On Planet New Zealand

Written on 5-28-17 in New Zealand!

      We are in New Zealand, and it’s fantastic!  Currently, we are in the Honda James rented for us, and we are on our way to Wellington.  We have already had our small, tearful, and joyous family reunion at the airport, toured Hobbiton and the Waitomo Caves, and stayed one night by the west coast at New Plymouth.  It’s been a whirlwind vacation so far, but a fantastic one, for sure.

      These are some of my impressions of New Zealand.  First of all, gorgeous!  Just gorgeous!  Although it’s fall, it’s green hills and plains everywhere.  We are seeing fall colors, too.  We are in what appears to be the middle of fall, with some trees completely bare, some partially done, and some just beginning to turn.  I’ll get back to the scenery in a bit, but what follows are some noticeable differences I recognized straight away.

      At the airport, we don’t look for restrooms; we look for toilets.  All toilets I have seen so far have the option of the small flush or the larger one, something America should replicate everywhere.  And, its’ not an exit here, it’s a way out, and along that same line, when driving, it’s not to yield, it’s to give way.  I have been riding in this rental for more than six hours, and I am still not used to vehicles here driving on the left/wrong side of the road.  Thankfully, James acclimated within the first 20 minutes or so, especially since he has been the one doing all of the driving.  He is doing a more than respectable job of driving and navigating our way around here, especially because he doesn't even own a car, or drive, in New Zealand…until now.

     Everywhere we go, sheep dot the hills.  Or, cows on pastures.  It’s fascinating to see the sheep grazing on the sides of the steep hills.  James says they are leaner because they have to do so much climbing to get to that higher grass.  That’s funny.  The tree varieties are numerous.  It may be that same way in New Mexico to a newcomer, but I don’t think so.  Trees here are all different shapes, sizes, colors, and varieties.  It’s not only greener here in New Zealand, it is also cleaner here than in America.  I see less trash, graffiti, and pollution.  The air is clearer here.  James says the winds blow out any pollution on a daily basis, and yes, it has been windy at times.  It also rained steadily this morning, but it’s sunny again now.  When we toured Hobbiton, we had the best, fantastic, comfortable, fall weather.    

     Of course, it’s all metric here, so we are dealing with distances in meters and kilometers, and we are filling up the Honda with liters.  Currently, for example, I just topped off the Honda with around 35 liters, and it cost close to $70.00, and we are around 75 kilometers from Wellington.  When fueling up, those numbers really fly.  Everything here appears to cost more than when in America.  We keep saying, to help us feel better about it, “It’s okay.  It’s in New Zealand dollars.”

     That’s enough for now.  We are 55 kilometers out.  Next time, I’ll comment some more on the incredible scenery.  Here’s a preview, though.  It’s like another planet.  I will also comment on some of the similarities.

Until next time…

Abilene, Ping Pong, Mother's Day, and A Par Save Over the Trees

Written on 5-14-17.

     Wow!  It’s almost halfway through May already?  That went by way too fast.  Belinda and I are heading back home after a weekend in Ablilene, Texas, for Erica’s college graduation. On Friday night, we were treated to a private tour of the campus with Erica, and that was a bonus we did not expect.  The house we stayed in was incredible!  It had a pool, a hot tub, an outdoor basketball court, three patios, one with three heat lamps, a HUGE kitchen, a pool table (in the family room) and a ping pong table (in the garage, four bedrooms, a family room, a living room, a large dining area, a foyer, and some functional workout equipment.  

     Another unexpected highlight for me was playing ping pong with Guy last night.  We just volleyed, and we didn’t “really” keep score at all, except for corner shots that knicked off of the edges.  I won that impromptu game 9 to 8 when it was all over.  That’s how we decided to end it, eventually, or we could have easily played on and on and on into the morning.  We begrudgingly and happily stopped at around 11:30.  When it finally ended with my last shot off the edge, we spontaneously hugged, because it was so much fun!  I went to bed all sweaty from playing silly ping pong.  I started playing in my Crocs, but my feet got so sweaty, I was beginning to slip out of them sometimes, so I chose to go barefoot.  

     Yet another highlight, and there were many, was...

Two New Birdies on the New Layout

During the same round I got that eagle, I also earned two birdies.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-New Hole #11-Birdie #6 of 2017

     When we were finished playing the front nine, I was ahead of C.J. by only one stroke, 43 to 44, so he was still winning.  He gets four strokes on me for every 18 holes.  In order for me to beat him, I need to outpace him by five strokes or more.  This back nine really made the difference, and this birdie, the first one of two, helped to set the pace.

     I mentioned it earlier, but I have an opportunity to score well during this new small stretch of three short par fours if I am driving the ball really well.  This drive topped the two best drives on the front nine, the ones on #3 and #8.  It was a high draw that rode the wind a bit as it headed toward the right side of the green.  My ball ended up even with the flag, which was in the front middle position this time, but my ball ended up stopping on the collar on the left side.  I aimed my putter high and left of the hole, and my ball curved gently down, heading right at the hole.  It almost went in, just lipping the bottom side and stopping less than a foot away on the other side.  The remaining putt was easy.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-New Hole #15-Birdie #7 of 2017

     This hole used to be #17, so it’s been an adjustment for me to not think we have only one hole to go after playing this hole.  We really have three more holes to go after this hole now.  The tees have been in the farther back position consistently, too, just like on hole #3.  I think Randy is working hard to have more longer par fours than ever before to make the course more challenging.  I chose to drive the green anyway.  

     I never saw it.  C.J. did, though, and he said it flew right over the middle of the cottonwood, so he was sure it was going to be in a great position.  He was right.  My ball ended up just off the green near the front, and the pin was on there front part of the green, too.  Just like on hole #11, I only needed to putt to get my ball on the green and close to the hole.  The distance to the green and the distance from the edge of the green to the hole were about the same, so I had to putt through a fair amount of rough, but it wasn’t so rough.  The course is still brown and dry in places.  My putt ended up three feet short of the hole, but I made that short putt to get another birdie on the back nine.

     With those two birdies and the one eagle, I gained four strokes on C.J., and I ended up beating him by five strokes at the conclusion of the round with the game we had chosen.  I shot a 79 to his 88.  With our handicaps, that came to a 65 to his 70.  It felt wonderful to get some birdies and an eagle after this round.  This new layout has fewer opportunities, as I’ve mentioned before, with hole #1 and the new hole #9 being converted to par fours.  I hope I can keep this up for the rest of the summer.  The new par is 70, so I was +9 for my round.  Not bad, and definitely better!

Until next time…

White Sands, New Phone, and an Eagle

Written on 5-1-17.

     Belinda and I are driving back home after a fun and long weekend in Las Cruces.  It was a fabulous trip, and we got to spend some extra quality time with Kyle and Danielle last night when we went to White Sands National Monument.  Sadly, Becca had to go to work and could not get someone to cover.  

     It was grand!  Belinda and I had never been there before, so it was a special treat for us to see it, walk on it, feel it, check it out, play on it, etc.  To make things even better for this trip, the mileage is going to be reimbursed, and we got one "free" night at the Hampton Inn and Suites due to my new job with the CORE.  I had a meeting with Rocio on Friday afternoon, and that allows me to skip the mandatory meeting in May.  I even got in a Time to Teach meeting today with Jennifer (last name) who is now the assistant principal at Surprise Elementary (not its real name).  I met with her and her principal, Dora (last name), today to go over the program.  They are going to present it to their leadership team this Thursday, and it has great potential to result in another training.  We shall see.  

     Another big thing we accomplished this weekend was...