Thursday, January 25, 2007
Time to get going!
We start on trip today. This afternoon we fly from Pittsburgh to LA, and stay in LA for a day. Lots to do today: we want to ship some books, Alexander has a party at his daycare, there is final packing to do, cleanup of the house for the housesitters, and much more!
Monday, January 22, 2007
More messing about with Google Earth
A couple more overhead pictures to show what our plans are. First, there is a picture of the overall area (click on a picture to get a bigger version).
Waiheke Island is in the middle; central Auckland is on the left hand side. To get to central Auckland, there is a 35 minute ferry from the west part of the island straight to downtown. Once downtown, Auckland is relatively compact, and the university is right beside downtown.
Getting to the university for Mike will take a bit more than an hour. Fortunately, he can have a muffin and coffee on the ferry in the morning, and a beer on the way back!
Waiheke itself has about 7000 permanent residents, about 1500 of whom commute into Auckland for work. On a nice summer day, the island may have 20,000 people or more on it.
Waiheke Island is in the middle; central Auckland is on the left hand side. To get to central Auckland, there is a 35 minute ferry from the west part of the island straight to downtown. Once downtown, Auckland is relatively compact, and the university is right beside downtown.
Getting to the university for Mike will take a bit more than an hour. Fortunately, he can have a muffin and coffee on the ferry in the morning, and a beer on the way back!
Waiheke itself has about 7000 permanent residents, about 1500 of whom commute into Auckland for work. On a nice summer day, the island may have 20,000 people or more on it.
Four days to go!
With just four days to go, the last week or so has been a rush to try to get things together. Here are some highlights:
January 9: I sent in our visa application to the New Zealand embassy. I had sent in an application December 28, but it came back with them wanting me to have a work visa (not the visitor visa I had applied for: I thought since CMU was paying me, a visitor visa was enough, but that was not the case). Since the web site says to allow 20 working days for a work visa, our January 24 departure is definitely in jeapardy.
January 11: We advertise our two cars (Subaru and Honda) for sale, and decide to reopen our search for a housesitter. While we had a possibility, the uncertainty of our departure made it clear we needed a very flexible sort to take over the house. That evening, we meet with a very nice young couple (Brad and Steffi), who seem interested in housesitting.
January 12: We sell the Honda (guess I should have asked for more money!), and Brad and Steffi agree to look after the house and cats.
January 13: Going away party! Despite the uncertainties, it is time for our going away party! Lots of people show, and we are reminded of all the people we forgot to invite. We do a "visa" pool, and most people seem pretty pessimistic about when we will receive the visas.
January 14: I see on the UPS site that my return envelope for the visas is coming back. Very worrisome: it is too quick!
January 15: The visas arrive! I email thanks to the embassy, who reply that we "are the sort of migrants New Zealand needs". Migrants! I feel I should be hitching the trailer to the Studebaker and heading west!
January 16: We decide not to ship boxes over, and limit ourselves to what we can take on the plane. At about $10/pound, shipping just doesn't seem the right choice. But now we have to lug 250 pounds of stuff halfway around the world. A colleague lends us two big bags (thanks Bryan!).
January 17: We decide not to sell the Subaru: it is a great car (WRX: fast!), and we don't want to part with it.
January 19: Last "Friday Beers" at Silky's for me for while.
January 20: Lots of getting the house organized so our housesitters can squeeze into it.
OK, that puts me up to date (unless I forgot something).
January 9: I sent in our visa application to the New Zealand embassy. I had sent in an application December 28, but it came back with them wanting me to have a work visa (not the visitor visa I had applied for: I thought since CMU was paying me, a visitor visa was enough, but that was not the case). Since the web site says to allow 20 working days for a work visa, our January 24 departure is definitely in jeapardy.
January 11: We advertise our two cars (Subaru and Honda) for sale, and decide to reopen our search for a housesitter. While we had a possibility, the uncertainty of our departure made it clear we needed a very flexible sort to take over the house. That evening, we meet with a very nice young couple (Brad and Steffi), who seem interested in housesitting.
January 12: We sell the Honda (guess I should have asked for more money!), and Brad and Steffi agree to look after the house and cats.
January 13: Going away party! Despite the uncertainties, it is time for our going away party! Lots of people show, and we are reminded of all the people we forgot to invite. We do a "visa" pool, and most people seem pretty pessimistic about when we will receive the visas.
January 14: I see on the UPS site that my return envelope for the visas is coming back. Very worrisome: it is too quick!
January 15: The visas arrive! I email thanks to the embassy, who reply that we "are the sort of migrants New Zealand needs". Migrants! I feel I should be hitching the trailer to the Studebaker and heading west!
January 16: We decide not to ship boxes over, and limit ourselves to what we can take on the plane. At about $10/pound, shipping just doesn't seem the right choice. But now we have to lug 250 pounds of stuff halfway around the world. A colleague lends us two big bags (thanks Bryan!).
January 17: We decide not to sell the Subaru: it is a great car (WRX: fast!), and we don't want to part with it.
January 19: Last "Friday Beers" at Silky's for me for while.
January 20: Lots of getting the house organized so our housesitters can squeeze into it.
OK, that puts me up to date (unless I forgot something).
Monday, January 1, 2007
More on Waiheke
Our house is about a 10 minute walk from a mile-long beach, and has balconies with great views. Click on the google-map to see where our house is.
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