Winter has Arrived

We have officially been here 2 weeks and although we came just at the winter solstice the weather wasn't too bad. This week has been different. The weather has turned more wintry. It rained almost constantly for 4 days straight with Friday night into Saturday providing us with a small amount snow. The roads and grass were covered with about an inch. As we awoke Saturday morning the snow had turned to rain and we were treated to a day of pouring rain and wind gusts near 45 mph (American units). The local TV news stations were warning all drivers to avoid driving unless it was an emergency, far different than Buffalo. We are still realizing what it means to be Dunedin cold. The houses are sparsely heated. We have awoke in recent mornings to our kitchen a balmy 0.6 degrees Celsius (f*%#ing cold Fahrenheit). The room in the house which is heated we keep around 60 degrees and that is where we spend the vast majority of our time. We have finally found an apartment. It is closer to the University than where we are housesitting and the walk has much less elevation. I am sure an upcoming post will have pictures showing off the place.

I (Craig) started work on Tuesday and things have been busy but well. It will take me a while to get into the academic groove but all things seems very positive at the moment. I have one class I will be teaching primarily and I will also be supervising students on their first clinical experiences. Work is well heated and quite inviting after sleeping without heat, so it has not been a struggle to head in every morning. Katie has applied to the University to work in the Physiotherapy School also, as a research assistant. Hopefully that will work out well until her license gets approved.

We are still watching Fat Madame and she is now tolerating us with minimal hissing and even a fond purr if we are in the heated room and she cares to join us. She is well aware of her meal times and reminds us when we sleep in or have gone out near dinner time.

Last night was our first night out on the town. We bundled up and headed out in the wind to get some NZ pizza and pasta. We were treated to a tasty meal with plenty of heat in the restaurant. After dinner we enjoyed a beverage and our first All Blacks game. We don't yet understand most of the rules of rugby, however it is entertaining watching huge guys in short shorts pound on each other for a couple hours.

Today the weather broke and we decided to head out for a stroll in the hills around town. There are a couple nice parks in the city but there is a large trail system for hiking, dog walking, and running. We tried our luck on the Pineapple Track today. There was at least 6 inches of snow as we reached the top but it was not precipitating and we were treated to some nice views of the city, see below:




Hope everyone is well and you like the new look of the blog. We miss you all. Congrats to Elisa and Nino, from what I could make out on the phone your wedding sounded like a great party.