We are in New Zealand at last!

We have arrived! We stopped in California for visits with family and fun in our last days of summer, before getting on a plane Monday night in San Francisco, and waking up (well, kind of waking, if one can wake from the limbo of airplane sleep) on Wednesday in Auckland. We arrived before dawn, and moved amazingly smoothly through immigration and customs, to be greeted by a van driver, who took us to Hamilton. The grown-ups were grateful not to have to drive that first morning, in the dark, seeing the first rush of traffic, though it was mostly going into Auckland, as we headed south. We enjoyed the sunrise and mist settling in the valleys of the rolling hills on the way to Hamilton. We arrived in Hamilton a little after 8, and were greeted at our temporary home by a friend of the owners, John, who was very helpful. Especially in telling us how to turn on the heat, which is not intuitive to ignorant Americans--we are staying, through September, in a typical middle-class New Zealand house: brick, 3 bedrooms, one bath (actually it's a shower), and a complicated patchwork of heat from gas room heaters, a mysterious system in the ceiling or roof or something in bedrooms, and big blankets. John also helped us rent a car and pick it up, though Carrie discovered, not having asked, that it was a manual, which is ok, but adds another dimension of backwardness to the driving experience. Shifting is left-handed, but the clutch is still on the left.

We all fell into bed about seven last night (well, Emily fell asleep during Harry Potter reading, which means she must have been REALLY tired), and most of us woke before dawn today, Thursday. Joseph is still asleep. We got to the store yesterday, so we have crumpets and tea, and other staples, like tasty cheddar (aka sharp cheddar).

Today, we will get cell phones, visit Emily's possible new school, maybe shop for some warm slippers, scout out some car options, and have dinner with Doug Boer, the director of the clinical program at the University. And charge up the camera battery and figure out how to get the pictures onto this blog, which is here thanks to Manford. Not really very exciting so far, but excitement at this point might be dangerous.