Report 5.

Feb. 22 - 25. Managed to find our way back to the Whitehills Road apt., moved in, went shopping, did laundry, and got ourselves set up. Scene below is sunset as seen from our road. There are really some awesome trees in this country and we haven’t really seen the primary forest areas.

Nearest town is Orewa, on the coast about 10 miles east of here. It has a very pleasant town centre with shops and restaurants. Though it’s not very warm right now, this area has a tropical feel – palm trees and the like, plus architecture – that reminds us of Hawaii. On the topic of shopping, people here comment on the strong US dollar and say we should like the low NZ prices, but we haven’t seen it that way – at least when it comes to groceries and eating out. NZ dollar is about 55c, US, so when you pay $1 for a newspaper, or $13 for a movie, or $11 for fish and chips (my favorite meal so far), the prices are no bargain. Incidentally, we paid US$1540 for our 1989 Subaru and will sell it back for $1100. Seems like a pretty good deal for both Michael and us. He makes 40% on his investment; we get a car for about $150/mo., counting insurance.

No cars are made in NZ. Primarily, they have Japanese cars of 5 yrs.-plus vintage. There’s a tax or environmental incentive in Japan for people to get rid of their cars when they become 5 years old, so boatloads of those trade-ins are shipped to NZ. Incidentally, I was told that it was Henry Ford who introduced driving on the right when the rest of the civilized world was already driving on the left. I’m going to look it up, but does anyone know if this is true? And, were there technical reasons for rhs driving? What were the rules for horse-and-buggy driving? Inquiring minds want to know. I can’t say I’m adept yet, but I’m getting used to it. Susie did some practice driving yesterday (Monday), then drove me 5 mi. or so to and from bus stop today. I’ll let her describe her first efforts

Of course, my maiden voyage couldn’t have been the run of the mill adventure. Rob decided to catch the 6:40 bus. When he awakened me at 6:00 a.m., I relalized that it was still dark since I have not been up at that early hour since arriving in NZ. Hey, I’M retired—HE can still do that professor thing if he wants to. However, I digress—Not only was it dark, but it was raining. So I slipped on me (do I sound New Zealandish?) togs, and ventured out into the dark, rainy driveway to take Rob to the bus stop because if I didn’t I’d be stranded in this far-off place without a car. Of course, I wouldn’t drive into town, but the security of the auto is appealing. I made it to the bus stop and back with no problems. However, yesterday when I was practicing my driving skills, I took notice that Rob can hit a high C when he screams, “You’re running off the left side of the road.” O. K.--- am I supposed to shift with my left hand, use the wipers on the left side of the steering wheel, use the turn signals on the right side of the steering wheel, control the steering wheel on the obviously wrong side of the car, AND keep the car on the road? Give me a break! [Note from RGE: There was no shoulder, only a steep berm that we were almost brushing the doors against. Fortunately, not a drop-off or I might have done more than scream.]

We are really enjoying our time here especially since I’ve discovered how easy it is to use our AT&T card to call the states--$.50 a minute—Yikes! I also only get homesick when I look at the map and see exactly how far from home we are. Thank God for Christopher Columbus. If he hadn’t done his “the world is round gig,” New Zealand would fall right off the bottom of the map.

Later.

Rob and Susie

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