Recycling in Blenheim

So I'm pretty sure that the Recycling program in Blenheim is one of the crappiest, archaic systems available in NZ. Since we do not have curbside (spelled kerbside here) recycling, we are forced to manage it all ourselves. Now for someone as recycling-happy as me, this isn't so much of a problem. But when I explain the process by which one must follow to execute their household recycling in this town, you will quickly realize how few families/households will actually follow through with it.

Step 1: Gather recycling from the side of our house that has accumulated since we moved in at the end of January.

Step 2: Load recycling into my roommate Nichola's car.

Step 3: Drive to Recycling Center. Notice the incredibly generous hours of operation.


Step 4: Remove recycling from the car, manually sort and drop it into the correct bin. Beware of scary Recycling Center manager who yells at people if they haven't taken the labels off their tin cans or if they haven't washed out their items to be recycled.

sidenote: lids from plastic milk jugs go in a separate bin, 4 or 5 bins down from the bin that the actual jugs go in.


Step 5: Visit the *other* recycling depot - across town, at the dump - to dispose of glass jars that the first recycling centre would not accept. We certainly had a good accumulation of wine bottles!


Now I'm just not sure what the statistics are on recycling participation in Blenheim, but Nic and I were discussing this one... given said barriers mentioned above, and how extremely keen we both are on the idea of recycling, and how it took us almost 2 months to drop off our goods, we're just not sure how many members of the general population would be willing to participate.

I'm starting to realize that NZ isn't the "green" country that it has the reputation of being... Yes, they are anti-nuclear, but man, they can certainly improve in other areas... Don't even get me started on the lack of insulation the buildings here! Yeah for heating the outdoors in the winter!!!

Staff Sing-Star Competition

Although "Rock Band" hasn't made it big here in NZ yet (I can't wait till it does!), Sony Playstation's "Sing Star" has. It's so big, that my school made it the center of our most recent social event on Friday after school.

I can't remember if I posted about our last social, but it was pretty funny. You show up in the staff room at 3:30 after all the kids have left to go home and there is a bar being staffed by one of the social committee members where you can buy drinks. $3 for a cheap wine, $5 for a nicer one. You can also buy beer if you don't like wine. Once you've got your drink in hand, you can sit and chill with other staff members - who needed the drink just as much as you did - and laugh about silly random things like how one of the DPs managed to put her hip out last week. I must say it was a bit strange buying alcohol in the staff room, and sitting there drinking it on school property. Kind of reminded me of my highschool days, but for very different reasons of course...

Last Friday was our sing-star competition that they had been advertising for a few weeks. When I was out the weekend before with some staff, we decided that we were going to enter as a group. We had fantastic plans for choreography and costumes and the whole works. Well, that didn't actually form in reality, but we were still called to participate anyways. Since there weren't enough microphones for all 4, we had to split. Claire and Willomyne did a great version of some classic tune from the 70s (I can't remember the name of it!) and Libby and I opted for Natalie Imbrulia's "Torn" since the group before us stole our first choice "Barbie Girl" by Aqua.

What a riot! We even had all 4 of our admin staff there and participating. Made for some really good laughs!

Now as cheesy as this whole idea sounds, and as lame as the pictures might make it seem, it really was a fantastic event. When I return back to Canada, wherever I end up getting a job (keeping fingers crossed that I WILL in fact find a job when I get home!!!), I am going to insist that our staff run a Sing Star competition on a regular basis. Fortnightly would be my vote, but even once a term would be a good start!

My Sister's Belly

So my wonderful father has taken it upon himself to send me very regular photo updates via email. In particular he likes to send me pictures of the snow (at my request!) to help keep me in the loop about things at home.

Today I received an email containing pictures of the snowbanks in Ottawa that my parents took while they were visiting my aunt and uncle last weekend. Pretty impressive indeed!



Dad also made sure he sent a picture of the 5cm snowfall they received today - the first day of spring. It certainly sounds like it's been a long winter in Canada!



Also included in this email was a picture of my sister and her 7-month pregnant belly. I can't describe how giddy I got when I saw it! I showed some of these picture to my classes today and was telling them how much I wished I could just reach out and touch her belly! It is so cute and round!! Laura... you are going to have to have another one just so that I can get the opportunity to touch your belly the next time around!

Easter Holiday on the West Coast

This weekend I traveled to the West Coast with Claire for a mini adventure. Since we had 5 days off for the Easter break, we thought we would capitalize on the opportunity to go exploring.

Before starting our adventure, we went out with some co-workers for a "night out" on the town after our ICT PD day finished on Thursday. Good times indeed - great opportunity to let loose and be silly! Learned a new term that night: "quiet ones". It basically means "a few drinks". To be used in a sentence, one might say "care to meet up for some quiet ones after work?"

Since Thursday night was a late night, Claire and I set out the next day sometime after lunch. No destination in mind, other than to the West to see the coast! We ended up in a small town called West Port where found a local bar serving an all you can eat buffet for dinner, and a Holiday Park (aka: camp ground) where we stayed the night in Claire's tent.

The next morning we head a bit south in search of the Pancake Rocks. Along the way we found a cool little lookout spot that had some great shots. We bumped into a group of people partaking in what appeared to be a memorial service complete with flower petals and ashes. Feeling like we had just crashed the wrong party, we quickly turned around and head back to the car to continue our search.



Next stop - Pancake Rocks. Ran into some cyclists from Colorado outside the visitors center and I chatted it up with them. Totally forgot to offer them a place to stay in Blenheim, but maybe they will find me on Couch Surfing or Warm Showers as they near the area. Pancake Rocks were really cool. They are basically the result of weathered limestone on the ocean's edge. Kind of reminded me of Flower Pot Island in Tobermory, but on a much larger and more dramatic scale. There were also these cool features called "blowholes" which were formations in the rock that allowed water and pressure from the angry waves below to release in one big powerful blow.







From there, we head back up North towards a small village called Karamea. This is the location of the start (or end) of the Heaphy Track which also happened to be where one of my coworkers owns a farm. In fact, Catherine and her husband, Nathan, had just moved to Blenheim after years of living on the farm there. But since they still own the property they were visiting family there for the weekend. And Catherine kindly invited Claire and I to join them. We happened to arrive on the day that they were celebrating their daughter Ayla's birthday, so we got to meet a bunch of their family and local kiwi friends.





The next morning Claire and I set off for the Heaphy Track. It was a misty/rainy kind of day, but luckily didn't pour down on us at any point. Caused us a few extra blisters due to our wet feet, but made for some comfortable walking conditions. The scenery was really stunning. So much variety in landscape and plantlife along the way. One minute you are in a lush rainforest-type canopy setting. The next minute you are hiking along a cliff overlooking the sea. Another while later you are walking along a golden sandy beach. And before you know it, you are back into a lush green forest. Really cool indeed!









Since the Heaphy Hut was booked solid that night, we had to opt for the Lewis Hut which was another 1.5 hour hike further. Definitely worth it though! Meant we got to cross a few more swing bridges (oooooh sooooo much fun!) and got to stay with a small group of fun people that night. There was a guy named Brion and his friend Marina who worked for a lawfirm in Auckland. There was also a group of ladies all over 50 years of age who often get together for weekend adventures like this one. They were a hilarious combination. Since they had spent the previous night together at another hut, they had gotten to know one another quite well and were an excellent source of entertainment for us! Part of the enjoyment of tramping in New Zealand is getting to stay in the huts, and meet a variety of people through a sort of forced social interaction that you wouldn't otherwise get if you were to camp in a campsite.

The next day, Claire and I head off fairly early so that we could still make it home to Blenheim for the night so we could stay in our own beds. It was a really gorgeous day but wasn't too hot. It's amazing how much the scenery changes and looks different when you are walking the other direction. It was really awesome! The only complaint I had was the sandflies that forced us to take our PB sandwiches for lunch "on the go" and the huge puffy blisters that continued to grow in size as the day progressed. It was actually a hilarious scene to watch Claire and I walk the last 2 hours or so. We must have had very similar conditions on our feet since we both slowed to a crawl and laughed at one another as we attempted to cross the rivers and start moving again after our snack and water breaks.





We stopped in Karamea on our way home where we were able to shower and clean ourselves up a bit before heading off. Stopped for a nice and greasy take-away meal in Westport and drove the rest of the way home. I got to experience driving on the highway, on the "wrong side of the road", for the first time to help Claire out with the driving. It was amazingly confusing at first - but actually normed out pretty quick. The trickiest part of all was getting used to the gear shift on the wrong side, but with the gears the "normal way". Oh yeah... and my blinkers and highbeams also feeling like they were in the wrong position. Since I'd never driven along mountainous roads, this was also a first for me. Although the posted speed limit is 100km/hour, I was lucky if I could keep it steady at 80. There are so many twists and turns in the road, that it's impossible to keep a steady pace. I definitely felt like a tourist driver along that stretch!

I'm so glad we had today off. I was able to sleep in, run some errands, and do some house cleaning today. I have some lesson planning to do, but will get that started shortly.

Happy Easter to all at home! I can not believe you are still getting loaded with snow!

Wither Hills

When I arrived in Blenheim, the landmark that definitely stood out the most was the large set of hills on the edge of town - appropriately named the Wither Hills. My initial reaction to seeing this massive landmark was "Man... those things are ugly!!"

Since then, I've started to change my mind. I don't think they are so ugly any more. Yes, they are brown and look sort of funny, but after spending a bit more time walking and running in them, I am starting to discover that these hills have a sort of majestic feel to them.





I really like the way the sun reflects in the contours of the hills, and you can't beat the view of the city below. Not to mention, you get more great views of the Richmond Ranges in the North West, and the ocean to the North East.

New Addiction

Since arriving in NZ, I have started to watch some new tv shows. Two shows that I have taken a particular liking to are: "Coronation Street" and "Shortland Street". Both are low-budget, cheesy soap operas viewed by a large group of dedicated fans on weekday evenings. Coronation Street, otherwise known as "Coro", is a popular British-based show. Shortland street is NZ-based.

I would say that my liking for these shows has become a border-line "addiction" (although I blame my kiwi roommates for imposing this addiction on me!). As cheesy and low-budget as these shows are, there is always a controversial theme that dominates the story line and hooks the viewer making you want to come back for more!

The really exciting story in Shortland street has recently come to a close. It involved a serial killer that was targeting nurses at the hospital. The past few weeks we have been getting clues that "Joey" (a nurse at the hospital) was the killer. And last week we got the answer when he kidnapped another nurse from the hospital and held her in captivity while he prepared to perform an appendectomy on her to practice his surgical skills. The nurse managed to escape and Joey ended up jumping from a building to his death.

The most hilarious part is that the actor, Johnny Barker, that plays Joey, has been getting death threats and hate mail from Shortland Street fans. Apparently NZ is having trouble separating the character from the actor. It got so bad, that he needed to have a 20/20 episode featuring him and his strife to help set the fans straight.

I can only wait til the next big story line emerges from these shows. Definitely looking forward to seeing what happens to Rachel in Coronation Street who is on trial for the murder of her boyfriend! This definitely makes for easy conversation starters and wins me "coolness" points when I talk about these shows with my Year 12s!!!

Thoughts on Friendship

This weekend my roommate had her best friend, Kate, come for a visit. Since I didn't have much to do, I was around for much of their "together time" around the house. It was really really fascinating to watch them interact. Nic and Kate have been friends since as long as they can remember. They grew up together in Invercargill and went to the same elementary and high schools. They have been friends through the thick and thin, and you can totally tell by the way that they interact with one another! It was very apparent by the way that they could sit and chill on the couch together, watching a bit of tv, chatting away in between, but not feeling the need to make conversation to fill the potentially awkward silent periods. Kate felt totally comfortable to just get up and help herself to food from Nic's cupboard without asking, and the conversation they shared was so natural and comfortable - talking about everything and anything - interesting and not interesting - silly and serious.

Throughout my observations, I couldn't help but think of my friends at home and be reminded of how nice it is to have good friends. There is something very powerful about being able to sit and waste away an entire Saturday afternoon while in the company of a good friend or a group of friends - with the conversation covering everything from boys, to work, to life goals! If I'm missing anything most of all from home, I would definitely say it would be my friends. I do know that I will meet people while I am here and that I will probably develop some good friendships by the time I'm done, but I also know that it takes time and patience. Until then, I suppose I can live vicariously through Nic and Kate and enjoy the fact that they let me candidly observe their interactions and occassionally join in their conversations when I had comments to add.

International Hassles

So moving overseas has been quite the "adventure" thus far. I knew that it wouldn't be as simple as snapping my fingers or clicking my heels together for everything to magically come together. However, it has been more of a pain than I expected. I will summarize some of my findings here in the hopes that it just may help someone else should they decide to attempt a life change like I have just attempted.

1) Set up a bank account before you arrive. This is something I didn't do. I even asked my recruiter about this before I left, but his advice was to wait til I got here. His advice was bad. Listen to mine. There are lots of banking options available in NZ, but they are all costly. Nothing is free here -- NOTHING! Given the lack of competition due to NZ having a relatively low population, you pay a premium for everything. Cheques cost money, withdrawls cost money, deposits cost money, paying bills costs money, setting up online banking costs money, and the list goes on... I opted to go with an online bank (similar to ING) called Bank Direct. It seems to be the most competitive with regards to costs. Doesn't offer the services of the other banks, and you have to pay for any questions that you have to deal with over the phone, but it seems to be working for me. It took me over 3 weeks to get my bank account, so this is definitely something you want to get started before leaving the comfort of your home country. Storing your $1000 pay advance in cash under your mattress is a bit unnerving!

2) Consider how you will exchange money to Canadian funds ahead of time. I assumed I could do an electronic transfer but when I looked into this option, it costs $20 or $25 each time. Since I need to transfer my kiwi dollars to CDN dollars to pay off my line of credit, this option is not the best one for me. My next game plan was to get a 2nd bank card and get mom and dad to withraw money for me once a month and deposit into my bank account, but even that would cost me a $5 fee each time I did that for using a bank machine overseas. It also required me to set up a second bank account since the person I spoke to at Bank Direct didn't like my reason for needing a second bank card for one account (I tried to convince him I needed another bank card for my other purse!). So... I just recently discovered a website called XE.com. This site specializes in international currency exhanges and will transfer my money at the lowest possible cost. It's a pretty marvelous service actually!

3) Bring cash with you! My mom and dad were absolutely amazing before I left and along with Santa Clause, managed to acquire me a few hundred kiwi dollars to take with me. I suppose travellers cheques might have been even smarter, but cash is so much easier to deal with. I lived off this cash for the first several weeks. It was MUCH needed to help me get through a lot of the initial start-up costs like getting my mobile phone, and buying groceries, and acquiring all the other important things like towels and bedding that I opted not to bring with me.

4) Be prepared for really really crappy business hours. Half of the hassle of getting things sorted was due to the fact that nothing is open at any reasonable hour for people that actually work for a living. Be prepared to leave work early or start your errands at 9am on a Saturday morning because everything will be closed by 12:30 that day. Forget getting anything done on a Sunday unless it involves shopping at 3 of the big name stores that just recently starting opening for business on Sundays.

5) Beg, borrow, and borrow some more (no stealing necessary!). Now this might just be a kiwi thing, but I would like to think that it's not. It's amazing how much a "hello, I'm new to the country and have to start from scratch" email can do if you have a friendly staff. Most people have at least one or two things that they were planning to get rid of that could really help you out! I am so amazed at how little I had to spend to get started here. Thank goodness!

I'm certain that I have more advice to share on this topic, but my lesson planning is calling my name. I will share more later when I think of other key pieces of advice.

Posting Pictures

By popular demand, I'm finally posting some pictures. I've posted some from when I first arrived (see MUCH further below). I'm also posting pictures of the place I live. This is my "flat" and I flat here with some kiwi roomies. It's a bit old and a bit ghetto, but it's nice and big and spacious, so we certainly can't complain.

Our living room - looking out towards the deck

Our living room - from the other direction

A view of our kitchen (beside the living room)

Standing in the kitchen - looking out towards the deck (note the wood stove in the corner - our only source of heat for the winter!)

Off the kitchen is a hallway leading to another "wing" in the house (that's my room at the end)

The "toilet" room

The "shower" room (note my Dove shampoo in the picture - paid a bargain price of $6.50 per bottle - on SALE!!)

The front of our house - not a whole lot of curb appeal

Blenheim has been hitting the headlines lately...

Not long after I arrived, the town announced that there was a boil water advisory in effect due to Ecoli in the water system. The advisory lasted for well over a week when they finally decided to close down the well that was causing the problems. I couldn't help but be reminded of the Walkerton water scandal that took place a few years ago at home. Luckily ours didn't reach that level of concern.

Shortly after our boil water advisory was lifted, Blenheim made National headline news due to an attempted plane hijaking by a distressed Samoen woman that lived in the Marlborough region.

They say fame and fortune co-exist! I wonder if fortune will come alongside all of this fame!

New Zealand Chocolate

I am OFFICIALLY addicted to Cadbury Cream Eggs. Now... I will admit that I've always been a fan. However, most years I am content with 3 cream eggs per season. Once I've finished off the 3-pack that I get from the Easter bunny, I've usually satisfied my cravings and can forget about them until the next year.

Well... that was until this year - the year that I was introduced to NZ's version of Cadbury chocolate. I was first hooked on NZ Cadbury's products when one of my students sold me a King-sized Dairy Milk bar for a school fundraiser. The chocolate was sooooooo good, and soooooooo creamy, it was oh so yum! It wasn't until a few weeks later when I bought my first cream egg that I found my new love!

I actually think I have a bit of a problem!... I can't stop eating them! A couple of weeks ago I treated myself 3 nights in a row to a cream egg for dessert with my cup of tea. I forced myself to break this pattern on night #4 because I was starting to feel a bit guilty. A week later I did another three-day stretch and took the fourth night off again due to the fact that I just felt that it wasn't the healthiest of dessert choices.

I'm really hoping that the Easter chocolate season ends quickly... I have a feeling that will be the only way I will stop eating these yummy yummy treats!! We'll see how long it takes...

Snout Track

Today I went on a wee road trip with my friend Nisrene from work. We ended up in Picton where we set off to explore the Snout Track. It was a fantastically beautiful hike that overlooked the majesty that the Marlborough Sounds has to offer.

My pictures really don't do it justice, but I thought I'd share them anyways...