Less than a month after finishing the PCT, Richard and I packed 280 pounds of stuff into four very large duffel bags and flew with them to New Zealand.

The plan is to live and work in Wanganui, New Zealand for the next year. We’ll use any time off to travel the country and explore what it’s like to live in this hemisphere with a little more access to the world than we had in Antarctica.

I’m still in the process of learning all that needs to be done to become a participating member of the Wanganui community and the New Zealand country, so those insights will come once I’ve wrapped my head around them.

After a long flight (made longer by the cancellation and rebooking of the leg across the Pacific Ocean), we landed in Auckland at 7 a.m. on a Thursday. We spent the next couple of days covering the logistics of moving to a new country. Bank accounts, tax ID numbers, address verification, buying a campervan, buying a new phone plan, adjusting to a new time zone, trying not to hurt anyone or break any laws while driving on the left side of the road, etc.

For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been enjoying getting to know our new town and taking in the many beautiful sunsets.

As it is still spring, we decided to get in some spring skiing before it all melts away for summer.

The snow turned to mashed potatoes by noon, but we had fun on the short skis they use down here.