Postcard from the Edge

Two more days before I have to leave lovely DS2 and lovely NZ - but I will have Perth to look forward to. Although as a place this one wins hands down.
Been sitting in DS's office, telling people I am not the receptionist, but his mum, all afternoon and meeting lovely people.
Greatnan as a tip most of the cars here are Japanese imports (they also drive on the left).
We were looking at cars yesterday and while we were out on a test drive I told the salesman I had a Skoda - "don't you find getting parts difficult?" he said in shocked tones (not realising the skoda in question was in the UK) - so you might consider buying a Nissan or something like that to ship out.

I just wrote a blog on the whacky supplements they sell in airports down under
appealingltoreasonblog.blogspot.co.nz
it is not usually .co.nz the mysteries of the internet.

How much longer in NZ Jess before you make for Perth?
Love your description of the Japanese gardeners!

Thanks, Jess, you have made me 'homesick'. Please keep us updated whenever you can. You paint a very vivid picture.

My daughter and her husband found that the value of the pound had fallen dramatically against the $ in the time between making their decision, putting their house in Yorkshire on the market, and their actual move. The value of their house had also fallen so they ended up with much less flexibility in buying a home in NZ
The exchange rate does not bother them now, as my SIL is employed by an NZ company, but they do find the prices of some things very high - decorating and building materials, electrical goods, anything made of metal. I found clothes expensive and will stock up in England before I go (I don't like French clothes much and they are also expensive).
Of course, my income will always be in sterling, so I am hoping the pound does not plunge any lower. I am used to fluctuations in my income as the pound/euro rate has see-sawed.
I intend to buy a newish car in England (no point in taking my lhd French car) as it will be cheaper to ship one out than to buy one in NZ

My SIL does earn so much more now that my daughter does not need to go out to work, so they have a much nicer lifestyle, in spite of the higher cost of living, but I have noticed on 'Wanted Down Under' that many tradesmen get a shock when they realise that earnings are about the same in NZ. Many young people move to Australia after qualifying, as salaries are much higher.

For most people, emigrating to NZ is not about being better off financially, but about the nicer, more relaxed lifestyle, the outdoors, the weather (especially in Nelson/Tasman) and the sheer emptiness!

Warm and humid here this evening bags - a lot of rain on the way, but at the moment south island can still be glimpsed through its cloud cover.

Lovely pictures 'in' your postcards, jess

Yes I thought of you absent however the economy may be about to get worse due to the above factors (hard to export, house bubble) and the drought which has wiped out about $100,000 of income for the average dairy farm - so that is an awful lot of money not going back into local businesses in the coming year. In your shoes I would not be rushing to transfer all my savings - but I'm sure you will have better sources of financial advice than me.
Anyway here are some "snapshots" of the last couple of days to cheer you up:

The water of the inlet is 5 metres from the couch. The dog is sleeping in his basket but he knows his job is security, so even when deeply asleep he is monitoring the environment. On a busy Sunday afternoon there is passing traffic by water and by footpath. The only thing that rouses him is a yorkshire terrier on a kayak (with its man doing all the work). This merits a warning woof or two. 10 minutes later they go past again. This time the YT falls off the kayak. Man scoops it up without missing a stroke.

Watching the way young Samoan women, working in cafes, walk. Beautiful posture and a sort of smooth, rolling walk with a bit of hip action. You can imagine their grandparents in their sarongs and lavalava (those men's skirts made out of tailoring fabric and worn with a formal shirt) walking into town on market day, at a stately pace. Am trying to emulate.

Went on a 2 hour walk (practicing the Samoan walk) along the shores of the inlet. Saw black swans, an NZ kingfisher (bigger than the EU version) and - very exciting - four spoonbills, sifting through the mud. Also a primary class out for some kind of nature walk and a smiley middle-aged Taiwanese cyclist who had lost his way. Touring NZ on his bike with a rather inadequate tourist map. We turned him back (he needed to be on the state highway poor love, on the other side of the inlet.) He took photos of us and us with him and said "thank you bye bye".

In the art gallery/library cafe 10 minutes down the road. Exhibits are mostly Pacific in flavour. High quality stuff. One exhibit is some photos of great grandparents paired with a ggchild of the same gender. Big faces, very cropped into the faces. The GGP are from europe, nZ and the islands. Great faces and wonderful to see the contrast and the similarities between those in their 80s and the kids who were about 8-10.

Between the gallery and the library is a Japanese garden, done in 1998 as part of a city twinning arrangement. The team from Japan have come back today, on a 5 yearly maintenance visit, at their own expense. They are wearing their Japanese work clothes - beige canvas suits, wellies, arm-gaiters with flowery patters (stops those bugs going up your sleeves chaps?) and in one case a blue towel tied round his head. They are thinning and pruning the pines and acers while council workers gather up the clippings and lug them away. A man that looks as if he plays rugby for the Easter Islands is watching them.

JessM Your final paragraph is not what I want to hear. When I first went to NZ (13 years ago, not 10) the exchange rate was slightly over $3NZ to the £1. I could do without a housing boom too! Mervyn bloody King has certainly put a spanner in my works what with low interest rates and quantitative easing.

No the bathroom is plumbed in but has no light.
Catching up on friends children day yesterday. A lovely new baby (half welsh half maori) who looks just like my GD did when she was 8 months. Very relaxed as second ones so often are. She threw up all over me bless her. Managed to wash my arm and front under kitchen tap, just as well as I got packing slightly wrong and there are not washing facilities chez DS.
The Kiwi dollar is at an all time high here. Most things seem expensive. Not good for all the exporters or for tourism. Also a house price boom going on.

Jess - is it a long drop with a little windmill on the top to keep it aired?
I find it nicer to find a private spot in the forest!
I love the little one-horse towns, so like those in the Wild West. All they need is a saloon with a hitching post outside.

Oh endless arguments/debates about the inclusion of the H and the pronunciation of the name with a w or a f. You wouldn't believe. I blame the person who wrote down the Maori alphabet and only included 12 letters. No F. But the brevity of the alphabet explains why so many of the place names look the same.
It is a magnificent river though - most NZ rivers spread out into a wide stony deltas but this one arrives at the coast as a huge, deep, navigable river that was a major transport link in the past.
A comfy night in Wangers last night. Back to the interesting new DS abode tonight. Bird life and tidal water immediately outside. An outside toilet. The upside of this is you can see the milky way on your way to the loo in the night. The down side might be if it rains... I will let you know.

And the Wh is pronounced as 'F'! I saw a sheep shearing demonstration in NZ at a sheep station on Lake Wakatipu. Blink and you'd miss it!

I visited Wanganui ten years ago when absentdaughter was living in Palmerston North. It's a great place with lots to see. Hope you're having a good time JessM. BTW I think the "h' is retained in the name of the river (Whanganui) although it has been dropped from the name of the city. There is still controversy about whether it should be restored.

Wow, just googled Wanganui and found some spectacular pictures. I can see I really will have to explore North Island next November.

Sounding good, Jess! Keep post-cards coming if you can.

Good morning/evening, Jess. How nice to hear you are enjoying yourself.My daughter tells me the weather is still very fine in Nelson area.
She says that a good Kiwi wife is one who can use a chainsaw and shear a sheep.
You have made me all nostalgic for NZ!

I'd love to see the shearing and wool handling in action. Real poetry in motioon, I imagine. Thanks for the p/c, jess.