Our Vancouver to Auckland flight was uneventful, and we arrived about 40 minutes early on the morning of February 5th. The formalities would have been painless except that we declared the 7 tins of maple syrup that we had brought with us (always declare or face a very large fine for bringing in foodstuffs to New Zealand). Although signed off very quickly by the Customs Officer, the subsequent x-ray process took a while...."what's in the bag?" asked the x-ray officer, staring at the large objects on his screen. Tins of maple syrup we replied. A second officer was called and 4 of the tins were removed from my suitcase (Marlene must look more honest than me, as her 3 tins went untouched), x-rayed collectively, then in groups of 2, shaken, and eventually, put back in the suitcase. No problem, but we chewed up all of that extra 40 minutes.
Both my sisters were on hand to meet us in Wellington, and after dropping our luggage at Margaret's house we headed out for a walk with the sisters and my cousin Shelwyn, and the customary after walk coffee. It was great to feel the warmth in the sun, with no sign of rain or frost.
February 6th was the 100th anniversary of my Mom's birth, so we spent the weekend at my sister Tricia's place at Featherston, along with Margaret, her son, daughter in law and grand daughter. We had lots of laughs, good food and several long walks, as we remembered our Mom / Nana.
On Wednesday of the following week we visited my Auntie Bridie in Palmerston North and had a great visit with her, still going strong at almost 95. On our way back to Wellington we stopped off at the funeral director's in Foxton to arrange interment of Auntie Noeline ashes in the family plot, and spent a very enjoyable hour with the funeral director who regaled us with tales of his 40 years in the funeral business....doing wheelies in the hearse (at a family's request) and the antics of Karl Sim, a local legend and art forger. It seems that the police were convinced that Karl was up to something illegal, and somebody had seen him in his backyard with a shovel in the evenings. The police got a search warrant and 4 officers arrived at Karl's house to dig up his back yard. A while later, Karl rushed from the house, headed down the street to a store, and returned carrying a brown paper bag. When questioned about what was in the bag, the police sergeant responded "seed potatoes" - as the police dug up the yard, Karl planted his potatoes in the freshly dug soil (Google "Karl Sim Goldie" for more info on this loveable rogue).
I managed to fit in two visits to Archives New Zealand, the National Library of New Zealand and the Wellington Public Library, all a very convenient suburban train ride away from Margaret's house. We also had a Thai takeaway meal with Shelwyn and Colin on Friday night and visited another cousin, Karen, and her husband Ian on Saturday to see their new place in Oriental Bay.
One thing that I noticed in my travels was the difference in price between gasoline and diesel. When we left BC, regular gasoline was 109.9 cents / litre and diesel was about 99.9 cents / litre. Canadian diesel was about 9% cheaper than gasoline. In Wellington, regular gasoline was 167.9 cents / litre (154 cents Cdn) and diesel was 86.9 cents / litre (80 cents Cdn) - about 48% cheaper than gasoline. It would appear that diesel-driving Canadians are being substantially ripped off!
Gasoline / Diesel Pricing
Early on Sunday morning we bid farewell to Margaret and set off on the 7:30 am Intercity bus to Napier where we will stay for the next 4 weeks. The bus was a double decker, and we rode upstairs rather than paying extra for the "Gold" service downstairs. The 5 1/2 hour trip was uneventful....a bathroom break in Palmerston North and then lunch at Matamau, before heading to Hastings and finally Napier. You have probably never heard of Matamau and you will probably never hear of it again, as it exists pretty much in name only, with the only visible sign of habitation being the diner where the bus stopped for lunch. The menu consisted of anything fried that you could ever want and a few other items....we settled for toasted sandwiches and a drink, as it was the only game in town.
Intercity Bus at the Matamau Diner
On arrival in Napier we dragged our suitcases the 1.5 Km from the bus station to our accommodations and then headed out to pick up an initial supply of groceries, before settling in to life as locals.
Why Napier you might ask? The simple answer is that in previous years we have had extended stays in Doubtless Bay, Gisborne and Nelson, and this year Marlene wanted to try somewhere different. Napier is a small East coast city (better weather) which was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1931 and subsequently rebuilt in the Art Deco style which was popular in the 1930s. It has a long waterfront pathway and is great for cycling. So why not? Napier is also where my maternal grandparents lived when they first arrived in New Zealand, I have two cousins living here and Marlene has a friend from 40 years ago here also.
I will try to post each week or so, to keep you up to speed with our life in Napier.
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