New (Zealand, Year, House)

We've moved! Since our University-owned house wasn't going to be available past February, we've been looking for an alternative. This house is cheaper ($300/wk vs. $495/wk) but we have to deal with phone and electricity connections/bills ourselves. Its further from campus (walking takes 25min vs. 8min) and smaller (approx. 1000 sqft vs. 1500 sqft), but newer and not on a busy street and we can get broadband at home (priced per megabyte). Like most houses it has lots of single pane windows, no window screens, no insulation and only a night-store heater. Weather has been warming up, and the lack of mosquitoes means that we open windows and doors during the day.

It belongs to a nice retired man who is moving in with his new wife. He split his original lot, and built this house in his former backyard. The house is immaculate and furnished for retirement with velour upholstered furniture with doilies and ottomans. When Karen and I sit in our matching chairs in the evening, especially over the holidays, it feels like we've fast forwarded twenty years into our retirement home. Of course Abby happily shatters that illusion as she scooters by the window.

Some holiday traditions have changed, no football or really any news about U.S. sports. Cricket, Black Caps vs. Bangladesh, has been the big news here. One of our New Year's resolutions is to figure out cricket (we're punting on rugby).

I guess it's just a guy thing, but I find that I'm interested in the different kinds of cars available here. NZ, like the rest of the world, has much smaller and fuel efficient cars many with diesel options. Pickups (called Utes) are rare and almost every car has a trailer hitch. You see plenty of small sedans pulling boats and campers, which also must weigh less here. You do see the 4WD sport utility trend here. Like the many U.S. SUVs that never leave the highway with extra off road grills, etc.; the most common macho accessory here seems to be the addition of a "snorkel" so that you can ford rivers on your way to work.

If you're interested, here's some links to NZ car options:
Holden (GM, check out the VE ute)
Nissan
Toyota
Mitsubishi (check out the i-car)
Ford (check out the Falcon ute)
Honda (check out the Odyssey)

We're going to a movie and having some champagne for New Years tonight. We hope everyone has a safe and happy new year. Cheers, Bob