I think I saw a Turkey...

These are words whispered by American expats throughout town. Turkeys are hard to come by. Really hard to find and HORRIBLY expensive. Like Hope Diamond Expensive. But, as I tell myself we only eat it once a year so it is worth the splurge.

Yep, I just paid $56 dollars for about 7lbs of turkey. I am a desperate turkey girl

You have to realize when you are in a place that has NO idea about the super holiday Thanksgiving it can be hella hard trying to plan a meal. Actually, it isn't impossible but it takes planning. This is how we plan:

1) One month before Thanksgiving pull out all of Mom's recipes and write down ingredient list
2) Go to store and realize most things you need aren't on list
3) Go back home, get on Internet and find things needed on list
4) Spend days on ingredient list trying to figure out whether or not Amazon will get a certain ingredient to you in time. If not, go to website #2 and then #3 to see if you can get certain ingredients
5) Realize that one ingredient isn't sold in New Zealand so then go back to Internet to research hacks on how to make ingredient from scratch
6) Get ingredient list for hacked recipe for the actual ingredient that you need
7) Develop anxiety about going to store so close to Thanksgiving
8) Get to store and realize it's empty like normal because no one knows its Thanksgiving
9) Find ingredient for hacked recipe and rejoice
10) Go home and wait for box to arrive with all other ingredients so you can put together a proper Thanksgiving meal

Oh and did I mention Turkeys are hard to find? And when you do find them you get sad. Really sad because their turkeys are about the size of a large chicken back home. So I usually spend about an hour grumbling about the price of the turkey and then seriously concerned about the sickly size of the bird. I have to admit, it makes it SO much easier to thaw, brine and cook!!! Hubby smoked ours last year (mostly because it was tiny and able to fit in his grill)

No, that is a turkey...not a chicken.

What really sucks is that living in Hawaii, we had really good sized turkeys wandering around in our yard ALL the time. We could have had free Thanksgiving turkey every day!

Wild turkeys in our yard in Hawaii

With my two years worth of research and now one Thanksgiving and two Christmases under my belt I feel that I am an expert of finding stashes of American goodies that are necessary for a good Southern style holiday.

If you are interested in finding Turkeys in New Zealand here are two great places that have them:
Crozier's Turkeys
Canter Valley Turkeys

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

The Convenience of Inconvenience

I have a love-hate relationship with my life here. I love that things move at a slower pace. I love that New Zealand (overall) is very laid back and chill. But I sometimes hate those things. I know that this sounds silly but its true. You can't go from living in a country of 340 million people to a country of 4 million without feeling some kinda way. Its like stepping on the brakes when you've been driving 60mph. Definitely some whiplash involved. That being said, its been two years now since we've moved and I am still having flashbacks to the convenience of the hyperactive, crazy paced life of the States.

There is a time in every ones life that you NEED to run out to the store and get some cookies at 1am. (No? Is that just me?) Anyway, when things like that come up its nice to know that there is a 7-11 or some sort of 24 hour place just waiting with open arms for you to come in. What's not to love about shopping at Walmart at 1 am just so you can have the whole place to yourself...(No? That's just me again?) I have learned that in small town New Zealand there is no such thing as 24 hour ANYTHING. You're lucky if you can find a gas station open. Forget about such silly things as making a Walmart run or maybe even getting a Snickers bar after 10pm. You will be Snicker-less.

I know, this sounds ridiculous. And it is. It is a silly complaint but a valid observation.

This is what I have observed about our stores in small town New Zealand:

Weird Hours
The major grocery store chains have respectable hours. From 7am-10pm. That is legit. Sucks for you if you have late night cravings. Most other stores like clothing stores, bookstores, etc will close between 4-5pm. I have seen store owners locking doors at 4:50. You may not get the extra 10 minutes. You gotta be sharp and do some goal directed shopping cause the lights can and will be shut off at the stroke of 5. Some places don't even pretend to want to get to 5pm. I actually called a store recently and was told they close at  "a quarter to 5pm". This is the best way to ensure you and your staff will be home by 5. And if you are lucky, you can tear outta work and get to another store before they close at 5pm.

"Late Hours"
This is my favorite misnomer. During the holidays many stores will advertise "Open Late for Christmas Shopping!" This will make you THINK you have an extra 5-10 minutes to hang out at work, getting stuff done and then head to the store but "Late Hours" will only buy you time until about 5:30..6pm IF they are feeling extra generous. There was quite a buzz started recently because one of our two department stores in town stayed open one night until 11pm! Everyone in town was talking about it and pretty much half the town was there at night. Mostly staring at each other under the bright neon lights, chatting and having a late night social party. Stuff like that only happens in small towns and once a year. It is on my calendar this year.

Just Plain Closed
This has to be the oddest thing I've ever seen. There is a nice coffee/brunch place in town. I had been there once before with a friend and was looking forward to going back with my family for a nice Saturday brunch. After packing up the little one and driving the whole 5 minutes into town we get to the restaurant and were greeted by a nice, handwritten sign hanging in the window that said:
"Sorry, we are closed for a holiday. We will be back in 3 weeks. Thanks again for you business and see you soon"
I stood there, reading that sign over and over again completely baffled by this idea. How does one close a restaurant for 3 weeks to go on vacation??? I couldn't imagine somewhere like Chipotle or good forbid, Chili's closing for 3 weeks. I'm sure the US would be plunged into anarchy and darkness until they reopened. On the flip side how cool is it that you could take 3 weeks of vacation and NOT loose your livelihood when you returned. I wasn't too sure if that would be possible but sure enough, 3 weeks after the sign went up, the owners returned, the doors opened and they were full and popular again. No one seemed annoyed by their vacation time. Novel idea.

Winter Hours
I didn't know this was a thing but I can totally understand. I am not nor have I ever been a Winter girl. I can't stand the gloomy days, the cold the long nights and seemingly endless darkness. Ugh! Seems like I'm not the only one. Being closed during the Winter totally is a thing here. There have been many restaurants and shops that will just lock the doors and turn on the answering machine for the whole of winter. I cannot tell you how many times we have made plans to go out only to find out something is "Closed for the Season". I totally dig that idea. We should all just jump in some flannel PJ's and snuggle up on the couch for the entirety of the winter months. That would be awesome.

So even though I complain (in jest) I have to admit, I love the fact that you can actually slow down and NOT be expected to be in a 24 hour, fast paced society. This is part of our process in becoming expats. To adjust our expectations and to embrace the norms in our adopted country. For us it means that we have to go into town and shop like everyone else between the magic hours of 9-4. It also means calling a business before heading out to see if they are indeed open (or possibly closed for Groundhog's Day) and more importantly it means stocking up on cookies and Snickers bars because Lord knows when the late night snack craving will hit you...and there is no such thing as a Late Night here. :) Goodnight!

Island Hopping

When you decide to uproot your entire life and move to a foreign country things will have to change. For us, that meant tightening our budget. Food and entertainment are a lot more expensive than they are back in the USA. For us its not an issue. We have more family dinners and more time to explore outside rather than go to movies and basketball games. We had to give a lot of that up. Another thing we LOVE that we had to significantly scale back was our travel budget….GASP!
ANYONE that knows us KNOWS that travel is our life blood. We spent 6 of the greatest months of our lives traveling around the world, living out of suitcases and spending months in countries pretending to be locals :) For anyone that wants to re-live that wonderful adventure click here.

Anyway when Bruce told me that we were not going to be traveling any farther than the immediate area at first I went through the classic stages of Denial:

-First I thought he was joking. There is no way I could not travel. He wasn't joking
-Then I thought I would go nuts. I can NOT NOT travel!!!
-Then I thought I could run away. Hard to do that with a job and family (darn it!)

And come to find out, unless we figure out how to kick this nasty habit of needing food and shelter it looks like we will be working for a while…

So according to Bruce's budget rules we would have to find really good deals and we would need to limit our travel distance to less than 5 hours from home (by flight)

I was devastated. That meant no Scandinavian trip next summer or a Middle Eastern visit to my brother in the spring. We would be stuck…..hmmm, or would we??

What is WRONG with me??

I grabbed my trusty Lonely Planet guide and my eyes lit up with the delicious "problem" that I had.
We friggin live in the South Pacific!!!!!! OMG!

So it looks like my only trips would be restricted to the lovely islands surrounding our home country of New Zealand.
What a great problem to have! (Thanks Bruce!)
So with this new realization, I started flipping through the book, did some flight research and within one week we were off on a plane to Samoa!!!

Samoa is a beautiful island nation about 3.5 hours from Auckland. Settled by early Lapita Polynesian peoples about 3,000 years ago, Samoa became colonized by the Europeans in the 18th century.
They finally gained their independence from New Zealand in 1962 and subsequently part of the eastern island became a territory of the United States and is now known as American Samoa. We actually visited the "real" Samoa and not the American territory. Interestingly enough, the American territory is very underdeveloped as far as tourism and has few hotels or resorts but is known to have BEAUTIFUL beaches and reefs for snorkeling and diving.

Samoa itself is just jumping onto the tourism wagon. In fact, it seems like Hawaii circa 1940's. There are only a handful of hotels and beachfront resorts. There were lots of stretches of pristine beach without civilization around for miles! I'm sure you'd NEVER find anything like that in Tahiti or Hawaii.

We landed in Samoa and were smacked in the face with the incredible heat and humidity.
It was lush, green and beautiful…exactly as we expected.

We arrived at our resort which was on the northwestern side of the island it seemed a bit…empty.
At first I just thought it was because we arrived so late but I didn't see or hear anything that you would expect for a bustling beach resort. The next morning we were so excited to see daylight and to explore our surroundings. With Noa in tow, we jumped up and left the room. We passed by room after room noticing open curtains and emptiness. By the time we arrived for breakfast we realized…we were the ONLY ones there. We had breakfast in the restaurant alone and then ventured out to the beach front. Instead of the usual throngs of people clamoring to get beach chairs we saw nothing. No one. Just us.
For some people that would have been a bummer but for two old parents in their 40's we were like "WHOO HOO!" That means no one around to witness any tantrums thrown by Noa, no worries about baby toys being chucked too close to sleeping sun bathers, no one around to ask us to turn music down.

We had the ENTIRE beach to ourselves. The even cooler part was the resort staff. They were AMAZING! I'm not sure if it was because we were one of 4 families staying at a resort that can hold 200+ or if it was the wonderfully warm Samoan hospitality but I think it was both. The Samoans were warm, welcoming and loved to chat with us. We learned the name of everyone that worked at the resort by the 4th day we were there. They loved Noa and doted on him constantly. For whatever reason, no one could grasp the idea that he is a boy. I don't know if its the big curly hair or what but poor Noa was called a "sweet girl" more than I would have liked.

After 5 days of blissful chilling around the beach and pool, we got back into our "usual" selves and decided to go out for some exploring.
One of the lovely guys that worked at the resort was sweet enough to offer us a day of  exploring some of the sights and beauty that Samoa has to offer.

We loaded up Noa and were off to circumnavigate the island of Upolu.
Our first stop was the beautiful waterfall of Sopoaga. It is located in Lotofaga village where there was even a demonstration on how to make coconut cream!

Next stop was To Sua Ocean Trench. OMG! It is the most amazing natural feature i'd ever seen. It was formed from a collapsed cavern that filled up with sea water. There is a HUGE ladder that descended into the trench which I was nominated to crawl down. It was TERRIFYING! The ladder was long, slippery and seemed to plummet into the earth. I shook with every step down but I had to do it! I didn't want to regret the opportunity to swim in this amazing water.

Last stop was the pristine beach of Lalomanu. I thought it was beautiful at the beach on our resort. I was so WRONG!!! White sand beaches, turquoise ocean and NO HOTELS in sight! How is that possible?! I kept thinking that if this was Hawaii, Miami, Rio or any other spot in the world with a beach we'd be surrounded by high rise condos, beachfront resorts and throngs of people.
We enjoyed a much needed plunge into the bath temperature waters and admired the view.
Unfortunately, the rip current and waves were a lot bigger than on the north side of the island. Noa was used to playing in the harmless surf near the hotel. He almost got smashed by a couple of waves and before he could be swept out to neighboring Tonga, we decided to leave.

Lunch was hosted at the village of Saagafou. It was some of the best hospitality we'd ever experienced. It was like we actually lived there. The family that hosted us make their traditional fish dish, oka. It was raw fish marinated in a beautiful coconut cream sauce with onions and seasonings. We also had jackfruit, taro and mangoes. The lunch was superb and was even better because it was such a relaxed atmosphere. We felt like we were at home. We relaxed and Noa played with the kids. It was so beautiful to see. They couldn't understand each other but they still had a ball running around and playing some type imaginary game that involved lots of noise.

The trip would have been perfect except for some little bacteria that decided to hitch hike inside our wonderful lunch at the village. Within 24 hours I knew every nook and cranny of our beautiful bathroom. I was barely able to make the trip home but thankfully after 3 liters of IV fluids, some anti-nausea medication and 15 unnecessary pounds later we were safe and sound back in New Zealand.

Samoa is a great place and I HIGHLY recommend a visit there. It still relatively undeveloped compared to some other Polynesian islands but holds a beautiful charm and we will definitely see it again…

Unless of course we get to New Caledonia, Tonga, Tahiti or Vanuatu next...

Do I have to be your friend?

Have you ever thought that you would like someone just cause their from the same state as you?

Of course not. The United States is a huge, diverse melting pot full of different cultures, regions and even accents that make us all unique. All Bostonians don't love other Bostonians. It just doesn't work that way.

That is why it tickles me when our Kiwi friends insist that we are going to be BFF's with any American in a 50 mile radius. Of course, I will be friendly and warm and welcoming but I don't think i'm going to marry my son off to their daughter because they are from Kansas.

What I have found about living overseas and being an expat is that my original thoughts on this was wrong. You do become VERY close to your fellow Americans. I would hazard to say we are more frequently social with people here than we were back home!!!

We find common ground and chat about things that don't require definitions or explanations. We also have lots in common. I've found that for anyone that has taken the plunge and moved halfway around the globe (LITERALLY) we are going to have LOTS in common.

This is usually what happens. Whenever we meet a fellow American we cover the following topics:

1) What the heck brought you out here

2) Does your family think you are crazy

3) Were we crazy for doing this

4) How beautiful New Zealand is

5) How expensive New Zealand is

6) How much it cost to get your stuff shipped here

And the ubiquitous

7) where you can find American goodies

We are now experts on the ins and outs of 40ft shipping containers, their costs and the fun dealings with NZ Customs service. I have found that when you meet a new expat expect to devote at least 2 hours to this topic. We all love to moan about the cost of the container but everyone gets the twinkle in their eye when they talk about the goodies they brought with them from home.

 It is fair to say that the people I am friends with here would not be in my normal circle back home. Not because we were elitist or crazy but because you don't usually have the chance to have such a diverse group of people around you with similar interests/views in one little suburb in the states.
For example, our closest American friends right now are:
-A couple from Phoenix

-A couple from New Orleans

-A couple from Colorado

-A couple of guys from Oregon

-A couple from South Carolina

-A couple from Chicago

-A lady from Alaska

-A guy from Utah

Seriously, it doesn't get more hodgepodge than that.
Any American can tell you that your culture varies based on where in the country you are from. I'm from the South. A true "Southern Girl". Everything I had was deep fried, I'm all about sweet tea and SEC football and a twang to my speech. I know NOTHING about folks from Alaska and even less about folk from Utah. Somehow, each of us have developed a relationship based on the shared culture of just being "American". Sounds corny, but true.

So this year when we have a big Thanksgiving potluck as we always do, we can eat, laugh, drink and talk and even watch some football and enjoy ourselves as a rag-tag bunch of Kiwi-Americans.

Learning our little town

So we have been here in Blenheim for about 1 year now. It is an awesome little spot.

Lots of cafes, lots of sunshine and LOTS of wine about....My kind of place!!



We are learning a lot about our little town...Weird things...but interesting...

1) Blenheim is the sunniest place in New Zealand. That is great, right? But New Zealand happens to be in the Southern Hemisphere very close to the wonderful hole we have burned in our ozone layer that lets all the bad sunshine rays in...That means everyone is at risk of sun damage. You laugh but we have burned here...twice now. Bruce was out walking around downtown and later that evening we could have fried an egg on his head it was so hot and red. We now have several tubes of SPF 50-100 right next to the front door as a reminder before you go out to get baked

2) Blenheim is the Honeycomb Hideout for people with lots of cash
We lived in New Zealand almost two years before. I can count on my fingertips the number of "high end" cars like BMW and Mercedes that I saw in that two years. I have been here a year and I have seen a Maserati, a Jaguar and several Porsches a Ferrari and even a Rolls!....I was told that most of the money around here comes from the wineries directly...it is very obvious. Lots of nice houses and many nice cars...






3) There are a lot of people here from random Pacific Islands
Mostly Vanuatu. Vanuatu is a chain of islands in the South Pacific. The people of Vanuatu are Melanesian which means they are very brown. So as you can imagine, when they saw us they were shocked as we were to see them.

boys on the beach in Vanuatu

When Bruce told them we were from the USA they didn't believe us. They thought that the USA only had rich Caucasian people  and we were making up stories.
They still seemed very amused by us. After chatting with them for several minutes we parted ways but they still had not decided where we were really from. It was clear they didn't think we were Americans...
There are also a host of people from random little islands that I have NEVER heard of. Kiribati, Niue, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Nauru, Solomon Islands and the list goes on. All I can tell you is that most of them look like THIS:

4) Nelson is the big "sister" city

Nelson is the town over the hill. Nelson is touted as the big city, where everyone goes to shop and do business. It is about 1.5 hours through a windy, mountains road. We traveled to Nelson several times and we were a little confused about the title of a "big" city. To us, Nelson seemed only a tad bigger than Blenheim. They have a couple more shops and a slightly bigger airport but that was about it...Not sure who decided that it was a bigger or better city. It is beautiful, right on the water and very close to some of the best beaches on the South Island. I guess that is where we go when we need a taste of a big city..but alas, its not really a "city". It's more like a slightly bigger Blenheim with more shops.

The true city near us is our beautiful capital city of Wellington. Many of you don't know this but Wellington, not Auckland, is the capital of New Zealand.  Almost ALL international flights terminate in Auckland, it is bigger, more populous and more popular that lil ol' Wellington. Kinda like Sacramento and Los Angeles….(no one realizes LA is only the capital of weirdness and avocado lovers :)

Anyway, we LOVE Wellington. It is a walkable, hip, urban, cool, awesome city. Great people, great restaurants and a really great vibe. Its known as "Windy Welly" because its usually got horrific weather but every time we've been there we are blessed with sunshine and calm skies.

Unlike our last little town of Invercargill, Blenheim is definitely got the ease of travel. We can get to Wellington on a quick 20 min flight on a puddle jumper or we can even take the ferry across the Cook Strait! We have been to Wellington bunches of times and it hasn't gotten old!

We are looking forward to exploring the beauty of the top of the sunny South Island!

Will keep you posted!



LG...Life's Good

"Sweet Jesus, they have hot sauce!!"

That was me, yelling down the aisle at Bruce in our neighborhood grocery store. It may seem ridiculous to you but that is a very BIG deal here. When we lived in Invercargill in 2010, I would have sold non essential body parts for a swig of Tabasco or Louisiana Hot Sauce. Its amazing what you miss when you move overseas. People seem to think about big things: I'll miss my car, Ill miss my favorite coffee shop but lets be real, those things can be replaced. You can get  another car and you can find a new coffee hangout. What you don't realize is the little parts of your every day. Like Cottonelle Flushable Toilet wipes or Butterfingers candy bars. (Random, I know)

Being away from your home culture really magnifies those things you took for granted that are not even important. I credit our move to New Zealand with making me a better, more inventive cook.
Why? Cause we don't have all of the pre-packaged, processed convenience foods like we do back home. At least we didn't back in 2010. It is amazing how small the world has gotten in just 3 years. Strolling down the aisles of the grocery store in 2010 is VERY different from now. I swear the selection of goods has tripled! I have found all sorts of goodies that I KNOW we didn't have when we lived here before. Hot sauces, condiments, convenience foods, etc are all easy to find. Our local grocery store even has a little corner on the back of one aisle dedicated to "American foods".
My defining moment was when I stumbled upon a store in Auckland that imports food from the USA. I immediately notified the expat community of my find. It was like calling people to tell them they won the Publishers Clearinghouse Lottery.

Me: "OMG I have found Cheetos"
Rachel: "Shut UP!"
Me: "No seriously and they have ChipsAhoy, Ho-ho's and I'm pretty sure I saw some Texas Pete's."
Rachel: "I'm so excited!! Do you think they have barbecue sauce?"
Me: "At least 10 brands"
Rachel: "My LORD"
Me: "Go forth and buy and pass this website on to our people"

Yeah, it was that important.

Yes, I feel silly and shallow but I totally MISS certain things.
Like what? I can't really say. Its the thingie you need when you are cooking something that you can't find here. Or the normal junkie goodies that you have during Superbowl. Little, silly things.

I have learned to be creative and more of a true cook. Like I make my cornbread from SCRATCH now. Not Jiffy cornbread mix but real cornbread! Bruce can whip up the best condiments I've ever tasted. We are learning how to be Kiwi and enjoying more of the foods around us.

I figure in another year or so I won't even need the services of USAFoods.com….just as long as they sell hot sauce at my grocery store.

Who Says you Can't Go Home?

It would take me too long to catch you up. Thankfully my audience is ya'll (friends and family) but even so I'll do an ever so brief "review":

July 2011-Left New Zealand back to Phoenix

February 2012-Found out a wonderful surprise was on his way...see below :)

April 2012-Got Job back in New Zealand

June 2012-Pregnant, Couldn't travel to New Zealand :(

July 2012-Went to Kona, Hawaii to work

October 2012-Our little Aloha baby born

October 2013-Left Hawaii to go to New Zealand

That's it!!!

Ok, so now you have it all this is where we are.




We are back in the lovely country of New Zealand. Not too different from our last stint here although we have moved up to the tip of the South Island whereas last time we were at the bottom (affectionately know as the "arsehole of New Zealand"). We are in the Marlborough region which is the center of the major wine producing region of New Zealand.

Anytime you drink a Sauvignon or Pinot Noir from New Zealand more than likely it comes from this area. We live in a small town called Blenheim which only has a population of about 45,000 people. It has its claim to fame as being the "Napa Valley of New Zealand" and has all sorts of art galleries, small boutique hotels and restaurants with great wine. This also happens to be the sunniest place in New Zealand!

We have been here before, on a visit last time we lived here and we had a blast. In fact, we both got sunburned pretty badly by hanging out in the sun a tad too long. (Imagine that!)

So now we are here, in the middle of beautiful wine country with a baby in tow.
I'll be honest, I don't think I'll be writing those big, nice long blogs like before.
I think these will be more like random musings about life here in New Zealand

I promise I'll keep you guys posted!