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!