Roger Haston

Cultural Awareness

We have been settling in to our bach in Hawkes Bay quite nicely. At times it is exciting and at times it is boring. I guess that is what we were trying to achieve—a slice of real life. And if you are going to do that, why not do it in a place that isContinue reading “Cultural Awareness”

Duck Itch

The weather was a bit iffy, but we wanted to get out and explore some of the other areas around us. We decided to drive down past Ocean Beach to Waimārama and explore that area. As Americans, we totally mangle the pronunciations of the place names. They have a totally different cadence, and the accentContinue reading “Duck Itch”

Gandalf, Hagrid, and Bilbo

Gandalf, Hagrid, and Bilbo go to a bar. Gandalf orders an Old Fashioned and the bar tender says…. Ok, I know there is a joke to be had in there, but I’ve simply got nothing. Sorry. But rest assured, I will definitely use all of them in this blog. We have continued to explore HawkesContinue reading “Gandalf, Hagrid, and Bilbo”

What Happened to Havelock?

We have settled into our bach quite nicely. Although we have had some bad weather, it has mostly be super pleasant. Every time we get a rainy day, we both very grudgingly agree that we should knock off a few of our adulting chores. Sigh. But before you start to feel too sorry for us,Continue reading “What Happened to Havelock?”

Stay Alive on Five

Ok, so I know I wax on and on about how wonderful New Zealand is, but there are a few things that could use improvement. Driving in New Zealand is not for the faint of heart — and not because you drive on the left, which quite frankly isn’t that big of a deal. TheContinue reading “Stay Alive on Five”

Mt. Doom

I remember being in a meeting in Europe a number of years ago with a group of people from all over the world. I was sitting next to this dude from France. We were chatting at a break and at one point he said to me “It is easy to spot who is American andContinue reading “Mt. Doom”

Done with the Adulting

Thankfully we have pretty much finished up all the adulting tasks that we had to do. Buy a car. Open a banking account. Meet with various money people. Figure out how to communicate to the rest of the world at something less than $10/minute. We headed out of our Airbnb in Beachlands in the lateContinue reading “Done with the Adulting”

El Duderino

The weather has been less than stellar in Auckland since we have been here. On the ferry back from Auckland, the captain warned everyone that the following day there would be 45 knot winds so the ride in to work might be a bit rough. There was a huge storm that came up through theContinue reading “El Duderino”

Pushy Japanese Lady

We made it! We landed in Auckland at 5:30 am after a relatively uneventful flight. Both of us did manage to get a bit of sleep in a spiffy skycouch, even if it did only allow one person at time to be on their back. That, and inevitably you would let your feet drift outContinue reading “Pushy Japanese Lady”

Up, Up, and Away

We woke up excited that today we would be finally heading back to New Zealand! The only hard part is that we had to wait until 9:50 pm before the flight took off. Bummer. It would be an anxious day of waiting again. One last wait in the long process of waiting. Can you tellContinue reading “Up, Up, and Away”