The 40th Kilometre

I feel as though we have reached the 40^th kilometre.

For those of you who have not taken part in the 42 kilometre stretch that is a marathon, I will explain. Hitting the 40^th kilometre in a marathon, to me, has always been an elusive place. It is a milestone where almost all the work has been done, except for a few measly negotiable kilometres that stand between you and the finish line.  It is only a short distance that is keeping you from crossing the line and entering into that amazing, hard to reproduce feeling of exhaustion mixed with gratitude; the feeling that you can finally relax after months of hard work and sacrifice.  

There are always lots of people around for support and encouragement at the 40^th kilometre; they are exactly the kind of people you wished had been there around the deserted and unexciting 35th kilometre when you actually needed the encouragement. Most are suddenly eager to be involved, screaming things like “you’re almost there” (even though you still have some distance to cover), or, my personal favourite; “only one more hill to climb!” (When in fact there were 4 substantial inclines ahead). For a spectator, this is the part where things get exciting.

People do not run marathons because they are fun, or at least I don’t. They run them for the challenge, for the competition with themselves, the amazing adventures running can take you on, and for the undeniable feeling of self-accomplishment that you feel when crossing the finish line. People don’t move across the world because it is fun either. Okay, the end result, much like the marathon, is fun. But the process of moving across the world, that is the real marathon.

And so I find us now, at the 40^th kilometre of our own 2011/12 International Relocation Marathon. Our kilometres have brought us through mountains of paperwork, stressful disappointments, exciting developments, tough decisions, sad goodbyes and happy reunions. Through it we have been fuelled by faith, hope, excitement, and deep sense of adventure. With each passing kilometre we have checked off so many significant pieces to the puzzle: selling the house, finding a job, visa applications, transporting Huff, finding a place to live, etc, etc etc.   Now we wait for just on more check on the list: A licence to practise physiotherapy.

I won’t go into the boring details of the months of stress and hard work that obtaining a physiotherapy licence has taken me. Or, that my planning and my reality of this process have come to be an ironically stark contrast. Either way, I wait for the Board to finish their assessment, hopefully only for a week or so more, but no promises.

Let me explain. My job as a physiotherapist has allowed us to apply for a work sponsored visa in NZ. However, without a licence to practise in NZ, I cannot legally work as a physiotherapist, or be granted the work visa that has been approved on the basis of licencing. It is a vicious circle, which is until now, is the only thing keeping us from relaxing on the finish line. 

And so we wait.

Until then, the 40^th kilometre has brought us to a beautiful coastal beach town on the south western coast of the North Island, called Paraparaumu Beach. With a total population of 25,000 people, it is a beautiful place located approximately 50km north of Wellington.

We have rented a furnished beach house on an open ended contract in a quiet neighbourhood about 5 minute walk to the beach. The house has three bedrooms, and two bathrooms, which is a lot more space than we need, but the circumstances and price was favourable for a short term place. The backyard is huge and has a cute little garden and some friendly resident birds. We also have a lovely neighbourhood cat, which makes her way into our backyard almost daily for a nap under one of our big shady trees. I am interested to see if Jingles (my name for her) continues to come around once Huff is home. The house leaves some aesthetic details to be desired, but we have cleaned it up and made it our own for the meantime while we wait to find a more long term place to suit our needs.

Trent doing a training run last Friday on the Beach

Overall we love it here. My favourite thing is the beach.  The weather does not exactly scream beach weather, as the North Island is experiencing a rather cool summer at the moment, but it is perfect for long runs or walks on the beach.  Due to the fact that the tide comes right up onto the beach, the concept of white sandy beach has been washed out to sea. What it has left behind is a flat and firm packed down sand, that is perfect to walk or run on, drive on or play countless games.  On top of the terrain, the beach itself stretches for several kilometres, meaning you can run or walk for quite a long time before being forced back onto the roads. All factors considered the beach has been the obvious location of all our training runs since we have arrived. On top of that, there are sections of the beach designated to dogs, meaning they can be off leash and play free in the water and sand.

This leads me to mention our darling Catahoula. It seems she is much closer to the end of her personal marathon. She will be freed from quarantine this Monday morning with the wound up energy of a dog who has not been properly exercised for almost 2 weeks. We visited her on Saturday and she was so excited that she nearly knocked us both over.  Overall, she is looking great, well rested and completely unfazed by the whole airplane experience. The past few days have been the hardest on us, slowly passing the time until she can come home. Her homecoming will be another big check on our shortening list.

 So, with the cheering friends and family in place, we cross the 40^th kilometre with a sense of faith and hope for the remaining few strides.

The race clock keeps ticking, and so do we.

N.B: I composed this blog on Sunday, local New Zealand time, but was not able to post it until Tuesday, as we were waiting for our Internet to be installed. Huff is now at home and there have been some new developments. Keep posted and I will catch you up in the next day or two.

Home is Wherever I'm With You

Today was a day all about new beginnings. I awoke this morning with a feeling somewhat like Christmas morning. That long awaited, hyped up magic that comes after long preparation and planning.

It was finally time for the celebration.

While this day was about the reunion of our little family unit, I know that this day would never have been possible without countless other friends and supporters, and that our little reunion means just as much to you as it does to us. So, in recognition of that, I will do my best to describe our day as it truly was, as a dedication to all of you, and the help and support you have provided us in the past months

We started the day by weaving our way through a new world of dog suppliers, stocking up on toys, treats, food and tripe. Asking all the logical questions you might ask when figuring out a new environment. "Where do you buy raw food?" "Do you have canned tripe?", "What bed should we buy?". Luckily, the ladies at the pet store were more than happy to help the two lost Canadians get their dog set up in a new country. The whole thing felt like a deja vu, very similar to the whole process we went through when we first adopted Huff. Again.

We headed up the coast to the town of Levin, located on State Hwy 1. 70km north of Wellington, we found Shado Lans Kennels. The kennel is set in a beautiful backdrop of mountains and rolling green hills and fields. It was on that backdrop that we found Huff asleep in her suite.

The kennel attendant went into the room first, so I'm sure Huff didn't expect to see us. It took her a minute to realise exactly who was standing in front of her. And then.. it was a montage of whining, jumping and tail wagging, best seen in the video. All my fears that she would forget us vanished and there we were again, a happy little family.

Short of needing a good bath and a couple of days rest, Huff is doing fabulous. Trent and I decided that she looked just as we all do after embarking on a transcontinental flight: tired, a bit confused, and in need of a shower. The attendant at the kennel said she is doing really well and, short of giving the vet the evil eye yesterday, she is settling in nicely. The vet is happy with all her tests, and at the moment they are not foreseeing any problems.

Her suite is a pretty cool little setup. It is composed of 2 rooms ( one 8x8 and the other 10x12), that are divided by a sliding patio door that separates the indoor and outdoor portions. She has a indoor bed and an outdoor bed, and a pretty amazing view of the mountains. She has free range in an out of both rooms all day and night. Withstanding the lack of exercise and lonelines she will face during her quarantine, I think she be comfortable here for the next week.

Huff detected the bag full of toys we brought almost immediately. She proceeded to dig her head straight in the bag to fish out a 2 squeaky toys, a new nylabone and her new sesame street blanket. Then she ran around the room celebrating with each.

We spent our hour together playing and cuddling. One of the most special moments for both Trent and I was when she lied down on her bed between the two of us, with a paw on each of us, and relaxed into an almost sleep. It was that moment after a long and stressful journey when she realised she was ok and could relax again. Everything was going to be ok. And an added bonus... it was a whole lot warmer in this new mysterious place :) It was this moment for me that brought the tears streaming down my cheeks, and gave me the confirmation that all the hard work was most certainly worth it.

We left the kennel and headed home, making a stop for a late lunch in our new home as of Monday, Paraparaumu. We checked out our new place and took a wander down the beachfront to discover more gorgeous scenes of mountain, sea and sand, and a cute little beach side village.

It was quiet and quaint, with the fresh smell of new beginnings.

For more pics of the reunion check out:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150417667404649.308413.510819648&type=3&l=0911717d30

 

Air Huff has Landed!

The final lag is complete!!! I got the web address for the cargo tracker from Matthew just after I posted my lst blog, and it allowed me to track her NZ portion of her flight. All the info I have right now is from the online cargo tracker, as I have yet to hear from the kennel. It is most likely that she is still in transit to the kennel, as its located about 70 km outside of Wellington in Levin.

But she is here!!!!! The cargo tracker shows that she landed in Wellington at 11:40 am local time, passed through biosecurity and was picked up by Shado Lans.  I wont know how she is doing until I hear from John, but luckily it wasn't too windy today in Wellington, so hopefully she didn't have to much turbulence!!

Now comes the real last lag of the trip for Huff. Starting today she will spend 10 days at Shado Lans Kennel for her quarantine period in New Zealand. She has a suite there, basically a large room with a bed and room to play, so she will have lots of room to move around, even though she will be banned from social interaction with other dogs during this period. I think this will certainly be the hardest period for us, knowing she is so close by but not being with her. We take some video  tomorrow when we go to visit her, and post it so everyone who has been following her journey can be a part of the reunion.

Wow, with the way I slept last night, and all the emotion around this event, I sort of feel like I have gone on the transcontinental flight with her! It is so weird to know that she is now so close by, yet she still seems so far away!

Thank you to everyone who has been watching Huffs journey across the pacific and for all your love and encouraging messages through the past few days. Hopefully it has been as exciting for you as it has been for us :)

Arooo roo roo!

International Dog of Mystery

Just a quick update to say it looks like the toughest part is over! I dont have too much information right now other than being able to track her flight status. And her flight status seems to say she is on New Zealand soil!! Her flight from Vancouver to Auckaland landed as scheduled at 6:03 am local time this morning. She is likely boarding the next flight now that is set to depart at 9:30 am local time to Wellington. I most likely will know more in about 4 hours when John contacts us to let us know he has her at the kennel.

I woke up almost every hour last night waiting to see if I could check for her arrival online, and seemed to exist all night in that half awake half asleep state where you dream things as though they were really happening, but at the same time know that they aren't. I'll have a nap later once I know she is safe and sound.


Trent and I are going out this morning for our first long training run in our training program for the Round the Bays half marathon in February. Exercise is likely the best option right now to work out all this nervous energy :)

Stay tuned :)

Air Huff

So many blogs today :)

So the good news continues! Huff had a great stop over in Vancouver and has started lag number 2! She departed on Air Canada flight AC6090 approximately 2 hours ago. Matthew has been in touch with her handlers in Vancouver who said she is doing really well and that everything went as planned, and that we should have no worries.

This flight will take her from Vancouver to Auckland, her longest lag so far. I hope she brought a good book and ipod. Maybe they will provide her a complementary bone and some in flight entertainment. I feel episodes of the Littlest Hobo and Air Bud would be the most appropriate choices. 

She is expected to land in NZ local time at 6:10am January 20. For Ontario people that will be Thursday Jan 19th at noon. I will most likely be able to track her cargo check in about an hour or so later. From there she will depart on NZ417 at 9:30 am local time for a quick one hour sprint finish, and is scheduled to land in Wellington at about 10:30am local time. That will be about 4:30pm on January 19th for people in Ontario. John ( who is the Kiwi version of Matthew) from Shado Lans Kennels, where she will do her quarantine, will be there to pick her up and bring her to the kennel once she clears customs and biosecurity. He is supposed to call us once she is safe and sound at the kennel.

Wow, my heart skipped a beat when I realised she is really on the way, we really cant wait to see her after so long. She is certainly going to have a great passport! Thank you for all your thoughts and wishes so far, keep sending lots of love her way. And keep watching for more updates... you will know as soon as we do!! Although I'm sure you will hear the Aroo roo roos on her arrival :)

See you soon luv!!

West Coast Touch Down

Huff has arrived in Vancouver!!!! This is the first lag of her trip, followed by 2 more flights. Matthew says she is doing well and did well on the flight.  Above is a pic of her at the airport :)

Today Trent and I went to a fabric store and bought her a big fleece blanket with Sesame Street Characters on it. I hope she likes Elmo. It was a great feeling to buy something for her again, and realize that she is truly on her way.

Fly safe, Puppy dog :)

More to come...

Look Who the Wind Blew In...

We have been in New Zealand for a week today. I'm not sure if it feels longer or shorter, but I find that it does feel some what natural. What I mean is that, while it all feels new and interesting and exciting, it still feels comfortable in way where I dont feel like a total outsider. And I think that is a good sign..

There is various forms of art along the harbour front here, and I saw a piece that seemed to echo our situation here in New Zealand. It was a concrete brick that was carved out to say the following:

"Then it's Wellington we're coming to!
It's time, she says,
It's time surely for us to change lanes,
Change tongues"

We have spent the last week in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, located on the southern part of the North Island. What we have seen of New Zealand so far has lived up to expectations. The backdrop is this stunning blue and green canvas of mountain and sea. Sometimes you look down the street and you are suddenly looking at this amazing view of green mountains and blue sky. If it snowed here in Wellington it would be one hell of a ski town. But Wellington is more likely to be home to thousands of windmills rather than thousands of ski bunnies.

They weren't kidding when they called it " Windy Wellington". Apparently it is the second windiest city in the World ( this fun fact was provided by our super reliable cab driver who drove us from the airport..but I googled it to check so it must be true...). The wind here is funny, it seems to sneak up out of no where and hits you right in the face at gale force speed when you least expect it, and then promptly go away for another 5 minutes. The first few nights we were here they had severe wind warnings of up to 120km/hour winds over night. Trent has been putting rocks in my pockets ever since.

The weather itself is funny too, the summer seems more Scandinavian that Australian or Canadian. What I mean by that is there is very low humidly, temperatures are in the high teens to low twentys, and the weather seems to hang between a delicate balance of spring and summer. One of my favourite things to do is look out the window to try to determine the temperature and what to wear. On a regular day you will see, at the very same time, someone decked out in full summer gear..shorts, tank top, flip flops while walking in the opposite direction will be someone wearing a fall coat and scarf... all and all it is a very reliable method of getting dressed.

Trent and I have been living at a furnished apartment in the downtown business district, oddly enough right across the street from the Canadian consulate.. you never can be too safe :) We have been spending our days exercising, finding a long term home,drinking coffee at one of the hundreds of cafes, and discovering the city. We have secured a temporary home in Paraparaumu, a town that is 50km north of wellington on the Kapiti Coast, and the location of our new life. We are renting out a vacation home on an open ended contract until we find a more long term accommodation. For now it works for us, its affordable, furnished, dog friendly, 5 min from the beach, and across the street from one of the best golf courses in New Zealand ( the last happened mearly by chance, but Trent settled for it..) and most of all available..so we took it.

Today we bought our very first picnic basket and blanket ( an absolute must in the Southern Hemisphere) and joined the crowd for a picnic and outdoor movie in the botanical gardens. Wellington is running a summer festival called " Summer City" where all the events are free and include theatre, cinema and outdoor events. It is such a cool atmosphere, groups of people on their picnic blankets with bottles of wine and picnic food, watching a great movie outdoors. Canada needs more picnic baskets and reasons like this to use them.

And of course, a post would never be complete without mentioning Huff. On a funny note, my friend Lee googled our blog name the other day at work, and instead of finding it right away, instead she found a picture of a Catahoula Leopard Dog in Florida named "Kiwi", and the dog looked like she could be Huff's sister. You can check out the link here, it was too funny not to share. http://www.tcpalm.com/photos/2010/mar/08/235370/

So Huff has been cleared to travel and will be on her way on January 18th! Which means it is just 2.5 days before we will see her again. I am filled with all this nervous excitement and at the same time, I cant believe it is all finally happening. It is odd that for months while we were planning this move, this is exactly the part that made me the most worried, her flying and getting here safe and not being too traumatised. And yet now, I seem oddly calm about the whole ordeal and am mostly just excited to see her again. I think part of this has to do with how well she has done through this whole process, coping really well with all the change and new surroundings and people. I will be sending all my good thoughts her way today.

Matthew, who works for Gloucester Kennels and has been co-ordinating her travel, said her hardly recognised her today when he took her to the vet, because she was so confident and not scared, he thought that he had brought the wrong dog! Matthew will be providing me a tracking number to track her journey, so stay posted in the next 24 hours for updates on her whereabouts!

More to come....


Heather

In the Land of Kiwis with No Catahoula

And so here it is! Our New Zealand blog to keep all our family, friends and canine specialists happy and informed :)
So we are here... we arrived in Wellington New Zealand on Wednesday January 11, 2012, exactly 7 weeks to the day after arriving in Australia, our first lag since leaving Canada.

But still... no Catahoula :(

The Catahoula I speak of is our dog Huff, a 2.5year old Catahoula Leopard dog mix who we rescued a year ago with the help of Catahoula Rescue in Ottawa, Canada. Huff has led an interesting life. Born in Kentucky, her and her sister ended up in a kill shelter before they were graciously rescued and brought to Canada by Catahoula Rescue. . Ironically, Huff arrived in Canada last year on my 28th Birthday, and she is quite simply the best Birthday gift I have ever received. On February 18, 2011, our lives changed forever, when we adopted this timid and quirky girl, and we never looked back.  Two months later, over dinner and a bottle of wine, (ironically at a restaurant named the Wellington Gastro Pub..) Trent and I made another life changing decision, to move across the globe to New Zealand...and of course, Huff  would come too. What followed was 6-8 months of planning, paperwork, vet visits, home sales, and an overall loss of sleep.

But somehow we made it through. And with the help of some amazing friends (Barb and Tanya) we were able to travel Australia for seven weeks, while Huff spent some more time in Canada with some of her favourite dogs, Rocky, Ava and Lily. I think she was on vacation too :)  And now.. she is only 5 days away from taking the greatest trip of her life to New Zealand, not bad for a dog who was in a shelter just over a year ago!

 So the schedule goes like this:

January 18, 2012 (CAN time): Huff flies Ottawa to Vancouver, Vancouver to Auckland, and Auckland to Wellington ( with long rests in between for walks and feeding)

January 20, 2012 ( NZ time) Huff arrives and will spend 10 days at a quarantine kennel where we can visit!

January 30, 2012: home with us again :)


As for us, things are good, we will spend another week in Wellington before heading 50km to the beautiful Paraparaumu, our new home. More to come....

Heather