On The Go!

We did it! Today we actually met a Kiwi…the animal, not the fruit or a New Zealand native. His name is Tahi and he was positively adorable. Although only blessed with one leg, little Tahi hops-along quite well and goes about all of his Kiwi business. They are bigger than I thought they’d be. I always imagined the elusive Kiwi-bird as a small chick-a-dee type flightless shadow. Instead, Tahi was about the size of a small pug (though with a noticeably smaller appetite than a certain puggy canine I know). Thanks to YouTube, you can see Tahi Here!

We continue to familiarize ourselves with Wellington. Yesterday was our rainiest day so far. Despite the mist, we woke up for an early morning jog along the pedestrian wharf. After returning for warm showers and some hot oatmeal, we bundled up to head back into the city to explore. We found Wellington’s famous cable car that runs from the sea-level city center straight up the hill to the botanical gardens.

Callie demonstrated the accuracy of the Human Involvement Sundial.

We enjoyed a fun, if slippery walk around the gardens as we played with the moveable art pieces and various city fowl.


Stopping at the grocery store on the way home, we accrued supplies for a scrumptious dinner and dessert. We are becoming particular fans of the price of kiwi-fruit here. It’s like $1.25 per kilo! And the kiwi-fruit are huge…think, the size of an apple!
This morning, after a brief morning jog, Adam had a meet and greet with one of the employment agencies he’s been talking to. While nothing is firm and we don’t wish to count any kiwi-eggs before they’re adorable hatchlings, we are hopeful to have something sorted in the next week. We are thinking we will continue our stay here at the Southern Cross for another week just to be on the safe side, before signing any longer term contracts for housing in the area. Upon his triumphant return to the apartment, we embarked on our first laundry escapade. So far, so good, - and all our whites appear to have remained in the white category. The dryers are still a bit tricky – so we ended up scattering our clothes all around our small studio to finish their cycle while we struck out on an adventure to the Wellington Zoo. Apparently we caught the final “Winter Wednesdays at the Wellington Zoo”. This meant that on this positively beautiful Winter Wednesday, we were able to get in for only $5 to enjoy all the animals and exhibits. While we saw many cute faces, favorites were the Sun Bears and Dingo.


The animals were wonderful, but it appeared that a good portion of Wellington had decided to capitalize on the weather and the Wednesday bargain. We dodged all sorts of ankle-biters and weaved in and out of stroller parking lots in hopes of catching glimpses at the Zoo-inhabitants. I think that the Wellington Zoo will be quite the attraction…in about two years when all of their construction projects come to fruition. Something to look forward to! The Zoo Keeper, a benevolent force for sure, had left handy signs around the zoo providing good advice for all patrons.



Our city bus was waiting for us at the stop right outside the Zoo, and a short ride back towards the city left us within a block of our apartment. It’s so much fun getting a feel for public transportation! You see so much of the character of the city from your bus seat. Today we discovered Wellington High School, the New Zealand School of Music, as well as (in honor of my favorite nieces) a 24 hour McDonalds with a brand-new Playplace. Adam is eager to figure out what exactly the family-meal entails at McDonalds, while I’m more curious about the three WeightWatchers approved? meals I’ve seen advertised! Thankfully, it isn’t the golden arches we see everyone entering on every corner for fast-food, but Sushi-to-go! We’ve been trying to stay budget-friendly by keeping our eating out to a minimum…but I am sure it won’t be too long before we experiment with those chopsticks!