A Different World in Wanaka
Wanaka, Otaga on the south island of New Zealand is our home for the first month of our international travels. We’ve been here since the last hours of Aug. 30th, but I am just now getting my thoughts together for a blog post. I’ve sat down to write a couple of times in the past week and haven’t gotten very far. I’m suffering from an odd combination of not feeling like I have much to say and having so much running through my head that I don’t even know where to begin. A nine minute meditation at the end of BodyBalance class this morning helped me sort it out a bit so we’ll see which of my contradictory thoughts wins out.
Unlike our travels this summer, we are intentionally settled in one spot for a month at a time while we spend our 90 days in NZ (the max without getting a visa). After Wanaka we will go live the city life in Wellington, the capital, and then spend November living in a small beach town north of NZ’s biggest city, Auckland. Then, we will spend 17 days covering as much of eastern Australia as we can by plane and car before heading home just in time for Christmas.
We ended up in Wanaka, a small lakeside town of around 9,000 people, largely because of its location (mountains, lakes, and ski resorts) and the rave reviews I had read about it on some New Zealand travel blogs. Within 3-4 hours drive of Wanaka are most of the must see places on the lower half of the South Island so we will do lots of day trips and one-nighters while we are here. By having a home base to work from we are able to plan those shorter visits when the weather looks promising because some of them are places you would not want to be in the cold or rain. We will use the same strategy of day trips and one-nighters when we are living in Wellington and Orewa. I’m really glad we decided to do it that way as I think we all wanted to be more settled than we were after our summer travels in the US.
Obviously, the kids are missing school back in NC so we have set up and enrolled them in a homeschool, Kiwi Academy, and so far it is working out pretty well. Since their teachers at their middle school in Winston-Salem know they are returning in January they have been very generous and accommodating by allowing the kids to follow along online with what their classmates are doing each day. For Ada, this works perfectly as she is competitive (heaven forbid she’s “behind” when we get back) and has the drive and initiative to work independently for hours at a time. We’ve realized that Jackson needs a different approach. He loves to learn and enjoys school, but so much of that is rooted in the interactions and relationships he has with his peers and teachers. For him, sitting and working independently is like doing homework for hours. So, Cameron and I are doing more actual “teaching” with Jackson than we are with Ada.
Since homeschooling requires a few hours most weekdays we quickly settled into a routine. If we are planning to stay in town for the day, Cameron and I take turns going to the gym in the morning while the kids knock out their school work. If the weather is cooperating we usually try and do something outside in the afternoon. That could be as simple as going to the park across the street or something more involved like driving an hour to do a day hike or explore another town. On bad weather days the kids can get their energy out at the recreation center by swimming or playing basketball and they really like the small rock climbing gym in town. Ada is getting to train with a local field hockey club once a week and she is really enjoying it. It’s a mixed group (boys and girls) and they play in a different style than she does at home so we think it’s a great opportunity for her and hope to find another group she can train with in Wellington.
In the interest of keeping our expenses in check we are mainly eating at home and have found the grocery store here has almost everything we could possibly need. Our only complaints are the lack of flavored coffee creamer or the kind of peanut butter that we all prefer (with just a bit of sugar). On the upside, the sauvignon blanc that I like to drink at home is considered a bad one down here so it’s super cheap at around $6.50 a bottle compared to the $15 I normally paid at home. Don’t worry, I’m also checking out lots of the wonderful wines produced in this country. Wanaka is in the heart of their pinot noir region so I’m sampling those at the moment.
So far, the few restaurants we have visited have all been really good. The food portions here are smaller than we are used to and that aligns with some other differences we’ve noticed so far between NZ and the US. Houses and other buildings are designed more for function than aesthetics. Homes are situated to take advantage of the heat from sunlight, not to present their best side to the street. We see clotheslines outside million dollar homes. Similarly, people seem to dress more for practicality, not to make a fashion statement. Most women don’t wear a lot of jewelry or makeup. I’m interested to see if these observations hold when we travel to other parts of the country or if it is more specific to the region we are in now. Personally, I’m thrilled to not feel the pressure to dress a certain way and the makeup that I packed will likely never leave its bag.
Cameron and I have both adjusted to driving on the left side of the road. It came a little quicker to me and we both think it might have to do with me being very left-handed. It was pretty weird at first, but after a couple of road trips we’ve gotten the hang of it. On the upside it makes you much more aware when you’re behind the wheel so I’m probably the safest driver I’ve been since I first learned to drive. So far, we have done a day trip to Queenstown and the Blue Pools and an overnight trip to Dunedin, which I will blog about separately. We’re hoping to ski a couple of times and also want to do overnights to Milford Sound and Fox Glacier over the next couple of weeks. There is also a big hike, an all-day climb up Roy’s Peak, on the agenda for a sunny day before we leave. While in some ways it feels like we have all the time in the world to do all those things, we are already halfway through our time in Wanaka so the clock is ticking.
So far, the Kiwis, as New Zealanders refer to themselves, have been as kind and welcoming as we were told to expect. While we have figured out how to watch American TV and sports by using a VPN and our Amazon Fire Stick, we try and watch the New Zealand national morning show each day. Today we watched as they recognized the six month anniversary of the horrible terrorist attacks in Christchurch and Cameron and I were both touched by the humanity and compassion that was exhibited by the media and the public officials and victims that they were interviewing. There is a deep pride in this country for those that deem themselves a Kiwi, regardless of if or when they were born here or the way they look or the god they worship. It’s a stark contrast to what we left in the United States. I realize we are somewhat getting an outsiders, romanticized view of New Zealand and that it’s size and location alone probably make it easier to have a less contentious society. Whether my perception is real or not, when I compare it to the craziness occurring at the local, state, and national level back at home, I will enjoy this alternate reality while I can.
