On a Whim Wm's world travels

Last night we walked the two blocks from the house where we are staying to the botanical gardens. Every night, during the months of January and February they have free concerts there. Last night the BeatGirls played swing music and they were great. The area was packed, but that didn’t stop people from getting up and dancing in front of the stage — similar to the concerts at the Zoo in Portland. The person sitting next to us said this was the most crowded he’d seen it. Not only was it a popular band, but after what people are calling the coldest, wettest summer in 60 years (there were floods, which cut off every road in or out of Wellington just a week ago!) summer has finally hit New Zealand. It was very sunny and beautiful yesterday, although it seems like it is always windy here.

Wellington actually reminds me of San Francisco. The weather has been similar, but we have only been here for a few days. And there are even Victorian buildings around.

Everyone has experienced jet lag — I don’t think that is what we are experiencing right now. After all, New Zealand is only 3 hours different in time than Oregon, no worse than New York to Oregon (actually it is 3 hours difference only October to April — the other six months it is 5 hours difference due to the fact that daylight savings time is in opposite seasons). What is getting to me more than jet lag is a seasonal change due to the length of the days. When we left Oregon it was the middle of winter and was getting dark around 4 or 5 pm. Here, it is mid-summer, and stays light until almost 9pm. So I have no sense of time. Last night a friend called us to invite us to go hear Irish music. He said he’d pick us up at 8:30 (we have no car yet). I’m thinking that’s hours away, and we have plenty of time to eat dinner (or tea, as they call it here). I was shocked to see that it was already after 7:30, but it felt more like 5pm. The sun was out and I just didn’t feel like it was that late. It wasn’t jet lag, since at 7:30 Wellington time, it was already 10:30pm Portland time. So it would have felt later, not earlier. I don’t know what to call it — season lag? antipode lag? daylight savings lag? light lag?

We just finished our first full day in Wellington, and I have to say we’re having a pretty good time. So far, the food here has been excellent. Spent the morning opening a bank account and transfering money from the US, and then the afternoon wandering around Wellington. Lunch was at a small place called Lido. Very tasty, one of the best meals I’ve had in a while. Yesterday we had some Malaysian food which also was very good. I think I had this unrealized dread that the food was going to be a bit like British food, but those fears are now gone. Went to hear Irish music last night in a bar, and was very happy that there is no smoking in bars here. Our friend Jacob is friends with one of the members of the band, who came down and sat with us during the break. Such amazingly nice people here.

The house we are staying in is up on a hill above the university. They have a cable car you can take up the hill which gives you nice views of the city and water. A block from the house is a large botanical garden. We walked through a corner of it this afternoon and it is beautiful. Will have to explore more of it soon. They have free concerts in that garden every night. We’ll probably go to hear some swing music tomorrow night.

We’ve been taking lots of photos, but I don’t have a fast internet connection yet, so nothing has been uploaded. Going to the university tomorrow to get the keys to my office (with internet), so hopefully soon…

We have arrived in Wellington! I’ll do a longer entry later, after taking a needed nap. The flight from Los Angeles to Auckland was delayed, which caused us to miss our connection to Wellington, but it was all eventually sorted out. Except that I guess they left everyone’s luggage sitting outside in Los Angeles, where it was pouring rain. So some of our luggage got rather wet. Drying it out now.

Wellington is beautiful. We have already gone into town and had a very yummy lunch at a Malaysian restaurant. So I don’t think we will be lacking in good food around here. We also walked from the house where we are staying up into the little commerical area 2 blocks away, where we bought fresh bread at a small bakery, and fruit and cheese at a small shop. Several restaurants up there too. The house we are in is very nice, too. We’ll upload photos later.

Oy! So much luggage! We’re packed and ready to go. Our internet connection is already turned off, so I’m hitching a ride on a neighbor’s wireless connection.

When our internet connection went down it also took our telephone down. Huh? Because we use Vonage, an internet telephone, rather than the local phone company. Why is this related to New Zealand? Because we are taking our Vonage adapter box with us, and when we get there we will plug it in to a broadband internet connection and our Portland telephone number will work there. Yup — people can call our home phone number and it will ring in NZ. And we can call anyone in the US and Canada for free (well, there is the monthly fee, but no long distance charges).

I originally looked into Vonage so we could take our phone with us, but we switched over early because it is such a good deal for anyone who already has a high-speed internet connection. I should mention that a few friends who have Vonage complain that occasionally they get poor connections (mainly from echo), but we have only had that happen a few times. I think it has something to do with the quality of the internet connection. Mostly it works just like a regular telephone, but with way more features and for far less money.

Since I’m plugging Vonage, I should mention that if you sign up, you should get a referral from someone who is already signed up. That gives you a free month (and gives them a free month as well). I’m happy (of course) to give anyone a referral.

Look for an entry all about why we are going to New Zealand. But not for a few days. We leave tomorrow and are busy packing and getting everything in order here.

By the way, the date on this entry is the 8th, and I told you we are leaving on the 8th. What’s up? Well, I set up the date and time on this blog to match New Zealand. It is already tomorrow there (21 hours ahead of us in Portland). So even though we leave on the 8th, we arrive on the 10th after crossing the international date line.

We leave for New Zealand on January 8, only a few days away. We are definitely not ready yet — way too much to do.

This has been a very crazy month. Our cat died this morning after a bout with cancer. A few weeks ago Cindy’s ex-husband (and the father of her son) died suddenly. We just had a memorial gathering here on Saturday.

We also had some friends affected by the tsunami in South Asia. Luckily, none of them were hurt, although one had the boat he was living on wrecked. Another friend in Malasia watched from the 15th floor as the wave came in and hit the crowded beach below her. Very sad.