THE TUATARA BURROW

Hi All – Long time no update…  We’ve been up to heaps since our last update and are only now finding the time to get the blog updated.  In fact I’m typing this as we travel by ship up the inside passage of Alaska to Juneau – beautiful scenery despite the rain and cold temps!  All of our stuff from MI (that we could fit!) is stuffed in the back of our pick-truck and stowed below decks as we make our final leg of the long trip from NZ to Alaska.  The remaining gear that we sent from NZ is now sitting at the port in Seattle and we are working through the logistics of getting it up to Juneau…not sure yet but I may have to make the 3 day round trip by car to retrieve it!  Fingers crossed we can find another method of getting our belongings to us.

 

A lot has happened since the last update…  I finished up my job in NZ and said goodbye to our home for the last 4 years, fare-welled all of dear friends in NZ (already missing them), completed a 2 week rugby tour with a team of New Zealanders in the Western US; taken a job at the University of Alaska (where Jen works) where I’ll be working with federal and state agencies to coordinate GIS activities; managed a few days turkey hunting and trout fishing in MI (successful outings I might add); visited with most of the relatives and friends I hadn’t seen in 18 months; and driven across North America in route to our new home in Alaska.  Jen flew to Michigan to join me for the long drive across the continent and we are now looking forward to getting settled in our new lives in Juneau.  We’ve got a bit to do once we get up there as Jen is about to begin her field season looking for boreal toads in the north country and nearby islands and I’ll be learning a new role at the University – should be interesting…

 

My recent rugby trip was AWESOME to say the least!  It involved traveling from NZ with 15 Kiwis and playing 6 rugby matches in 8 days – a massive amount of rugby for such a short span!  During our travels we managed 3 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw – overall a winning record that myself and the boys are proud of.  A great time was had by all as we visited 4 states including Montana, Idaho, Colorado and Wyoming (as well as Yellowstone Park).  We made our way across the land in an old school bus my friend Adam (from Wyoming) converted into an RV of sorts – it was perfect for the occasion and I can’t imagine the trip without that bus.  During our travels we were joined by several of my old rugby teammates that I hadn’t seen in years and it was a treat to take the field with these guys again – we’re all getting a bit long in the tooth for the furious pace of rugby, but I reckon we did alright for being a squad of “old duffers”.  The boys were equally impressed by both the beauty of the landscape and the hospitality of the people they encountered.  Several of the guys remarked that the folks in the western US were the nicest people they’d ever met!  A highlight of the trip for me was being able to perform a haka (traditional Maori challenge or greeting depending on the circumstance) at the start of each of our matches – it is probably the only time I’ll ever be able to doing something that particular and special to NZ culture in the right circumstance.  It was particularly special because non-New Zealanders are rarely if ever included in the performance of an actual haka before a game.  At the end of our travels I was pretty sad to say goodbye to the friends and teammates I’d been playing with for the last 4 years, however it was a fitting send off to my days of being a “quasi-Kiwi”.  Many thanks to all of the guys from NZ and my old mates from around the US that joined in to make this tour the center piece of my rugby career.  That trip will hold a special place in my heart for as long as I live!

 

Following the rugby trip, I headed back to Michigan where I was finally reunited with Mrs. P!  I hadn’t seen Jen in 98 long days since she left to begin her job in Alaska back in February!  98 of the longest days I could have imagined!  I remember when we decided that she would preempt our shift to Alaska by heading up early to begin work while I finished up work in NZ; we were both pretty comfortable with the situation and thought the time would breeze by before we knew it…  Wrong!  As soon as I said goodbye to her at the airport, reality set in and I knew NZ was no longer our home.  I guess home is where the heart is…  Seeing her at the airport on her arrival from Alaska was like coming home all over again!  Needless to say, when we were finally reunited we were pretty happy to see one another again and we’ve both vowed to never attempt that situation again.

 

During our recent travels across the North America we’ve seen some absolute stunning landscapes that neither of us had seen before.  North Dakota was stunning and Saskatchewan was interesting (if not the flattest landscape I’ve ever seen!), however western Alberta and British Columbia are absolutely amazing.  In particular, the Canadian Rockies are the most beautiful mountains I’ve ever seen!  While the mountainous areas of New Zealand and Wyoming hold a special place for me, the mountain ranges around Banff and Jasper National Parks are hands down the most majestic I’ve ever encountered.  Jen agrees and we’re hoping the pictures she took do the landscape some measure of justice.   I know most Americans think the Rockies in the lower 48 are as good as it gets, but I have a hard time believing any of those ranges are as dramatic and pristine as what I just saw…and I only saw it from the road! Apparently we drove through that area at the right time of year as there was almost no one on the roads and the wild life was everywhere.  We saw elk, whitetail deer, mule deer, big born sheep, mountain goats and tons of bears!  In fact, we saw 13 different black bears between Banff, Alberta and Prince George, British Columbia just walking along the roadside eating grass – we got tons of bear photos!

 

Anyway as this looks to be a pretty long rant now, I think I’ll end things here.  We’re looking forward to getting settled in our new home and certainly hope to hear from friends and family in the coming weeks.  Bye for now!

After Mike's long rant about his no good, very bad day, I thought I should post something a bit happier! I made it to Alaska, and the rumors are true - it's beautiful. And cold. And snowy. Really, really snowy. I was under the impression that Juneau - being on the coast, and part of SE Alaska - would not be as snowy as the rest of Alaska. Needless to say, I was wrong! I'm now thinking that precipitation is the norm here, no matter what form it comes in! It's really beautiful though, snow-capped peaks, bald eagles everywhere (I still can't get over them), otters swimming in Auke Bay right outside my office window - absolutely breathtaking. I laughed the other day when someone casually said to me "hey, maybe we'll get summer this year". Then I realized that he wasn't joking. Fingers crossed for a nice warm, rain free summer!

 

In the meantime, I've been diving in to work, just waiting for the toads to wake up. I'm missing Mike like crazy, and I can't wait for him to get up here and see this place. I have a feeling that when the salmon start running, it will make the transition back to American life pretty easy!!!

 

Much love and Tavvauvusi (that's apparently goodbye in Inuit)

 

Also, these are all the words for snow in Inuit:

aniu, apijaq, aput, isiriartaq, katakartanaq, kavisilaq, kinirtaq, mannguq, masak, matsaaq, natiruvaaq, pukak, qannialaaq, qannik, qiasuqaq, qiqumaaq

 

I think that might explain something.

Hi All,

 

Just talked to Jen – she’s landed in Alaska and is very excited!  She’s very taken with the beauty of the place – she say’s her office over looks the bay with a backdrop of snow capped mountains.  I can’t wait to see it with her – and I’m really ready to get up there after the crazy day I had yesterday…

 

Ever have one of "those" days?  You know the kind, where it feels like the planets are all aligned against you and the world seems to be conspiring behind your back.  We often hear other people talk about having one of "those" days, but it's kind of hard to sympathize unitl one "those" days lands on your doorstep.  We'll I had one of "those" days yesterday - nothing serious happend - just a series of minor irritations which added insult to injury.  It went somthing like this...

 

I awoke to the remnants of a cyclone ripping outside with horizontal rain and heavy wind.  Ordinarily this wouldn't seem too out of place for Wellington, but it concerned me because I was supposed to be helping with a fly fishing event on the weekend and had to drive 4 hours north of Wellington that afternoon.  Due to the heavy rain and flooding over night, I was pretty sure the venue where I was supposed of be an official was going to ruled out/cancelled due to high water and dangerous conditions - but just to be safe/responsible, I decided to pack up the car in case the rain eased, the forecast for more rain/wind was wrong and the event was able to proceed as planned.  

 

So I got my gear together and I headed off to work in the car (normally I take the bus) with the mindset that I would expite my trip north by leaving straight from work.  However, on this particular morning traffic was really bad and I ended up stuck in a traffic jam - well and truly stuck – “not going anywhere for over an hour” kind of stuck!  Figuring there must be a serious accident blocking the road, I turned around 3 times to try different routes into the city only to find that all routes were packed with traffic??!  Now panicked that some catostrophic event had happened in the city I turned on the radio for an update - what I found out from the smart-arsed DJ is that due to seriously inclement weather conditions, no one was taking the public transport because of it being far too miserable waiting outside for the buses!  That resulted in the roads getting jammed with an inordinate amount of commuters driving in dicey conditions.  Anyway after some dodgy back routes and long waits in parking lot like conditions, I found myself circling the downtown looking for a place to park the car...   Figured - Nothing near the office and all of the pay-for-parking lots were chocked full, so I had to settle for a space 10 blocks from work - worst part being that with only $2 change in the car, I could only affort 30 mins of parking!  Oh well, as least I found a spot…  Forced to accpect that I’d return in 30mins with more coins – I headed off on foot in the pouring rain so I could make an appearance at work and get some more change for the meter.  Arrivng to work soaking wet, I looked at the clock only to see that its now well after 10am and I was 30mins late for a meeting....CRAP!  After letting my colleagues know that I'd reshedule the appointment, I headed off back into the rain to feed the parking meter.  Getting back to the car, really really wet by this time, I fed the meter and it happily ate my $12...only it didn't give me the damn ticket to display for my windsheild!!  So standing in the pouring rain, I had to call the city council and beg them to let their meter cops in the area know that the meter is busted and not to be giving tickets at location XYZ over the next 6 hours…  And my day just kept getting better. 

 

Parking solved, I headed back to work (oh yeah – it was still hosing down with rain!) to confirm that the fishing event was no longer going ahead, or at a minimum, that I was no longer required for the river venue.  Getting back to my office looking like I went for a swim in my work clothes, I started trying to get ahold of the event organisers without luck.  I couldn’t seem to reach anyone in the know, leaving messages with every person who was ever remotely linked to the event, and pulling my hair out trying to avoid a situation whereby I don’t turn up and the event proceeds,  or the inverse, where I drive north four hours only to find that the event is cancelled… 

 

At 3:30 just before I was about to pull the pin on travel due to the poor weather contions, I managed to reach the president of the organisation and was told the following “we are going to wait until tomorrow morning to make a call about whether or not we’re going to use the venue because it just might be suitable for fishing at that time.  Although it looks bad now, I think to be on the safe sife you’ll have to come up in case conditions suit and the event goes ahead as planned. Drive safely, and we’ll see you this evening.”   Skeptically and relunctantly, I agreed to drive up as planned, turned off the computer and slipped quitely out of work…  Luckily when I got to the car there was no ticket on it (no that any meter maid would be out in those conditions anyway!), so I hopped in (soaked again) and drove north.

 

Driving along and just getting north of town, I suddenly found myself sitting in heavy traffic again.  Surely it couldn’t have been commuter traffic with most people should still at work – very slowing idling along I saw the problem ahead…  The road was completely underwater and cars were just barely getting through!  Thinking to myself this is ridiculous – no way can a stream based fly fishing event go forward tomorrow – I piloted the car through the torrent of water running across State Hwy 1…  Still the rain kept coming down and I got further and further from Wellington – and closer and closer to what I was convinced was going to be a cancelled fly fishing competition.  Getting really grumpy by this point, I figured I neeed to confirm plans again, so I started calling people – “oh yes, oh yes – we’re going to have play it by ear and make the call tomorrow” was the response. 

 

Finally closing in on my target – not 30 minutes away from the place where I was supposed to be staying – I got a call from the event organiser (who is different to the president...?).  He told me that they’ve had to make a call to cancel the river venue for tomorrows competition and that my help would no longer be required.  He indicated he was sorry for the hassle, but it was the best decision in the interest of safety…  I told him that I understood, that I would make alternate plans and then hung up the phone… 

 

What I wanted to say was this guy was “NO SHIT SHERLOCK – I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU THAT FIRST THING THIS MORNING WHILE I WAS STILL AT HOME!  I didn’t need the massive hassle of organising a bunch of wet gear, $100 worth of gasoline and 3.5 hour drive north one way to figure that out - Thanks for nothing! 

 

As the brain kicked into gear about how I might salvage the trip and the weekend by actually doing some fishing of my own on the lakes which don’t get impacted by rain – my thought process was rudely interrupted as the car stated shaking badly and pulling to one side.  Yep – just as I thought things could only get better – the right rear tire blew out!

 

As I changed the tire, it suddenly occurred to me that enough is enough – time to pull the pin on a bad plan gone bad – cut the losses and chalk it up to experince (the experience being that I’ve got a hell of a lot more common sense that the folks in charge of these fishing events!).  And with that, I spun the wheel around and headed back to Wellington – 3.5 long hours – I arrived home at nearly 11pm.

 

To top off the whole experience, I ended up having to buy a new tire as a result of my little 7 hour round trip tour.  I went this morning to have the tire fixed - it was clearly punctured in the tread – however, the guy showed me that it couldn’t be repaired because the tire deflated so fast and the weight of the car at speed damaged the tire’s sidewall.  It ended up costing another $200….

 

All up, the day ended up costing me well in excess of $300 and resulted in nothing but hassels and an experience that I’d rather forget….  I hope it’s a long time, if ever again, before I have one of “those” days!

 

Looking forward to Alaska now!

Elvis has left the building...  That's right, Jen is officially back in the States now and I'm not far beind.  In preparation for her new job at the University of Alaska, she packed up the essentials (which barely fit into 2 huge duffel bags), said good bye to the Land of the Long White Cloud (NZ) and winged it back to the good ole US of A.  It's now been one week since I laid eyes on Mrs P and definitely missing her!  I've had to relearn food preparation, clothes folding & ironing, bathroom cleaning, etc...  Poor me!  Seriously though, the house just doesn't feel like our home any longer without her and I'll be ready to go when the end of April rolls around.  Accordingly, I've handed in my resignation at work (finish April 24th), have been getting things ready to sell or send home, and have purchased tickets home - I'll be leaving for the US on April 28th.  Lot to do between now and then...

 

In related news, Jen is at home in Grand Rapids preparng for the shift to Alaska in a couple weeks.  She's working on getting us a vehicle, finding a place to stay, deciding what needs to get shipped to AK and looking for new pets (I can barely control my enthusiasim about new pets...).  Lots and lots for her to do and I'm glad that she'll have things sorted by the time I get up there. Good work Jenny!

 

In unrelated news, I of course have been fishing lately!  While I can't say that fishing has been particularly hot, it is fly fishing in New Zealand and that alone makes it better than most any fly fishing in the world!  In two weeks I'll be officiating the New Zealand national fly fishing championships which should be good fun and educational - unfortunately I can't compete in the championship as I didn't qualify (didn't help that the buggers cancelled all but one of the events I entered!).  Definitely going to have a crack at the US scene once I get back there.  One month after that NZ national event, I'll be officiating the Oceania Champs between NZ, Australia, Japan, Canada & the US national teams - should be very interesting!  I'm hoping to get away fishing again this weekend so look for new pics in the near future.

 

Thats about it for now - Hope everyone is well and look forward to seeing you all in the coming months!

 

 

Happy 2009 everyone! We hope you are so far having a wonderful new year. We had a fantastic kiwi Christmas in the south island. It was very strange celebrating the holiday season during summertime. The usual sweaters, fireplaces and snowstorms were replaced by bathing suits, diving gear and sunshine! We spent a week and a half travelling around the south island, first spending three days in Wanaka with our good friends Jason and Chantelle. We went diving for abalone, and even managed to find a few! They are weird critters that look a bit like the sole of a shoe, but taste pretty yummy when mixed up with some onions and made into fritters! We also floated tubes down the Clutha river, which is gorgeously clear and cold. We headed up to finish our holiday in Abel Tasman national park at our friend Craig and Nicky's cottage (or bach - pronounced 'batch' - to kiwis). Nicky's brother was nice enough to take us scuba diving for scallops - yum! - and lobster (or crayfish here). We enjoyed lots of time on the beach - and even went tubing for the first time since I can remember (needless to say, my arms were just a bit sore the next day after holding on for dear life!). When we got home at about 2 am after a late ferry ride across Cook straight, we pretty much collapsed with still sandy feet, covered in sandfly bites, into a pile of dirty laundry!

 

We missed all of you this year, and are looking forward to seeing you in what is looking to be an exciting 2009! Much love from us.