Saint John'r...the adventure of living in New Zealand

[SaskSask]

Just wanted to share some pictures of a Saint John'r living in New Zealand...

Hope you enjoy them....


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If you would like to see more..please let me know

Cheers

[Crystalbeach]

Amazing pictures...how is life there?

[SaskSask]

Amazing pictures...how is life there?

Thnks...

How is life here...

It is like you go back in time about 30-40yrs.

Little slower...people always seem happy. Part of NZ we are in...it hasn't snowed in the area for 50 yrs (and that was on top of a mountain). Feels like less commercialism (there is still some, more in the big cities)...small towns still have many family run stores.

Weather is nice...so far this summer, we have had maybe 3 days of rain (300-500mm)...one day was after 3 weeks of sunny days. Winters will be like spring or fall - back in NB. Even with that...older houses tend to be cold (don't have double glazing or no central heat...although newer houses are being better insulated). Perhaps wear a jacket....

At nite...can see the stars with ease...Milky Way is easy to see...Was shocked to see Orion, as it can be seen in NB. No Big Dipper....but I think I see the Little Dipper....can see the Southern Cross.

Internet is high speed...TV is SkyTV.

Camping....haven't camped yet. But driving by some...people actually use tents and small trailers. Not the monstrosities camper trailers you see in North America...packed in like sardines..side by side.

NB products I have found at the local Woolworth Grocery Store....Black's Harbour Sardines and Elgin Maple Syrup.

Shops on Saturday open at 10 am....close at 2-3pm, some don't open at all on the weekend.

24 case of beer ...cost $28 NZ (roughly $19.60 cnd) ..thought for sure it would be more expensive in NZ...but guess not.

Saw the Prime Minister of NZ at Wellington Airport....he had one body guard. Kinda cool....not even sure I had ever seen a/the premier or a PM (in real life..that is) in my entire life in Canada (seems they hide lots in Canada?). Seems the politicians aren't always saying no comment here...PM has fired a few ministers here for not doing a good job (parties here ..don't circle the wagons). Or for spending money on personal expenses..they shouldn't have...one got fired for buying a bottle of wine..can you imagine....fired over a bottle of wine.

Cost of living...little more expensive then in Canada..gas is at 1.99/L...food more expensive....but quality is much better then in Canada, you know...tomatoes are actually red in the middle...and strawberries are actually red in the middle, full of flavor. Food availability is effected by the seasons here.

It is very refreshing here...some things alien....some not. It isn't perfect here...but no place is perfect.

[timmy]

Poisonous snakes or insects? Animals that will eat you? (Thinking of camping - in the north here in Canada not so safe as good old boring Maritimes)

[donteatrawpotatoes]

It sounds absolutely enchanting -sigh

Those photos are magical! I hope to some day travel there.

[SaskSask]

Poisonous snakes or insects? Animals that will eat you? (Thinking of camping - in the north here in Canada not so safe as good old boring Maritimes)

Having camped in northern Saskatchewan - I know exactly what you mean about camping in the north of Canada...no late night pee'n just outside the tent. Don't want to attract any Bears eh? Not to mention grey water from washing the dishes..can't dump that in your campsite either lol.

Back to NZ -

No poisonous snakes, Mossies (mosquito, yes), no dangerous mammals (just the human kind) one spider (Katipo)...is vary rare to even see this spider..but one Canadian actually managed to get bit at a beach we happen to visit lol. Guess where the skinny dipping Canadian got bit lol

He was treated at the clinic my wife currently works at...but she wasn't working yet, when the bite happened.

"A venomous katipo spider bite on his penis was the high price a tourist paid for a skinny-dip at a Northland beach.

The 22-year-old Canadian left his clothes in the sand dunes while he went for his nude swim and slept on his return, according to a report on the case in today's online NZ Medical Journal.

"He woke to find his penis swollen and painful with a red mark on the shaft suggestive of a bite. He rapidly developed generalised muscle pains, fever, headache, photophobia [light sensitivity] and vomiting," wrote Dr Nigel Harrison and colleagues who treated him at Dargaville and Whangarei hospitals.

By the time the man reached Dargaville Hospital, his penis was severely swollen, his blood pressure was up and his heart beat racing.

Chest pain and other symptoms developed the next morning and it was presumed he had been bitten by a katipo. He was treated with anti-venom medicine and rapidly improved.

However, heart problems persisted and he was treated at Whangarei Hospital and Auckland Hospital before returning to Canada.

Katipo spiders are known to have a highly specialised habitat in New Zealand sand dunes and will bite only rarely, and in defence.

This was the first known case of myocarditis, or heart inflammation, caused by a bite, Dr Harrison said.

A prompt diagnosis and the use of anti-venom resulted in a good outcome for the tourist, he said. "

He will forever be remembered in the NZ Medical Journal lol.


I have made a few slideo's on youtube - check em out if you like ------

This one is when we lived here in 2004-2005

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRamq1M5ezM

This one was in Feb 2010, trip was to decide if we really missed NZ as much as we did

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGGS1XmBR-g

This one is after living here for 8 weeks in....NZ is where we want to live now. Permanent Residence application has been sent in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRamq1M5ezM


Do I miss Saint John and family/friends...at times, but we will be back to visit (they plan to visit us here)...and the internet makes it easy to keep in touch. Can even watch the CBC NB news.....etc. Not sure why I do...perhaps to see the snowstorms =D, but no shoveling is in need to be done.

Eh...seems in NZ, they say Eh! as well, Wth? I thought it was Canada's Eh, seems it might be NZ's Eh. But it sounds more like ayeeee.


oh ohoh..I forgot though...they do have these buggers here, I don't want one of these crawling into my tent =o

Giant Weta bug...
http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/downtherabbithole/z4FYmCkZyNocPDO4nzw6oMjFRLR9URjs41L1IAF0TBHj7LpszV QegFmzZTBp/Giant_Weta_02.jpg

[timmy]

Cool info, I wonder what the spider found threatening about his willy? What a nightmare! That weta bug looks kinda like a lobster with no tail or claws........
I guess you are safely away from the quake in Christchurch? Looks like a place to enter on my bucket list. Thanks!

[SaskSask]

Cool info, I wonder what the spider found threatening about his willy? What a nightmare! That weta bug looks kinda like a lobster with no tail or claws........
I guess you are safely away from the quake in Christchurch? Looks like a place to enter on my bucket list. Thanks!

If you visit...make it a month long or the least...say 3 weeks.

It is terrible what has happened to them....whole country is in shock...surreal feeling

We are pretty far from Chch....must be 1000-1200km away. NZ channels...well TVNZ 1 and TVNZ 3 are providing 24 hrs round the clock coverage, I think 7-8 NZ made channels on the Sat here(which is amazing when you consider only 4 million people here).
Coverage has been amazing, soooo much better then CNN, CTV or CBC (you know...same photo or video clip over and over and over for hours and hours and hours).

I was amazed to see a reporter walk into the large church in Chch....he walked in...says look at the damage...then...comments we don't think anyone is in here....hello..anyone in here? No response...nope...no one in here....look at the devastating damage! I was thinking...holy crap...back home they would never have gotten near this. Admittedly it is not very safe to do such a thing....and I think things are a little more off limits now. But still....the coverage is at a personal level I have never seen in North America.

The news coverage has second to none.....now mind you it did happen in NZ.

[puppyluv]

Can you give us some details on the photos and what made you go to NZ?
gorgeous photos!! Thank you for sharing!

[SaskSask]

Hi puppyluv..I will update this soon. But this Tuesday we just found out our Springer Spaniel has chronic kidney failure.

We are comforting her all we can...we hope she will be with us awhile yet, but she isn't feeling too well. After getting something to settle her stomach she has finally started to drink water and has some nice size pieces of chicken.

We have had her since she was a puppy and she is only 5 1/2 yrs old. This is the hard thing to deal with...we always knew she wouldn't be with us forever....but we thought she would at least live to 10-12yrs old.

It is very hard to see our puppy with virtually no energy...she still get ups to greet mommy when a she comes home from work. But again.....it is such a hard thing to see. I comfort her through the day...always checking if she wants water or some food. Today was a good day...but we know eventually what is going to happen.

We will miss our Kiwi...and enjoy the time we have to spend with her now.

[SaskSask]

Also ran into some guys from Saint John in Whangarei for Rugby World Cup 2011 (this Sept 14th/2011). Ran into them after the game Canada Vs Tonga.

Found them in the after game coverage on TV here in NZ.
Here is the clip -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc3qT7Dq8M0


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Some pics from the deck -

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Had some heavy snowfall amounts this one day of snow we had this winter...bone chilling 6C-8C to the locals. First kind of snow in 48 years.
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Wild to think spring arrived on Sept 1st, officially according to the NZ population. Hard for a person from Canada/Saint John to comprehend, things don't really get very warm (to me) till well after the official start of spring.

Winter here was more like mid to late spring days in NB. Had one cool overnight low of 3C with a cool daytime high of 6-9C for a couple days. Rest of winter was lows of 8-10C overnight with daytime highs of 13C-16C.