What's Right and Wrong with the Stuff that we Brought

Friends and family members who stopped by the compound when Kevin and I were packing our luggage to travel to New Zealand may recall visions of Mary's living room strewn with our clothes, shoes, coats, and Kevin's textbooks at various stages of the packing process. At some point between April 22nd (our original proposed travel date) and June 10th (our actual travel date), the airlines collectively and severely cut-back on the amount of luggage that travelers can bring on international flights. So, even though our bags were packed early on, we found ourselves scrambling to unpack sixty pounds worth of clothes and personal effects the night before we left. Considering that it was important for Kevin to pack quite a few very heavy programming textbooks, we weren't left with a very big packing allowance for everything else.

Now that we have been here two-and-a-half weeks, I can tell you that we feel the the lack of very few items that we had to leave behind.

A bathrobe is a handy thing for preserving one's modesty in a home with a curtainless window along the bedroom-bathroom corridor. But, we don't have robes, so we've had to improvise. When it comes to passing in front of said window, I favour the crouching tiger move; Kevin, the hidden dragon. Exercising these moves is much cheaper and more thrilling than purchasing new robes.

The other thing that I initially felt the lack of was my running shoes, because I was inspired to start running again by this place, where the populace is fit, and many people walk, jog and cycle right in front of our house. My runners were old and deflated, though, and I was right not to lug them all the way here, because it gave me an excuse to go out and buy a much-needed new pair!

I'm sad that some of my favourite music didn't get ripped onto the mac mini before we left. I have no Tragically Hip, no Cinematic Orchestra, no Paul Weller. I have most of my collection here, just not those favourites.

Conversely, there are very few things that we lugged with us in vain. I really didn't need to bring my ankle-length, black, high-heel winter boots, because they aren't in style here at all. Most of the fashionable people wear comfort flats or very low heel boots. Some young women wear Ugg-style boots or 80's-inspired moon boots, some with little pointy heals to teeter on. There is really only one kind of high-heel shoe for women that is in fashion here, and it has nothing in common with the heeled boots I brought!

I also probably didn't need to bring as much make-up as I did. I have quite a collection of lipsticks and eye shadows, and although I discarded a bunch of colours in anticipation of the move, now that I'm here, I wish I'd left behind more of my lipsticks to make room for more clothes, because I hardly have any clothes now. I have exactly one ensemble that I can jog in, for instance, which is not handy.

Things that I am very glad I brought with me are, #1, the new 'Luke Skywalker boots' that I bought at the tail-end of our Canadian winter, because they are both in season and in fashion here, and allow me to walk the streets virtually undetected as a tourist. I am also glad that I brought my black knit beret, because it gets drizzly here when there's a wind from the south (pole, that is), which is pretty often. The thing is, umbrellas aren't used by the natives, nobody favours them. Maybe that's because the high winds just turn them inside-out and then you feel like a fool holding one. We were told flat-out by our Weta Relocation Coordinator that woolen hats are the preferred apparel for protecting one's head from rain, and umbrellas are only used by tourists. So I needn't have packed our two umbrellas, but oh, well. Umbrellas are always a tough call, aren't they?