And Now We're Four....

We decided last night to move our trip to August 2010 for a few reasons.

*August is low season for travel, and since we aren't really going for a vacation in the sun, it didn't matter that it would be Winter. The average high for BoP is 59 and the average low is in the mid-40s. It will be a fantastic break from the 100+ degree temperature here in Texas in August!

*Since it is low season, the rates for the bach rental and car rental are less, sometimes by half!

*And the most exciting reason....our daughter Cowgirl is coming with us!!! Since she is in a public school, it was impossible to pull her out for almost two weeks. But August is our summer break, so the first two weeks of August 2010 will work perfectly. I am so excited that we'll be bringing her & getting her impression of NZ life as well. Not to mention the fact that Little Man adores her & loves spending time with her!

So there you have it...we're visiting in August 2010 and will bring 2/3 of our children with us!

Goal This Week

My goal this week is to find a bach (pronounced "batch) for us to stay in for our visit in March/April. A bach is just a beach or holiday home with a cuter name :)

There are so many options for renting a bach in the Bay of Plenty it's almost overwhelming. To try and find a place that is smallish (some sleep 10-16 people!) for just the three of us, and someplace that has amenities we are looking for during our stay still turns up a ton of search results. Guess it's better to have too many choices than not enough!

We've never rented a holiday house before anywhere, so I am a little nervous to stay somewhere other than a hotel. This will be something new for us!

I think we've decided to go for a 10 day visit. It started with 3 weeks, but after we talked a bit, we questioned what exactly we would do for 3 weeks away from home. After 7 days in Hawaii, we are usually getting ready to head home. The flight to NZ from LAX is approx. 12 hours, so we wanted to stay more than just 1 week.

So 10 days seemed to be a good compromise. I feel certain we can check out what we need to check out and have plenty of time for exploring as well!

Last night Big Daddy actually found some builders in NZ who build the type of home we are interested in and one of them has a model home in the Bay of Plenty I'd like to check out.

So...my goal this week in making our Dream Come True is to find a rental bach in the BoP!

Why Cowboy Boots To Kiwi Fruits?

Hello & welcome to our blog! We have found a few blogs very helpful in our research on moving to New Zealand, so it is my hope that our blog can serve others in the same way.

Who are we? I am The Mama and do most of the writing...I am a Texas native, a homeschool mom, & a wife to Big Daddy. We have three children, two of whom are staying in the US for work & school. Little Dude will be moving to NZ with us and continuing to homeschool.

Where are we in the process? We have shared our plans with all of our family & friends. Big Daddy spoke today with our financial planner. I find myself every now & then looking around the kitchen wondering what to keep? What to sell? What to donate? What of all this stuff do I want to pay to ship halfway across the world? We are planning a visit to NZ in March of 2010 to check out the Bay of Plenty, which is our desired location we think.

When Big Daddy & I first started talking about the notion of moving, I was completely overwhelmed. Since the age of two, I have lived within the same 3 hours of where my feet stand now, so a move to a different state seemed scary...moving to a completely new country was terrifying!

But after we read some very helpful blogs, talked a lot together about our future, & Big Daddy offered the advice to "eat the elephant one bite at a time", I became much more at ease with following our dream. I don't need to figure out what furniture we're taking or where to quarantine the dog just yet!

What concrete steps have we taken to put the wheels in motion? Our house is up for sale, & once it is sold we will rent until our oldest daughter graduates highschool in three years. Each journey begins with one step!

Cowboy Boots to Kiwi Fruits will be my place to document our life changing adventure to New Zealand. It is my hope that it will serve as a useful resource for others considering doing the same...and that it may inspire you to follow your dreams!