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Thursday, January 28, 2016

Update #6 History Lesson

 A short history lesson: NZ is a baby as it has only been inhabited by people for 1000 years! Maori came first...from Polynesian area & 400 years later Captain Hook & the Dutch arrived. Here North points to the equator and south winds bring cold weather. Gardens are gorgeous on the North island as it doesn't freeze...so a little effort last all year!! South Island is much colder & they get snow. Homes are very modest with huge windows and extremely expensive...$550,000 is considered "affordable" but few are available. Lots of foreigners are buying homes for investment which is driving the market up. Many homes are sold at auctions which also drives prices up. Price of dining out is at least 2x as much as USA. Luckily, Rog & I often share a meal and it's plenty and also the US dollar is strong here....$1 NZ = $1.40 US. NZ are friendly and proud of their beautiful country...and rightly so!

PS I stand to be corrected on a previous update: Jurassic Park was filmed in Hawaii.