Anna – You Can Take The Girl Outta Texas…

A whale of a tale

I love a good coupon, so it’s no surprise that I spend a lot of time on Auckland’s version of Groupon–GrabOne. They’ve got all kinds of crazy touristy things listed on the cheap! One such deal that I couldn’t resist was a whale watching tour.

The harbours and gulfs of NZ are full of wildlife, most notably dolphins and killer whales! And Auckland Whale and Dolphin Safari does daily cruises into the Hauraki Gulf to try and spot whales. My flatmate, another friend, and I signed up for an afternoon cruise one weekend with high hopes of spotting some Orcas! The cool thing about this company (besides the fact that it leaves directly from the Viaduct in the CBD) is that they guarantee sightings of at least enough sealife to justify the cost of the ticket. My flatmate’s friend had been on a cruise the previous weekend with her parents and hadn’t seen anything, so she joined us for free!

The cruise out of Auckland was stunning, and we were lucky to have a gorgeous day with gorgeous weather. We sailed for about an hour and a half, just enjoying the scenery and the sunshine.

Brown’s Island, on the way out of Auckland Harbour

We started to see some action once we were away from the ferry channel and the other boat traffic. We saw TONS of dolphins throughout the 5 hour cruise–they were so playful, swimming alongside the boat and jumping in the air. Everyone on the cruise was smiling from ear to ear! At one point we even saw some penguins swimming through the water!

Unfortunately we weren’t lucky enough to see any Orca on this trip–it was pretty late in the season. But the four of us had an amazing time on the water watching all the dolphins and birds and penguins!

Skiing down an active volcano

I arrived in NZ just as winter was starting. Thankfully the winters in Auckland are fairly mild (think 40-50F most days). And as an added bonus, there’s a ski field only about 4 hours drive away! Mount Ruapehu is the tallest peak on the North Island of NZ, and is also an active volcano. Yep, you read that right, there is enough snow on an active volcano to make a ski field!

My two girl friends and I set off after work on Friday to head down to Ohakune, where we’d snagged a room with a couple of bunk beds and a hot tub–what else do you need! We had planned to leave at 4p to try and beat traffic, but the fourth friend who was scheduled to come with us had some sort of drama which put us off schedule. Her cat had run away several months prior, and suddenly on this Friday she got a message from several people claiming that a teenage youtuber had been featuring her cat in her videos. This sparked a lot of heated messages, threats of lawsuits, and even cat DNA tests. This sounds like a completely wacky and made-up story, and I wouldn’t believe it myself except that I was there for the action over the several months that it played out!

Anyhoo, the rest of us put some tunes on and hit the road! We decided to stop for burgers at a local pub in a really small town. Now, everyone outside of Auckland calls all Aucklanders “JAFAs”–short for “Just Another F-ing Aucklander”. They can see us city folk coming from a million miles away, and are rarely pleased to see us. But after some unfriendly service and mediocre food, we were back on the road! We arrived in Ohakune exhausted and ready for an early day of skiing. But the weather is so fickle, and the roads so dangerous, that the ski fields are closed almost more often than they’re open. By the time we hit the sack around midnight, the ski fields were forecasted to be closed–what a bummer!

We woke up bright and early, as ski passes are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. We frantically checked the status of the Whakapapa Ski Resort (pronounced “Fa-ka-papa”) all morning, and it was reporting CLOSED all morning due to weather. We were so disappointed, until finally it magically updated to being open! So we headed into downtown to rent some warm clothes and ski gear from SLR and buy our passes.

We were one of the first people to the ski field, and what a spectacular day it turned out to be! Nothing but blue skies, sunshine, and a lot of powder!

Nothing but clear skies on the way up the lift

I had a fantastic time skiing all the blues! But that beautiful weather soon turned to icy rain, and then to snow. It was SO cold! But still super fun and exhausting! Knowing that you’re skiing on a lava field is pretty cool, and you can see a lot of the lava rocks and boulders jutting out of the snow as you ski.

Bundled up against the sudden cold and snow!

You can’t forget your skiing on an active volcano when the ski field is full of lava rocks

After our day of skiing, we headed back to the hotel to relax in the hot tub. You had to reserve the hot tub, and it was posted everywhere that were absolutely NO food or drinks allowed. But there was also a lock on the door to the hot tub, so we had a nice soak while snacking on cheese and crackers and drinking champagne. Classy!

We headed into downtown Ohakune to find some dinner. There were approximately 3 places open–a pub, a disco, and a bar. And I’m proud (ashamed?) to say we hit all three! We met some locals at dinner, and spent the night drinking Lion Red beer and dancing on tables to 90s rap. There will be no pictures of that night posted here!

Sign of a good night.. a bin full of champagne

We decided to take the scenic route on the way back to Auckland, and we stopped at the famous Hell’s Gate Geothermal Spa in Rotorua to relax our sore muscles. Most of Rotorua is geothermic, and you can see steam rising from volcanic vents almost everywhere. We took a stroll through the geothermic fields before heading to the spa.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen a place that rents swimsuits. It seems kind of….unsanitary? But hey, when in NZ. We donned our rented suits, and hopped in the geothermic heated pool. And boy was it HOT! We chilled out and relaxed our muscles while it rained cold rain on us. Hell’s Gate is known for their mud baths, so we definitely had to give it a try! They tell you not to get the mud near your face, but did we listen?

As you can see, we most definitely did NOT listen, and we paid the price for it. My eyes were stinging so bad that I couldn’t open them for an hour!! Good thing I wasn’t driving home!

After the mudbaths, we decided to stop in Matamata (otherwise known as the town where Hobbiton is) for lunch. We were just cruising through a traffic circle to get into town, and our car broke down! Thankfully we were able to coast into a parking lot. We had a nice Thai lunch and prayed the car would start again–and it did! So we headed back to Auckland and back to another work week. I’ve never lived close enough to a ski resort to be able to drive there for a weekend of skiing!

A Long Absence

Well…it turns out that I didn’t keep up with this blog AT ALL. Oopsie. Here it is 5 years later, and current me is really wishing that past me had written about things as they happened. I mean, I’ve practically lived a lifetime since then! And old age (and having a smartphone) has done nothing for my memory. So it’s now the end of 2020 (and that’s a whole thing in itself), and I want to try and record some of the awesome things I’ve done over the years. Don’t let me down again, 2020 me!

Auckland without a car

Though Auckland has public transportations (buses, a few trains, and Uber/taxis), they only really cover the CBD and the closest suburbs. So finding things to do without a car is sometimes a bit challenging, and definitely not the New Zealand that everyone has in mind. There are some really lush (thanks to the abundant rain) beautiful parks scattered throughout the city that make for a nice escape from city life. I’ve managed to find a few ways to keep busy without having to leave the city!

Mount Eden

Billed as the highest point in Auckland. Most sane people drive up to the top, but where’s the fun in that?? The bottom is easily reachable by bus, and the walk to the top only takes about 20 minutes. It’s a giant dormant crater that’s now covered in lush green grass, and it has a really nice view of the city skyline. There are a lot of good restaurants in the Mt Eden suburb as well, and a nice craft beer place called Hopscotch that has 30 NZ craft beers on tap. You can’t have a proper pint, but they’ll let you sample as many as you want!

Devonport

On the North Shore, reachable by bus or ferry (we of course chose the ferry for the fun factor). The shops right outside the ferry terminal are adorable, with quaint shopping and tons of good food. Northhead and Mt Victoria are easy walks and a gentle hike from the ferry, with nice views looking back towards the city.

The Domain

Once you disappear into the dense foliage of the Domain, you can definitely forget that you live in the middle of a city. With lots of beautiful walkways, a bubbling stream, and the sounds of wildlife all around you, you almost feel like you’re in a rainforest!

Takapuna

One of my favorite places to hang out outside of the city (maybe because some friends live there, so it gives me a good excuse to go there often!). Takapuna seems to be the suburb that will grow the fastest and be popular in the coming years. Lots of good food, nice restaurants, not a crazy party atmosphere. And of course the beach!

Parnell Rose Garden

Just off the main road in Parnell, this is a popular place to watch the sun set over the harbor. In the summer time, the garden is filled with roses and other plants, and even in the winter it is super green and has lots of giant old trees. From the main road, you can walk all the way down to Judge’s Bay, a tiny strip of sand outside the Parnell Baths.

The one where I made friends

With the housing situation taken care of, I had a LOT of free time on my hands. Turns out there’s not really a whole lot of super New-Zealand-y stuff to do in the city. Everything that’s remotely interesting is *just* beyond where the buses and trains go. I had to step up my meetup game and actually meet some quality people. I was going to at least one meetup a day, sometimes two, in the hopes that the numbers game would eventually pay off. I haven’t yet mentioned how *lovely* the August weather is in Auckland–there’s a reason for that.

But I still made the effort to go to something every day, arriving soaked to the bone and wearing at least 2 more layers than anyone else there. Needless to say, I didn’t handle going from 100 degrees to 40 very well. I hiked, I watched rugby, I went shopping, I sat through endless coffee and cafe afternoons, I went to the zoo, I drank. I was getting a bit bored and considered not trudging through the rain and wind to go to the wine festival downtown with a giant gaggle of girls. I think something like 35 girls showed up to this meetup, and in true meetup/girl style, everyone was at least 30 minutes late. We all waited politely by the entrance for any stragglers, but dang it I had been without wine in a social setting for 30 minutes! A small group of us broke off to hit the bottle early, and that was the beginning of the end!

We sampled wine from all over NZ, getting tipsy and being “those” girls at a semi classy festival. I do feel bad for the poor chap running the cheese sampling station. All six of us just about barreled him over wanting him to feed us free cheese so we didn’t have to stop drinking long enough to go to a restaurant. But thankfully we had enough sense to keep the party going and not let this night die out as another meetup failure. We made an equally loud spectacle of ourselves at a restaurant, where a poor old chap bought us all a couple of shots. I ended the night dancing my heart out to Katy Perry in the gay bar across town, and what a good night it was!

It definitely made me miss my friends back home even more, but finding some cool chicks to hang out with here has been the best thing to happen to me yet. We’ve added some to the group, brought some around who didn’t make the cut, and we’ve made the most of Auckland so far! All day brunches on the waterfront, all night parties at each others’ houses, trying new foods and bars, and making fun of guys who try to impress us. I’m definitely starting to like Auckland more…now if we could just get some warm sunshine!

How online dating helped me find a good flat

Bear with me, this post may sound completely naive and whiny….but finding a decent place to live has been the hardest thing about Auckland so far. Now I accept that this might be because I’ve never lived anywhere farther than an hour from my hometown, and I’ve never lived in a city, and I’ve certainly never lived in an expensive city halfway across the world. So a lot of my difficulties could easily be just growing pains and learning curves of life in a new city anywhere. But thankfully house hunting and online dating are so similar that I had this one under control…

It always seems like such a good idea at first, and it’ll be SO easy

NZ has an awesome website to buy and sell just about anything you could imagine, so of course that’s where I started my search. I looked before I left the US, and there were *tons* of 1 bedroom apartments listed right in the heart of the city, and in my price range to boot. I gave myself 10 whole days to find a place to live and get settled in before I had to start work. In Dallas I could have found a nice cheap apartment in a great part of town, ready for me to move in immediately, in less than an hour! I flipped through pages of listings, painstakingly building a portfolio of favorites based on their few pictures and 2 sentence descriptions. Optimism, I had tons of it!

Then it quickly becomes an all-consuming job

…..until I actually started looking at places. I quickly found out that one does not simply make an appointment to view an apartment. All apartments units are independently owned/managed. So there could be 3 vacant apartments in the same building, and you might never know unless you happened to know a guy who knows a guy who’s renting one of the apartments. I pounded the pavement and texted/called people all day every day trying just to SEE apartments. I looked at roughly 6 apartments per day all over the city, each one more depressing than the next!

Absolutely NOTHING is as good in person as it is online

What I didn’t realize about Auckland is the sheer number of students and immigrants who live here. The university draws heaps of students, and the skills shortage list draws heaps of immigrants for work. As a result, there is a pretty huge housing shortage. Most of the 1 bedroom apartments I looked at (and we’re talking *small* apartments, around 500sqft) were occupied by several people. One of the first places I looked at was so adorable online–fully furnished (and they were buying new furniture!), right in the CBD, gets the north sun so it’s warm, and was an actual 1 bedroom, not an open plan. After seeing it in real life, I’ve realized that *nothing* is as charming in real life as it is online. The reason they had to buy new furniture was because FIVE guys were living here, and the place was absolutely destroyed. No amount of cleaning could have saved it. Oh and did I mention they were still asking $1650/month for it?

At some point you give in and lower the standards you thought you had

Unfortunately for me, after 6 solid days of looking (you did the math right, I saw over 30 apartments), I had found nothing that I would even consider living in. I was staying at a nice apartment with an awesome couple at the time, and they suggested that I find a roommate. I refused for the entire week, still trudging to apartment after apartment and getting more depressed. Thankfully for me, my airbnb host is amazing, and she looked for a roommate for me. Every night I would come home and tell her how horrible the apartments were, and every night she would watch TV with me and send me links to roommate postings. Finally I gave in and contacted one that was just outside of the CBD, in the suburb where I would be working. It was a cute, clean flat that was more modern than anything I’d seen yet.

Occasionally you DO find a unicorn

I am SO HAPPY that I came to see the apartment. Once I saw it, I couldn’t see myself living anywhere else! The guy who was renting it was in his late 20s, very smart and we had nice conversation, especially for being perfect strangers. The apartment was in just as good of shape in person as it was online! The bedroom I was looking at even had its own bathroom, and looked out onto the patio. Once I saw the place, I was smitten–I *had* to have it. So, just like dudes, the nice ones are few and far between, so you have to work to get them. It really felt like a job interview, trying to figure out what I could do to make myself the most desirable candidate!

You know when you’ve found “the one”

Thankfully I was contacted the next day to come and meet the 3rd person who was living in the apartment to see if we all got on well so that they could decide between me and the other candidates. I put on my cutest outfit and my best charming smile, gave myself a Stuart Smalley pep talk, and had my airbnb host look me over with the critical eye of someone she’d consider sharing a kitchen with. I met the other flatmate (a girl), and the three of us sat awkwardly at a small table and made small talk. It was truly one of the most awkward first dates I’ve ever had. I’ve never understood people who weren’t themselves on dates, who were constantly trying to be charming and cool and impressive…until I was that person, desperately seeking the approval of two strangers from the internet. Thankfully we all got along like gangbusters, and I went home with the successful-first-date high. I was singing from rooftops, shouting my love for my new place, exactly like an annoying teenager in love.

You can’t imagine how your life was before

I’ve heard so many horror stories about terrible roommates–messy, mean, weird, cruel. Our little place is actually a home–we watch TV on the couch, stay in on Friday nights, take walks to the park or the beach, dish on our love lives, and listen to each other’s whining. Even though I’ve always lived by myself, now I can’t imagine not living with my flatmates. Awwwww…..

Being a tourist in your new town

Alternately titled “Misadventures in Meetup”. Now that I’ve semi settled in to Auckland, I’ve been trying to find ways to keep myself busy in a place where I know no one. I think people like me are the main reason meetup.com is so popular. I may or may not have joined 20 meetup groups in Auckland so far….go big or be bored, right?

First up, a co-ed walking/hiking group, who I was meeting for an evening walk through the Auckland city center, along the coast, past the Prime Minister’s house and the Auckland Museum, and ending at a bar/coffee shop. I met a lovely English girl around my age who had just relocated to Auckland as well. She was living in a backpacker’s hostel and looking for work as a teacher. We chatted over how expensive things were here and how odd it is to be in a new city and not know a soul. But of course, no meetup is complete without obnoxious boys who try to hard at everything. You know how male dolphins will separate a female dolphin and force itself on her? The guys of meetup have tried to employ this very technique, but aren’t as smart as dolphins. The girl and I are trying to see the sites on a walking tour, yet everywhere I look there’s an obnoxious guy in my face wanting to know what I’m up to this weekend. Socially awkward guys of meetup, GET A CLUE. The more you press us, the easier the decision will be for us to block you before you can send 10 unanswered messages. Anyway…besides the annoying boys, the walking tour was nice

The only picture I managed to break away from the herd and snap. Hence the terrible quality, I was trying not to be noticed.

Next up was an all-girls outing, yay! Now I’m not normally a fan of the zoo, but I am a fan of making girl friends here. So on a nice sunny day, I ventured 45 minutes across town on a bus to see an elephant that had just arrived at the zoo. I met 11 girls from meetup, and all of them were so fun! We took the obligatory group and “fun” photos on the way in–nothing like meeting a group of strangers and trying to look like we all belong together after having known each other all of 60 seconds!

highres_440665111 — Ok, everyone, arms around each other! Let’s look like old friends!

highres_440665085 — Oh look, a lion! I know we don’t know each other yet, but we’re going to have to sacrifice one of you so the rest of us can get away. It was nice meeting you!

We had a lot of fun, lots of laughs during the day. We stopped mid-afternoon to have lunch at the zoo cafe, which was really nice. And we saw a Kiwi bird!! I feel like as a proper NZ’er, I should know a lot about Kiwis. But I failed at step 1: identifying a Kiwi. Kiwis are apparently very very shy and nocturnal, so they’re in a dark quiet enclosure inside, and you can’t walk quickly or make any loud noises. And even still, it’s not guaranteed that the Kiwis will be out and about. Someone pointed at a giant chicken-sized bird excitedly, and I thought aww how cute, someone’s never seen a chicken before. But no, as always I am the jerk, because it turns out Kiwis are chicken-sized birds with reeeeeeally long beaks. Who knew! So…I’ve officially seen a Kiwi, NZ might as well give me residency already. Other highlights of the zoo trip were learning that a firefox is a real animal (and a super cute one at that!), seeing a wallaby for the first time, seeing a tasmanian devil and learning that they’re actually just large rodents, and crawling through the tunnels underneath the meerkat enclosure. What’s that you say, they’re made for 8 year olds? I’m not afraid to push an 8yo out of the way to poke my head up into a meerkat colony.

highres_440665353 — Seeing if the meerkats will accept me as one of their own

Tasmanian devil, with my feet for size comparison. Looney Tunes, you lie! There's nothing ferocious about this little guy — Tasmanian devil, with my feet for size comparison. Looney Tunes, you lie! There’s nothing ferocious about this little guy

Who doesn't want to grow their veggies in giraffe poo?? — Who doesn’t want to grow their veggies in giraffe poo??

The Auckland Zoo is highly recommended–it’s quiet, has really nice landscaping, and you can get a lot closer to the animals than at other larger zoos. It’s not too expensive, at $28/day.

Now to continue my touristy NZ weekend! Besides the beaches in Europe, where can you find men in the shortest shorts possible before being indecent? That’s right, a good old rugby game. I joined yet another meetup group to watch the NZ All Blacks vs Australia’s Wallabys (yes, that is their real name). I never knew that Australia and NZ were so competitive! Everyone in meetup was so excited to explain all the rules and nuances of rugby to me, and to tell me why NZ is the greatest country on the planet, and why Australia is the armpit of the universe compared to NZ. We went to a local pub that was showing the game on the big screen, and people were crammed in to watch. Rugby is actually a really fun sport to watch, as the action almost never stops. Peoples eyes can get gouged out, they can lose a limb, and they’d still be playing. American football, I’m looking at you to learn a lesson about not having downtime! There were NO commercial breaks except at halftime. Can you imagine such a sport??

The All Blacks are famous for their pre-game Haka. Just take a minute and go look at that picture. A whole team of muscly men do a tribal dance to intimidate the other team, complete with yelling, tongues, crazy faces, and throat slitting motions. It’s really fascinating, and it brings all of NZ to a standstill watching. The game was really intense, with NZ losing in the end. The general consensus was that all of NZ would be in a bad mood for the entire next week or so–rugby is so ingrained into people’s lives. Oh, and I noticed that the All Black’s office is next door to mine in the same building, so I’m hoping to get lucky enough for a player sighting sometime soon!

All in all, it was a nice weekend. Sometimes being a tourist can be fun, if you’ve got the right crowd with you to explore! And watching the game definitely made me a fan of rugby–I absolutely have to go see a live game now!

TIL

I feel like I’ve discovered something quirky or just slightly off around every corner here. Something just not quite…right. It’s like when you see someone you think you know, and you’re all OMG HIIIII and waving and making a fool of yourself, and everyone is staring at you because, no…that’s not at all who you thought it was. Anyhoo, just some of the random things that have made me scratch my head or look twice:

Everyone loves my American accent. They all want to talk American politics (which you all know I *super* love…), American economy, American beliefs, American EVERYTHING. It’s hard to explain to people that America is made up of a bunch of very different states–in their mind it’s one huge hive mind, and we all thing and talk and behave the same way–just like the movies! Today I got “How do Americans feel about Russians?”, “Who do you *really* think shot JFK?”, “Does every American really own a gun?”, and “Why are all your political figures such cartoonish caricatures?”

There are CCTVs *everywhere* here. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were even in the bathrooms. Dash cams aren’t a thing here yet, but not to worry, big brother is watching you just about everywhere else. Each bus has 4 cameras inside, as well as 2 outside. Public parks have one every hundred feet or so. Shops, restaurants, streets, taxis, you name it.

Remember when the iPhone 3G came out, and how excited everyone was because it was such a game changer? The world is in your hands! Blazing fast 3G speeds ZOMG!!! Yea, well all laugh about how 2000s that was, but NZ literally just got 4G in 2014. I asked about LTE at the major carrier and just got a blank stare. I haven’t had the pleasure of buying home internet yet, but I do know that there is a data cap. Yep, you read that right–a data cap on your home connection. The apartment I’m moving into currently has ADSL, but the roommates are open to installing fibre (with the proper British spelling, of course), so at least there’s that.

So not only is the internet slow and spotty, but it is *expensive*. Just like everything else here! I’ve already commented on the extreme sticker shock I’ve experienced so far, but every day I see a price on something that just blows my mind. Today it was an $8 box of cereal. Nothing special, just plain ol’ boring breakfast cereal.

Sushi can be stupidly cheap here though! Needless to say I’ve survived mostly on a fast food sushi chain that does a $5 special every day. I also supplement that with Korean pancakes that are $4 and oh-so-tasty. I’ve got to hunt out the cheap food in the area I just moved to though–it’s one of the pricier suburbs around. But my new coworkers gave me the heads up on a place that does cheap-ish sushi on Mondays/Fridays for lunch, so looking forward to that!

Everyone here is just SO. DANG. FRIENDLY. I can’t count the number of times people have seen me look confused/lost and offered to help. And people offer rides all the time, which saves me so much time! A 10-15 minute car trip can be upwards of 45-60 on the bus, so friendly people with cars are lifesavers. Another thing that still constantly surprises me is that each and every person says “thank you” to the bus driver as they get on, and again as they get off. It’s the little things that just make you think–ok, maybe people aren’t so bad after all.

Speaking of the buses…that is a learning curve in and of itself. How did people ever get anywhere without smartphones? Even when google is telling me exactly when and where to get on the bus, I’ve still managed to be standing at the wrong stop. And buses aren’t an exact science–if there’s no one signaling for a ride at a particular stop, the driver doesn’t stop. Which means the bus could skip several stops and be several minutes ahead. Or a pack of tourists could hold up a bus at a single stop for 5 minutes trying to buy tickets. So it’s honestly like a crapshoot every time I wait for a bus. But I can load up a card with money instead of having to have exact change, which is really really handy.

You also have to plan your day a little bit more when you’re using public transportation. I’ve had to learn the hard way twice now not to buy more than I can comfortably carry for an hour at worst. I made the mistake of grocery shopping downtown, then walking home because it was faster than the bus. At minute 30, I was hating the apples in my bag that felt like lead balloons. I was even hating the bread, even though it weighed almost nothing. I took the train out to a suburb to shop for a duvet and some pillows because stuff is cheaper outside of the city. Well the train wasn’t running very often by the time I was finished, so I had to take the bus back. I was carrying a shoulder bag, a giant bag with 2 pillows in it, a large sack with a duvet, and 2 small carrier bags. I just prayed the whole time that no one tried to sit by me!

I thought about Ubering the other day to an early morning appointment, because I didn’t want to get up the extra 45 min ahead of time to ensure I’d make it even if the buses were running behind. It was also a rainy dreary day, so I didn’t want to stand at the bus stop and get drenched. Turns out, most of the city had that same idea, because Uber was in 2x primetime. Talking with a few others, Uber goes into prime time every time it starts raining, which is *often* this time of year.

Oh, and the weather. Texas may have all 4 seasons in 1 week, but Auckland has all 4 seasons in 1 day. Just this morning I left the apartment, singing a song because there wasn’t a cloud in the sky! The sunshine was marvelous! I had the whole day ahead of me! And then I felt a cold wind…which I’ve learned now is nature whispering in your ear…”I hope you brought an umbrella”. I had just barely gotten mine open, when it started to hail! Of course it stopped the minute I got under a covered awning, and there was Mr. Sunshine back in full force!

It’s the tail end of winter here, which means it’s around 48-54 degrees at any given minute on any day. Which doesn’t seem *that* cold…until you realize that there is no central heating here. Trying to sleep in a 50 degree room is not something I particularly enjoy doing! So I invested in one of those old time hot water bottles that I had never seen in real life before. You’ve seen them in old movies/cartoons–you fill them up with super hot water, and put them under the covers with you to stay warm! Or put them on your head/stomach/whatever hurts. So that’s my primary source of heat these days…

All in all, it’s hard to say that some of these things are Auckland-specific. I would have had the same problems adjusting to riding the bus or an increased cost of living if I had moved to NYC. But at least Kiwis are extremely good natured and friendly, so none of these things have been huge issues!

Hello world!

Hello world, indeed! I’ve been in Auckland for a week now, and what a week it’s been! I know everyone’s waiting to hear about all the great adventures and loads of traveling I’ve been doing, but I’ve actually spent all week doing the mundane chores required to start over in a new place. Even with the tons of preparation I did before I left the US, things here haven’t gone quite as quickly as I’d hoped! So settle in for a long story (or just come back later for the next post, which should hopefully be infinitely more interesting!)…

The flight over wasn’t bad at all. I flew Virgin from Love Field to LAX, and the staff was really nice and helpful. I had called both Air New Zealand and Virgin before I left, to see how many bags I could check and how much it would cost, but for some reason neither airline could give me an answer, even as to how many I could check. So I showed up to the airport just praying that I could even bring the bags I had. I packed everything into 2 larger sized rollers (65lb each), and I had a carryon sized roller (35lb) and a backpack (25lb). So altogether I had a really impressive amount of luggage! I also bought a ticket to Virgin’s lounge at LAX, and as anyone who’s ever spent more than 5 minutes at LAX knows, it was worth its weight in gold. The Virgin planes were really nice, very new, and the staff was spot on. The lounge was great–free open bar and snacks, great wifi, lots of seating, and it was right on the runway so you could watch all the planes taxi and land.

The Air New Zealand flight was good! We took off around midnight Dallas time, and landed at 6am NZ time, so it really felt like I just fell asleep on a normal night and woke up in a new place. The flight crew were SO nice and very helpful and polite, and they genuinely seemed to enjoy their jobs. It was a refreshing change from US domestic airline employees =p

I took a shuttle from the airport to the airbnb I’m staying at, which was great because I didn’t have to drag all my luggage from a bus stop or anything–they just dropped me off at the front door. My host met me and helped me get everything up 2 flights of stairs, bless her heart! There was another person renting the place, so the room wasn’t ready yet–I figured I’d spend a couple of hours getting the few chores done that I needed, and I’d be all set!

I had set up a bank account here before I left, and they had already ordered a debit card and had it sent to the branch across the street. So I moseyed over to pick it up, only to be told that I had to have an appointment, and they didn’t have any for another week. Ugh…well, no problem, I’ll just go apply for a tax ID number in the meantime–I already have the form filled out and all the required documentation! I walked all the way across town, but the girl wouldn’t take my application because I didn’t have a permanent phone and address in NZ. So that’s 2 strikes–this wasn’t nearly as easy as I planned! So I walked into downtown and bought a sim card so I could have a phone here. Refilled out all the paperwork, and submitted the application–success! Now the only thing I really had left to do was find an apartment…what a piece of cake!

And by piece of cake, I mean the hardest thing I’ve had to do in a long time. And keep in mind, I had just sold everything I owned and basically shut down my identity in the US in under 2 weeks. That paled in comparison to finding an apartment here! Auckland has a huge population of students and immigrants, and they’re all in need of apartment-style housing. And unfortunately, lots are willing to live with 4-5 people in a studio apartment, which means they drive the prices of rentals way, way up. So the places I looked at that were within my budget were just disgusting and/or scary. Additionally, every single unit here is managed by an independent realtor. So you can’t just find a building you want to live in, and then inquire about units for rent. You have to somehow hear through the grapevine that a place is for rent, and relentlessly pester the realtor who listed it until they finally respond to you, or you luckily hear that there is a showing. Then you and 20 of your closest student friends all show up to see the same cramped dirty place in a sketchy part of town. That has been my full time job for the past week–from 9-5 I just walked from showing to showing. There were actually a couple that I would have considered, but they were *way* more than I wanted to pay. I have a serious case of sticker shock from the short time I’ve spent here. Just a random sampling of the cost of some things:

250sqft studio apartment, where 4 guys currently lived: $1650 + utilites
400sqft apartment that was clean and in an ok area: $2100 + utilities
1 parking space for a car: $240-$300
1 10oz mini bottle of Diet Coke: $4.50
Bagel with salmon and cream cheese: $18.50
Half dozen eggs: $6
One single ear of corn: $3.99
Peaches: $4/lb
Baby carrots: $4/package

So I decided that having roommates *maybe* wasn’t so bad after all. I found a listing that I just fell in love with in the first search I did, so I emailed and prayed! I went to see the apartment–it’s a 3 bedroom place rented by a very nice guy. He had 2 female roommates who were both moving, so both of his rooms were for rent. One of the rooms is separate and has an ensuite bathroom, so it’s almost like having your own apartment and just sharing the kitchen and living room with 2 other people. I had really good conversation with the guy and one of his existing roommates, and then I left to go wander around the area and see how close it was to work. I just had to go to the end of the street, down a couple of sets of stairs and around the corner, and there was my office! So I was even more in love with the place. He informed me that he’d already rented out the other room, and that he had a couple of people interested in the room I wanted, so the two of them were going to meet us all again and make a final decision. In the meantime, I kept up my full time job of looking for apartments, and actually applied for an apartment across the street from there. It was twice the price and pretty dated, but at least it was clean and close to work. Well the realtor on that place chose me out of all the applicants, and tried to pressure me into renting the place. I asked for 1 day to decide (so I could wait to see if the 3 bedroom place would choose me), but she didn’t want to wait. She told me my “application was no good to her” and that I was “being difficult and making everyone’s lives difficult”. So I took a big gamble and told her to withdraw my application from that expensive place. And that gamble thankfully paid off, as I am moving in to the 3 bedroom place next week!!! My roommates are both close to 30 I think, one grew up in NZ and the other in the UK. So I’m looking forward to getting to know them both in our super cute little apartment! I spent the last couple of days shopping for a bed and basic stuff that I need to start an apartment, but I think I’m mostly set now! I can’t describe how relieved I am to have found a place to live, and such an awesome perfect place on top of that!

The airbnb I’ve been staying at is AWESOME. I’ve been staying with a couple around my age–she used to DJ, and now is in recruiting for digital talent. She’s smart, super hilarious, snarky, and loves some good trashy TV! She’s spent so much time with me every night on the buying/selling site here looking for apartments and roommates and furniture, and she’s full of suggestions on where to get the best deals, where to eat the best food, fun places to see, etc. And her place is amazing. It’s a 3 story apartment, and I have a bedroom and bathroom on the 2nd story. Everything is freshly remodeled and super modern and really clean–I couldn’t have asked for a better place to spend my first week! She even let me extend my stay by a few days because I hadn’t found an apartment yet.

I start my job on Monday, but I can’t move in to my new place until the following Sunday. So today I’m moving my million pounds of luggage over to another airbnb closer to my work. It’s a 4 story apartment with a rooftop view! I was wondering how in the world I was gonna get on a bus across town with almost 200lb of luggage, but airbnb and the kindness of people saved the day again. The airbnb host said he’d come pick me up in his car and help me get everything over to his place! So once I get there, I’ll have to find all the work clothes that have been vacuum sealed away in suitcases for the past month, and see if I can manage to de-wrinkle them in time for work on Monday!

Two of the wonderful ladies from my new job met me for lunch today, so I will have some familiar faces when I show up to work on Monday. One of them is from Texas, she came to NZ 20 years ago for 6 months and has never gone back. Everyone here thinks she has the *strongest* Texas accent, but to me she sounds like a kiwi! I’ve noticed that everyone here loves my accent. Random cashiers or sales people or just people on the street will keep me talking for ages, because they love listening to the American accent. That’s a first!

SO! There’s the entire looooong story of my first (uneventful) week in Auckland. I’ll be posting some (hopefully) more interesting things once I get settled in to the new place!