Getting to New Zealand was an adventure in and of itself. We knew we had a lot of stuff but didn’t realize just how much till we tried to check in at the airport. Luckily, we got a fairly calm, patient clerk. We ended up having to pay for one extra bag and leave a bunch of stuff behind but eventually did get boarding passes. We’ve learned from this experience to only take minimal items. It’s much easier. We haven’t even bought that many souvenirs either (okay, my rocks and sea shells weigh a fair amount).
The Auckland airport is fairly small which was nice. It made getting around pretty easy. Once we landed we had to collect our luggage, go through immigration and then customs. It took us a good hour just to get through all the check points. 
Ian arranged Hannah’s stuffed animals like this to add some humor to our situation. Needless to say he got a few funny looks.
We managed to make it through the gauntlet, rent a car and head out to the home we rented in Ruakaka, Northland. It’s on the north island, east coast about half way up near the beach. It’s quite pretty here, not warm but pretty. Here’s the view from our balcony. We’re about 6 blocks from the beach.
New Zealand itself is incredibly beautiful. I’ve never been anywhere as green as this. To me it’s made up of varying shades of green with a few colors splashed in here and there. These are some pictures I took along the way from the airport.
We managed to get settled in. We even had a friend come to welcome us to the neighborhood. I turned around one day and this giant dog was sitting on the balcony in front of the open door. Fortunately, he is very calm and playful. The kids named him Horse.
Life is very kicked back here. Although, I have to say that I’m grateful the grocery store does stay open a little longer. In Australia, almost every store closed between 4:00 – 5:00 in the afternoon. Here they stay open till 9:00, which was amazing to us.
Prices are a little more expensive as far as food goes. We’re paying about $4.50 for a 3 liter jug of milk and about $4 for bread. Gas on the other hand is way worse than Australia. We’re paying $2.08 per liter which comes out to be about $6.28 a gallon. NUTS!! I won’t ever complain about gas prices in the States ever again.
Within a day or two we made it down to the beach. (The weather has been really cold so we were waiting for a sunny day.) It’s spring here so the flowers are just beginning to bloom. These were found along the trail to the beach.
The water was really cold but it didn’t stop the kids from getting in (it did me, I’m a wimp!) I think these might have been the biggest waves the kids have been in too.
I think it’s rained almost everyday since we arrived.
Homes aren’t insulated or have a heating source because it doesn’t get that cold and if it does it doesn’t last that long. To us it’s freezing, we’ve been using a lot of blankets trying to stay warm. We know this will pass soon, and can’t wait till it does.
This is where the branch meets. It’s a rented house in the middle of some fields. It’s really pretty. Sacrament Meeting is in the garage. They’ve added carpet and curtains. For a garage it’s very nice, just a little strange. Relief Society is in the dining room, YM/YW in the office. Right now the branch has only about 40 members attending (which is huge compared to Armidale!). They need 50 to attend consistently to get a building. They’re hoping with some new jobs coming in they’ll be able to reach that mark. They have no one to play the piano and apparently don’t have the music on CD so we sing acapella. It’s a little better than what our family does in FHE but it definitely brought a smile to Matt and I when we first started out.
Matt had to drive down to Hamilton to meet a fellow (we’re still trying to get the rent money back for the burned down house – what a pain!). Here’s some pictures of the Auckland area.
We’re doing our best to get Ian caught up on his studies. It’s been difficult without reliable internet. It’s amazing how you come to appreciate little things like this. I’m hoping we’ll be able to go out and do some exploring in the next week or so.
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