Getting settled
We have arrived! Three weeks ago, in fact. We left on August 21, spent 4 days in Victoria, BC, to refresh, and arrived in Nelson, New Zealand, on August 27.
Getting ready: C+
Getting ready was tonnes of work, but nothing went wrong (the plus grade is for all the help we got from Nicky and Rick).
Air travel: D
No need to recount the exact details. Some of the time it was not awful, which is why I don't give it an F. The kids slept on Air NZ's sky couch, but Mathieu wasn't impressed when he realized he was sleeping next to Nico. Nico was running on empty in Auckland airport so we fed him chocolate. Nico's screaming got us a fast pass through customs and immigration (and an airport worker pushed one of the carts for us; we were lugging 2 diono radians and it was borderline unfeasible. In addition, a kind stranger pushed one of the radians from the international to the domestic terminal). We nearly missed our connection, but come to think of it, that happened last time we traveled to Nelson too.
Weather in Richmond: A-
The minus is cause it's cold, but it is spring so I'll let that slide. Nice and sunny, and easy to get out anytime.
Getting settled: B
We've done what we can, but we aren't able to move into our house till next week. We also still need to buy a car. The one way we have managed to settle in is the kids started daycare last week.
Daycare
The daycare we are at is more unstructured than we are used too (not a lot of activities scheduled during the day). There are around 30 kids, Mathieu is in the kea group (nearly school age) and Nico is in the kiwi group (youngest kids), but most of the time the kids are in the same area. We have to pack lunches and I spent too much money on fancy lunchboxes (but they do have batman on them!). The toys and grounds at daycare are amazing. There is an apricot tree to climb, a mud pit, 2 guinea pigs and on his first day Mathieu sawed through a piece of wood. Daycare has field trips for the older kids: next week Mathieu is going on a bus trip to the boulder bank and Shawn is a parent volunteer. Once a week the kids have kapa haka. I thought they were going to learn the actual haka, but Mathieu said what he learnt involved doing a twirl, so I think he learnt something different.
Last weekend, the All Blacks were in Nelson (the first time since 1870). The kids did a great job sporting their supporters sweatshirts at daycare on Friday. Mathieu's group went to practice rugby. They could chose from running, passing, or tackling, and Mathieu chose running. He further practiced his skills on the weekend against Granddad. Mathieu was quoted as saying 'I was holding the ball and Granddad carried me across the line, but that doesn't count' - he is probably correct.
Rugby
Shawn and I got to go to the Rugby (thanks Mum and Dad!). Seeing the All Blacks was special and what a great way to start our kiwi adventure!
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| At the beach in Victoria. The kids got really wet, but had a blast. Thanks to Dave and Luise for taking this photo. |
Getting ready: C+
Getting ready was tonnes of work, but nothing went wrong (the plus grade is for all the help we got from Nicky and Rick).
Air travel: D
No need to recount the exact details. Some of the time it was not awful, which is why I don't give it an F. The kids slept on Air NZ's sky couch, but Mathieu wasn't impressed when he realized he was sleeping next to Nico. Nico was running on empty in Auckland airport so we fed him chocolate. Nico's screaming got us a fast pass through customs and immigration (and an airport worker pushed one of the carts for us; we were lugging 2 diono radians and it was borderline unfeasible. In addition, a kind stranger pushed one of the radians from the international to the domestic terminal). We nearly missed our connection, but come to think of it, that happened last time we traveled to Nelson too.
Weather in Richmond: A-
The minus is cause it's cold, but it is spring so I'll let that slide. Nice and sunny, and easy to get out anytime.
Getting settled: B
We've done what we can, but we aren't able to move into our house till next week. We also still need to buy a car. The one way we have managed to settle in is the kids started daycare last week.
Daycare
The daycare we are at is more unstructured than we are used too (not a lot of activities scheduled during the day). There are around 30 kids, Mathieu is in the kea group (nearly school age) and Nico is in the kiwi group (youngest kids), but most of the time the kids are in the same area. We have to pack lunches and I spent too much money on fancy lunchboxes (but they do have batman on them!). The toys and grounds at daycare are amazing. There is an apricot tree to climb, a mud pit, 2 guinea pigs and on his first day Mathieu sawed through a piece of wood. Daycare has field trips for the older kids: next week Mathieu is going on a bus trip to the boulder bank and Shawn is a parent volunteer. Once a week the kids have kapa haka. I thought they were going to learn the actual haka, but Mathieu said what he learnt involved doing a twirl, so I think he learnt something different.
Last weekend, the All Blacks were in Nelson (the first time since 1870). The kids did a great job sporting their supporters sweatshirts at daycare on Friday. Mathieu's group went to practice rugby. They could chose from running, passing, or tackling, and Mathieu chose running. He further practiced his skills on the weekend against Granddad. Mathieu was quoted as saying 'I was holding the ball and Granddad carried me across the line, but that doesn't count' - he is probably correct.
Rugby
Shawn and I got to go to the Rugby (thanks Mum and Dad!). Seeing the All Blacks was special and what a great way to start our kiwi adventure!
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