# I came, I saw...



## Fuzz

Hi all, I've finally made it over to New Zealand now. We shipped our belongings off from London at the end of February. My wife came at the end of March and I finished up my work in London and arrived a couple of weeks ago (with our 7-year old), here on the Canterbury plain. My impressions, thoughts, and views...

We arrived on a gorgeously sunny day. Went for a walk at the local park. Great to see the mountains again (we lived in Colorado for 10 years)...










Still a bit weird to see autumn, given that we were just in spring...










Love having ferns in the garden...










Drove down 20 minutes to the Pacific at Wakanui Beach -- closest I've lived to the ocean so far...










The area here is a combination of the American Midwest + Rocky Mountains + European Alps -- green farms with snow-capped mountains in the background, two-lane roads going off into the distance...










Everything is quite laid back and everyone is VERY friendly. Still find it a bit odd to see people going barefoot in stores, schools, etc.


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## mrsbrightside7

Great update!

I'm moving to Wellington with my 7 yr old this year, did yours cope with the move ok? Excited/nervous? How are they settling in at school etc?


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## Fuzz

mrsbrightside7 said:


> Great update!
> 
> I'm moving to Wellington with my 7 yr old this year, did yours cope with the move ok? Excited/nervous? How are they settling in at school etc?


Thanks. Yes, our 7-year old is doing well. We already moved from America to London when he was 5, so he's used to moving. He loves playing outside and hiking (from when we lived in Colorado), so he's looking forward to being near the mountains again -- that helped. He also got into Lord of the Rings (including watching the movies), so he's been excited to see the movie locations. I think all those things made it easier and made him look forward to it.

Since we've been here, he's loved going to the seaside (even if just to throw rocks in the waves) and the mountains.

He seems to be settling in okay at school. Two things helped immensely I think. First is that we arrived in the middle of the term break, so he was able to get into a good routine at home (eating, sleeping) and get used to living here first for a a week before he started school. Second was meeting a couple of his classmates before classes started. One of the owners at my wife's firm had friends with kids in his class, so she brought two of them over the Sunday before school. They got along and played together for an hour, so when he showed up at school the next morning, he already knew someone. Kids here seem to be more physically active than in London.

The stuff he's doing here seems a bit easier and classes seem more easy-going than in London. We're okay with that, because we felt that the (public) school in London was quite stressful with lots of homework and a lot of pressure to do more and more and faster and faster. My wife and I are both well educated and believe in the value of good education, but it just seemed a bit much for a 7-year old.

Everyone has been very nice and helpful, so that makes it easy. We did all his enrollment paperwork before we moved.

A couple of good websites about education:
- After 3 years at school - Ministry of Education
- Parents and whānau - Ministry of Education


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## Fuzz

For our first foray into the mountains, we made it to Erewhon, where Rohan and Edoras were set in the Lord of The Rings movies. What a gorgeous place!

The Black Mountains in reflection...










Road to Rohan...










The Plains of Rohan...










Mt. D'Archiac...










Edoras...











Ben McLeod Range...


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## Kimbella

Congrats on making it down! The autumn here has been a little tricky here in Chch, as you might have heard or experienced... but, we've had some lovely days for sure! Nice to hear your impressions are so far positive, and hope they remain that way!


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## Fuzz

Kimbella said:


> Congrats on making it down! The autumn here has been a little tricky here in Chch, as you might have heard or experienced... but, we've had some lovely days for sure! Nice to hear your impressions are so far positive, and hope they remain that way!


We're about an hour south of Christchurch, but not sure what you mean by "tricky" autumn, since it's my first time here.  It is a lot warmer than I'm used to for autumn.

A few things I've noticed in the last 2 weeks since moving here...

1. The sun being on the northern half of the sky really made me confused for a while. I use the sun to orient myself a lot outdoors (e.g. for photography, hiking, biking, skiing, etc.). And that sun has always been on the southern part of the sky for me. It was only after moving here that I realized that my directions were off because the sun is in the north.


2. I've been pleasantly surprised at the diversity. Granted, it's not like London (where we moved from), but it's a lot more than many places we've lived before (e.g. Iowa).

3. I love the variety of residential architectural styles. Houses that look like they could be in the American Midwest, or in an English village, or in California. One that looks like a Frank Lloyd Wright design. Some like a New England clapboard style.

4. I've been taken aback by how lush it is here. England was green, but this seems like something else. Everything from ferns to palms to pines. I've been eyeing the lychees growing on my neighbour's tree that are hanging over the sidewalk!  We went hiking this past weekend and it was like being in Hawaii.

5. The Warehouse has been a life-saver for a new mover (for Americans, it's similar to a Target). Everything from light bulbs to bathroom rugs to televisions to clothing.

A few more things I've seen...

The weather's not always gorgeous and sunny. There is sometimes a low fog/cloud that shrouds the coast even when it's sunny inland.









This could be Iowa:









Drove down to Lake Tekapo for a very quick recon. After a lot of winding roads through brown foothills, the road opens up to this dramatic vista.









The setting of the lake itself is beautiful.









The lake itself is impossibly aquamarine in colour.


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## hitesh

fantastic pictures fuzz!! Would you mind telling me what camera you use for photography.

`hitesh


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## Kimbella

We're about an hour south of Christchurch, but not sure what you mean by "tricky" autumn, since it's my first time here.  It is a lot warmer than I'm used to for autumn.

A few things I've noticed in the last 2 weeks since moving here...

1. The sun being on the northern half of the sky really made me confused for a while. I use the sun to orient myself a lot outdoors (e.g. for photography, hiking, biking, skiing, etc.). And that sun has always been on the southern part of the sky for me. It was only after moving here that I realized that my directions were off because the sun is in the north.


2. I've been pleasantly surprised at the diversity. Granted, it's not like London (where we moved from), but it's a lot more than many places we've lived before (e.g. Iowa).

3. I love the variety of residential architectural styles. Houses that look like they could be in the American Midwest, or in an English village, or in California. One that looks like a Frank Lloyd Wright design. Some like a New England clapboard style.

4. I've been taken aback by how lush it is here. England was green, but this seems like something else. Everything from ferns to palms to pines. I've been eyeing the lychees growing on my neighbour's tree that are hanging over the sidewalk!  We went hiking this past weekend and it was like being in Hawaii.

5. The Warehouse has been a life-saver for a new mover (for Americans, it's similar to a Target). Everything from light bulbs to bathroom rugs to televisions to clothing.

A few more things I've seen...

The weather's not always gorgeous and sunny. There is sometimes a low fog/cloud that shrouds the coast even when it's sunny inland.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tricky as in the S Island (and the North) has had two good slaps by cyclones so far this autumn... not sure how much Ashburton suffered, by we've had severe flooding in Chch on 3 different occasions so far ... I live 2 houses from the Heathcote River, so get to watch the water marching up the road... luckily we're on an incline, so unlikely to be flooded out directly, although our neighbors get it to the top of their doorsteps!
Funny how our impressions are based on reference ... I'm used to California autumn, so it is *much* colder here for me!

Great pics! When the weather turns warm, go toward Arthur's Pass in the S Alps ... near a place called Castle Hill is an underground stream and cave called "Cave Stream" that you can go through. It's *amazing* if that's your kind of thing! Also, just a ways up, is a beautiful hike to the amazing "Devil's Punchbowl" falls.. seriously beautiful, and even farther up, in Arthur's Pass itself you can find the famous Kea's to take pics of while they eat your car. We popped over there a few weeks ago and had 8 mountain parrots around us, several on our car, one trying to eat the roof rack rubber, one hopping over to my husband's hand, hoping for food!
Just FYI on the cavestream thing, if you ever go--best to use wetsuits with some sort of thermal layer under, definitely a good headlamp (pitch black once inside); good shoes... the water is cooooooold, but once your feet and hands go numb you don't mind! lol
Honestly, it's SUPER neat, and not too hard. I'm an early 40's housewife and managed ... it's about a 45 minute hike through it (in varying heights of water at times, deepest was up to my hips at one brief point). 
Also, Akaroa Harbour has amazing chances to see and swim with the Hector's Dolphins. We own jet-skis and the best ride we had there had a pod of about 2 dozen dolphins completely surrounding our skis near the Heads ... they stayed for 30 to 40 mins, sliding up to the skis (which were turned off), bumping the bottoms, just generally being friendly and curious! It was AWESOME! In Lyttleton Harbour they don't get too close when we cut the engines, but they LOVE to "race" the skis and pop out of the water ahead of us ... sooooo cool!

Anyway, again, welcome to the S Island, and enjoy settling in!

Cheers,
Kim


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## Fuzz

^ Thanks for all the tips.

The weather has honestly been a pleasant surprise. I was expecting cold, cloudy, rainy weather like London (given the averages I'd looked up). But it has been amazingly mild. So sunny most of the times. When it rains, it rains hard, which probably makes up the average, unlike in London where it drizzles non-stop for a long time.

On a different front, we bought a basic Sony Blu-Ray player (BDP-S1100) from the Warehouse for $130. Although it doesn't say anywhere on the box or specs, turns out it is a multi-region player. We've been playing DVDs purchased in the US, UK, and NZ -- my son is really excited that he can watch his US movies again after two years.

Went on a walk up to Sharplin Falls on Mt. Somers a few weekends ago. Unbelievably wet and lush -- felt like being in Hawaii...

Wet and green ferns









Moss growing everywhere









Sharplin Falls









Went for a bike ride the other day. I'd done all my biking in Colorado, so it was a change to be biking for miles without having to climb hills! The views were very nice still. Although, breathing while passing some of the farms was tough!









The Nor'west Arch -- took me a few days to notice it, but it does make for fantastic, almost surreal lighting, especially around sunset.









Had a brilliant rainbow one day as well









Never seen the colours so bright


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## anski

Lovely images, Thanks for sharing with us.


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## Shine Mo

I have come to this forum soo many times just to inhale the beautiful imagery you are able to capture! amazing stuff! Do you have a website?


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