Settling In

Our New Year's Eve flight out of SFO had us arrive in Auckland, New Zealand on January 2^nd, having missed the 1^st thanks to the International Date Line. Since we have a deep sense of foreboding about 2017, missing the first day of it seemed somehow fitting.

Why are we here? See previous post.... because we can. We first came to New Zealand about 25 years ago to visit a family who had lived near us during their sabbatical in the US. We had a great visit there, so when they proposed a house swap 20 years ago, we packed up our two boys and headed off, exchanging houses, cars, and pets (a keeshond, cat, and iguana). One car and the iguana didn't fare so well, everything else survived. Jeannette has been back to visit and teach art there almost every year for the past 15 years, and I've joined her every few years. When they proposed another house swap, we jumped at the chance. While Bill and Sue are very intelligent individuals, the fact that they have twice now agreed to doing this so that we get 3 consecutive summers while they face 3 consecutive winters makes me wonder a bit. But I feel little guilt in taking full advantage of it.

We're living in the village of Mt Eden, a residential area on the outskirts of Auckland. This is a very different trip than 20 years ago. We aren't trying to get the boys enrolled in school and figuring out where to buy school uniforms. We know the house and neighborhood well, and Jeannette has a multitude of friends here.

volcano map of Auckland

Mt Eden (Maungawhau in Maori) is a dormant volcanic cone... one of 53 in the Auckland area.  It is a great spot to get one's bearings on arrival, so we usually schedule a hike to the top soon after arrival. Auckland is New Zealand's largest city (population 1.5M), and is located on a narrow isthmus. With all the hills and water around, it reminds me of San Francisco (also at about the same latitude, but S instead of N). It also means traffic is a bear at rush hour since the public transportation isn't developed enough to keep up with the population growth, and there isn't room for more roads. All this has little impact on me (and after all, that is what matters), since Novation Inc Australasian headquarters is at the top of the stairs, and the village of Mt. Eden is just a short stroll up the street.  Nearby is another volcano, One Tree Hill (as in the U2 song).  Most of these volcanic cones are surrounded by parks, many with grazing sheep or cattle.

Mt Eden from the village

downtown Auckland from Mt Eden

Mt Eden from One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill