bartons
28th October 2007, 12:42 PM
A month since we got here. "Here" is the Bay of Islands in the north of the North Island where we had to go because our visas were issued on the condition Jack stays in this job here for 3 months. Which is a bit annoying as we really want to go down to Dunedin. Whenever you mention Dunedin to the people up here (living in "the winterless north") they look disgusted and say:"What do you want to move down there for?! It's cold down there!"
It's lovely up here for the time being, even if we stay in a rented flat with unloved furniture from the 60s: 3 minutes to the beach, 2 minutes to town. The flat doesn't have internet access though, so we're limited to the (expensive and seldom open) Internet Cafe.
So far we've already: bought a car (from Genuine Vehicle Imports: yes, we too are happy with their service), got an IRD number, bank account, library card, mobiles and place in kindy, seen the oldest/highest/fattest Kauri tree in NZ (awesome!impressive!), seen the oldest stone and the oldest wooden house in NZ (unimpressive! "I've worked on houses older than this", mumbled Jack), been to the Waitangi Treaty grounds (decidedly unimpressive - doesn't give any background information to the treaty at all) and admired the most famous public toilets in the world (designed by Hundertwasser).
Our impressions so far: Yes, people are friendly and helpful, yes, houses are cold and damp, yes, food is in general astonishingly expensive and fuel cheap. So far as we expected. We weren't prepared for the beauty of the place even in areas that are unspectacular, how empty the roads are even in touristy areas on bank holidays, how non-existing public transport is, how hot the sun gets and how bad the sandflies and mozzies are.
We're very happy to be here, even in the "wrong" part of the country and without our stuff from the container and without a proper home. No homesickness, just relief!
Jack and Mareike
It's lovely up here for the time being, even if we stay in a rented flat with unloved furniture from the 60s: 3 minutes to the beach, 2 minutes to town. The flat doesn't have internet access though, so we're limited to the (expensive and seldom open) Internet Cafe.
So far we've already: bought a car (from Genuine Vehicle Imports: yes, we too are happy with their service), got an IRD number, bank account, library card, mobiles and place in kindy, seen the oldest/highest/fattest Kauri tree in NZ (awesome!impressive!), seen the oldest stone and the oldest wooden house in NZ (unimpressive! "I've worked on houses older than this", mumbled Jack), been to the Waitangi Treaty grounds (decidedly unimpressive - doesn't give any background information to the treaty at all) and admired the most famous public toilets in the world (designed by Hundertwasser).
Our impressions so far: Yes, people are friendly and helpful, yes, houses are cold and damp, yes, food is in general astonishingly expensive and fuel cheap. So far as we expected. We weren't prepared for the beauty of the place even in areas that are unspectacular, how empty the roads are even in touristy areas on bank holidays, how non-existing public transport is, how hot the sun gets and how bad the sandflies and mozzies are.
We're very happy to be here, even in the "wrong" part of the country and without our stuff from the container and without a proper home. No homesickness, just relief!
Jack and Mareike