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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Frequently Asked Questions pt 1

Panorama view of Auckland
Lydia and I get asked the same questions about New Zealand over and over, so I figured I'd make one consolidated place to answer a lot of those questions!  Feel free to email me any other questions.

Q. Are you going to be on House Hunters International?
A. Probably not.  But after being asked this one thousand times, I did apply!

Q. Are there things that will eat you down there?
A. Unlike it's neighbor Australia, New Zealand has very few dangerous animals.  In fact, New Zealand was so safe for the birds, they just stopped bothering with wings!  There's only 2 venomous spiders on the island, and from what I gather they're pretty rare.  My dad was excited to learn there are no snakes!  Indiana Jones probably retired there.  No indigenous large mammals there, though some have been introduced.  What they do have, however, is the demon beast known as the weta.   Seriously, those things are gross.

Q. How much stuff are you taking?
A. Well, obviously almost all of my miniatures!  We're taking maybe a third of our furniture, but are also taking the opportunity to shed a bunch of accumulated junk.  All in all, we're fitting what we want to take into 450 cubic feet.  (That's 12.7ish cubic meters).
The flag

Q. Do they drive on the wrong side of the road?
A. It's not wrong to them!  That's going to take some getting used to.

Q. What's the climate like?
A. The climate is classified as Oceanic, much like the Pacific Northwest.  Wikipedia has this to say about Auckland: Auckland has a temperate climate, with warm, humid summers and mild, damp winters. It is the warmest main centre of New Zealand and is also one of the sunniest, with an average of 2060 sunshine hours per annum.  "Centre", heh.  Gonna have to get used to some British English spellings!  My poor spell checker is going to be so confused.  Where do I specify "The Queen's English"?

Q. What is the cost of living like?
A. Auckland is hit with a double whammy of being a large city, and being on an island that relies on imports.  It's pretty high!  Lydia and I will definitely have to adjust to that- we've been spoiled living in a Richmond suburb!

Alright, I'll leave part one at that.  Feel free to ask more in the comments and I'll try to field them!  I'll also probably screw up half of this, and my Aucklander friends can call me out.


Thursday, July 25, 2013

US Bucket list

There's a list of things, mostly food, that Steven and I must do (eat) before leaving the country. Yesterday we were able to cross one from that list: Chicken Fiesta!

Steven and I have had many dates at Chicken Fiesta over the years. We've seen it go from a hole in the wall that could seat about 10 people (and it was always packed) to a full restaurant with a second location. It's by far one of our favorite places in RVA. 

Here it is folks, our last #1 chicken sandwich combo with fried yucca. 
If you think that sandwich doesn't look like anything special you're WRONG (stupid). Whatever kind of black magic seasoning goes on that bird before its sent to slow cook on a rotisserie makes it a freaking fantastic chicken dance party in your mouth. Oh and that green and yellow sauce, yeah no idea what they are but I do know that I'd like to slather it on everything. 


My only regret is that Isabelle never got to try it. That baby doesn't know what she's missing.




Wednesday, July 24, 2013

T-Minus 33 days.

In 33 days we're boarding a plane with one way tickets to Auckland.  Holy crap!

I can't even begin to describe how stressful it is simultaneously packing, selling various items, preparing to sell a house and 2 cars, and carrying on with (somewhat) normal lives.  With a toddler.

This past weekend was Historicon, which was an absolute blast!  I got to see a ton of good friends, and had tons of people say some very nice things to me.  Knowing that I've positively impacted people's hobby is a fantastic feeling, and makes all the time spent on WWPD totally worth it!

Luke and Jon got me the plaque pictured here, and it meant a lot.  They rightly know that I'm a plaqueman!  I'll take a plaque over prize support any day of the week, and now I have a ceterpiece!

My favorite part of Historicon was the hangin' out after all the games wound down for the day.  Always a good time!  Thanks to everyone who came and hung out.

Alright, done with this rambling post.  More to come!

-S

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Hello World!

Hi everyone!  Lydia and I plan to use this to discuss our big move to New Zealand.  For those of you who may not know, here is the announcement.  Right now we're in the process of planning how in the hell we move halfway round the world!  But we're incredibly excited, and are looking forward to living in another country.  Get ready to be bombarded by New Zealand facts!  Until next time, here's a few pictures of me, Lydia, and Isabelle.