Week One

A few days after moving in (or should I say after a few hours), Steve was hard at work re-assembling his telescope. It was soon ready to go and all he's waiting for now is clear skies! He also put out bikes back together, and we went out in the sunny weather last weekend. Thankfully, we survived riding on the 'wrong' side of the road and cars seem pretty bike-friendly here. At times, the roads are so narrow the cars really have no choice but to wait behind you. 

We are loving all the flowers and trees in bloom - this is a flower that we've been seeing everywhere, and according to our quick google search, it's called Agapanthus. 

When we take the stairs as a shortcut to downtown, this is the view from the top of the hill. Victoria University is on the left, and the main downtown core is in the distance. It's about a 30 minute walk to get to the water. The hospital is also about a 30 minute walk, but in a different direction and away from the water. 

The first week involved a lot of walking around downtown - finding groceries, banks, stores for phone and internet... all that fun stuff. We've also explored the parliament buildings, the main library, the National Library, the Botanic Gardens, the museum (with an amazing exhibit of the biggest Colossal Squid ever displayed). I guess we should have taken pictures of all these adventures... 

With both Christmas AND summer at the same time, a lot of people take longer vacations in December.  We've decided to follow suit, and are hoping to find a used car in the next week or so and go exploring in the North Island. We'll start working in January. I've had one interview at the Emergency Dept here, but am really not keen on going back to shift work while trying to enjoy this opportunity to see NZ. I've also met with some people at the Hospice here, and there might be some opportunity for casual nursing hours there. I'm still hoping to meet with some nursing professors here too, in case there are any research opportunities.  Steve is continuing to do some work for his boss in Ottawa, but will also get in touch with some of the astronomy/telescope folks here.