Life

Peeks Into Our Weeks

My best friend got married in New Zealand, so my husband, the baby and I traveled to New Zealand!  The other children stayed at home with my mother-in-law.

 I made each child a calendar and attached a chocolate kiss to each day we were gone, that way the kids got a kiss from us each day and knew how many more days we’d be gone.

I also made cards on our computer, printed them out, and prepared them for the mail.  I then asked a friend to put one in the mail each day so that the kids could get something in the mail from us each day!

 

 

 

 

 

In New Zealand

(please note that these are comparisons from where I live and the few places that we went, may not be an accurate description)

 

• elevators are called lifts
• shrimp are called prawns
• shopping centers are called arcades
• play pen is called a baby cot
• babies are called bubs
• instead of saying “You’re Welcome” they say “No Worries”
• toilets have two buttons
• light switches are different
• there is a switch to turn EVERYTHING on/off
• pedestrians really do have the right of way (and people will stop for you)
• baked beans, mushrooms, and tomatoes are served for breakfast
• breakfast is not included with a hotel room
• friendly: on a bus someone offered the use of their pillow so that I could nurse easier
• free unlimited Wi-Fi is practically unavailable
• I didn’t see any washing machines
• lots of sheep and cows
• Our baby got tons of attention and compliments everywhere we went, but we didn’t see very many children
• no Kleenex boxes, just travel size packs in hotels
• very few obese people (I counted 6 the entire trip)
• food and clothing is very expensive
• lots of smokers
• only saw free range eggs in stores
• McDonalds french fries taste the same
• McDonalds offers meat pies and actually has cafes inside them
• very environmentally conscious
• many places close around 5 to 530 PM

TIP: I’d suggest getting a

 and putting your receipts categorized by the date in each section.  Our luggage was lost on the way there and our baby carrier was lost on the way back.  It would have been much easier to file paperwork if our receipts would have been more organized!