A Peek at Palmy

Palmerston North has been a wonderful place to live so far.  There are many locations we have yet to explore just in Palmy (let alone New Zealand as a whole), but I think we've been here long enough for me to be qualified to write a few thoughts and impressions about our New Zealand hometown.  I've tried to take photos when I've been out and about over the past few weeks...wouldn't be surprised if someone has said, "There's that crazy lady in the red van taking pictures again!"  Perhaps they might also classify me as the crazy lady who talks to herself (I have to practice my kiwi accent somewhere, and repeating what the radio hosts say is the perfect opportunity!).

First of all, one thing we weren't expecting when we moved here is the reaction we've gotten from Palmy residents, who seem astonished that we would choose Palmerston North, of all places, when deciding where to live in New Zealand.  We feel like we have to defend Palmy, to people from Palmy!  It's been funny.  I truly think some people have the impression that everyone in America lives in a big, glamorous city, because several people have said things like "This is probably so much smaller than what you are used to" when in actuality, Palmerston North is a much larger city than where we've lived for the past several years.  At a population of about 85,000, it's much bigger than Kaysville (26,000) and much MUCH bigger than Mountain Green (3,500).  This IS a big city to us, and we love it!

I took this photo of the city from a hillside across the river:

It's important to note that when you are a foreign doctor looking for a job in New Zealand, there are rarely jobs available in the more highly "desirable" places like Christchurch or Auckland or Queenstown or Nelson or the Bay of Islands (all places that we hope to visit and report on, by the way).  The native-trained physicians naturally gobble up those jobs.  We have heard of ex-pats who relocate to New Zealand and work in all places, but they usually don't go through a staffing agency like we did, and they often commit to staying for many years (or forever).  Foreign doctors looking for a shorter-term commitment usually fill the positions in the less-well-known areas of the country.  As I have stated before, nearly every area we've seen in New Zealand so far seems like it would be a nice place to live!  I guess if this is what you know and are used to, it may seem like a puzzling choice, but based on our experiences and our frame of reference, Palmy is wonderful.

One thing we love about Palmy is that it is very nicely laid out.  Once you get a feel for the main roads in town, it's quite simple to navigate and get around.  We live in a quiet neighborhood not far from city center, but far enough that it's very peaceful with little traffic.  These are shots from my neighborhood, just after sunrise.

Living close to the river pathway has been such a blast so far.  We think it's beautiful, and it's the winter season, so we can't wait to spend more time exploring the local pathways and parks when the weather gets warmer and the days get longer.  The parks we've seen here in Palmy are green and lush and very well-groomed, some with awesome playgrounds for the kids.  I think I'm going to have to do a separate post on the parks entirely, and maybe I'll wait a few weeks to get more spring blossoms in the pictures.

Just outside of town, on the hillside, is the most extensive wind farm we have ever seen.  It's fascinating to watch (we can see a section of it from our home).  We plan to check out the turbines up close sometime soon.  Here's the view of the wind farm from our driveway...

...and from across the street....

...and one more image I found online.  Pretty neat, huh?

Here's our chapel.  It's about a ten minute drive from home.  I love this place so much already, mostly because of the people we've met inside.  Much more on that in an upcoming post as well.  :)

This is a roundabout near us.  We love roundabouts!  They are all over town, and we so prefer them over street lights.

Check out those beautiful flowers, in winter!

There are all sorts of lovely flowering trees, all over town. 

 A sampling of some of the cafes and take-aways near our home...

Steve took me to the Elm Cafe for my birthday.  It was charming and quaint, and the food was delicious!  Looking forward to going back.

Another interesting thing that is different from the States is that nearly everything closes very early, all days of the week.  While most retail establishments in the U.S. stay open until at least 9 or 10 (some even 24 hours), we have found that the whole town essentially closes up shop by 5:30 or 6pm.  The grocery stores stay open later, and some restaurants, but that's about all we've seen.  We have gone to the movies a few times, and the latest showing (even on weekends) is 8:30pm.  It was strange on one of our first nights here to run out at 6:15 to the Plaza (a very nice mall on the square) and find it closed!

In contrast, we've driven by parks at all hours of the day and night and seen people playing rugby.  Oh my, rugby is almost a RELIGION here.  It's such a cool sport, and we love watching it being played!

Sorry that that last one is a little blurry... I started to feel a little pervy taking pics of boys from my car, so I tried to snap it quick. :)  I'll probably embarrass my girls for saying this, but they shamelessly shout out "RUGBY!!" and cheer anytime we see a match being played.  They have a crush on the whole idea of the sport.  We are all freaking out about going to see the All Blacks play in person in a few weeks!!!

The day after I arrived in NZ (the second time), I took a nap with the twins and Steve took the rest of the kids to the Rugby Museum in town.  They all loved it, and I'm looking forward to seeing it, too.

Although our rental home was furnished upon our arrival, we've still had to buy several things to get settled.  There are no Walmarts or Targets or Costcos here, but we've spent a lot of time (and money) at the Warehouse.

There are three major grocery store chains in town.  The nicest (and most expensive) is New World.  I would compare it to Harmons or Ukrops.  It is clean and well-stocked, and there are hardly any lines to wait in.  

We have shopped a lot at Pak 'n Save.  It is huge, crowded, and not as esthetically pleasing, but the prices are definitely lower.

My favorite grocery store is Countdown.  It's sort of in between the other two...not too glam, but not warehouse-y either.  I've been able to find most things I've needed here without much trouble and at a decent price.

These are a few examples of words that are spelled differently than we are used to --

I remember seeing a jewelry store in Utah once that had used this spelling, and sort of felt sorry for them that they had gotten it so wrong.  :)

One of our favorite areas of town is the Square.  It isn't enormous or anything, but it's just a nice, serene spot amidst the busy-ness of the city around it.  On the evening that little Prince George was born in England, all the lights in the clock tower and on the square were lit up in blue.  Here are a few photos from the web, and a few of my own.

Adjacent to the Square is a cute street called Broadway, with shops and restaurants.  There is also a beautiful theater which puts on very high quality productions.  We'll have to catch a show sometime!  Our favorite Thai restaurant (so far) is a few doors down from the theater.  The movie theater (no photo) is across the road.  It's been interesting to see how some movies are released much later here than in the States.  We saw "Now You See Me" last weekend, on opening day...pretty sure that one was released in Utah before we moved to New Zealand.

I mentioned listening to the radio earlier...that has been something I look forward to during my daily routine.  I usually don't have it going during our busiest times, but once the kids are off to school I really enjoy the music and commentary, because it soothes me if I'm feeling a little homesick.  Nearly every song on the radio is one I know and can sing along to, and often times the subjects talked about amongst the hosts are American-related.  Yesterday the hosts were discussing the judges on American Idol, and today the trivia question had to do with American politics.  Take away the accents, and it's almost like I'm listening from my car in Utah!  I love it.

We decided not to get TV hooked up here...we brought our Apple TV with some of our movies and TV shows, and we rent things to watch from time to time.  I had looked forward to watching some of my favorite programs online, but most of the major network websites have a message that comes up saying that we aren't allowed to watch because we are outside of the US.  That's a little frustrating.  Any ideas on how to get around that? 

I hope you've enjoyed this little glimpse into our life here in Palmy.  We love our New Zealand hometown, and haven't regretted for a minute our decision to live here.  Palmerston North is a perfect fit for our family!