011-64-2102-460-467

Dial
011-64-2102-460-467 this is our cellphone number

To call New Zealand from the USA you dial:
011 + 64 + Area Code + Tel #
If we call you and give you a number we'll just read off the area code
and tel# to you.

Time zones in New Zealand explained
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_New_Zealand

Right now it's Saturday, Feb. 10th at 2:30 pm in Huntsville, AL, USA
Right now it's Sunday, Feb. 11th at 9:30 am in New Zealand

So one day ahead and 5 hours behind.

Oh yeah for future timeswaps

Central Time in USA
UTC-6 during regular time
UTC-5 during daylight savings which is March 11 to Nov. 4th

New Zealand
UTC+12 during regulat
UTC+13 during daylight savings which is Oct. to March 18th.

So from now until March 11th NZ is (+13-6=) 5 hours behind us
March 12th to March 18th NZ is (+13-5=) 6 hours behind us
March 19th to Nov. 4th NZ is (+12-5=) 7 hours behind us
and always a day ahead. I think.

Weird math fun.

Jason

Ref:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_New_Zealand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Daylight_Time

Follow Us! http://home.comcast.net/~jason.e.quinn/

Check this site out:

Jason's Website

http://home.comcast.net/~jason.e.quinn/

Go to the New Zealand map page and you can follow us around the country!

Jason is Gonna Shave!

jasonsnow,
originally uploaded by shelleyland.

Well, he said Friday is the day... he's gonna shave his beard in commencement of packing for our trip. Just 15 more days and it will be Summer! In New Zealand, that is. So Jason is already signed up the the beach tournament in Whangerei. "It should be good fun!"

Michelle is all moved in along with her two cats. While she's away on her skiing vacation in Salt Lake City, I am successfully converting her cats to the Quinn way... which is best not to explain.

Anyway, let me just say that these next couple weeks are going to be an adventure in itself. There will be test of skill, speed, agility, patience, fortitude, and focus. So whatever is not ready by now, will be crammed into the next 15 days.

So let it begin.

January 5th, Count Down Begins

It is 41 days till we get on the plane. Yikes! There is so much to do! The quarter round is oiled and ready to be installed in the front guest room where Michelle the housesitter will be staying.

My list are:

• Deep Clean the house--which means get rid of items that we don't use or want and drop at the thrift store. I am a bit of a pack rat--I'm on trash bag # 3.

• Organize and pack storage containers with stuff to stack and store while we are away. We found the containers at Lowes $6 each, and stackable. Nice! Now back to weeding out my Junk.

• An odd challenge is to eat the food in our refridgerator. I want it as bare as possible, so Michelle will have a Fridge to use.
  

• Oh, and I have yet to begin cleaning out our Office room. It is our pantry, computer, laundry, and pergatory.
  

• And back to my Junk, I have a bunch of boxes that I need to go through that are sitting in the living room... As I've been cleaning, I've been filling boxes with stuff that I need to go through and organize or trash... hmm, I think I'll start that today.

• And I needn't forget computer stuff, like PINS/passwords and usernames to the accts I will be using. Hopefully we will be bringing a laptop, but if not, we will use the internet café's. Oh, and I need to load all the contact info onto my new SLVR quad band cell phone, since that is what we'll be using with a New Zealand SIM card.
  

Love Bus

We just payed the deposit (750NZD) on a camper van from !
We called on twice Sunday night, which was their Monday afternoon, and talked to Michaela. First, Jason asked all his questions, then we discussed our options. Finally we called back with our decision the book a 3 month rental.
Some questions we asked were:

1. Can I reserve a Manual/Diesel?-"A/C not important, and CD player would be super."
   
2. What happens when it breaks down, exactly?
3. Are there restrictions on driving in any areas? 90 mile Beach--"NO"
4. Roadside assist? Tow to Town...money back or provided car if more that a day of service.
5. Paymen?t...creditcard or bank transfer, after 1pm, KIWIBank (in all the post offices)
   

So next we need to make a bank acct with kiwibank.

Cell Phone

Nice... Jason and I bought new cell phones with SIM cards from TMobil. Okay, I got my unlocked Motorola SLVR from eBay for about $175 and the SIM card from this local audio store on Jordan lane. (They have a bunch of used cell phones.)


Now with my nice Quad Band cell, I can bring it with us to New Zealand and buy a SIM card there. Also I can save a bunch of information like contacts, addresses, birthdays, etc. and it is a storage device so I can put mp3's on it, and with the video I can make a small movie with recordable sound...but actually we have a digital camera for that.


Well, I guess I'd better get loading info onto the phone...that's the tedious part. Doh!

Got it!

Ok, I have my new passport with my new name--Quinn, along with the marriage certificate that I sent in with my application. Great. What's next?

Oh yeah, the back yard. We've got to stack wood and clear brush yet from where we chopped down 2 huge pine trees. I would like to have it ready by fall so I can plant blueberries there.

And I suppose I need to figure out this computer thing--blogging, uploading pics, usernames and passwords, and what else?

List:

• learn to use digital camera
• store pics on disk? CDRW?...
• make list of emergency numbers, info, and house key placing
• Who will take care of Ki? (renter, parents, friends?)
• organize files for BBP, and make flyers for the year
• settup GMZC newsletter (start Spring issue ahead of time)
• what clothing to bring?
• Hiking/Road Recipes (make accessable on internet, blog?)
• addresses and birthday list (on internet)
• cell phone (buy in New Zealand? call Telecom)

Got 'em!

We have bought our tickets! We picked them up Wednesday from the travel agency--New World Travel. After searching on our own for 3-4 weeks we decided we could afford $1500 per ticket. After turning in our desired itinerary to the travel agent, Sandy, she went to work haggling the prices. In the end she got us a better price then expected including her commission. Sweet! So, we are officially leaving from Huntsville, AL February 15th, 2007 and returning May 8th! Our next immediate step is to purchase travel insurance within the next few days, and for me to update my passport since I have changed my last name to Quinn.

Ki in garden

Ki in garden
Originally uploaded by shelleyland.

I'm still wondering who will take care of our Kiwi when we're gone for 3 months...

Planning: Early Stages

Hope to hear from a travel agent today. I want to set up a time to ask her a bunch of questions. Maybe Jason and I will use an agent, but for the moment, we want to plan everything ourselves, in hopes of saving money.