Happy Valentine's Day!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Busy day today. We headed into Mount Maunganui this morning, along with what seemed like everyone else. There were two cruise ships in port, so there were lots of people milling about, mostly of the geriatric persuasion. Mark wanted to show Sherry & Ronan the leading candidate for their new place to live, and they both loved it. There was a friendly, young Icelandic couple living in the apartment now, but their visas have expired and they have to get out of the country. They were nice enough to let us in to show us the place, and it rocks! It's a relatively new building, and several doctors from the hospital live there. We noted a couple of their wives chilling in the hot tub as we toured the pool area. The apartment we're looking at is top-floor, 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath, overlooking town, but with a view of The Mount from the deck. Fully furnished, only a block to the shops and restaurants along the main drag in Mount Maunganui, and half a block to the water on the harbour side of the peninsula. The surf is gentle for kids to play in, and there's an expansive palm-shaded lawn running along the beach for the adults to relax on. The cruise ships dump their passengers right there, so it's very scenic, with a decent-looking restaurant (used to be a yacht club) and an ice cream stand that we happily patronized. We finally got to try Hokey Pokey flavor ice cream, which was invented here in NZ (pronounced "en-zed" to the locals) and is quite tasty, reminding us a little of butterscotch. While we enjoyed our cones and walked along the fishing pier, we watched Maori teens diving off the docks into Pilot Bay, entertaining the crowds.

Apartment's link: http://www.anchorageapartments.co.nz/

Ro enjoying his ice cream with Maori teens diving into Pilot Bay behind him

Ro & Sherry strolling along Pilot Bay. Mount Maunganui in background

There is a nice park right across the street from the apartment building called Coronation Park. Alas, no jungle gym, as it seemed to have been designed more in an Oriental garden style, with a pond and ornate landscaping. Ro enjoyed watching the mama duck and her ducklings parade around, and dipping his toes in the water for tadpoles to nibble on. As he and Mark discovered, it's a great place to play hide-and-seek.

Chillin' in front of a sculpture in Coronation Park

Ro chatting with a new friend in Coronation Park. Note the faux-hawk

We hired a babysitter tonight so we could have a Valentine's evening out sans child. Her name is Maureen, and she's a very nice grandmother who's great with kids; we already knew her because she works as one of the housekeepers at the motel. She's a longtime friend of Kris and Tracy, and babysits for Luke and Aidan all the time. The only reason she was free tonight is because the other kids are staying with their grandparents in Omanu Beach. Trying to get out of the house tonight resulted in a few tears, however. The only way we could get Ro to eventually release his death-grip on Sherry's leg was to take him over to the innkeeper's house to distract him with Miss Muffet (the motel cat). As soon as he reached for the cat, we nearly stumbled over each other making a clean break for the car...lol. Of course, as soon as we were gone, Ro happily resumed playing and had a great time with Maureen.


For dinner, we went to a very nice place on The Strand called Wharf St. Restaurant, which Kris had recommended. Sherry's meat-eating horizons continue to expand beyond well-done steaks and bacon, as she got the venison hotpot pie, which was very good, but we both agreed Mark's braised lamb shank was even better; it simply melted in your mouth...mmmmm. As a former vegetarian, Sherry can't believe it, but she has actually started to like lamb (as long as she doesn't think about where it comes from)!

Restaurant's link: http://www.wharfstreet.co.nz/


Afterwards, we adjourned down the street to the Rialto theater, which serves beer and wine (just like the one in Raleigh), to see Slumdog Millionaire, which was excellent. Highly recommended. Of course, the motel room was a mess when we got back, but that means Ro had a good time. We'll definitely have to make use of Maureen's services again!

Splashing Around

Friday, February 13, 2009

Mark had to go into work for a little while to help out with some administrative duties, following up on x-ray reports and calling patients if the radiologists picked up any abnormalities that weren't seen by the ED doctor the first time around. Nothing too strenuous, and he was home after a couple of hours.

Sherry left Ronan and Mark at the pool while she went and got a pedicure and had what was left of her acrylic nails from the wedding removed, as they had started looking a bit shabby. The girl who did her nails was new, and had never given a pedicure before, so a 30 minute job took about two hours including the soak-off. To Sherry's disappointment, it didn't even include a leg massage like at the Vietnamese nail salon back home.

Ro is gradually getting over his fear of deep water, and will now swim through it with a protective float around him. There is also a large inflatable crocodile that he likes to play with, and he wanted Mark to ride on it with him. Mark, who can barely balance on the stupid thing by himself, let alone with another person, agreed to get on knowing that a soaking was in store for them both. Sure enough, after several comically exaggerated attempts at balancing the two of them on the unsteady float, they both plunged chaotically into the deep end. Mark made sure Ro's head stayed above water, but nonetheless, his yelps could probably have been heard for miles.

Ro getting ready to make a splash

Ronan has the knack for making the most innocuous toys dangerous. There is a metal swingset at the end of our building, and instead of just swinging on it, Ro has taken to scaling the support pole to reach as high as the crossbar, nearly causing Sherry a heart attack. She's getting more adventurous with her cooking, treating Mark to a grilled rack of lamb tonight. And if you can find Mt. Difficulty Pinot Noir in the states, we recommend it.

Ro climbing to the top of the swingset. Note the Michael Jordan-esque tongue

The Hunt Continues

Thursday, February 12, 2009

A fairly uneventful day. Mark was on call, so we stuck close to home. He spent the day house hunting around Mount Maunganui and doing a little shopping, while Sherry and Ronan spent the day at the pool. Ro's getting quite the farmer's tan, since he always wears a "rashie" (rashguard swim shirt) and a hat in the sun. The neighborhoods on the peninsula can change from posh to less-than-desirable in just a couple blocks, so we have to see each listing first-hand. We're trying to decide if we'd rather sacrifice some space to be closer to the water, or live in a more suburban area.

Ro's newset pet, "Lu-Lu" (another praying mantis), has taken up residence in various places in Ro's bedroom, and had a "Wild Kingdom"-worthy face-off with a spider this morning.

"Lu-Lu" gets in a bug rumble

Sherry whipping up some tasty chicken carbonara

Ro shooting baskets with a Hoppity Hop

Another Grueling Day At The Beach

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Mark is on his administrative/relief week, which basically means he's the first person on call if another emergency doctor gets sick and can't come to work. The Kiwis aren't big on "toughing it out" when you're sick, apparently, since his work e-mail inbox is littered with messages every day about various doctors calling out sick. If he hasn't been called in by 3pm, though, he's pretty much in the clear for that day and can feel free to open a bottle of wine with Sherry or crack open a Steinlager...lol. It seems Kiwis in general aren't big on work, period...for Pete's sake, the MALL closes at 6pm, and the downtown business district is a ghost-town by 5pm. The nearest 24-hr grocery store is in Auckland, about 2.5 hours away.

Since today is Wednesday, that means it was conference day for the med students and "house officers" (basically interns and junior residents), which means it's up to the consultants (attending physicians) to cover the ED, so Mark had to go in to help out for a half-shift. Nothing too exciting today. He enjoys his walks home to decompress, and it's only about 15 minutes through a quiet residential neighborhood.

Sherry and Ronan went to Tay Street Beach (another beach east of Mount Maunganui) today. They picked up a boogie board on the way "for Ronan" since he enjoyed "surfing" on Luke & Aidan's so much the other day. All the stores have since sold out of "kiddie" boards since it's late summer here, so they were left buying a $100 professional-quality board that's nearly as big as he is...lol.

Sherry swears sand is a superb sunscreen for Ronan, and his persistently Casper-white legs back up her theory

Sherry's beach bum cam view of Tay St Beach and Mount Maunganui

Ro showing off his new "surfboard"

While playing with Luke & Aidan upon returning home, Ro seemed to get in quite a bit of trouble, at least according to the other boys. Sherry and Mark were trying to eat dinner, and found themselves besieged by a constant barrage of tattling. "Ronan is climbing the avocado tree! Ronan is walking under the trampoline while Aidan is on it! Ronan is climbing up the slide! Ronan is climbing on top of the playhouse!" All things which were apparently against the house rules, so to speak. Later, as they were running inside after watching some road construction vehicles rumble past the motel, Ro stubbed his persistently damaged toe, and Aidan ran out to us screaming, "Ronan's toe is gushing blood!!!" Decidedly underwhelmed, knowing what to expect by this point, we merely indicated to Ro that he should walk back to our room via the outdoor route instead of tracking "the gushing blood" through their house. As we expected, it didn't even amount to a trickle, but we wish Teva made steel-toed sandals, as he seems to re-injure it every day, and will probably lose the nail at some point.

Ro's toes are taking a beating, but he refuses to wear shoes

We spent a quiet evening at home setting up our new cellphones and playing the video game system. Sherry, who claims she was video-game deprived as a kid, has developed a love-hate relationship with Tetris, and Ro has discovered an affinity for Contra. All together now...up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start!


For the uninitiated: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konami_Code

In The Swing Of Things

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Today was cloudy and intermittently rainy, so we stayed close to home. Ro and Mark went for a swim in the morning, while Sherry went for a jog. Mark tried in vain to encourage Ro to start the basics of swimming. He refused to put his face under to even blow bubbles, but he did finally scoot himself around the edge of the pool, holding onto the edge, which Mark considered a victory.

Ro enjoying scooting around the edge

Later on, Ro was getting restless indoors, it was raining too hard to do much outside, and his friends were at school. Sherry was at the store, so Mark broke down and hooked up the game he had brought to NZ for just such an occasion. Remember those cheap multi-video games-in-one controllers that plug directly into your TV? There were a bunch of mall kiosks selling them at Christmastime a few years back, and this one has a ton of old Nintendo games - mostly dregs, but a few gems including Contra, Tetris, and Super Mario Brothers. Ronan is naive to video games, but was a quick study.

Ro "waiting for Mark to die" so he can have his turn

We had spaghetti and homemade meatballs for dinner. Sherry discovered that the motel has a communal oven, so she was able to bake some brownies for dessert, which go great with a glass of Pinot Noir. Kris, the innkeeper, is quite the wine aficionado and gave us tips on some great NZ vineyards to check out while we're here. We finished up the evening playing on the swingset, where Mark taught Ro to finally swing himself, relieving us of pushing duties forever more. You could almost see the lightbulb go on over Ro's head. It was adorable!

Ro & Luke resting after an evening session at the pool

Ro relishing his first Ronan-powered swing

Alas, Ro's newly adopted pet, "Chin-Chin," appears at death's door. Ro found a praying mantis on his bedroom wall yesterday (remember we leave our windows open), and immediately claimed it for his own. He looks to have a broken hind leg, and after living in an old yogurt container for 24hrs, Sherry convinced Ro to release him into "the wild" (i.e. a hanging flower basket outside our door). At last look, Chin-Chin was lying sideways and not moving much.

The House Hunting Begins

Monday, February 9, 2009

Today was fairly ordinary. Ro had a fitful night last night, so Sherry and Ro chilled at the motel to nap and relax while Mark ran a few errands in the morning. He had to go to the "Post Shop" to apply for an IRD number (like a Social Security number) so he can get a bank account and get paid! And who should he wind up behind in line but Tracy, the innkeeper's wife! Small world already here.

We met a realtor this afternoon at a rental house on Marine Parade (the beach road near Mount Maunganui). Given that it was only NZ$350/wk (about US$200), and the nicer properties in that area go for NZ$500/wk, we were prepared to make a few sacrifices, but it was a little too, um, rustic for our tastes. It was a lot like Teta Alice's place at Lake Tahoe - a million dollar view with a house that was period-correct for 1962, complete with avocado green tub. The dealbreaker for Mark was the phone-booth sized shower, and for Sherry it was that she couldn't imagine putting her bare feet on the well-used, apparently athlete's foot impregnated carpet.

The front porch view from the first house we looked at

We spent the evening walking along the shops on Maunganui Road, where Ro tried his best to get us to buy him every toy in sight, most prominently a stuffed animal that reminded him of his dog Shadow back home. We dined at a sidewalk Mediterranean cafe, where Ro happily ate his Subway sub from across the street and enjoyed the novelty of drinking Ginger Beer from a glass bottle, especially since it looked almost exactly like Mark's Steinlager. We drove past a few other rental houses on our way home, and there are a couple of others we'll look into. We got home late...it was raining and the sun was setting, and of course Ro wanted to go to the park. We compromised and let him swim in the motel pool, where he happily splashed around for a while before we settled in with a movie and a bottle of wine, then put him to bed.

Ro giving me his best puppy dog eyes

Cheers!

Ro always finds something to climb, in this case an anchor along Maunganui Rd

Surf's Up!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Tracy (the innkeeper's wife) and her kids invited us to come along with them to the beach today. Her parents have a house on Omanu Beach, which is basically the same as Mount Maunganui Beach, but a bit farther from The Mount. Ronan was in his happy place most of the day, playing with Aidan, Luke, and their friend Kaisil (5). Tracy's parents had some boogie boards that the kids loved playing with. It was the first time Ro had ever used one, and although he didn't go out very deep, he loved waiting with Luke on their boards, standing on them and letting the waves come to them, then trying to balance on the boards and falling into the shallow water laughing. Sort of reverse surfing, if you will. Watching all four kids in a line, on their boards, talking like real surfers, "This one's gonna be awesome!" as a 6-inch roll of water creeps towards them was just hysterical.

Mini-Entourage? Reservoir Pups? We aren't sure which

Ro sprinting down Omanu Beach. Mount Maunganui in background

Hanging ten...centimeters...just

Sherry & Mark on Omanu Beach

We also amused ourselves throwing around a frisbee, but Ro would just chuck it into the water every time he got it. Aidan would dutifully (as the oldest) fetch it, but he soon stopped throwing it to Ro altogether. Sherry and Tracy spent the afternoon chatting, and there was mercifully little referree-ing to do between the kids, as they all played together beautifully. Everyone was sad to leave the beach, but it was getting late and the other kids had school tomorrow. It was a true comedy of errors watching the kids trying to lug the boogie boards over the dunes to the house.

Ro taking the hands-free approach to helping Aidan

The caravan nears it's end

When we got home, Mark kept Ro busy on the "tramp" and the tire swing, while Sherry went to the market. Ro promptly jetted over to the innkeeper's house once Aidan and Luke got home from dropping their friend off, walked into their house like he owned the place, plopped down at the kitchen table while the boys were eating dinner and began watching a movie with them...lol. Sherry prepared a delicious feast from the motel's grill of lamb chops (for Mark), beef kabobs (for her & Ro), and fresh corn on the cob. Mmmmm. We then spent a leisurely evening at home doing laundry and watching Mary Poppins, which is one of the few movies we can all agree on. Unfortunately, the DVD player in the room doesn't like our Region 1 DVD's, so we've been watching movies on the laptop. Good thing Mark got the 17" behemoth.

Thanks again, Miss Brittany