Flat found

My good news of the day- I've found a flat- this one is close to central Nelson- which is the location I had wanted to leave in for easy walking access to the grocery, post etc. I move in Tuesday night and will be provided with a bed/ dresser- and my room opens onto a balcony overlooking a garden all for a good price of $125/week! (Flatting in Nelson is a little expensive). I'll live with one other person and her lovely cat. The other good news- she was looking for a short term person which works out well with what I was looking for.

I think it's funny how very long travel shampo/ conditioner/ body wash last. I'm still using the ones I brought with me, 3 weeks in. I'm very glad I travelled without huge amounts- unlike when I went to Europe.

I wandered through the weekend market here in Nelson today. It's impressive how much stuff there is. I bought a nice bag of mandarins for $3. There were food and crafts of all kinds. I think I'll visit it frequently on weekends for fresh produce etc.

I discovered Nelson has bus service- I can take the bus out to Richmond, or the Nelson beach for a very affordable I believe it is $2. It doesn't run super frequently, but enough that I can head out there on the weekends to check the places out for a few hours.

The prices of eating out here continue to surprise me. I'm avoiding it as much as possible, other than the affordable chain type places where prices are equivalent to back home (ie <$10 at Mcds/ Subway). Going out for a burger can otherwise cost $15. Yikes! Anyway, maybe I've just visited the wrong places, but it's not seeming cheap, and I've heard others say the same. That said, the art gallery has very affordable eats for <$10 at lunch - and they are fabulous!!

I had to buy jeans yesterday. This is one thing I wish I had brought with me, despite the literature saying they are bulky and heavy. If you're living somewhere for several months at a time, you probably do want a pair of jeans. (I only brought one pair of non-work pants, other than capris). Jeans are pretty pricy here- I shelled out ~$70 and they were cheaper than the other shop I visited. The sizes are slightly different than home. The smaller sizes are pretty much the same, and the larger sizes seem to go up about 1. I thought it was odd when the lady in the jean store selected a pair of jeans ~2 sizes smaller than back home for me to wear. OF course, I couldn't get them done up at all. SO I went up 1/2 a size and she told me they looked too big. However being as I couldn't get into the 1/2 size down, I figured they were the appropriate choice. I am excitedly wearing them today! (Although, reminiscent of someone from the hometown I went out with the sticker on them until I noticed later in the day. I was just so excited to be wearing jeans again, what can I say : ) )

More days in Nelson

I discovered another amazing fact about Nelson yesterday... The "One Ring" (to rule them all) was cast not in the fires of Mount Doom, but rather by a jeweler in Nelson. I walked by his shop today. Thrilling hey!

I worked yesterday, and had today off. Today I did several critical things- I obtained my working in NZ tax number, did laundry (YAY- clean clothes!), and found an umbrella!! (all over the place in Auckland but the only one I had found in Nelson previously was a $60 souvenier All Blacks one. Although Nelson is the sun capital of NZ, it was raining walking home from work yesterday. I'm happy to be prepared).

I also found a GELATO shop here today! YAY!!!! Although it is only open 12-5, meaning I can only frequent it on the weekend. :(

A few more NZ observations. They seem to be much more environmentally concious than us. First off, they don't seem to heat their homes (granted the weather is slightly different). Many kiwis don't have dryers- but hang to dry. Some of them use something called a "wetback", which I'm not really sure about, but I think it is good for the environment. They use worms a fair bit here - feeding them scraps etc. (The current hostel included.)

On the shopping front, it is interesting how many things are similar or different. Eating out here is expensive (except fast food which is pretty much the same as back home). Tomatoes are currently rather expensive(to my chagrin: about $8,99 per kg). I tried some tabouli today for the first time- not a huge fan. Lots of seafood in the grocery- and LOTS of wine. I guess they make a fair bit of wine, and they stock their shelves well.

In the kiwi vocabulary, "sweet as" or "good as" are frequently used. We might just drop the "as".

Comments on the hostels so far: surprisingly good. Clean, excellently equipped kitchens (except as I discovered making casserole yesterday- no baking dish- I baked instead in a bread pan. It worked). Staff have been generally helpful. YHA in Nelson is a quiet hostel right now, except when the tour groups go through- but there is a nice TV room an ample lounge room space.

Day 2

Today was a big learning day on the job. I learned and performed/assisted with a lot of the roles I will be doing.

Discovered a lovely! little lunch place with 3 of the other work ladies. It was simply scrumptious! They sometimes swim at lunch, I'm afraid I'm not a swimmer so I don't think I'll be joining them. They pretty much indicated that here in Nelson people don't live to work.

On the shoe front, I changed away from my annoying (and expensive) Merrell blister-causing shoes... (Despite the fact I shopped for them for several months and had the assistance of mr salesman, and walked around them in Regina they are causing me grief here...) Today I switched to a nice cheap little pair of shoes from the Warehouse here. (At a cost of ~20 or 13 ish Canadian), they were walking comfort today! Also- I purchased some amazing blister applicators at the grocery last night. I thought the $10 price was outrageous- but they make a huge difference- highly recommended.

Checked out a flat tonight - the owner works at the same company and has a few other flatmates (and a CAT :) ). It's at the top of a large hill and not central. Have to decide in the next couple of days whether those are critical to my decision.

I'm going to work tomorrow- looks like I'll have the rest of the week off- so perhaps I'll try the walk up the hill and see how it goes in my decision making.

work day 1

I survived work day 1. I made it there without getting lost! Impressive, no? Unfortunately the uncomfortable shoes has created a significant blister problem. Walking time is ~25 minutes from where I am currently staying- not so bad- except the blister problem.

Anyhow, I was introduced to folks today and mostly did orientation type stuff. Tomorrow I get more into what I'm actually going to be doing.

I realized today the reason I've likely been so tired is that I'm coming down with a cold. I will blame the change in weather. Anyhow, I am supposed to only work the first part of the week this week, so hopefully that will give me a chance to find a place to stay, and to recover :)

Hello from Nelson

I spend most of my day yesterday to get to Nelson. First packing and signing out of my Auckland hostel, on the shuttle, at the airport, and in transit to my hostel in Nelson. I arrived ~5pm when it was almost dark, but I went for a short little walk around and chatted with the girl sharing my hostel room- who was from Thailand.

Today I walked around to try and find my new place of work. In Kelly like fashion, I wore uncomfortable shoes on my walk, and took the wrong turn two times. So 2.5 hours later I actually found where I will be working, a 30 minute walk from my current hostel. They tell me there are flat adds in Wednesday's paper, so I guess I'll start looking then. I've managed to locate a few key things in Nelson so far- my bank (ASB), Postie, Glassons, Subway, 2 grocery stores, Kathmandu (which I have yet to visit, but think I may one day soon), as well as spotting a Warehouse. (They say it is the walmart equivalent. It is not quite so bit with so much selection, but what they have tends to be cheap).

I must say that Nelson is set in a hilly area- it reminds me of Kelowna. The cabbie who drove me last night said they have the most beautiful weather in NZ. They've recently had record lows- several days in the -6 degree range. Today is sunny with a little breeze- and not a cloud in the sky. Average winter temperature is around 13 degrees. They get less than a metre of rainfall a year here... Lovely! Although I think it is true that the ozone layer is depleted here, if the ease of getting sunburns is any indication (even on an overcast day).

I'm out to go for another brief walk. Need to find some stamps to mail off my work contract forms, and maybe pick up a few groceries...

Tomorrow- the first day of work... Keep you posted on how it goes.

Photos

at top left- view of Auckland CBD from Devonport.
at top right- Viaduct harbour including view of kpmg building, left middle- sunset in Auckland, right middle- the beach at Devonport, and bottom- City of Sails!

Photos

At left, Harbour Bridge in Auckland. At right, me standing on the glass at the viewing deck of skytower. Even though it's as think as the concrete, it was a little wierd stepping out onto it. You can see the cars down below.