Mom's Diary Notes

Mountain lupines are lush along the roadside up to Aurthur's Pass - they are considered non-native and invasive by the ecologists here in NZ. Can you imagine not loving these flowers? (The park rangers also put out poison for the deer and possums which are also non-native and disturb the native flora and fauna. One ranger told us if we saw a stoat, a small weasel-like animal, to shoot it! I don't know about these New Zealanders.)



I made Blaine pose like he was preparing to leap the falls. He is such a good son-in-law!


This was a cave adventure that Kate and I thought would be a nightmare. There is a torrent of water through this cave that you can traverse - wading through waist-deep, snow-melt water. It takes about an hour to make it through and you need 2 "torches" (flashlights) with extra batteries. There are slippery ladders to climb and chains to cling to along the way. Sound like fun? Come to see Kate and Blaine, and Blaine will go with you!

Mom finally made it!!! We have kept her very busy since the moment she stepped off the plane. The first day she didn't have time to be jet-lagged...we toured the Botanical Gardens, kayaked the Avon River and cooked a fresh salmon dinner. Today we biked/walked downtown, had a coffee on New Regents Street and drove around the Port Hills. We ended the day with thai food at our local restaurant with Petra and Tim, delicious. Tomorrow if the weather permits, we are hiking in Arthur's Pass! We'll keep you updated!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!!

We wanted to wish everyone at home a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We will both be missing our first Christmas in 25 years to not be at home with family and friends. But God has blessed us with many wonderful friends to be with, and we are very grateful. We have reservations to eat with a few of our couple friends from South Africa, Germany, and New Zealand for Christmas Eve, followed by carols on the Avon River and midnight mass at the Cathedral. Christmas afternoon we will be grilling out with our neighbors from England and Australia. Boxing Day, which is the day after Christmas, is a public holiday...Blaine will have the day off and I will work from 7-5. Then Mom will arrive on the 28th!!
We will be thinking of each family member and friend over the holidays and missing you but the good new is...WE WILL BE HOME NEXT YEAR FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

Matthew 1:21 "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

Love, Blaine and Kate

Christmas Festivities

BT's professional golf swing

CCU Christmas Brunch in Riccarton

Cardiology Christmas Dinner at Alchemy Art Museum

Christmas activities in the Southern Hemisphere are a little different...we have been attending BBQs (if you call them a cookout no one knows what you are talking about), playing golf, getting out our summer clothes, etc. However, we have put up a Christmas tree, stockings, and lights in the apartment to get in the spirit. This past weekend we had Blaine's company Christmas party on Friday night at the Carlton restaurant. It was a lot of fun...it was the end of Blaine's third week at work so we were definitely the new kids on the block. Blaine is by far the youngest person that works in an office of around 60 people but not the only American! There is one other bloke ("guy" in NZ english) from Michigan. The food was good and they had a band. Saturday night we had my cardiology dinner...it was good for Blaine to meet more of the nurses and doctors and techs that I work with on a daily basis. Graeme is the only guy nurse I work with and he and Blaine have met before and get along well. I had the best salmon I have ever eaten and we played a quiz bowl. One of the questions was "what is the official language of the USA?". The answer was "there is no official language". I don't believe that but I haven't researched it yet. Hope everyone is having fun shopping, decorating and partying to prepare for the holidays. Don't forget the "reason for the season" in everything you do!

Shrek

I know you've all been wondering what happens to a sheep when you forget to shear him for 6 years...

I indroduce you to Shrek, the New Zealand sheep who avoided the general roundup in the hills by hiding in a cave....for 6 years. He was a merino sheep and the wool was enough to make 6 men's suits. If you want to read a little more, here is the link - news.bbc.co.uk/1/world/asia-pacific/3665735.stm

GIVING THANKS--NEW ZEALAND STYLE

ROASTING "FRANK"

THE WISHBONE BATTLE

THE FEASTING TABLE

CHRISTMAS IN THE PARK CONCERT with Petra and Tim

Yea, us! We actually pulled it off! Starting at 9 a.m. cooking, a short 10 hours later we had a real Thanksgiving meal. In attendence was: Jonny, Megs and Sam, and two girls from work Petra and Marion (Germany/S. Africa). The menu consisted of: Turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, bread, corn casserole, sweet tea and German apple strudel with ice cream.

We put up our Christmas lights in the den, had a centerpiece of lilies, and tea lights everywhere (thanks to Megs!). It was a lovely night. Blaine and I were pretty overwhelmed with everything, seeing that usually we are asked to bring a salad or bag of ice to contribute to the family Thanksgiving meal at home. Now it was all in our hands. It was worth it though. Everyone was jealous that they are not from America, where we get to have Thanksgiving every year. We even carried on the tradition of going around the table for everyone to say what they are thankful for. We had mostly trivial answers like "I am thankful for golf" or generic answers like "I am thankful for friends and family". Maybe next year we should give everyone a few days to compose their answer.

Hope everyone had a nice time with their family and friends at home. To our family: WE MISSED YOU!

Happy TURKEY DAY!

We wanted to say hope everyone enjoys Thanksgiving in America! We are so very sad to not be sitting at our families' tables for the holiday. We are going to try and replicate an American Thanksgiving dinner this weekend for some of our friends here. So many people here have asked us "what really is Thanksgiving, what do you do for it?". Funny. We said "well, everyone gets together with their family and stuffs themselves with turkey and sweet potatoe casserole (followed by the question: what is a casserole?) and then we take a nap and then we throw the football in the front yard or the boys go hunting". I have never had to explain Thanksgiving but it sort of is a strange holiday.

This picture is a beautiful example of a turkey sent to me by my friend Barry, who lives in Jacksonville, Florida.

Blaine's First Day at Work

I have now felt the feelings that a mother has when her child starts school for the first time. I took Blaine into work for his first day (actually a selfish motive so that I could have the car on my day off) and took pictures of him the whole way. He even bought new clothes, just like we used to do for school. One funny thing about New Zealand that we have discovered is that not many people wear khaki pants...most wear black slacks (they would call them trousers). So Blaine had to get in "style". On a more serious note, I really think Blaine is going to like his new job. He is actually catching a taxi to go pick up his rental car in the morning for his first overnight trip to the West Coast. He is getting a Blackberry (works as a computer, phone, PDA) and a few other "perks". He even has an office with a window!

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. Suprising news, I know, but NZ doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving! But we are going to celebrate Sunday night with some friends...turkey, dressing, sweet potatoe casserole, sweet tea, etc. We'll tell you how it goes.

Show Day

It was a great Show Day at the Raceway in Addington. We were worried about the weather (even though it hasn't rained on Show Day in over 30 years) but it turned out to be sunny and warm. The day began at Meg and Sam's apartment for a brunch of waffles, bacon and fruit. We took the short walk (20 minutes or so) to the Raceway and luckily found a table on the front lawn with a good view of the race track. The girls had a good time people-watching and admiring the fancy dresses and outrageous hats with feather plumes, etc. The sport has British origins, so the races were "trotting" races where the horses legs are harnessed together so that they cannot gallop. Our driver in the taxi on the way home was a fisherman from Manchester, England and he gave us some good tips on fishing the rivers around Christchurch. I guess now we have a new adventure awaiting us.

Outdoor Pics




I have been trying to work on my photography skills and thought I would "display" a few.
We had a good weekend. Saturday we attended our first New Zealand BBQ at Emilie and Ben's house (Emilie is the French girl I work with at the hospital and her husband is a physician at the hospital). Also attending were Petra(Germany) and Tim, Marion(S.Africa) and Justin...two of the other nurses I work with and their Kiwi spouses. It was different to hear Emilie speak French to her 4 and 3 year old children and to hear them speak back in French and then to us in English. We had some interesting
conversations and even dared to discuss politics. I will say that we were the only ones who said anything positive concerning President Bush. We kept thinking we were over staying our welcome but ended up being invited to stay for over 7 hours!

Sunday morning we took our books to the Botanical Gardens. Church was at 1 p.m. then the boys went golfing. I decided to tackle the Port Hills on my mtn bike and found a dirt trail back down to the bottom (this is where the rays through the clouds picture was taken). After all of our physical activity we decided to ruin the healthy lifestyle and gorged ourselves on Dominos pizza.

Tomorrow we all have off work to go to the horse races, Show Day. So we will have an update and some pictures in a few days!

Slight Change in Plans

Okay folks...here is the latest news. I recently interviewed for a job with Holcim cement, here in Christchurch, for a position as an Alternative Fuels and Raw Materials Coordinator. They are a great international company with operations all over the world including the US. They narrowed the search down to two people after the second round of interviews and then presented me with a decision to make. In the meeting, Holcim discussed the issue of longevity with the company and asked me to make a decision based on if we could commit to 3-5 years in New Zealand. After much thought and prayer I told Holcim that I would only be able to commit to 2 years based on the short time that we have lived in Christchurch. Well...apparently that answer was acceptable and they offered me the job. So, I guess that means that our plans have changed a little and we will be in NZ for at least 2 more years.

What does this mean...more time for everyone to come and visit!

We are planning a trip home next Christmas, so we will be able to see most of our friends and family. *Sarcasm* I know that there are a lot of teary eyes hearing this news, since we are such amazing people and people can't help but miss us terribly. For all of you, we will be back...you don't have to go into a deep depression; we give you permission to go about your lives as normally as you can without us. *End of Sarcasm* We will keep in touch.

Mt. Cook Weekend Hike







Make sure your speakers are not turned all the way up!!


After a long week at work, Blaine and I were eager to get out of town for the weekend. Friday afternoon we packed our tent and sleeping bags and took off! 3 hours later we arrived at Lake Tekapo, after driving through rolling green pastures with grazing sheep. We set up our tent under the starry sky. Sometime in the middle of the night the wind began to roar, and this continued throughout the rest of our trip. We stopped for breakfast at Doughboy Cafe for coffee and muffins, while we watched a few rally car drivers finish up a leg of the race. We drove an hour more past a stunning turquoise lake and towards the snow-capped mountains. The road actually dead-ends into Mt. Cook National Park. We gathered lunch items (sardines and tuna with crackers), filtered some water for the hike and headed off for the Hooker Valley trail. Facing into the 60-100 km/h wind that blew through the valley was quite a challenge. We crossed 2 swinging bridges, passed Mueller Lake, met a lot of American hikers, saw an avalanche (which BT spotted high up on the moutainside) and finally made it to Hooker Lake. We had to sit behind a large boulder to eat our lunch just to be able to hear each other speak. It was amazing to see the rain clouds spill over the mountains at the end of the valley, but luckily we were able to make it close to the end of the trail back to the car before it started to rain heavily. We decided with the bad weather on the way we would head back to Christchurch so that we would have all of Sunday to relax and go to church.

Side note: My mom got a plane ticket to come see us the day after Christmas and stay through the New Year! I am soooo excited. Our first visitor!

Why would a Texan live in Antarctica?

Guess who my patient was today in the CCU? A Texan that works for NASA and lives at McMurdo station in Antarctica! He developed a heart attack and the medical team flew him 6 hours up to Christchurch in a C17 to our unit. Crazy, I come all this way and get to talk Southernese to a cowboy from Texas. I am not sure how much comfort he took in me as his nurse because he was in a lot of pain and was very scared of what all was happening to him. He actually will not be allowed to return to Antarctica because you have to be in optimal health and his right coronary artery was completely occluded and he will probably require surgery. After his angiogram, he was beginning to warm up to me a little. It was nice to hear someone's weight in lbs. and their height in inches instead of the stupid metric system. It was interesting to hear him describe life on the ice...when he left there it was -25 degrees Farhenheit and it is daylight 24 hours a day since it is summer in the southern hemisphere. He is only 42 years old but has smoked his entire life; amazing how many patients we get that smoke and develop heart attacks. I spoke with his mother and sister from Texas and they were country! They were so glad to know that an American was taking care of him!

Anyway, I have just worked 8 days in a row with one day off in between. So Blaine and I are planning on going out of town this weekend into the wilderness to do some camping/hiking! More updates soon!

Trans-gender nurse imposter in NZ?

Y'all are really going to laugh when I tell you this story! I was minding my own business at work the other day when a (woman) came into the CCU and introduced herself as a clinical nurse specialist and asked to see our nurse educator. We had a short chat about me being new to the country and how I was liking it. (She) was very friendly and seemed like she was comfortable/confident and had been working at the hospital for years. I told her our educator was sick and that I would leave her a message...long story short this (lady) was walking around the hospital pretending to be a nurse, looking at patients' charts, checking patients' ID bracelets, and taking care of business. Then she decided to steal a car. Funny I met her and thought we would be friends. Here is the news clip:

http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,11964-6470464-300,00.html

And they say nothing exciting ever happens in Christchurch, New Zealand...they were so wrong!

Mountain biking to Godley Head

"This can't be the trail...no one could ride a bike up THIS!"--Sammy
"If this is a moderate level trail, I would hate to see a HARD trail."--Megs
"I think we might get hypothermia."--Kate

O.K., everyone can blame me. It was my idea to go on the Godley Head bike trail. I read that it is on the top 10 mountainbiking trails in New Zealand and I should have probably researched it a little more to see if it was within our abilities (and our bikes' abilities). But it truly was an adventure, with some breathtaking views. The crew drove up to Evan's Pass on Sunday afternoon and set off on our bikes. The ominous looking clouds beginning to roll over the mountains were probably a premonition of what was to come. The beginning of the trail was literally straight up and rocky...honestly I would really like to see someone try to ride their bike up that incline. We walked our bikes up and then the next phase included trails with deep troughs, boardwalks with sharp peaks built-in, sheep obstructing the trail around a blind curve, etc. All in all, Sam and Megs both wrecked their bikes but escaped with only minor injuries. Megs bike was broken beyond repair and Sam's bike would only shift between 3 gears. But luckily when Megs bike broke we had made it to the end of the trail (where we took shelter in the bathroom) and the boys rode back on the paved road to get the car (uphill almost the whole way with the gusty wind in their face).

One thing we have learned about New Zealand weather is that it changes very quickly and being an island, the wind blows A LOT. When we started it was warm and sunny; when we ended it was windy, cloudy, and cold. Upon arriving back home, we all rewarded ourselves with Dominoes pizza and watched a movie to "thaw" ourselves out. Even though it was arduous and life-threatening, we felt a great sense of accomplishment on completing the Godley Head mountain biking trail.

Quail Island Trip (without the quail)

Lyttelton Port


The ship graveyard on Quail Island


Swinging at the beach on Quail Island



Saturday morning Blaine and I decided to have a "date" and venture out to Lyttleton, a town on the other side of the Port Hills. I had heard of a market that is held on the school grounds on Saturday mornings, so we decided to check it out. They had live music, a coffee shop set up, and stands of fresh fruit/veges, homemade honey, organic cheeses, and even a man from CA selling Louisiana bbq sauce (his families' recipie). There are a lot of hippies that live in New Zealand and everyone is into organic foods, herbal remedies, etc.
We then booked a ferry ride out to Quail Island that is just 15 minutes from Lyttleton. There is a hike around the island and a few beaches. The island has been used for multiple purposes...a leper colony, agriculture, storing of animals to be taken and used in Antarctica. It was an interesting history lesson and we had beautiful weather! After returning home we met up with Jonny, Craig, Meg and Sam to eat Indian food at Tandoria Palace...yum. Overall, a wonderful day.

Well, we either made the picture game too easy, too hard or too crude. Paige was our first guesser and SHE WON! Congrats Paige. As soon as you email me your address in NYC I will send you your prize. Here are the pictures revealed. Ben, I really didn't want to post this picture of you but I really had no choice.

The Weak, I mean Week Review


Jonny and his "baby"

Ricky Bobby and Blaine

We hope we did not offend too many people with the last post. It has been a funny topic of conversation for those friends we have talked to from home. The big news of this week is that I (Kate) have developed bronchitis and went to my first New Zealand doctor's visit. I am feeling much better today and will be working my first night shift tonight. This week's excitement included going to the movies with the crew (jonny, sister Meg, and her husband Sam) to see Talledega Nights, taking the crew to eat Mexican at our new favorite restaurant, and Blaine buying a $99 guitar to start his new hobby. I have mostly laid on the couch this weekend and listened to Blaine play G, C, and D chords. He really has made good progress in just a few days. When we get home I am sure he will be ready to play a solo concert, so get ready.

Guess who???

A.


B.


C.


D.


It hasn't been too exciting of a week over here, down under. We decided to introduce a game...a prize will be awarded to the person who gets all of the "guess who?" pictures correct. These are all people from home, no trick New Zealand folks.

Day Trip to Akaroa




Saturday we decided to meet up with Johnny, his sister Megan and her husband Sam to take an hour drive to Akaroa, a French settlement on the Banks Peninsula. It turned out to be more of a rollercoaster ride where all of us, including the driver, felt extremely car sick. The scenery was beautiful along the way though and the town was very quaint. A lot of the French style has been preserved in the architecture and the street names are all French. We were all attempting to speak with a French accent and were referring to everything by placing a "Le'" in front of it...such as Le' bathroom or Le' gas station. We ended up walking up to the lighthouse that sits off to the side of town and meeting the lighthouse keeper. His name is Frank McNeil and he is one of the most fascinating people we have ever met. He is 88 years old, sings in a choral group, was taken as a prisoner of war by Germany in WWII for three years, and now serves as the lighthouse keeper in Akaroa. We talked to him (or should I say he talked to us) for over an hour; he even sang us a few Irish ballads. Needless to say, we told him we would be back to take the tour of the lighthouse when summer arrived (this is when they open for tours). We had coffee and cake at the Hilltop Cafe before driving back. That night we ate Chinese food and watched the movie "8 Below", about a team of sled dogs in Antarctica, part of which is filmed in Christchurch.

Sunday Blaine and I got adventurous and decided we were going to jog up to the Sign of the Kiwi, which is at the top of the Cashmere Hills. When you hear hill, most Mississippians think a little rolling hill; this however was more of a mountain. We of course did not make it all the way running but we still felt a sense of accomplishment when it was all said and done. Afterwards we attended church and had a nice relaxing afternoon. All in all, a short but pleasant weekend.

Oh, Happy Day!







Paige and I(Kate) share one major thing in common...we love birthdays! On this day in the year of 1981, Margaret Paige Deangelo was popped out into this world. From the closest reports we've gotten she was conceived AND born in a field party in Jasper, Alabama. But those roots didn't stop her from acheiving her dreams! Paige has been chasing her dreams down several diffent paths over the last few years. She moved from Starkville to Jackson to Raleigh-Durham, NC to New York City all in a very short time. She now lives in a high-rise apartment complex, doesn't own a car and walks to Madison Avenue where she works as an advertising agent in the Big Apple. She enjoys singing kareokee, she is a marvelous dancer and she loves to listen to country music(especially Waylon Jennings and Conway Twitty). Blaine and I are both sad that we won't be able to share in the celebration of her birth, it is sure to be a blow-out! "Oh Cecilia, you're breaking my heart!"

Just Another New Zealand Weekend









First things first: most of you know how much I(Kate) love Mexican food. This has been one of my constant cravings while we have lived here over the past month. Now if you were wondering, not many Mexicans live in New Zealand...hmmm suprising. Well tonight must have been my lucky night and to celebrate our actual anniversary we found an authentic Mexican restaurant owned by true Mexican people. It was so good! We both had chimichangas and chips and salsa (although sadly enough one serving is all you get). Oh yeah, and no cheese dip. But other than that a truly marvelous experience. We talked to the cook/owner and told him our story and let him know we will be his newest, most loyal customers.

Now to the weekend: We left Friday morning and Blaine drove me by his workplace. Just a factory in the middle of fields, but good to see where he spends his days. Then on towards Hanmer Springs through the winery region north of Christchurch. I as the navigator made one mistake and we ended up backtracking a good bit but we won't discuss that. We had a nice lunch at a street side cafe and then made our way to the thermal baths. The pools ranged from 27 to 40 degrees celsius (that is cold like a swimming pool to hot like a hot tub for you fahrenheit people). After the pools we took a hike up to the lookout point of the valley and mountains to watch the sunset. We went back to the pools after a bite of dinner to sit under the stars. Even though it was too cloudy to really see them it was great to have the cold air and be in the warm water surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Woke up early and ate breakfast in a little bakery then headed out for a drive through Lewis Pass. Took a short hike up to a gorgeous cascading waterfall...so amazing just to walk 20 minutes off the highway and see such beauty. When we got back to Hanmer Springs we rented 2 mountain bikes and headed off on the trails in the National Forest 5 minutes from the middle of town. This time Blaine got us a little lost, but we won't discuss that either. Showered and headed to The Heritage, the old hotel/restaurant, where we had a very gourmet dinner. I had a rack of lamb for the first time and Blaine had a ribeye. The wonderful presentation of the food matched the taste. Sunday morning we left the lodge early to drive to Kaikoura which is a coastal town around 2 hours away. The drive alone was through beautiful pastures and winding roads and then we turned a corner and the turquoise Pacific Ocean opened up before us. I think we both decided that Kaikoura is the most beautiful place we have ever seen. This is one of two places in New Zealand where the mountains fall directly into the ocean. We both saw our first whale! It is rare for whales to be close to the shore, but the water just off the shore is extremely deep! The baby and her mom were playing and spraying water up in the air and drew quite a crowd of spectators! I was so glad I had my binoculars. We also drove down to the seal site; I didn't see the sign that you were not supposed to get within 10 meters of the seals...so I got some really good pictures! We hiked up to a view of the ocean, mountains and town...wow. The pictures really don't do it justice; you are all just going to have to come visit to see it firsthand. We visited a local winery and took the tour and did the tasting. Wine is a booming industry here in New Zealand, and we learned a lot about wine making. The drive back down the coast was beautiful, but we were happy to get back home, no wrong turns this time.