| In a particular
place isn’t too big a deal unless you just received a clear deed of trust
to ten acres of land with a small mansion in La Jolla, California from
an unknown, late great aunt.
The United
States is a very big place by comparison and we are very spoiled when it
comes to moving about…we have a lot of choices. And if you have the
means, no one is about to tell you might have to leave unless your being
there is approved by a large bureaucracy. Of course, the exception being
anyone wanting to live in a Manhattan Condominium. The news that the
New Zealand Immigration Service thought us worthy enough to become permanent
residents in their country was very moving indeed (yes, pun intended).
And here’s the icing on the cake…it was our anniversary! What a great present!
And after my wife reminded me of that fact (phew!) we had even more
reason to celebrate. So we had a great dinner and shared a bottle of some
of New Zealand’s best wine (not quite on par with Napa, but they’re
getting there) at one of our favourite restaurants.
The NZIS only
lets about 60,000 people immigrate to New Zealand a year. Of those the
majority, about 35%, come from the U.K. Only about 4% are Americans.
But judging by my e-mails that number is sure to increase after the last
election! So we felt very lucky in many ways. It was a long and tumultuous
endeavour. The NZIS returned our passports with the appropriate documentation
inside almost exactly a year after we had begun the application process.
During that time they had changed the rules three times, set the bar at
various astronomical heights and came up with many new and creative ways
to frustrate even the hardiest of candidates. Since then they’ve
made it considerably easier for those following in our footsteps as their
earlier efforts had resulted in reducing the flow of emigrants to a trickle.
With unemployment at a 23 year low, they finally realised that having good,
qualified folks move here from other lands can be a good thing. And
as I always say, it’s not perfect, but it’s perfect for us.
The second
thing that makes me think that New Zealand has become a habit was initiated
by a long-awaited visit by Sandy’s brother Rick and his wife Susan. Seeing
someone “familiar” for the first time in many months was a real
treat. We’ve made new friends here, much faster than we thought possible,
but there’s nothing like reuniting with loved ones around the holidays.
Rick and Susan’s
visit was over Thanksgiving week. Of course, they don’t celebrate U.S.
holidays like July 4th or Thanksgiving in New Zealand. They do however
take a day to rejoice and set off fireworks in remembrance of Guy Fawkes,
one of England’s most notorious traitors. In 1605, Guy Fawkes (also
known as Guido - yes, really) and a group of conspirators attempted
to blow up the Houses of Parliament in what is known as the Gunpowder Plot
of 1605. Celebrating an English rebel that tried to blow up Parliament
a long time ago…very strange. So having family here for our very own
Thanksgiving celebration was very special.
We took a week
off and showed them the sites as best we could as new Kiwis. Mostly we
visited all of the popular tourist areas. We visited our friends Lindsay
and Adel in Rotorua where Rick and Susan had the privilege of experiencing
the wonderful aromas of Rotorua’s volcanic vents. We went to Taupo to ride
the Huka Jet boats down the Waikato River…but couldn’t get Susan to Bungy.
She’s now the only member of the family that hasn’t and can claim complete
sanity. We headed up to the New Middle Earth world of Coromandel and of
course spent some time exploring the “big city”, Auckland.
We
even visited a little-known secret locale of New Zealand, a place called
Te Kuiti. Te Kuiti has the proud reputation of being the “Sheering
Capital of the World”. Wow! Believe it or not, one of Susan’s
lifetime goals was to sheer a sheep! And we thought, well if it can’t be
done in New Zealand – where sheep outnumber humans 12 to 1 – where else?
So before they arrived Sandy spent some time searching and we found a place
that would actually allow Susan to shear a sheep…Billy Black’s Kiwi Culture
Show! Billy Black’s is actually located in nearby Woodlyn Park which
is near the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves, another great experience we’ll talk
about another time.
On a bright,
sunny morning we visited Billy Black’s, one to make sure we could find
it and two to ensure Susan hadn’t come 5,000 miles in vain. We met Billy
(who
is actually a cousin to the “real” Billy Black) and his wife.
Both were kind enough to take time out to give us a guided tour.
Rick and Susan were quite surprised, but we’ve come to expect things like
that from the locals as that’s just how they are…another New Zealand “habit”.
Like almost all Kiwi attractions, Billy Black’s Kiwi Culture Show is a
“mom
and pop” operation. There are no Disneyland’s, no Universal Studios
or Six Flags over Christchurch here. Everything is home grown and
really very refreshing. In fact a lot of the attractions here couldn’t
be operated in the U.S. because they’d never be able to get liability insurance.
This is a country of extreme sports and adventures. When you participate
they expect you to use common sense…now there’s a concept! And Kiwis
rarely sue anyone for anything. Solicitors (lawyers) are still a
respected lot in New Zealand! Most attractions do have their humble
gift shop offering T-shirts emblazoned with their logo (usually having
something to do with the silver fern or a sheep) and assorted coffee
mugs and refrigerator magnets, but nothing on the scale of American corporate
marketing. They often make their own souvenirs; pot holders are very popular
apparently. It’s quaint and wonderful all at once.
Part of the
tour included a very large barn-like building where the show is performed.
It was obviously hand built of strong Kiwi timber but tended to creak and
moan a bit when the wind would kick up. At the front was a large stage
filled with lots of farm implements used during New Zealand’s founding
days. But the seats were to best of all. In front of the stage
were dozens of rows of amazing, unmatched, old fold-down seats upholstered
in a myriad of colours which Billy had purchased – or more likely hauled
away – from old movie theatres! Not surprising to us as we’ve grown
accustomed to the Kiwi way of life which includes utilizing everything
until it can no longer be used. They aren’t cheap, just thrifty and practical
here. If it still works, why throw it away? Kiwis were recycling
long before it became fashionable. After the tour and some great Kiwi
cultural history Billy and his wife invited us back to the afternoon show
where Billy assured us Susan would have her chance to wrestle with one
of New Zealand’s finest woolly beasts and relieve it of some of its winter
coat.
We returned
later, greeted personally by Billy and took our seats near the front of
the “theatre”. Billy began by telling amazing stories of early New
Zealand pioneers and how they settled this country back in the late 1700’s.
He used the various farm tools and equipment to show everyone how the agricultural
industry which is so much a part of New Zealand began. A variety
of farm animals made appearances, some well trained, others not so cooperative,
but all delighting the crowd which happened to consist of the four of us
and a bus load of nice geriatric types on holiday. Like all good shows
here, audience participation was part and parcel to the fun. My wife
Sandy got to go on stage and attempt to actually split a large log like
they
did in the old days; by blowing it up! Of course it didn’t blow up,
but let’s just say she’s not so thrilled with loud firecrackers any more.
Finally the piece de resistance, it was time to demonstrate the shearing
of a sheep!
Billy took
his time explaining how sheep farmers used to trim the wool by hand with
large and fairly scary looking hand sheers which resembled very big scissors.
Next was a hand-cranked apparatus which I think my barber still uses. Now
in modern times they use electric sheering devices that look a lot like
something you’d find in a hospital surgery room. These mechanisms have
made sheep shearing a fine art. They have periodic contests here to find
out who can sheer the fastest. Apparently the record, held by the same
gentleman over the past few years, is 16 seconds! Amazing to think about
isn’t it? Sheering an entire sheep by hand, head to toe, no mistakes or
funny lines left behind, which would cause ridicule by the other sheep,
in about the same amount of time it took to write this sentence! (I type
slowly.)
With the forlorn
sheep waiting a few volunteers were called up and of course Susan practically
jumped on stage. Billy wrestled the prize piece of mutton between
his legs and using the “manual” shearing apparatus proceeded to
show everyone how a sheep is properly sheared. Each participant took
the time to crank the little motor by hand. Then Billy called Susan
over and let her in on the “fun”. Now Susan is barely five feet
tall in heels, so Billy had to hold the sheep still himself while she went
to work as if she’d been doing it all of her life. Piles of woolly
fluff hit the floor. When all was said and done, Susan returned to
her seat with the biggest smile I had ever seen. “It’s not as easy as
it looks! But I loved it!” she told us. Her smile lasted for
the next few days as she relived the experience for anyone that would listen.
We’re told that the sheep is now in recovery and is expected to live. Ha,
ha, kidding.
Later that
week we were invited to a traditional (well, as traditional as it can
get here) Thanksgiving dinner hosted by one of the two American couples
we know. We all had a great time, met new friends and enjoyed our turkey
and gravy. The traditional cranberry sauce, fresh from the can with the
little lines still in it, isn’t to be found in New Zealand. But Rick
and Susan, knowing how important those time-honoured things are, actually
brought some from home! Our host even prepared a wonderful song and
had everyone there sing it for our guests to welcome them! It wasn’t the
same dinner as those with family and friends of years gone by and we did
miss a lot of folks. But with two of our family members and some new friends,
it was very special in its own way.
Christmas is
right around the corner now and to be very honest, we’re having a heck
of a time getting in the mood. Stores are filled with sparkling trees
and decorations. Christmas songs are playing everywhere…but “Walking
in a Winter Wonderland” just doesn’t sound right when you’re listening
to it over a bar-b-que at the beach! In fact, it’s down right weird!
We came from a warm climate but it was still cooler and getting to be wintertime
when Christmas rolled around. Here it’s just the opposite! Summer
is on the way and people are buying Christmas shorts and jandals (Kiwi
for sandals) for each other for crying out loud! In downtown
Auckland one of the large department stores features an immense Santa Claus
outside. We found out that it’s known as the “Scary Santa” because
it moves, curling its finger and winking in an eerie “come over here
little boy, I’ve got a surprise for you” way. As comedian Kevin Meany
likes to say, “That’s just not right!” So when the sub-tropical sun is
beating down and it’s 80 degrees outside (27 C) we’ll be unwrapping
presents and hoping that Santa filled our stockings with SPF 30 sunscreen!
But that’s
how it is here. Some things are different and some things are the same.
Life moves a bit slower, business is more personal and the people are some
of the friendliest you’ll ever meet. We continue to marvel at the beautiful
countryside, clean air and peaceful way most Kiwis conduct themselves.
Sure there are problems in this small bit of paradise, but compared to
where we came from…”no worries” as they say here. And that’s what
we kept pointing out to our guests, likely to the point of making them
nauseous! New Zealand is very habit-forming. It gets under your
skin and lulls you into a sense of wellbeing. We miss a lot of things of
course. There are no Trader Joe’s or Target stores. Some things
are more expensive and other things are hard to find…usually “They have
to be ordered in mate!” (We did get the car part and Sandy’s promised to
hold onto something else more appropriate when I drive, like the dashboard!)
And that’s okay with us, we’re hooked…and now we’re permanent residents!
Woo hoo! Thanks NZIS!
If you’re
thinking about moving to New Zealand, or any other country for that
matter, we always tell everyone “Visit!” It may or may not
be all you think it is and going there is the best way to find out. Here’s
a link to the official New Zealand travel web site.
If you’re thinking
about visiting, remember, it’s on the opposite side of the world so winter
in America is summer here and spring is fall, etc. The weather is of
course better in the warmer months, but it’s a wonderful place to visit
no matter when you come…just bring an umbrella!
And if you
ever have a “hankerin” to shear a sheep or just find out more about
early Kiwi culture, be sure to visit Billy Black’s Kiwi Culture Show.
(I’m
not getting any money for this mind you…it’s just a fun thing to do!)
Being on the cutting edge of technology, Billy actually has a web site!
And of course,
if you’re really considering immigrating, be sure to check out the links
to the NZIS web site and some others listed below. You might
also want to take a look at some of my past articles wherein you will find
some of my feeble attempts to answer some good questions about moving here.
That’s it
for now…six months and we feel more like we’re still on vacation than residents,
but now it’s kind of a habit of ours. We think that’s a good thing.
Cheerz,
Rick
The following
are Rick's previous articles for the magazine:
Information
On Emigrating To New Zealand
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/
http://www.emigratenz.org/
http://benz1.com/forum/index.php?s=2b5a621987b160a0bac291321e62297d
To contact
Rick Click Here
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