Preparing for the U.S.A.

We arrived back in Hamilton on the 25th March. On Saturday 26th Will and I went to the Chiefs v Force game with dad. Dad has been a Chief's season member for about 10 years now, and has a prime seat on the halfway line of the upper level. We decided those tickets were out of our price range, so got him to get us a couple of cheaper tickets down below. Dad texted during the first half to say that the two seats next to him were actually free, so we headed up there to sit with him at halftime.

 

It was a great game of rugby! It was actually pretty close during the first half, but then the Chiefs totally dominated the second half, creating some amazing tries. Charlie Ngati had a blinder, running in three tries. If he keeps up that form he should be in the All-Blacks mix for sure. The game was also notable for the return of local hero Stephen 'The Beaver' Donald, playing his first super rugby game in 4 years. He didn't actually do much out on the field, but it was nice to see him kick a goal. He is number 22 in the pic below, waiting to come onto the field.

On Sunday night mum and dad left for their trip to Hong Kong and China, to spend some time with Warren and Norshidah. We were initially meant to be leaving for the United States that same evening, but we had had some major delays with our U.S. visas, so Will had delayed our flight until the 7th April. We couldn't do anything towards our visas until the University of California, Irvine (UCI), as our J1/J2 visa sponsor had couriered the DS-2019 documents to us, and they only arrived 2 days before we left on the Australian leg of our trip. We then had to fill in some forms online, pay the relevant fees, then book an interview in person at the American Consulate in Auckland. This was a little frustrating as my school in Wellington is literally right next door to the American Embassy, but the Embassy doesn't carry out any consular services!

We managed to get an appointment for 8:30am on Tuesday 29th March. Since it was so early in the morning I had booked us a hotel on Queen Street for Monday night, just a few minutes walk from the Consulate. Our interviews were a mere formality as we had all our documentation and evidence in order, and our visas were granted with no problems. We celebrated with a very tasty brunch at a cafe on Vulcan Lane.

Since the car-parking from the hotel was for 24 hours, and it was a lovely day, we then spent a bit of time wandering around Auckland, and the waterfront in particular. This was nice as I very rarely spend much time in the city centre. Usually on my trips to Auckland I just get to see the inside of a badminton hall!

 

 

 

With visas sorted (our passports were couriered back to us 3 days after our interview), we could then relax a bit, and make the most of the bonus extra time just chilling out in Hamilton. It felt a bit strange staying at mum and dad's place, without them actually being there! Will used the time to catch up on some of his work, and I put in some serious planning towards the U.S. stage of our trip. I managed to find and sign a 3-month lease on an unfurnished apartment just a few minutes walk from UCI, arrange renters insurance for the apartment, organise a 3-month lease on furniture rental for the place, plus opened a utilities account with Southern California Edison and arranged to get the electricity turned on for the day we arrived. Not bad going from a computer on the kitchen table in Hamilton! It was quite hard going at times doing the above without a U.S. social security number, U.S. phone number, U.S. bank account or U.S. driver's licence, but I got there in the end... Mostly it meant we just had to pay higher than usual security deposits since we had no credit history in the States.

With the planning mostly sorted, we could also spend some time visiting our favourite places in Hamilton before we left, and top of the list was the Hamilton Gardens.

One day we also did a nice long walk from my parents place to the Taitua Arboretum.

This place is a chicken lovers paradise! There were several lots of hens with baby chicks around, plus some magnificent roosters.

 

 Near the end of our walk we also had several Piwakawaka (fantail) flitting around. These are one of my favourite birds, so we stopped and watched them for a bit. Unfortunately we didn't have the big lens on our camera so the pictures aren't the best.

This was also a good opportunity for catching up with a few Hamilton based people before we left the country for 9 months. It was great to spend some time with my auntie Julie and my gorgeous nana.

I also had time to visit Colin and Glenda Giddy, my mate Roger (where I helped him and his cousin put together a bunk bed for his son in the house he has just bought in Horotiu!), my cousin Renee and her two lovely children, plus my longtime badminton friends Kevin and Deidre Bartels.

All too soon, the 7th April rolled around. My uncle David kindly drove Will and I up to Auckland airport and we had a very good dinner in the Koru Lounge. I made sure I made the most of my favourite Kikorangi Blue cheese since it was my last chance to for a very long time! Then at 7:30pm it was on a plane to LAX and the start of our new adventure...

 

Melbourne

On Friday 18th March we flew to Melbourne, after another very good breakfast in the Virgin Australia lounge. Any lounge that has a pancake machine gets my vote!

My friend Marty (from way back in my Warehouse/Uni days) kindly picked us up from the airport. This was exceptionally good of him as traffic was atrocious and it took a long long time to get into the city centre. This was partly due to the fact that the Australian Grand Prix  was on in Melbourne that weekend so the place was heaving. We dropped our bags at the Melbourne Central YHA on Flinders St and Will got picked up straight away by a colleague, as he had a meeting organised for that afternoon. I then headed off with Marty. Our initial plan was to grab some late lunch, but it had taken so long to drive into the city that it was time for him to pick up his girlfriend Abby from the school where she teaches.

After bit of a look around, we settled for an early dinner, as my airport lounge breakfast had been a very long time ago! We went to Shandong MaMa Mini in Centreplace, the lane that continues on from Degraves St. We had the most amazing dumplings, washed down with an Aussie craft beer. As the name of the restaurant suggests, the place was tiny with just a handful of tables, but the dumplings were sublime, and very good value. After dinner we met up with Will who had finished his work by then, and headed riverside for a couple of drinks. It was great catching up with Marty as it had been a while, and also good to meet Abby for the first time.

Will and I wandered back to the YHA and got a good nights sleep. Our original plan was to spend 3 nights at the YHA, then our remaining 4 nights in the city with my sister Jane and her family who live in Preston (which always makes me think of the Courtney Barnett song!). However, due to the aforementioned Grand Prix, there was no remotely affordable accommodation left in the city centre for the Saturday and Sunday night. Luckily Jane and Shane were happy to put us up for 6 nights instead of 4!

On Saturday Will and I made the most of being in the city centre, starting with the Melbourne Aquarium. This was very cool and we ended up spending ages there, seeing, among other exhibits, one of the world's largest saltwater crocodiles!

Here are a few other pics. The penguin enclosure was also very cool (quite literally!).

After we had worked up an appetite at the aquarium we spent some time exploring the trendy laneways that Melbourne is renown for. We actually ended up eating at the same dumpling place I'd had dinner at the previous night so that Will got to enjoy it too.

After lunch we spent time exploring the National Gallery of Victoria. There was an interesting looking Andy Warhol/Ai Weiwei exhibition on, but we would have been too rushed to try and get around it before closing. However, there were two interesting Weiwei installations in the main body of the gallery which we could access, 'Forever Bicycles' and 'Chandelier'.

We were also quite taken with this crystal-encrusted taxidermied deer...

The stained glass roof in one of the halls was also rather impressive.

After we'd finished at the NGV we headed back to the hostel where we had left our bags in lockers for the day. Jane and Shane and Evelyn then came to pick us up and drive us back out to their place.

Sunday was family outing day! We headed out for a drive to the Yarra Valley and enjoyed looking around some of the antique shops in Yarra Glen. We then stopped at the Greenstone Vineyard just out of Yarra Glen and spent a very pleasant afternoon indulging in some wine tasting, good food, and listening to the live band that was playing.

Will had a busy week at work visiting Monash University, RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) and MAPrc (Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre). One night a couple of his RMIT colleagues took us both out for a meal at the Man Tong Kitchen, a very good Chinese restaurant in the Crowne Casino complex. Afterwards we headed outside to see the big gas torch pillars outside the casino do their thing... We had very nice views of the Arts Centre (where Jane's husband Shane works) all lit up.  

On Tuesday I caught the train into the city and explored the Queen Victoria Market. I really enjoyed the food part of it in particular, with awesome fresh produce, plus all the specialty food stores. I treated myself to a good espresso coffee and the most amazing freshly baked almond croissant for brunch. After checking out a few other shops (like the huge Myer centre) I went and visited my cousin Christine at the law firm where she works. We checked out the impressive view from the top floor of her building and she also had time to pop out for a quick afternoon tea drink.

One of Christine's insider tips on places to visit was the La Trobe reading room in the State Library. This was very close to RMIT where Will was working, so I met him after work one day and we had a look. It was a beautiful octagonal room, plus the library also had a couple of interesting art galleries to browse through.

On Tuesday night Will and I went and had dinner with Craig and Denise Bullen, who I went to high school and university with. I hadn't seen them for a good few years, so it was really nice catching up with them and their three kids.

On Wednesday I caught the train into the city, then took the tram out to St Kilda for the day where I had a lovely time exploring.  I do like the vibe in St Kilda, it's very chilled. I did tell Will that if we ever ended up living in Melbourne, I wouldn't mind living out St Kilda way...

Next to the Luna Park funfair was a community garden called 'Veg Out'. This was really interesting to wander around, and I made sure I went and said hello to the chickens!

Before heading back into the city I walked the length of the pier and watched a bit of the fishing action. From the pier I was lucky enough to see a small penguin swimming in the water. There were very nice views looking back towards the city, but the weather was starting to turn so I thought I'd better quickly head back towards home. Melbourne is renown for its 'four seasons in one day'!

Jane has Thursdays off work, so I spent the day hanging out with her. In the afternoon we visited my cousin Christine at her home as she also has Thursdays off. We had an excursion to a local park with Christine's 4-year old twin girls. It was pretty full-on! I find one small child hard enough work, let alone two, so fair play to Christine for managing them as she does.

Will and I had offered to mind 2-year old Evelyn for a night so that Jane and Shane could have a rare night out to themselves, and on Thursday night they took us up on that offer. Jane and Shane had time to give her dinner before they headed out, then Will and I managed the rest of the bath/bottle/bed routine. She definitely enjoyed Uncle Will's story time!

On Good Friday we flew back to Auckland where dad was waiting to collect us and take us back down to Hamilton (with a cheeky ice-cream stop in Pokeno on the way!). We enjoyed our time in Melbourne, and hugely appreciate all the hospitality from Jane and Shane (and Evelyn?) in terms of letting us stay for so long, providing meals when we were around, and chauffeuring us around as required, including the early morning run to drop us off at the airport that Shane kindly did. It was lovely being able to spend so much time with Evelyn as it will be a while before we see her in person again.