Home
Guestbook

Wow, this place is cold. Upon arrival, we had every season: sun, sleet, hail, snow, and blustery winds within a four hour period. We knew right away that an umbrella was a necessity, along with many layers of clothing. Coming from summer into winter here was a little bit of a shock. As we have learned--and been told--be prepared for every season, every day. 

Our home, Dunedin, is located in the deep South of New Zealand. It is truly a cosmopolitan city; bustling with students (20% of the pop.) of every ethnicity, businesses, small cafes, and restaurants. People are amazingly friendly and are willing to help you with any question you may have. They are so nice it's almost terrifying. Sometimes we just want to shout back at them to elicit some kind of nasty remark. Anyways, they are very kind and we have yet to meet a nasty kiwi. 

We can talk all day long about what we've experienced--and will--but it's late, so here are some quick observations:

• Driving isn't as bad as it first looks. Two heads are better than one. (One to keep the other sane, and the other to look out for pedestrians.) A good map is imperative to have when first arriving in any city. In the case of Dunedin, after a few days, you'll find it conveniently easy to navigate the streets. It may be white-knuckle the first couple hours; but after that you'll find driving on the wrong side of the road quite fun. Just watch out for the sheep. 
• You won't believe this, but the Post Office does everything for you. They even have a magazine section. From registering your car, to paying parking tickets (We've already been hit with one), to paying your bills, they've got it covered. Why hasn't the US thought of this?
• There is no damn DMV here!!! Yeah! The car dealers do it all for you! Plus insurance is dirt cheap or not very dear, as they say here. ($200 US for the entire year!)
• The funny thing about housing is that it's pretty bad around Dunedin. (This is probably because of the students. Although some of the places here would put the frat houses at SUNY Geneseo to shame in terms of nastiness!) The best way to attack the housing market is to get the paper early and be aggressive. Call at 7:30AM and get your appointment as early as possible. We'll talk more about this later....
• Buying a car is so easy. 
• They've never heard of Jalapenos here. I want to cry.
• Food can be either very cheap or very expensive depending on season and variety. It's amazing what you take for granted back home. For example. Parmesan Cheese can cost you $6.50 for a small container, where Avocados can cost you less than $.75 each. (Compared to $2.00 US back home each). Tomatoes are also very expensive ($9.00 for five).
• Did I mention it's cold?
• Ahh, the comforts of home. We get Burger King, McDonalds, KFC, and Pizza Hut here. On TV, we get Friends, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Boston Public, CSI, and ER. We also get a host of British and Australian shows.
• New Zealand is extremely wired. Every bank has online Bill Pay and almost every shop has debit card access. Digital cable, high-speed Internet and satellite TV rule the high-tech sector.  Checks are virtually non-existent.  Everyone (young and old) pays their bills on-line or via tele-banking. (which we have not quite figured out yet.)
• New Zealand is truly God's country. (Check out the photos for proof)  Our home is two minutes from a breath-taking walk on a jagged , rocky coast line over looking the South Pacific Ocean.  Within twenty minutes drive you can find yourself exploring a Scottish Castle, viewing hills, mountains, valleys and harbors so magnificent that you think you are looking at a movie or make-believe backdrop.
• American football is called GridIron here-and nobody cares about it.  Go Bills!!!!
• Rugby is absolutely worshiped and rightfully so.  In the small snippets that we have watched, it is a very fast moving and exciting game.  Our first live viewing is this Saturday at the stadium in Dunedin.
• 9/11 was not just felt in the States.  Every person whom we spoke to and then subsequently who realized that we were American-was full of concern and compassion for what our country has gone thru and continues to battle.  Maybe our world is smaller than we thought.  It was truly touching.
• Movies are about one month behind. Austin Powers III comes out this week.

For all those considering making the move here, we will put together more explicit details regarding immigration, the move and settling in on another page on this site.  Thanks for reading.