I have looked up the online manuals for more major appliances in the last three weeks than in all my prior years. The most recent being the oven in the current rental, all the markings have been wiped away leaving it a mystery. We are attempting to bake a gluten-free pork, apple, cider pie that we found at the store yesterday. No cooking directions on the pie box either. There is an increasing probability that we are having take-out tonight. Though it is just a pie….

 

We are staying in Christchurch, a city on the South Island of New Zealand that was hammered with two massive earthquakes in less than six months (late 2010 and early 2011). The house is a turn of the century cottage a few blocks from city center, so the kids can sing loud and proud. (And believe me, they are.)

 

The earthquakes took about 80% of the buildings in the downtown area out of commission, some flattened completely. Five years later there is an enormous amount of rebuilding going on. It’s a strange vibe here. There is a lot of hope, you can see creative solutions and a bonding-together laced through everything here and yet, just under the surface there is still so much struggle still bubbling as they are still deep in the trenches of remaking and rethinking their city in almost every way.

 

The landscape here continues to blow us away with every hairpin turn. Friday took us West into the interior of the island to Arthur’s Pass where we met the only American so far this trip. She just happened to be from Vancouver, Washington. Her co-workers had sent her out to ask if we were from the states, she said the tell wasn’t our accent but that when I ordered I said, “I’ll do the chick curry” instead of “I’ll take”.

 

We discovered the vast valley used to film the big battle in the third Lord of the Rings movie, it was gorgeous. But the highlight of our trip to the pass was a huge rock out cropping called Castle Hill. It turns out battle scenes from Narnia were filmed there. (My husband and children are movie monkeys, and recognized it. I just thought the rocks were epic and wished we could stay there until dark and see all the stars regardless of it’s movie fame.) I am positive we haven’t even come close to seeing the visual majesty of this island.

 

Last week, the remainder of our time in Australia was spent about 40 miles south of Sydney, in Wollongong with a friend of Alex’s from his childhood. (Suzanne Haddon for you long-time Issaquah peeps) She and her son Diego took incredible care of us. Aresa had her first surfing lesson in the ocean with Suzanne! She didn’t stand up, but she paddled and loved being out in the waves. We then cruised down the coast to a town called Berry. It was ridiculously quaint and every single store’s name started with…Berry! We took a ton of pictures – Berry Chocolates being my favorite. They sold warm melted chocolate as a shot (like espresso!)

 

Tomorrow we fly back to the North Island of New Zealand. Mercifully this is our last flight until we head home. Last week the flights from Sydney to Auckland to Christchurch was a 14-hour series of passport checks (7), lines, and weird bus rides from the gate to the plane. Besides being a ridiculous choice (we should have done Sydney direct to Christchurch) it was more exhausting than a day of lines at Disneyland—though less motion sickness.

 

Mentally we are all riding the usual waves of life. Aresa, in full pre-teen mode, scowls and grumbles about everything, finds reasons to all out sob at least once a week, and every once in a while, tells us how great this trip is. Eliot is full of jumping beans. He climbs, wiggles, and dances whenever note strapped into the car and talks constantly. He even seems to have enjoyed several of the museums we have visited.

 

Alex is having a blast. He saw a Porsche 911 on the road today (first one) and squealed with joy. He probably would have flagged him down to gush, but we were driving a Toyota Rav 4 on a windy two lane mountain road going 100 kph. He did feel bad that the Porsche driver was only allowed to do 100 kilometers an hour. The NZers honor the speed limit. We saw four cops on that road today. I’m attempting not to overthink anything. The result of this is that we often find ourselves on an outing without sunscreen, hats, the good camera, or snacks. It’s my vacation too, right?

 

I hope you PNWs weren’t too disrupted by the snow! Aresa is so jealous.

 

Much love,

Heather

 

PS – We did manage to cook and consume the pork apple pie. Eliot even ate it. Which is to say it was pretty bland, but edible. He was disappointed it wasn't an apple pie with pork (as in a dessert pie with some meat.)