Life in a hostel

Brushing teeth in the kitchen sink guy has turned out to be exceptionally friendly, although it turns our he comes down to the kitchen about 5am-ish to eat breakfast every morning (our room is right across from the kitchen so I get woken a bit early...fortunately he's only here a few days).

My laundry is hung up all over the room----underwear on hooks in the wardrobe, shirts on chair backs and socks over the headboard. I just can't get used to hanging my things outside, especially with other people's stuff.

Modified to add: Brushing teeth in the sink guy got kicked out for stealing..around the same time about half a shelf-full of our food went missing!

Hostel oddities and whatnot

Yesterday there was someone brushing his teeth in the kitchen...sink:/ Today I got a cold shower after about 20 seconds under the water. Gotta love living adventurously!

One month to my birthday!

Ugh, I'm going to be 31. I forgot there were birthdays after 30:/

Lemon trees

I'm sick. Just a tingle in the throat and itchy eyes, but I don't feel so hot. The man keeps urging me to drink more fluids, so last night I was thinking lemon in hot water...as there's a fresh lemon tree in the hostel garden. Steve went to wash the dishes after dinner, then comes back and puts his coat on. I knew he wasn't going out for his evening smoke, as he'd already done that, so I asked if it was that cold in the kitchen. (Sidenote that they had record winds last night here...it was blustery and wet all day, and there were rumours that they shut down the main bridge here...they definitely cancelled ferry services...and the french doors in our room blew open at one point, with my umbrella flying out the doors, bouncing along with the garden furniture off the porch.) Anyhoo, back to it...he said no, there were no more lemons in the kitchen, so he had to go outside and get some.

Hiking around...

Spent a lot of this past weekend hiking around the area...either out of fun or necessity. The nearest area for shopping is about a 20 minute walk away...up and downhill. Had to go twice as Steve bought the wrong colour shoe polish;) So, after walking back from Newmarket (the 2nd time) to where we're staying in Mt Eden, we decided to take a 'fun hike' up the big hill, back to the volcano crater. Here's some photos...

Pics of Auckland

Here are a few pics, mostly of the Sky Tower it seems;) New Zealand seems to be the capital of adrenalin junkie activities, such as bungie jumping, sky diving, and what this idiot is doing. Why people would pay good money (upwards of $200 for some activities) just to induce a panic attack is beyong me! Also some pics from the top of Mt. Eden, an inactive volcano, very near to where we are staying at the moment.

Temping yet again

Well, I have a job beginning Tuesday. It's general admin work yet again. Not sure I'll be happy to do that for a year while here, but it's money in the bank. Trying hard to find some contract work in conferencing/tourism; it seems there are many jobs, but all are full-time permanent.

We took a break from job hunting today to do a free city tour. Unfortunately the one we had wanted to go on was fully booked, and the one we ended up on was a bit of a, erm, disappointment, as the bus got a flat and we had to wait an hour and a half for the tire to be changed. Ah well, we ended up at the top of Mt Eden volcano, and will have some very cool pics to show you shortly.

Auckland has...

lots of hills, public toilets, and Asian restaurants. Steve and I are going to get very fit here! The landscape is rolling, so to speak. I trudged about 20 minutes yesterday uphill in the rain coming back from a job interview in a nearby suburb. Once you get outside of the city centre, it's very green and lush...probably due to the fact that it has rained every afternoon since we arrived. I've been very good about leaving my umbrella behind lately, and am off to the main road of our suburb shortly to retrieve it from the Indian restaurant we ate at last night. While we're poor and unemployed, we're living off 2 minute noodles and frozen chiken patties at 'home', but last night we splurged on Indian as the restaurant down the road has $10 mains Monday through Wednesday;) There are so many different types of food here, although most of the restaurants seem to be Asian cuisine. Apart from actually being in Asia, I've never seen so many Asian people anywhere. It's interesting---the country is new-ish, like the US, but being part of the Commonwealth, similar to Britian in many ways, and at the same time, has an overwhelming Asian presence, which is kind of neat. Steve doesn't think it feels too different from Australia. I might agree, although it seems a lot greener.

New Zealand

Well, we landed in Auckland Friday and since then, have been sorting bank accounts, tax numbers, accomodation, jobs etc. Same story you've heard on England and Australia---new country, same set up tasks! Let's hope I'm working by Monday...well, Steve too;) Auckland is a medium sized city...not terribly interesting (wouldn't recommend it for an international trip at least, although the rest of the country is said to be quite amazing landscape wise). Hopefully I won't have to be as slack on the blog now that I have more regular access to internet:)