We have a home. We have a car. And we have COWS!

HOME

Prior to our arrival, Andrew and Kay (our newly adopted NZ parents), made arrangements with a member of their church for Lowell and I to rent a cottage that is attached to a currently vacant lodge. We had no clue that they were making these arrangements and were so pleased to find that they cared enough to begin paving the way for us. We now realize just how important both of our extremely hospitable parents (in Canada) must be to students and other visitors (especially the foreign ones). We have appreciated Andrew and Kay SO MUCH!

So, back to the lodge. It’s in the country side and is complete with a locked gate and beautiful drive way (Speaking of celebrities!) …


…as well as COWS in the adjoining pasture. Makes us (mostly Lowell) feel right at home! Mooooooo…


Here's our cottage from front and back:


Here are some shots of the the lodge and grounds:

ZABU- we have our own gazebo! BOOK YOUR FLIGHT NOW!!

The owner of the lodge plans to turn it into a centre for disabled/special needs kids, but since it’s currently vacant, we were allowed to take whatever we needed from the main lodge. It was super fun perusing through the lodge and picking up what we wanted to use. It felt like Christmas!

We have not yet unpacked all of our stuff, but we’ve already found a home for most of the stuff from the lodge. Here’s our kitchen:

And here’s the living room:


Note the HEATERS. NZ does not have central heating. So even though it’s +15ish Celsius outside (just finishing winter), it feels like zero OR COLDER inside. DEFINITELY a big adjustment for us (especially since we left Lethbridge in +35 Celsius weather). We can handle -50 Celsius with windchill in Edmonton- but no central heating? NO CAN DO! The heaters have been little life savers, and have gone a long way to making us (me) feel more at home.

The bedroom. We are sharing a single bed. BOTH of us. In ONE single bed. How many of you are sharing a SINGLE bed with a 6 foot 3, almost 200-pound DUDE? Good thing we like to snuggle!

So the cottage is super, and after a grocery shopping trip to our nearest supermarket, we filled the cupboards and fridge!

We stocked up on NZ brands so we could soak up the experience. We bought Milo which is their version of hot chocolate. It's pretty good, although it doesn't compare to my Momma's hot cocoa (but then again... nothing does!) :

It turns kids into good soccer players!

It was so satisfying making and eating our first homemade REAL meal in our new little home. I made Kylie’s famed taco soup. It made us feel right homey (but also miss Kylie and the rest of home a lot)!


PS- We’re not sure how long we’ll be here because it is unknown when the Lodge will be up and running, but for now… we have about 8 beds at our disposal, so all you potential visitors better start making travel plans. NOW!!

CAR

While we were still in Canada, Lowell was in contact with a Couch Surfer named Chris. He suggested that we purchase his car as he was traveling to India for a few months. We didn’t commit to anything, but let him know we were interested. Once we arrived, we contacted him, and he came over (to Andrew & Kay’s house where we stayed for the first 2 nights) to show us the car. He took us for a little spin, then stopped in a parking lot and suggested that we take it for a little drive on our own. Just around the block. In less than a minute, we returned and he was GONE. Completely vanished! We thought perhaps we had just inherited a car, but eventually he showed up again (with a new pair of trousers in hand). He was extremely interesting and very entertaining.

So now we have a car. A light blue 1991 Mitsubishi Chariot. It will hold our visitors AND their luggage when we pick them up from the airport (HINT HINT). It’s perfect!


The only problem is the whole driving on the left side of the road thing. I’m adjusting quite well, but there have been some interesting instances! I’m now no stranger to smacking my arm against the door or throwing my hand out the window while attempting to shift. I'm also constantly turning on the windshield wipers when meaning to signal. And the fact that I need to look up and to the LEFT to see out of the rearview mirror feels completely abnormal and unnatural. And slightly unsafe. Insurance is not compulsory in NZ, but we have every intention of getting it ASAP (Don’t worry Dad, we’ve been TRYING (in vain) to get it. At first we thought everyone was being friendly and honest by sending us to their competitors, but now we get the impression that nobody wants to deal with us. We're the complicated Canadians!)

So, we're making this place home. I definitely have not been without my (vicious) bouts of homesickness, but things are really coming together here and we have a lot to be thankful for.

Cheers!