And now comes the task of settling in! We are so grateful to be in our own space after being homeless for a month. We are in a furnished rental and really quite pleased with it - the decor is ancient but certainly has "character". It is clean and functional and we like the area. We can walk to a number of trendy shops, coffee bars, kindergarten, train station, groceries, etc etc. I will post pictures of our home tomorrow!

We are slowly sorting out where to shop and how to speak kiwi (trolley=grocery cart, pram=stroller, lift=elevator, garden=backyard, with "good as gold" and "sweet as" peppered throughout each sentence). People are certainly more laid back and extremely friendly and helpful.

The kindergarten is quite different here - completely unstructured and described as "holistic". Basically they believe the children should be free to choose how they spend their time and should not be sitting at this age. The activities are very artsy and creative and they are trying to instil out of the box thinking already - who needs to pay 12K a year for Waldorf when I have it in my backyard!! Grayson's first day is tomorrow and I will post pics as well :)

Kyle has had a few meetings and one interview so far (for a different city - arg, but such is life) - slowly but surely :)

Kyle has had his first cricket game as well thanks to cousin sven, and we have enjoyed a few parks and museum. The wind is something else here - a nice 22C is not so nice in 130km gusts. Still getting used to this 'living on a skinny island in the middle of the ocean' thing...

We made it back to Wellington! After traveling non-stop for 3 weeks (plane, plane, bus, plane, train, bus, ferry, sailboat, bus, ferry train) we may just stay put for a few...? We had a wonderful holiday in the South Island with Nana and Papa. Sailing up and down Abel Tasman National Park was an awesome experience. The kids had some ups and downs being cooped up in a small space at times but generally speaking, they passed as world travellers with flying colours!

We enjoyed most days at various beaches, enjoyed a few hikes, and kayaking. We are sorting out all of the new birds here and also enjoyed seals playing in the water nearby one morning. We caught the tail of a cyclone and had to take refuge with a number of other boats one night. We had a rude awakening at 4:30am when the boat was about to hit another as the anchor was dragging - damage (aside to to that of Papa's heart) was spared at the last minute. The winds were quite something and I need to get used to the phenomenon 'gale force winds' - apparently these are quite common in New Zealand. Awesome.

The sail back was amazing and we hit 24knots at one point - again a bit of damage to Papa's heart. We were accompanied by a pod of dolphins part of the way (and penguins behind those!) which was magical - I only had 2 shots left on my memory card - talk about disappointing!!! The last few days spent in Nelson were around town and a day out at the wineries and olive groves.

Best Fish and Chips in the World!!! My Jeans don't fit anymore - so much for stocking up in Canada!

Grayson is obsessed with the Haka - my little warrior wanna be.

Lovely friends from another boat

Cricket is the new Baseball

Our only rainy day, calm before the storm.

1 of 2 pictures of these beauties. 

New Zealand Wine Lover

Tourists from the UK

Sailing video to come!

Floating along in the Abel Tasman bay - a little worse for wear with a sunburn but such is life down under. We made it to the boat, the kids are such great little travelers! Nelson is a fantastic little city, amazing climate and lovely feel. We sailed to Abel Tasman National Park yesterday, 100kms of long sandy beach up the coast - framed by steep green hills - not too shabby! Kids are doing well on the boat and we will dinghy in to the beach each day for a play. Kyle and Ken caught a few small fish yesterday but I suspect they will be aiming for the big one this week - along with scalloping and collecting mussels - I anticipate a seafood feast later this week. We will lose our satellite connection today so I will post pictures upon our return - sending warm winter wishes to all :)

We are heading off tomorrow for a vacation (from our vacation) so I thought I should post some of our initial pictures before we go! We are off to meet Mom and Ken on their sailboat on the South Island. Just in case we got too comfortable from all of our travelling, we have challenged ourselves to a train ride, 3 hr ferry ride and 2 hour bus ride tomorrow - sweet. Oh, and did I mention 10 days on a sailboat with a 2.5 and 4 year old?

It has been a frustrating few days of racing around the city trying to get an idea of where we want to live. We have decided to take a short term rental in a funky neighbourhood...for my friends across Canada; much like Kensington, Commercial Drive meets Kitsilano, the Glebe etc...The house is very old and FULL of antique furniture. It is similar to our place in Old Ottawa South in that it will take a month to clean and air out - but it will work for now!! Not to mention, I don't think this house has any resident rodents...we are discouraged at how old and tired the homes are for the price we have to pay - eeeck.

We all adjusted very quickly to both the time change and summer. NZ is unlike Australia in that it isn't as hot as you might expect - it has been blustery and 19-21C the last few days - not like I am complaining!!
Just a few pictures below of the last few days getting to Wellington and in and around.