Our first week (and a bit) in Dunedin

A moment of calm along the Water of Leith

Hard to believe we've been here for a week and a half already! Our first order of business was to find a place to live. Thankfully, that was quickly taken care of, so we're free to explore our new city properly now (though it will still be a few more days before we can move in). The Dear Sweet Husband is now into his second week at work, so Abner and I are on our own most days to get out and about.

The name is Pan. Peter Pan.

Mini horse ride!

A performance of "Waltz of the Flower" just for mom and dad.

With no car (yet), we've covered an incredible amount on foot and a fair bit on bus too. The parks and trails are wonderful to explore when we get tired of hitting the pavement through town. Dunedin seems to have lots to offer during the summer. So far we've taken in a bagpipe competition (it's hard to describe an actual bagpipe competition - imagine sticking your head into the middle of a bee hive and you've about got the sound right), a kids' fair in the Botanic Garden (where the fountain was WAY more entertaining), and some patio beers over at the Octagon - such a civilized country, Abner was allowed to join us at the pub!

Our first hike up to a nearby dam.

Bus adventure out to Portobello.

Suddenly - bagpipes!

First pub visit with mom and dad!

Who needs entertainers when there's a fountain to play in?

We're also loving the history here. Our new rental house was built in 1905. The oldest church in Dunedin (or maybe even NZ) is just down the street from our motel. It was built in 1865 - before Canada was even a country! The Otago Museum has great historical exhibits that Abner has already asked to go back and see. And that's just what we've managed to see on foot! I can't wait until we get a car. Maybe next week.

Cooling in the grass near the oldest church in Dunedin.

The library has also become a favourite spot in the last couple of days. It's about a 20 minute walk from the motel and will be about a 40 minute walk from our new home. Dunedin has book buses that come out to each neighbourhood on a regular schedule, so you can return your books and sign out new ones at the bus if you can't make it in to town. How cool is that?!?! You can also sign out art, too! What a concept!

Lots more to see and do still. Hopefully we can fit it all in before Abner starts school in a couple of months.

What a difference a week makes!

White Rock, BC: Feb 3, 2013

Dunedin, NZ: Feb 9, 2013

Same kid, same ocean, just one week and a mere 12,500 km apart.

We have managed to take some breaks from our house hunt and enjoy a bit of our new city and it's stunning beaches. The weather has been beautiful! Sorry to all you Canadian friends and family still digging out from the weekend's snow storm.

Greetings from Dunedin

After an absolutely insane amount of stress and anxiety, we finally made it to Dunedin, New Zealand! Since getting the job offer way back in early October, this whole adventure has felt like one stress after another. True, I do tend to get more stressed out and anxious than most (as The Dear Sweet Husband can attest), but I think I'm justified in getting stressed out about moving half way across the globe.

First there was the anxiety of sorting out which visas to apply for. Then, it was getting all the required materials together: reams of forms, chest x-rays, blood work, urine analysis, criminal record checks (evidently I don't have readable fingerprints. Who knew?!), passport photos (about eight each!), evidence of our "stable relationship", photos, etc. In the end, the package we sent off weighed 2.5 lbs!

Oh, and did I mention that just days before we were set to send the whole thing off - with ORIGINALS of everything from our passports, to marriage certificate and PhD credentials, the NZ High Commission office in Ottawa closed its visa office. We had to scramble to sort out the requirements for filing through Washington DC and then send off our package overnight, only for it to take five days for delivery. Five days, people. Five whole days of tracking the most important package of my life as it took its sweet time crossing the continental US of A.

The delay and stress sucked, but boy, did it make for an exciting day when the USP guy knocked on our door to deliver our freshly minted visas along with the safe return of all of our original documents.

All this wordiness is simply to highlight how relieved we were that the actual voyage to New Zealand was not at all stressful. We got to the airport nice and early and kicked around the airport for a while.

Abner was THRILLED to check out the giant fish tank in the international terminal. We've been card carrying members of the Vancouver Aquarium for quite a while, so it was nice to have a reminder of one of our favourite places on our last day.

Our last meal in Canada? Tim Hortons. Of course.

Abner's big plan for the plane was to get into her PJs straight away, watch a few shows, eat some food and go to sleep. That's exactly what she did. We dubbed her "zombie Abner" during the flight...see what I mean?

Getting through passport control and customs in Auckland took longer than expected and we actually had to run the 10 minutes between terminals with our luggage loaded onto trolleys. Normally, you'd be able to claim your bags after clearing passport control, get through customs, check your bags at the international terminal and take a shuttle bus over to the domestic terminal. I can't complain though. The run was refreshing.

On the flight from Auckland to Dunedin, the flight attendants invited Abner to hand out lollies to all the passengers. Apparently it's just something they do. Abner was so happy to oblige and did a great job.

And, well, now we've been in Dunedin almost two days. The weather has been amazing. The city is gorgeous. And everyone is incredibly friendly. Here are a few pics from our first few days...

Checking out a playground not far from the beach.

Our first walk through the University of Otago campus.

Another part of campus...still not pretty enough to perk up a grumpy Abner.

This, folks, is Dunedin...our new home. Come visit us sometime.

The view from Signal Hill looking back over the city.