Zeroing In

We spent Thursday with our realtors discussing the likely spaces we had scoped out over the past week. We have zeroed in on a great space overlooking the ferry terminal, right on the water. It's currently a going concern, but word has it that they can be persuaded to give up the space. Hilary, our realtor, will be negotiating with the tenants beginning Monday.

To celebrate, we decided to take some time off and go up to the Bay of Islands for a bit of golf. First we stopped in Waipu, about an hour and a half north of Auckland. The town was founded in 1853 by several Scots expatriates - the photos show Tyler and Conor pointing out Alexander Stewart, certainly a distant relative. We played golf under an awesome rainbow! We then went on up to Paihia and stayed over night, then played Waitangi. Again, gorgeous views.

It's been very interesting watching the BBC and CNN world news coverage of the US Presidential election. Did you know that Uraguay is having an election on Sunday? Perceptions are very different here. Most people think that Bush will win because his party controls the Supreme Court. Trying to explain the Electoral College is a little like Kiwis trying to explain cricket to us. Impossible.

Golfing Middle Earth 

Pictures Posted

Finally after all the requests I have posted the pictures of the Auckland city. Just click on the link on the right sidebar and it will direct you to the picture page on my site. Have fun browsing, we will post more pictures when we head out of the city and into the country.
CK

Pounding Ponsonby and Parnell

We have spent the past few days walking up and down through the cafe districts of Ponsonby, Parnell and the Central Business District (CBD) of Auckland. Ponsonby is jam-packed with all kinds of very cool little eateries, funky and fashionable. Parnell is a little more refined, but with lots of great choices. CBD is a teeming mass of humanity with a Starbucks and a kebab joint on every corner, and often several in the middle of the block as well! We venture out from 11:30 - 1:00 to get a feeling of the lunch crowd, then again from 5:30 - 7:00 to see the dinner crowd. Meetings, phone calls, and grading papers in between. We've been surprised at the counts we've gotten, but we do have a bit of an odd situation in that one of the major national holidays (Labour Day) was Monday and people may be just a little too exhausted from their holiday reveries to be eating out right now. When we are finished with our observations, we will often stop at the grocery store and get something to take home. You can only eat restaurant food for so long before NOTHING looks good!

Double Up

Yesterday was very interesting for Tyler and I. We left the apartment at around 4 to head to a bar where they were playing live music. Unfortunately we only had American money so we had to ask around to find an exchange center to be able to buy our beers. For the next two hours we went from place to place trying to find someone open to exchange our money finally after about a 2 mile walk and un countable rejections we ended up at the Sky tower, Auckland’s version of Seattle’s Space Needle. There we found a bank that was open till 11pm and they finally exchanged our money. We only exchanged $27 because that was all we had unfortunately that would buy us about 2 1/2 beers. Coincidently we stumbled across the Sky-Tower Casino, destiny…..I think so. After a short deliberation Tyler and I decided to put our luck on the line and try to double our money. We used the ol’ kerlin Black Jack sure fire way of winning (family secret, If I told you we would have to kill you). Anyway, after a quick hand, we had $67 in our pockets and we were out the door. Finally we ended up back at the bar found a seat and ordered our beers. They tasted just a bit better today than they have in the past. It was not more than 5 min after we sat down that a group of Kiwi’s (locals) invited us to sit at their table and bought us drinks. To sum it up, it was about 3 hours later that we left the bar with a whole new group of friends and a full belly. Next time life throws you a hand….double up!

We have found the WMD! They were hiding in plain sight at the Auckland Civic Center. 

Renewing our friendship with Kiwis, Malcolm & Janet. We met at Tokoriki in Fiji in 2002. 

piha

Now that the jet lag has worn off I am starting to get into more of a daily routine. Its weird how the time is different that back at the states. I mean there is actually only a 6 hour difference , but truly its 30 hours. We are one day and 6 hours ahead of yall back home. It threw us off, we left on the 20th and arrived here on the 22.....? that one took a while for me to figure out. We are staying on the 7th floor at Princes Warf in downtown Auckland, which is in the heart of the newest redeveloped area of the city. I think this is the hippest coolest place in the city right now, there is a Louis Vutton store downstairs around the corner and there is even a bar called -5 degree where the entire inside of the bar is ice. I am talkin ice sculptures, ice walls the whole 9 yards! To come in you have to put on their big fur coats, fur booties and gloves needless to say there is no ice required in the drinks, I will post a picture of it soon. The city reminds me of a very modern fashionable Seattle but in a much more condensed area. All the people here are very friendly, we draw a lot of double takes when we open our mouths and speak, they say they love our accents which is very cool. Yesterday we drove out of the city and toured the surrounding towns of Auckland. Its amazing how in 20 min you can go from downtown Auckland to a tropical beach where there is only a single road in and out. The most amazing place was Pakiri, the picture I posted is from the top of the hill coming into the area. Its a tropical paradise where the houses are all very small and hidden by the green brush. Words cannot describe what this place was like, its a surfers paradise. Anyway, i got a lot more to say but ill save it for another day or two. If you have any questions just post a comment and ill write you back. I hope everybody is doing well,
Remember to vote!

Some Tired Guys at Prince's Wharf 

Greetings From Auckland

We have arrived - after an 11-hour flight from San Francisco. I somehow contracted food poisoning by in the Portland Airport and proceeded to get sick on the flight from Portland to SFO. I felt better for awhile, but by the time we got to the Air NZ counter I was feeling queasy again. A quick trip to the ladies' room helped solve the problem, but I skipped dinner on the way over and settled for some hot tea. We left SFO at 9:45 Wednesday night and arrived in Auckland at 6:40 Friday morning after crossing the International Date Line.

After we collected our van and drove to our accomodations on Prince's Wharf, we went to breakfast and then took a nice long walk up Queen Street so Tyler and Conor could get a sense for downtown Auckland. We walked back to the wharf and everyone took a little nap.

Tonight we are going to meet Malcolm & Janet, friends we met in Fiji a few years ago, at the Mexican Cafe. We will all feel a little more normal tomorrow as we really start looking around this beautiful city.

Welcome to the Mexicali Grill Blog

This blog will provide a journal of our experiences as our family travels to New Zealand and establishes a new business there. Everyone, John, Cindy, Tyler and Conor, will submit postings throughout our adventure. As you can see, Cindy's posting persona is "Nacho Mama." The others have yet to set up their accounts, but you should see them "arrive" once we are in Auckland.

Speaking of which, John and I have finished the business plan, at least the part we can do from this continent. It's awesome, if I do say so myself. We are spending the day packing and tying up loose ends. I'm also grading assignments and getting a couple of weeks ahead in my two online classes.

Tomorrow we catch a flight from Redmond to SFO, and will meet Tyler and Conor at the Air NZ counter in SFO. They will be with us in Auckland until November 3. We will stay on until November 17. From there, our plans are still up in the air. We would really like to be with our family in Carlsbad for our annual Thanksgiving event.

If anyone ever wants to comment on a message, please do so!

A giraffe has joined the chat!

Its me CONDOG, I am currently taking care of some loose ends here in Portland. I need to take my cat Stinky to Jens house so she can watch her for the weeks I will be gone. The next time I will be on here....I will be on another continent.

I M PUMPED
holla at a kiwi!
CK