Here we are

Hi everyone
Where to begin? I'll go chronologically to get my thoughts in order.
Saturday: left Auckland, gotta love the 767s with the individual consoles. Matt and I watched movies and Taine watched a movie and played games until 1.30am. We got to Samoa, and was a long wait to go through immigration, wait in the taxi and register at Aggie Greys. Looked like a lovely place, and we'll have to go back there soon (or in April if our residence permits don't come through).
The flight to Am Sam was cool. A very little plane flying so low you could see the golfers out on the courses. Took just over half an hour.
David (Matt's boss) and Sue, with Ken (Matt's predecessor back from Guam for a couple of weeks) were there to meet us, which was fantastic. They took us back to our place, which Sue had cleaned the day before. There were mouse droppings in the lounge which had been deposited within the last 24 hours, but we haven't seen any sight of the little, wee, insignificant creature that was there. It definitely wasn't big and scary!
I braved Cost U Less in the afternoon. That's been the most alien experience so far. Huge aisles, a mix of Pak and Save and The Warehouse with a lot of junk shop thrown in. Lots of American food (Oreos, Cheez Whiz, chopped onion in a jar) and everything in huge sizes. We had to get 8 tins of tomatoes and 32 bags of popcorn! That night we went out to a local Chinese restaurant with another family. Good food already.
The house is fabulous. It's big (4 bed, 2 bath, extra toilet, 2 lounges and another room that we just can't figure out what to do with). Can't decide which will be my scrapbooking empire. Might depend on which visitors we have (if they need their own suite or not!) Everything is very clean and beige. Will look much better once we get our own stuff in.
The pool and tennis court are just down the drive. The pool is fabulous but deep (9ft at the deep end) so Taine is happy poddling just at one end. Everytime we go to a shop we end up buying another pool toy! It's bath temperature so just lovely.

Sunday: We took a drive to Pago (the locals only say it once, more like Pungo) to see the bank. It looks like any bank branch in, say, Wanganui. Then it was lounging by the pool and watching bad cable. A recuperative day.

Monday: Ken picked us up about 10am to show us the sights. We did the loop road: The main roads are a loop with a stick. Like a fishing net? We're at the bottom of the net (Tafuna) and Pago is halfway round the stick, which goes east from us. Found ACE Hardware (a mini-mini-Bunnings). As we got to Pago, there were canoe races in the harbour which we watched, then had lunch at the yacht club. That wasn't at all what I was expecting/hoping. Basic is about it, but food was good (there's a theme going here). After lunch we went further round the stick, past the canneries to Tisa's Barefoot Bar. This is a beautiful little beach with a bar overlooking the sand. The currents can be dangerous but if you stayed near enough to the shore it's fine. Absolutely gorgeous. The water was warm and the sand big thick granules. Last stop was the island's best icecream store, then back to David and Sue's for a BBQ.

Tuesday: Matt's first day at work. He came home absolutely glazed. Lots to learn and do and he's feeling very overwhelmed. He'll be fine, but it will just take some time to get to grips with things. Long days: he left about 7:10 and didn't get home till nearly 7. Sounds like this will be pretty standard. It's a 30 - 45 minute drive to work. Slow driving and only one road, so not much traffic. Taine and I went to enrol at Pacific Horizons School. We went to see his class, who were all very friendly, and his very loud American teacher, who was lovely and welcoming. There looked about 8 K5 kids, but I think there were some first graders next door. Rest of the day was getting school supplies, including a 2 litre waterbottle.

Wednesday (today): Taine's first day at school. He was very hesitant, and it all seemed like a bit of a rush (the 7.45am start). He was a bit upset when I left, but I don't think me staying would have helped. There was a substitute teacher today, an Australian, who said "Do you want to go to breakfast with the girls?" and called out the door to some of the mums and I was off! 7 expat wives, couple of kids at the local diner. The standard Wednesday morning drill apparently. All very nice, kids seem a bit older than Taine. And one of them was our next door neighbour. Yay, there were waiting for me! All of them knew exactly who I was, where I was staying, what my phone number was, what car I'm driving ...
Now I'm round at Sue's, as our internet isn't working. Not sure when I'll get back or when I can write from home.

All is good. It's warm but not overwhelming (32-35 degrees outside, but you're not outside without a fan for very long), has only rained twice, everyone very welcoming.

We'd love to hear from you. Post comments on this site (but be aware everyone else will read them!) or our old email mshunt@clear.net.nz.