‘Tis the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse………unless you can class the sound of our tummies creaking with maximum capacity being pushed to new levels.

Christmas this year will be another adventure. Despite a few lovely invitations to join new friends for Christmas revelry, we had previously elected to have a picnic, a decadent picnic may I add. It is planned for the Hamilton Gardens which we have become so fond of. We are hoping that not too many other people choose to do the same so we will be able to pick our spot – possibly in the walled Italian Renaissance Garden? Or the fragrant herb garden with its lavenders and mints? Perhaps even the 16th century Indian Garden with is stunning colours and unpretentious water fountains? Or maybe all of them even, who knows. With an esky in hand, have food – will travel! As we eat, we will be sure to reminisce about our family and friends and trust that they are doing the same of us.

Everyone here has been so welcoming and outgoing. For the few months prior to arrival, we were made to feel very wanted with offers of accommodation, advice and encouragement. Upon arrival, this has continued and I am confident will stay the case. Our earliest few days were overwhelming with welcomes and smiles all round. Everyone seemed genuinely pleased to have us come in to their small and familiar work environment. I sense that I am at a point now where I am relaxing and joining in on jokes and conversations, not as a stranger trying to fit in, but a recent addition to the team.

I wish everyone a sensational time over the next few days and that the laughter and food continues in abundance. Contemplating the memories of you all will be the best Christmas gift I receive this year. Thankyou, for all of them.

Live as you will have wished to have lived when you are dying.

I still feel like we are on a holiday. Not a bad thing really, but I hope it isn’t a sign that there will be some sort of collapse later on when reality sets in? What do you think? Here's the situation. We are lodging in a small, but modern and clean self contained unit. From our windows we are looking out across countryside of grasses and flowers quietly dancing about in the breeze. In the distance there are some low ranges and ancient volcanic peaks, often with their summits concealed in the clouds. During the day I adorn a nice green uniform (my favourite colour) and spend the day working (playing) with chimps, red panda or the likes. Can you see where this is going? Sure, its not all honeysuckle and kiwi fruit though. There are the quandaries of what walks to attempt on our days off, where shall we go out for dinner tonight and what novel should I read in the evening as I drift off to the resonance of rain on the roof.

It has been over 4 weeks since arriving on New Zealand soil, and it has gone exceedingly quickly yet very slowly at the same time. That makes as much sense as it does to say we are 'working' over here! We visited Auckland for a few days last week, which was enjoyable. While it is a lovely orderly city, it is still a city and almost an exact smaller adaptation of Sydney with its sky tower, bridge, and quay and so on. These places were even laid out in the identical locations as the bigger versions in Sydney. Very strange indeed and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone who was involved in the planning of Sydney, then moved over here and planned Auckland!

A few quick observations about New Zealand – please forgive me if I offend. First impressions are vast still all very, very good indeed. Due to high taxes, there is an mind-bogglingly first-rate road system. No good-ol Aussie potholes around here. The towns and cities have enough overpasses and underpasses and every other sort of pass to get traffic through, even the tiniest of towns. Combined with this, the NZ government has a agreement with the Japanese Government to import huge quantities of their used vehicles. The results are car yards brimming with late model cars such as Mercedes and BMW not to mention every Japanese manufacturer that exists. There are no deafening, smelly, ozone-depleting gas guzzlers here. There are full roadworthy checks every 6 months which each vehicle must undertake; otherwise it’s off the road for them. Everything looks new and clean and very respectable. A bit too respectable actually because it is really conspicuous how uniform all the traffic l appears. Mildly strange. It is amusing to see a young ‘P’ plater pull up at the stop lights with ‘thud-thump-thud’ music blaring, baseball cap on sideways and all the body art and facial attitude of a tough guy. Due to the strict car condition rules though, he is sitting high in a Camry or a bluebird with none of the trimmings of the ‘tough’ car image, not even dice hanging of the revision mirror or fancy hub caps.

So, having all this mighty infrastructure and modern cars, you’d think they would be fine drivers, yeah? Well, I can now understand why NZ pumped out all of those ‘Highway patrol’ reality TV series, and ‘Crash Scene Investigation’ etc. There are masses of people who appear to be willing participants in such shows, willingly or otherwise. No one seems to be familiar with the speed limit, or indeed any other cars on the road! It’s sink or swim when you come to an intersection. Unless there are traffic lights involved, don’t try to follow the road rules or expect much courtesy – you’ll be tooted at from all directions otherwise. The only other country that I can comfortably say has worse drivers is…….Jamaica! At least here they drive on their own side of the road, don’t use the footpath as an overtaking lane or grassed verges as express lanes.

So, as I pull in to the driveway in my mind I will sign off for this week. There is nothing else to report except to once again say that I am living the dream and can’t wait for the next intersection. I toot just for the hell of it – makes me feel like a local.

When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. (Helen Keller)

Freedom...

Upon reading back over earlier posts for this blog, it easy to see how much this adventure has been consuming my mind and spirit for the past few months. In some ways, the moment we stepped on to the plane everything began to happen swiftly and a little bit out of control. Only now have I begun to feel the process slow down as it is now I am feeling comfortable with the unrestrained speed of this experience. I am living what I have been preparing for and enjoying the freedom - freedom from work problems, freedom from jobs around the house, freedom from bills, Indian call centres, dust, flies and freedom from being slowed down by who I am, what I do and where I go. It's just me, the bare elements on which all these other things have accumulated and weighed me down. The single thing I do not want to be without is Phil. He has inspired this adventure in me, renewed that old desire for travel which dragged me around the globe in times past and he is the catalyst for many positive changes, past, present and future. There would be none of this freedom at all, if it weren't for him. My Phil.

Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have. (Anonymous)

I’m not quite sure what I was really expecting with my arrival in New Zealand. I was a little too idealistic in my attitude of leaving many old thoughts and concerns behind as I left Australian soil for the green grass on the other side of the fence, known formally as New Zealand. Without realising it, I think I was hoping for an easy transition where everything would go perfectly and my life would be full of adventure and fun. Now that I have landed here, physically and psychologically, I have realised that no matter where you are, life consists of the same elements for everyone. The daily struggle of relationships- both old and new, of work – the eternal time consumer for life itself, and finally of leisure – the things that make it all worthwhile. I am learning now though, that while these elements and their issues will always remain, it is how I respond to them that will be important from now on. Relationships. Leaving everyone we know in one country and moving to another means that everyone we meet will be a new face, and maybe even a new relationship to develop. This takes time and effort and there will be no other way around, just time passing by and letting bonds by showing respect and interest in those around me. Then there is Phil, my comrade in arms on this adventure. Facing all of these challenges and changes alone could be daunting, but even more so with someone else. Once again, extra effort will be needed to increase my levels of consideration and patience with the one person I know can make this adventure even better than it already is. Work has so far been great, and I am looking forward to learning and growing through my new role and responsibilities here. Previous inconveniences have occurred when I inadvertently become involved in the politics of the work environment and this will be avoided by not being judgemental and remaining conservative in expressing my opinions. Leisure. This is what will secure it all together and there will be no stopping me. While the first two elements of relationships and work will be fraught with limitations, boundaries and the associated challenges, leisure will be the wild horse running free to balance the whole equation out. Bush walks, cycling, gym workouts, flying, driving, swimming, skiing and then some more bush walks from the tip of the North Island to the tip of the South Island, not forgetting the offshore islands as far away as Fiji, Samoa and maybe even Tahiti! Yep, no matter what, leisure is going to be the element which drives this vessel.

So, enough of the deep thoughts and contemplative comments and what is really going on? While I am being a little more realistic about the unfolding of his adventure it is still a great one to be on. We are living in a little unit on a farm about 15 minutes from the centre of Hamilton which is surrounded by green fields and cows, with fantastic views of the surrounding ranges. The zoo is about 10 minutes drive from our house and a lovely drive at that, through the countryside on roads lined with hedges and flowers and more green fields. Have I mentioned how green it is over here? I am working with the Chimps to begin with, primarily because two chimps from Adelaide Zoo that I worked with arrived here at Hamilton Zoo the same week. It was all a coincidence really, but it is working out well for them to have a familiar face in this new environment, and vice versa! The round also has Red Panda and Agouti (big rodent like critters from South America), so a nice variety. The zoo itself is quite big because the animal exhibits are enormous compared to most other zoos. Everyone is friendly and helpful and seem genuinely very welcoming. As you may have guessed from the opening paragraph, while I have no hesitation in meeting new people and making friends, it is almost surreal to be having to do this with so many people at once with no respite in familiarity. Hamilton is a small city (170000 people) in the centre of a productive rural floodplain. The fast flowing Waikato River flows through the centre and the area is fringed by low ranges with the west coast being about half an hour from town. The high volcanic peaks of Ruahepu and Taranaki are only a few hours drive away, Auckland is about an hour north of here and there is an airport that has flights to anywhere else we may with to spontaneously visit. With this picture in your head, I will sign off to contemplate once more life’s elements and the joys that they bring.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. (Theodore Roosevelt)

The eagle has landed.

Or is it the fat lady sings? Either way we have arrived in beautiful New Zealand with its green, lush grass, thick forests, mad drivers and unfriendly real estate agents. The enormity of what we are doing hit home on Saturday as we left the farm heading to Adelaide Airport. We looked behind us at the empty shell of our property, no signs of the so familiar activities of peacocks, turkeys, goats etc, not even the dogs were there to watch us drive away, wondering what time we will be back this time. It was very sad. The positive side of me kept repeating that we weren't losing the farm, not even leaving it forever, just going off on this unchartered adventure we had been planning for so many months. I still felt incredibly sad.

But here we are, in a land full of opportunities of work, travel and adventure and I am not about to let any negative feelings last long enough to inflict casualty upon this experience. Our temporary accommodation is nice, out of town on a property with lovely 'landlords', our hire car is a tiny red toy box on wheels, but it serves its purpose and our spirits are high. Our quest for more permanent accommodation and an a more manly car will begin once I get off this website and start searching. We stopped in to Hamilton Zoo yesterday to let them know their new staff had arrived safe, and were impressed by the minute glimpse we got of staff and grounds alike. We will return there tomorrow for a longer period of exploration and probably again on Thursday (night) with the arrival of two Chimpanzees from Adelaide Zoo.

Until I get more convenient access to the internet, my updates may be staggered and strange, full of spelling mistakes and lacking photos. It will happen.........