Land of the Long White Cloud…

Here we are in Aotearoa! It all feels a little surreal have to say, I think mainly because it all came together so quickly, there was not really much of a lead up. We blinked and here we are 🙂

I woke the first morning to the sound of the birds, familiar tunes I have not heard for so so long, I had forgotten even in the city just how their songs are heard so distinctly. Luca is currently outside taking photos of the birds so he can identify them in the book his grandparents gave him, will keep him amused for hours 🙂

This week is all about catching up with family, friends and sleep. Unfortunately Rich has got the cold that had been doing the rounds in Costa Rica and he is not feeling great, but we are sleeping well, so hoping that helps.

Luca is playing with his cousins like they have always known each other 🙂

My brother and family gave us a HUGE gift basket filled to the brim with lots of useful things and food, and my Mum prepared some meals for us so we would not have to cook for the first couple of nights, super generous of them all.

We took a trip to the zoo…

Mum and Dad had given Luca a map of the Auckland Zoo when he was four. He has held onto that map all this time looking at it many times over the years, a trip to the zoo therefore was high on his priority list.

He was not disappointed, he loved it!

A trip to the beach a must…

The water a tad colder than Costa Rica though I have to say!!!!!!

A few things that have struck us so far, at day 5…

Driving on the other side of the road is strange and requires a lot of attention, but we are getting used to it.

The customs officer told me to relax when I was stressing about declaring everything we have from all over the world. He said “stop overthinking it, it will be fine”. It was the fastest we have passed through any immigration checkpoint, in any country, in many years.

Having a car again we are really appreciating for its convenience, but know we will have to make a concerted effort not get lazy!!!!! 🙂

Everything clean and organized, the streets wide and well sign posted easy to navigate which is helpful when you are also trying to remember which side to drive on 🙂 .

Gas is SUPER expensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! $2.35 a litre!!!!!

Luca loves that the kids run around in bare feet everywhere 🙂

There is a TV in our cabin ,(has been a while since we had one), Rich and Luca enjoying learning Te Reo (the Maori language). There is a concerted effort I notice to teach it wherever and whenever the opportunity arises – wonderful!

I asked Luca for a sum up of NZ so far, his response was “NZ is awesome!”, a promising start indeed 🙂