Get through it!

One thing that strikes you when you move to New Zealand is the emphasis on disaster planning. There are TV adverts where a very shouty Kiwi man exhorts you to have enough canned goods and water to survive in your house for 3 days. "When it happens, get through it!" is his none too catchy and rather alarming tagline. What 'it' is exactly is yet to be fully explained. You see, here there are new dangers from the London life. So, no one is going to push you into the path of an oncoming tube/bus/rickshaw, but there could be a volcanic eruption, earthquake, tsunami etc.

Disaster management in the home is one thing (I should at this point admit that I had canned goods and bottled water at home in the UK in case of emergency and Anthony used to laugh at me about them). At work it take on a whole different dimension. I had my induction at work yesterday and there was a whole disaster management section to it. On each floor they have enough canned goods and water to survive 3 days. That's right, 3 days trapped with your work colleagues! There are also orange emergency rucksacks under each desk that you are supposed to equip with trainers, water etc. Apparently the command will be: "take you rucksacks and run!". Very reassuring!

Wellington on the cheap

We're in a bit of a limited cash flow situation until our first pay packets arrive (thankfully in NZ you get paid every fortnight) so I've been enjoying the freebies that the city has to offer. Most days that means buying a coffee at a cafe that is well stocked with magazines. Yesterday I went to a free lunchtime concert featuring clarinet and saxophone players from the NZ School of Music.

Today I made my almost daily pilgrimage to Te Papa where I can get a free copy of the daily paper. As I was leaving I was stopped by a lady doing a survey. I've got loads of free time at the moment so I stopped to speak to her. The result of completing the survey was a voucher for a free coffee - something to look forward to tomorrow!

Where many Scots have gone before

I'm really enjoying my free time in Wellington and am beginning to have a real soft spot for the city. The waterfront is like a magnate, especially in the sunny weather that we've been having. There are lots of spots for sitting out, and at lunchtime it is busy with people having their lunch or going for a run. When we move to our apartment I'll be able to walk to work along it.

One of the jewels of the waterfront is Te Papa (Our Place) the museum of NZ. It is a really modern museum that covers all aspects of New Zealand, from the first Maori to the potential effects of climate change. I popped in today for a little while and spent some time in the section about the Scottish settlers to NZ. It really reminded me of the legacy of the Scots here and what I owe to these pioneers who paved the way for me to come here. Their legacy remains strong today, which is a good thing for me as it allows me to get my porridge for breakfast and a wee dram for the evening!

http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/Tepapa/English/

Finding our feet

We finally arrived in Wellington on Thursday evening and have been getting our bearings. It is fair to say that moods have been up and down. I think that they will continue to be for a while yet.

The weather has been fantastic since we arrived, and everyone that we meet stresses that it won't continue like this!

We've already found somewhere to live and have bought the basics for moving in. Although our stuff doesn't arrive for a few weeks yet we're hoping to make do with the minimum. The apartment has a great view over Wellington Harbour.

Anthony started work today and I met my new work team, although I don't start there until next week. I was due to start on 27th, but that is a national holiday so I'm going to go in at the end of next week - ease myself in.

More eating and drinking

Went out for a great Korean meal last night. Probably should have foregone the whisky and cigar at the end of the evening as I had a shocking hangover this morning.

Still, we struggled out to the Intercontinental in Kowloon for their buffet lunch - well worthwhile. Nothing like having total control over what you eat when you have a hangover. 

I had a plate of fresh fruit, then put the sushi chef to work making me a variety of nigiri and maki. What I really want now is my own sushi chef, but Raff pointed out that it might be a bit J Lo!

We finished the meal with lots of different puds, including mini icecream cones.

Chillin' in HK

This is our second day in Hong Kong. We took the ferry from Sai Wan Ho over to Lei Yue Mun where there are lots of seafood restaurants. They have tanks full of live fish and seafood and you pick what you want and then go to one of the restaurants to have them cooked. Apparently during the last typhoon there was so much water that much of the stock escaped! You can read about our meal, eaten sitting out over the water, at:

http://foodfindingmission.blogspot.com/

Here are some shots from around about.

On the way

So we have left the UK. I'll post more about the leaving when I have more time.

We are in Hong Kong staying with friends. It's pretty cool, we're watching the dragonboat racing from their balcony.

The flight was OK, but I didn't get any sleep. Anthony had an air rage incident with the git sitting in front of us!

Looking forward to a few days holiday before the whole new life thing kicks in.