Almost have been here a week, and it still is fantastic. Have figured out most of the answers to my questions/doubts so far. Of course, we all know now that the house worked out great and Brett has conceded that my decision to rent this house was a good one. And, they do have peanut butter here and it is not bad. The car the clinic gave us is not a manual (thank god), and it is not super small. It is a Toyota. I think it is called a Vista, seems kind of like a Camry - nothing fancy. Works fine, except we can not figure out how to get the child lock offs and we have no manual. The real interesting part has been learning how to drive on the other side of the road. Have to admit it was a little more difficult and intimidating than I had imagined. It took a couple of days before I got up the courage to take the car out for a spin. The first night I just drove around the neighborhood and for a quick mile or two on the highway. I felt alright about it so the next morning I headed into town (as I found their REI equivalent store and the big sale was starting). My second turn of the morning was right into the wrong lane. Scary. Still, getting better everyday. Still need to really think about looking to the right, turning on the blinkers with my right hand, changing gears with the left hand, and walking to the right door to get in. I also hear myself repeating a lot - "the center is to your right, the center is to your right". It very much feels like an "old dog" syndrome.
 |
| The car (of course, that is the passenger side you are looking at) |
Some of the other new stuff for me includes the hanging the laundry out to dry and the rain barrels. Apparently most people here do not have clothes dryers because the climate is so good. I also get the feeling that people are pretty into having a low impact on the world and into conserving energy and water. The water we are using for all of our needs (including drinking) comes from the rain. Our roof is metal and the rain all gets siphoned off into our gigantic rain barrels. The neighbor told me that each one holds 5,000 gallons (I'm pretty sure he said gallons, not litres) and we have 3 barrels. It is possible to run out of water, in which if have to pay to have them filled up. Of course, I have no idea how much water one usually uses. Never had had to think about it before. I have asked several people and they just say "be conscious, don't leave the tap on, take quick showers, do full loads of wash". So, now I am scared to bath too much or wash my clothes too often. It really is fascinating and somewhat refreshing to make yourself think about how much water one uses. What a great lesson. Liam, of course, sensed my worry about the situation and told me one day that maybe we should just buy a lot of hand santiizer so we wouldn't need to turn on the faucet. I am starting to realize that we don't need to be that extreme and that this will all be fine. Rain sure does bring on a different meaning all of a sudden, and after the tail end of Cyclone Wilma came through the other night, sounds like we will be set for at least another 10 weeks.
 |
| Our Water Supply out back |
 |
| and, my first load of wash on the line |
As for the traveling with my children and what three weeks of it would do to us, I'll tell you, it has made them despise getting into a car. They are done with any sort of sight seeing or driving. I was so excited that we would be traveling without diapers, strollers, pack n plays, or diaper bags. Why did not anyone warn me about the car fighting? Of course, I remember it from my own youth now. But, prior to this journey, I do not remember our children instantly start fighting with each and whining as soon as we enter a car. I don't even feel like we did that much car traveling. I hate to break it to them, but we just moved to one of the more isolated cities in New Zealand and going just about anywhere else entails a day's drive of windy, hilly land. Oh, Crap!!
No comments:
Post a Comment