Auckland - the first few weeks...

So, what have I been up to the past few weeks...?

Well, I got to my hostel in Ponsonby from the airport with no problems navigating the bus systems. The hostel is a really nice and friendly place. In my room, there were 2 other girls there (Kirsty and Vicki) who had been there a week or so who were in the same situation as me, looking for jobs in auckland for a bit. We got on well and I was happy to learn that the week before, they had both discovered that there was a hotel that offers free champagne to all ladies between 6-7pm so that was in the diary for Friday!

On the Thursday, the day I arrived, I started to get myself sorted. It was really strange being in New Zealand. For starters, it was strange that everyone could understand me again. In South America, because my spanish was so poor, I had stopped trying to speak as I could only say the absolute basics so it was very wierd coming back to an English speaking country where people could understand me! Also, I found myself still saying ‘si’ instead of ‘yes’ all the time.

It was strange being in New Zealand, in South America, I’d always had things to be seeing and doing and knowing that I was moving on from that place in a few days so I had to see everything there was to see as soon as possible, but knowing I was going to be here for a long time, I didnt quite know what to do with myself. I didnt think I’d be able to relax until I was sorted and a bit more settled.

So that day I went to open a bank account. I couldnt believe how quick this was! I went in, got my bank card then and there and they also set me up with online banking over the counter with all my passwords and evreything there and ready to access! It was brilliant! Then I went for a little explore down Ponsonby high street and discovered a running shop, so I went in to have a look and ended up coming out with some rather swish new trainers. They were very helpful and I had to run on pads and a treadmill while I was videoed so we could see if the shoes were doing all they were supposed to be doing – it was quite exciting!

Ponsonby’s a nice place. Its got a high street with boutique-y shops on it and lots of bars and restaurants so you dont have to treck into the city to go out for a drink.

I also e-mailed my contact at the University of Auckland to get the job side of things moving as soon as possible. I went to visit Lorraine at the University on the Friday. It was Orientation week and I went to see her on the Friday afternoon, which happened to be when the PG students had a welcome event in the department, so I went to help out. Well, I call it helping out and networking... others might call it drinking the free wine and gossiping... But things looked hopeful on the job front anyway and I had an interview with the agency that employs the Uni temp staff on the Monday morning. Happy with that, I went and enjoyed my free champagne at the hotel!! J

The next day I decided to try out my new trainers. I’d seen a park down the high street and decided to run there. Well I got there fine (that bit was on the flat). The park, I discovered was on a horrendously steep hill which jarred my knees running down it and nearly killed me running back up it again! Fortunately after that I discovered a much better park a little bit further away that’s nice and flat! I also had to go smart clothes shopping for my job. Spent a small fortune. There arent any cheap clothing places for office-wear in auckland (well, not that I’ve found anyway). I missed Primark and Tescos clothing ranges! That evening we went to a lantern festival in Albert Park for the Chinese new year which was cool, lots of music and yummy food and cool lanterns!

On the Sunday, we met Anna, another girl in the hostel who was also just starting out on her working time in Auckland. We went to Devonport for the afternoon which is across the water from Auckland, 10 minutes on the ferry. It was a nice day and we had a walk and sat on the beach watching all the ships going past. Very pleasant.

The next week was spent going for my interview and waiting around for the phone to ring to see when a job came in. I also went on a few walks and met people for beers. Me and Kirsty walked to Mission bay which is along the seafront and a very nice walk, which we congratulated ourselves by having a few beers. Finally, on Thursday evening, i got a phone call saying there was a job for me and could I start the next day. It was perfect really. The job’s for 2-3 months at the University. Just what I wanted.

Since then, I’ve been at work, going for a few runs, going to the gym a bit, drinking beer, eating lots, hanging out at the hostel, seeing Alice in Wonderland at the cinema (where we went gold class so you get reclining seats and people come and take orders for food and drink!! Mine and Annas seats didnt recline so we got free tickets to go back in gold class again!), drinking free champagne, and generally relaxing, socialising and finding my way around the city. The other week, I signed up for a run called ‘round the bays’ which was an 8km run around the bays and harbours around Auckland which was really nice. Loads of people were there, about 80000 people said. It was really good, but you couldnt start running straight away at the start because of the congestion from all the people there. I didnt get a T-shirt or a medal though which I thought was a bit off, Im used to that in the UK! I signed up for a 10k run this weekend so we’ll see if I get one then!

This weekend, I went for a run and ran 12k which I was very proud of as I’d never run that far before. When I got back, there seemed to be lots of music coming from the high street so I went out to investigate and discovered it was ponsonby market day! All the stores and restaurants were out in the street with sales on or giving out free samples of food! I didnt need any dinner that day, I just filled up from all the free samples! I also found a bargain on a pair of jeans – reduced from $427 to $50 (about 25 pounds). Now I just need to lose some weight so I can fit into them properly!

That’s about it for now, posts will get fewer and far between for a while as I settle down to the normality of working!