This flight was also nice because they fed us dinner 90 minutes into the flight and then breakfast 90 minutes before the end. It wasn’t horrible, but it was by no means great either. Let’s just say there is no way I could survive much longer on dried out mashed potatoes in the shape of a rectangle and salad that seemed to still be in the thawing process. But, food is food and I sure was grateful for it even though it was far from my mother’s homecooking.
It felt SO good to walk off the plane onto the land of New Zealand. Jess and I actually got off with a big 1-2-3-JUMP to get us all even more excited. We made it through customs without any problems, and I received my first stamp in this new passport! It’s crazy how a little ink on a piece of paper can mean so much and be so exciting to have. Then came the time for Anna Goode and I to meet our host family: the Lord family from Colwilll, Auckland, New Zealand. The father—Kerry, the mother—Sheryl, Alexis—6, and Kodie—22 months. Sheryl’s mother, Raewyn, and nephew, Tippany, also live in another part of the house connected to the garage. They seem like a wonderful family—very welcoming and easy going. Anna and I were thrilled to see their boat, swimming pool, trampoline, beehives, fruit trees, and incredible view from their backyard. You can see the ocean (or really the bay I guess) from their back porch. Amazing. I love it already!
After we were able to shower and freshen up, Sheryl took us to the daycare they own called Tui’s Nest. They just painted the walls over Christmas break and so we helped put everything back in order. My grandpa used to own a daycare and it reminded me of all the times I visited Children’s University. Then, cute little Alexis walked us across the street to the “Garden Center.” It was fun to see some different plants and flowers that we don’t have in the USA. And it was even more fun to hear Alexis say all the names in her accent. Her favorite were the hot chilies!
Our next adventure was Countdown—the local grocery store. It was such a funny experience because everything was practically the same, but just a little different. Like they have many of our same cereals, except they have different names for them. Their crackers are still crackers, but their cookies are called biscuits. They have lots of ice cream, but flavors like “Hokey Pokey” (with honeycomb). Also they call their shopping carts “shopping trolleys.” One of the biggest shocks was that all of their cheese is the same color—it’s all white! Even the cheddar is white, not yellow/orange. This makes sense since it comes from milk…but why is our cheddar cheese orange? Do they dye it? Assignment for everyone still in the US: find out why cheddar cheese is orange over there. Report back to me as soon you find out : ). Here is something to make you all grateful at home: our small shopping trip cost about $300! Mind you this was for the whole family, but still, it’s not like we bought anything extravagant. Crazy.
Our first dinner in New Zealand consisted of honey mustard chicken, polenta, and salad. Apparently Kerry (the dad) is the main chef because he loves to cook. We were excited about this after our first meal because it was delicious! Hopefully he keeps it up and wasn’t just trying to impress us the first night ;) We gave the Lord family our gifts (I guess it’s more customary to give them at the beginning rather than the end of your stay) and they were thrilled about the Peanut Butter M&Ms. They have M&Ms here, but they don’t have peanut butter M&Ms. The talk of chocolate led into a story about Cadbury chocolate. Cadbury is from New Zealand, but they ran into a bit of trouble when they started making their chocolate with less cocoa and added palm oil. It created an uproar among the New Zealanders and they pretty much vowed not to buy any more Cadbury chocolate (at least this is what Sheryl and her mother Raewyn said). So next time you eat a Cadbury egg and you think it tastes good, remember it tasted even better before the palm oil fiasco.
Hey Heidi! Do they say "Good day, mate!"?
ReplyDeleteSo, it looks like when cows in the spring and summer ate fresh grass, their milk was supposed to have a higher butter fat content than in the winter when they were eating hay, so the milk would have a slightly different color. The dairy farmers started dying the cheese to make it look like summer cheese. This must be true-I read it on the internet!
Check the links for a couple of pics you posted, and reread that last line--ed.
Love you! Dad