we made it!!!

well, we finally made it...the journey was long, but since we slept through most of it, it actually wasn't that bad! shout out to natalie...my feet got SO swollen, and so did zach's! it was like braxton hicks of the feet. does anyone know why that happens?? anyway, they are back to regular size again after excellent sleep.

so we have just spent out first day hanging around in christchurch. we are staying with melissa (she is a friend of ethan's-zach's cousin) at her house in a suburb of the city. she rocks and we got to cook her dinner last night with veggies that she grew in her rocking garden. it was the perfect place to be on our first night in NZ...a little bit vermont, a little bit NZ. today we are exploring the city of christchurch...we went to the botanical gardens....beautiful; the aquarium...super cool. at the aquarium we also got to see kiwi's...(ian that's the bird, not the fruit) they are very fast and very hairy(feathery?). Also checked out an exhibit on Antarctica in the Cantebury Art Museum. Can any Minots remind me which expedition great grandad Gross was on? The Byrd Expedition?

we have learned some great new kiwi vocab thus far...most importantly, how to order coffee! black coffee is called a "long black" and with milk is "flat white." first time i was asked i thought she was inquiring on my eggs...very confusing! we have also determined that in NZ zach is what's called a "petrol head," that means he likes cars a lot. and finally, when you say "that" it's customary to add "then." ex. "do you like that then?"

speaking of petrol heads...we are off to pick up our car now...wish us luck as we learn to drive on the other side of the road!

we'll put up pictures from today in a bit.
ciao!