fmueller Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 To all the folks who provided me with a warm welcome and good advice when I announced that I would move from Ohio to Auckland - I am here now! Probably not as interesting for you as for non-Kiwis, but I have added some photos from our first days to my web site: http://www.fmueller.com/home/photograph ... mber-2014/ Love the Tui! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Welcome to the Land of The Long White Cloud! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Welcome, love the photo essay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted September 14, 2014 Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Nice pics, the weta was just a baby thought... How did you go bringing the dogs over from the US? I bet the tail end of winter in Auckland is a little different to Ohio! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmueller Posted September 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Winter? What winter? Winter is when there is snow on the ground. Auckland might have a no-swimming season, but so far there have been only a couple of days when I found it a little chilly for shorts, and most folks in Ohio would probably consider me a wuss for that :bggrn: The dogs did good. It's only 10 days in quarantine now. They do lots of testing before, and the preparations begin a year before they leave. At any rate, we send them off before the movers picked up our stuff in Ohio. When we arrived in NZ, it was only a few days before we could pick them up, and we had to hureurry to get a rental house and a car - easier to do without them around. Right now Panda is sleeping on his new dog bed and Molly is woofing at the Tui outside. Furniture is a bit thin on the ground here. I am guessing easily another months before most of our worldly belongings will arrive in a container. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 I gather finding a rental in Auckland is some what difficult at the moment, finding one that allowed dogs must have been a miracle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Welcome to Auckland. You did well 1. finding Birkenhead 2. finding a rental that is liveable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptilez Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Welcome to Auckland :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 Welcome to Auckland. Looks like you found yourself a nice place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted September 15, 2014 Report Share Posted September 15, 2014 welcome mate good time to arrive, spoken to a few of the locals and apparently summer is just round the corner... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 16, 2014 Report Share Posted September 16, 2014 Welcome to Aotearoa! Don't forget that there is a lot of beautiful country south of the Bombay Hills If you ever head to the South Island, you are welcome to visit 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted September 16, 2014 Report Share Posted September 16, 2014 welcome along I see that the tank you just got housed Giant kokopu in a past life, come on try something new in fishkeeping. I suspect the stream at the end of you road will have whitebait in it at the moment (along with bullies and koura?)- to start a native collection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanityChelle Posted September 16, 2014 Report Share Posted September 16, 2014 Awesome blog post, and beautiful photos! If you're looking for a day trip in Auckland, head west into the Waitakere Ranges, and go for a walk in one of the forest parks out there. Beautiful waterfalls and dense native bush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#!CrunchBang Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 welcome along I see that the tank you just got housed Giant kokopu in a past life, come on try something new in fishkeeping. I suspect the stream at the end of you road will have whitebait in it at the moment (along with bullies and koura?)- to start a native collection I've been face to face with a Koura in that stream, getting to that spot was a pain, but I was being paid to be there. I actually grew up in that valley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aotealotl Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 Willkommen in Neuseeland, wenn Du von dem 'rat race' fluechten willst und das Wahre Neuseeland sehen, komm in den Sueden, Central Otago is the place to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmueller Posted September 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 David R - Some problems go away if you throw money at them. I am not usually in the luxurious position to be able to do so, but in this case my wife's new employer footed the bill to pay a re-location company to find something for us. We had looked forever online without any luck - always 'no pets allowed'. They showed us 6 places in one day. 3 were dumps, 2 were decent options, 1 was head and shoulders above the rest, and we picked it. I asked them how they do it, and they ring up everybody with a decent property, present their client in the best possible light, and talk them into the dogs! Apparently if you make a gazillion phone calls, eventually you find some people who change their mind on the pets! Caryl - I have a brother in law in Blenheim. He works for one of the bottling plants and usually has a good drop at home or two. Next time I visit, I'll let you know, and maybe I can check out your tanks! SanityChelle - Thanks for the tip! aotealotl - Ich hoere da gibt's die besten Aprikosen blueether, #!CrunchBang - tell me more about that native option. My wife's work has been thinking about a native display tank. At this stage it is just an idea they have been entertaining, and they told my wife when she mentioned I am into fish. If I really wanted to pursue this, presumably they'd pay for the setup, and maybe a small fee for maintenance, but that would all have to be fleshed out. I have not really followed it up, because I don't know much about native NZ fish. Assuming that I would not sell my new tank, how large of a tank would they need to make this worthwhile? #!CrunchBang, are you a grad at AUT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Welcome! That's a very nice postcard-worthy photo of a Tui. I haven't seen a high-angle shot of one before. Male red-finned bullies (Gobiomorphus huttoni) and koaro are two of our native freshwater fish which have a lot of colour. They need a saltwater phase in their lifecycle though. Other bullies are more drab but you can watch their whole lifecycle in a freshwater tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 fmueller, have a look through the native section 400+ litre would be good (1200 x 600 ) depending what you they wanted and a chiller to keep the temps down below 20 deg C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverdollarboy2 Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 Warning : Natives are addictive! I caught a crans bully last week and now I'm hooked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 fmueller you would be most welcome although these days I only have one very ordinary looking tropical tank and a pond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aotealotl Posted September 25, 2014 Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 aotealotl - Ich hoere da gibt's die besten Aprikosen now you got my attention. who do you know who knows that the apricots tree at the shore of Lake Benmore is mine ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmueller Posted September 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2014 Yellow - I was pretty happy with my Tui shots, but what probably prevents them from being postcard status is that they show a native NZ bird in an Aussie bush. If the Tui was in a Kowhai, that would be a whole different story blueether - They want a really showy tank with natives. IMHO they are setting themselves up for disappointment, because natives are never going to be showy in the way marine fish or Malawi cichlids are. That's what I would recommend for a public show tank, because they are going to grab the attention of anybody just walking past the tank. For a home tank, I am more of a Tanganyikan guy, and natives might fall in a similar category. They can also be colorful, but you need to sit down in front of the tank and spend a bit of time to appreciate it - and maybe observe some of their interesting behaviors. aotealotl - I have my sources 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted September 26, 2014 Report Share Posted September 26, 2014 Yeah, even my giant kokopu (the most spectacular of our natives) hide most of the day. Natives are fantastic if you have the time to watch them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#!CrunchBang Posted September 26, 2014 Report Share Posted September 26, 2014 Others will have better knowledge about keeping Natives than I do. #!CrunchBang, are you a grad at AUT? I graduated a few years ago from UoA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmueller Posted September 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 It's only because your signature says "Graduate". To me this implied that you are still at uni, but I guess the term might be used differently in NZ. My wife works for the poor cousins - AUT. She is a chemist, but in the applied science department, where most of her colleagues are ecologists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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