Waitati School

 

Choosing a school for Gwen and Simon felt like a hard process. We knew that the public schools in NZ were supposed to be great (luckily our visa status through the sabbatical allowed the kids to attend public schools). But we also knew that there was supposed to be a lot of variation. Schools were given 'decile rankings' that determined their funding from the federal government. We visited several different schools, met with the principals, and poured over the decile ratings. Finally - taking what felt like a bit of a leap of faith - we choose the Waitati School. The kids started just days after our arrival. The kids weighed in on this decision too - their vote was for Waitati. (Its great playground may have been a factor.)

On the first day, the kids were welcomed with a traditional ceremony in which the whole school sang to Gwendolyn and Simon in Maori, and David had to stand up and give our family background (lucky for him, he was allowed to do this part in English; both kids later learned to do it in Maori (!)). Then the whole school had tea and biscuits - the whole thing a very sweet mish mash of traditional Maori culture and the remnants of British influence, a combination we would see a lot in the months to come. Sadly, I missed the whole thing - as I was off to Pureora, to spend a week in the field looking for bats with my University of Auckland colleagues.

The picture above is not the first day mihi ceremony (no pictures of this) - but a 'book character dress up 'day much later - the bumblebee is the school principal, Ms Stacey Honeywell :).

Waitati

After what seemed like lots of travels, we finally arrived in Waitati!!! David was the one who found this area for us, looking for houses on sabbaticalhomes.com (a great resource for finding temporary rentals abroad). In the end we didn't end up going with the house we found on this site, but we fell in love with the area, and found another house nearby. Here's our first visit to the Waitati Doctors Point Beach.

Where there are sometimes penguins!

And cool beach caves.

And hail! 

(Thinking back - a hail storm on our first beach walk in Waitati in the middle of summer should have been a sign...)

South Island map

Our trip from the Picton ferry landing at the top of the South Island, down to Waitati....

Road from Nelson to Waitati

On the road again. But this time with our very own car! One great thing that came out of our stay in/around Nelson was that all the stars aligned - we finally had the money, time and opportunity. After searching at several not so great used car dealerships (why are used car dealerships somewhat sleazy, the world over??), David found a great option on trademe.com, a New Zealand version of craigslist or eBay.

Complete with the steering wheel on the right. How strange it's been to drive on the left side of the road. David got used to it much more quickly than I did. But little by little we're getting it.

We spent the night in a motel just outside Christchurch, arriving about midnight. We stopped at a nice farm/restaurant on the way out of town (the Stables at Timaru) the next morning. Again, Gwen loved the strange-looking pig. But the rest of the journey is kind of a blur. It was a beautiful rush of mountains and pastures and pretty wooded forests. And then finally we made it to Waitati. Just in time to check out some houses, choose a school, and settle into a place to stay before my heading back to the North Island for an intensive week in the field with the bats....

Cafe with eels

Jester Cafe in Tasman - another wonderful outdoor restaurant with incredible play area - and a river full of tame EELS! Which also seems to be a very popular thing here.

 

 

Upper Mapau

Back on the east side of the mountains again - an airbnb in Upper Mapau. The kids loved this one - each had their own room, and there was a trampoline, and a sheep!

Collingwood

We decided Takaka was a little too alternative for us for our full time residence, so we kept looking... The next stop was Collingwood. We found a furnished house for rent! But it was tiny, and still under construction... And VERY far from everything. Too remote, we finally decided.

But it was hard to turn down. Windows opening on to a gorgeous bay, across the road from an empty beach. There was even one of Simon's all time favorite playground pyramids at the end of the road. Hard to believe we could turn all that down.

Riverside Cafe

South of Mapau, we stumbled on this fantastic cafe (constantly on the move, it's been hard to juggle keeping everyone bathed, fed, in clean clothes...). With a car full of hungry travelers, this place was unexpectedly wonderful. And we kept finding more and more tucked away spots like this - seems to be popular thing on the top of the South Island - an outdoor cafe with fantastic, wholesome food, a few random farm animals, a great playground, wonderful coffee.... Such a good combination.
 

 Gwen particularly taken by this enormous pig.

Franca's House

We loved the place we stayed in Takaka. It was owned by an Italian/New Zealander, who offered to rent it to us for the year. We liked it so much we really thought about it. Somehow it really felt like home.

Simon - getting 'guapo' after his shower. 

Hammock reminding us of Panama.

Takaka

Golden Bay.... up and over a beautiful mountain range. To the spot Maori and Europeans first came into contact. In December 13, 1642 Abel Tasman and his crew anchored in Golden Bay. They were surrounded by Maori waka (canoes). Lots of miscommunication ensued, with the Maori ramming one of the smaller Dutch boats, the Dutch firing a cannon, and the Maori killing four Dutch sailors. The Dutch set sell without setting foot on land, ending the first Maori/European contact. The next Maori/European contact wasn't for 127 years, when Captain Cook landed on the North Island (Bay of Islands) - this also didn't go very well. Much later, this South Island bay went from being called Moordenaers’ (Murderers’) Bay by Abel Tasman and his crew, to 'Golden Bay'. It now seems to be settled predominantly by hippies/'lifestylers'/free spirits - full of yoga studios, sweat lodges, and all kinds of alternative stuff.

  Downtown Takaka. The Dangerous Kitchen - a Frank Zappa reference.

 Some great food.

 Some random Takaka shots.

We really liked this area. But felt a little overwhelmed by the alternatives lifestylers.