually, “YES! We got married just 7 days ago in Maui and are headed for New Zealand to complete the Immigration process.” Our upgrade to Business Class seating was very much appreciated with large expanses of room to stretch ones legs during flight as well as metal utensils (except for the knives of course) and china serving ware. We had brought our bottle of sparkling apple cider and they were pleased to chill it properly and then bring it with dinner. Complementary NZ Herald newspapers were given to all members of our cabin area.

Our journey of 9 hours to Auckland was made quicker by sleep which quickly engulfed us. We had left on a Friday evening at 11:55pm and with a time difference of 22 hours forward our Saturday was virtually non-existent. We arrived Sunday morning 6:30am.
A taxi-man was patiently holding a sign stating “Dr. and Mrs. James Finch” and we were whisked to our room at the S.S. Hilton at Princess Wharf (so-named by me -on the first visit to "meet my wife") because it is designed to appear as a cruise ship which it achieves rather well).

20 Sept. 2004
Auckland, NZ
As we became somewhat settled into our new S.S. Hilton nest we found that the bed was just delicious with a VERY soft comforter and softer pillows than experienced at the Grand Wailea. It was a remarkable thing to feel the soft comforter and bed providing warmth from a much cooler environment in Auckland than experienced in Maui. Snuggling up with my new wife was a VERY beautiful thing indeed. Sleep came quickly and we re-awoke at approximately 11am to join Maria and Grant for a little trip up to Mission Bay. ThunderBurgers (AKA Torpedo-Burgers!!) was calling out with their wicked good Kumara chips and garlicy dips. We (OK, I )impatiently waited at the bar and as I sipped my L&P soda (Lemon and Paeroa) I savored the uncommonly lemon-y sweetness of the cold liquid. I was feeling rather exotic in my 2nd Honeymoon destination, I was.
Feeling quite peckish, we ordered a Falafel Burger also which has within its somewhat over-sized sesame seeded buns (lightly grilled, of course!) tomato relish which immediately, somewhat unexpectedly transported me back to my grandmother’s kitchen where we frequently would have lunch and on our vege-burger choplets we would put an exact duplicate of the flavour washing over my palate at Torpedo-burgers!! I quickly looked to be sure my Grandma wasn’t behind the counter somewhere. But alas she has passed away about 30 years prior. Strange how an experience like that is embedded deep within one’s grey matter (the limbic system I believe) and can re-appear after more than 30 years instantaneously. It occurred to me at the moment I was half way finished with my burger (‘Tor and I shared a burger so we could EACH have our own order of Kumara chips!!) that I was experiencing what was surely the happiest moment of my life.




21 Sept. 2004
Paihia, NZ (Northland)
I awoke to my beautiful wife Victoria at 5:45am. The room had become less dark and shapes could be made out. As strange as it sounds, our love grows daily. We are each finding marriage quite a unique adventure that holds happiness previously unforeseen. Small pleasures like Voegel’s toast (a New Zealand favorite and best-seller), crispy little bits of kumara chips (a cousin of the sweet potato) and brownies with extra chocolate chips. Scalp, foot and hand massages early in the morning and late, late at night send soothing pulsations rippling through the receiver and the administerer.
We opened our door to the morning and found early shades of pink coming over distant peaks and the Pacific Ocean lapping at the shore. A very stunning sight as the warmth of the streaks of sunlight slowly burst upon us.

22 Sept. 04
Paihia, NZ (Northland)
Yesterday was a blissful day started off by a breakfast of Austrian pancakes with jams and Mueslix and yogurt all happily made by the proprietor of our Bed and Breakfast, "The Totoras". Toast was also made from an improptu wedding present of a loaf of 15 grain bread from an extremely jovial bread man from "Pandoro Bread" (a similar establishment as Panera Bread in the US). New Zealand can be such a happy place. So many of the people have such happy dispositions. Including a farmer-man we met along our journey to Cape Reinga. We were merely stopping to take a picture of a high peak that was across the road from his farm (and may have been part of HIS farm) and pulled off the road as he was coming to his gate with his children on an ATV. He came up to the car and we had a nice conversation at the end of which he invited us in for TEA!! While we were too fixated on our "schedule" to accept it was a very gracious gesture and apparently not an uncommon experience in rural New Zealand.
Many, many pictures were taken along the way, perhaps to the chagrin of my travelling companion and wife, Victoria. However, I brought her attention to the fact that she clearly takes for granted her most glorious surroundings. And she will be pleased to find reminders of her homeland on her screen-saver in several months time.
Visitations of the Treaty of Waitangi signing site were made. Very interesting stories from the early 1800’s were taken in.
Fish and chips were calling to us in the early afternoon. We stopped and placed our order and requested “well-done” to which a startled Asian man said, “oh, you want them burned!!”. Ummm, no. We want them crispy and YUMMY! Unsure of what would be delivered, we waited impatiently. Much to our amazement, our fears subsided as a crispy brown bunch of well-done kumara chips were quickly tossed onto…..NEWSPAPER!! This was sure to herald a lovely batch. My travelling companion had previously informed me that only the best fish and chips are parcelled in newspaper bits.

The Meeting place at Waitangi is a historic landmark in New Zealand history in that a Treaty was signed in 1840 by the Mäori Tribal leaders and Governor Hobson representing the Queen in England. While this remains a somewhat controversial document for a variety of reasons, it is this document which helped to forge New Zealand into the country that remains today. A flagpole juts into the sky marking the spot where the treaty was signed and the original house where the original governor by the name of James Busby lived has been rehabilitated and stands for visitors and native New Zealanders to learn about and remember their collective history. The story is told with somewhat of a Mäori voice which is interesting and reminds one of the Native North American story.
Following our perusal of this landmark place we continued on our way North to Cape Reinga where the Tasman Sea (lying between Australia and New Zealand) and the Pacific Ocean (lying to the east of New Zealand) come together to meet into a swirling mass of water. By approximately 5pm we had achieved the lookout of the most northern reaches of New Zealand which are quite a sight indeed. Rocky crags and sandy beaches with billowing clouds of alternating grey darkness and bright whiteness. Sunlight at times would stream through brightly lighting the churning dark blue and green ocean waters. The lighthouse stands as a beacon of safety for any wayward boat unlucky enough to come near this land-mass. I was disappointed that I did not have a post card to send as a New Zealand post office box stands watch over the car park. I imagine that the novelty of a postmark of Cape Reinga would have been lost on any non-Kiwi folk. My companion/wife Victoria was shaken with fits of laughter as I attempted to narrate my video of the Cape. Thinking that my tone of seriousness a bit much for my amateur videographer status.

We sat on the ground and watched the sun for a while as it sank slowly to the far-away horizon. When we had had enough, we walked back to the car and began to drive back to our starting off point in Paihia. Extra care was observed as the first 20Km is a rather narrow loose gravel road which my travelling companion had managed to have the rather unsettling experience of rolling a car approximately 6x down the banks (this occured approximately 10 years ago). Luckily she and her passenger escaped relatively unscathed and a nearby car had seen her plunge over the edge of the road and called a tow-truck. The next day, some very plucky blokes took some Kiwi ingenuity to the damaged body panels of the car and with carefully placed pry-bars, rearranged the twisted metal back to a driveable condition.

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We are now on-line!

This is Jamie and Victoria and we have made it on-line (following Rebecca's example (see http://popsies.blogspot.com )!! Hopefully we can manage to keep things updated as time goes by and so family and friends can have a window on our world here in Berkley, Michigan.

Engagement Dinner Friday 23rd January 2004 - one of our favourite photos! 

Engagement Sunset 23rd January 2004 

January 22nd 2004 After the Formal Dinner on the cruise. Who was to know what was going to happen within the next hour???? 

January 22nd 2004 "The Perfect Day" St Lucia in the Caribbean.... 

Nelson NZ, October 27th 2003. Things were starting to happen....! (with Liz keeping a close eye on us from the side). 

Our first date. Hammerheads Restaurant, Auckland New Zealand October 18th 2003