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The adventures of Owen and Emma | |||||
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We've arrived in New Zealand - a new life begins here!
Saturday 19 January
Well, we made it. After over 24 hours of travelling we landed at Auckland International Airport. The journey went pretty smoothly, though it was a bit strange seeing one day condensed into a few hours. Shortly after take-off it got light, then it got dark again! Slept quite well, though. We had a brief wander around Singapore's Changi Airport, before setting off for Melbourne.
After a 3 hour wait in which I had a shower and a wander around the duty free (cheep cheep), the final leg was to Auckland. At the airport we picked up our hire car, and drove into the city to find our hotel. We were booked into the Crowne Plaza hotel in Auckland, which was lovely. By far the most luxurious hotel I've ever stayed in. We went for a meal at a local food hall, which reminded me of the food stalls you get in Malaysia. I had Thai red curry, and Emma had curry and nan. Yummy!! We had a couple of beers and went to bed. Fortunately I had an excellent night's sleep, and after breakfast in Starbucks, was ready for the drive down to Napier.
How better to spend time in transit at an airport than to write a web page......
Sunday 20 Jan
6 hours later we arrived in Napier, after a long but scenic drive. We followed the "Thermal Discovery Highway", from Auckland to Napier via Rotorua and Lake Taupo. We didn't stop en route, but did see evidence of thermal activity as we past a geothermal power plant. As a Welshman, I feel that I have the authority to say that I was disappionted by the number of sheep encountered along the way. I saw plenty of cows, but very few sheep! Quite a few possums, too, but they were generally squashed! upon arrival in Napier, we headed for the tourist information, and sought a place to stay. We chose a backpackers lodge called "Aqua Lodge", which is very nice. Haven't tried the pool yet. Weather is warm. Not hot, but very pleasant.
Monday 21 Jan
Woke up after a good night's sleep, although jet lag makes me wake up at around 5.30am, and I cannot get back to sleep until about 8am, just when it's time to get up! We went up to Napier Girl's High School for Emma to check it out and to announce her arrival to all concerned. I have applied for a job as a lab assistant - not ideal, but if it brings in the cash it'll do. The rest of the day was spent looking for cars. We test-drove a Honda at a car auction. Car auctions are fun! Some bargains were to be had, a new shaped Toyota MR2 for about a grand, a little Mazda for about a hundred quid.Emma had a firm hold on my bidding number though, just in case I bid on something daft! (As if...) All the cars are relatively rust-free, though. Makes a change from my VW's! Checked out the windsurfing scene, and, disappointingly enough, it doesn't seem to be as prolific as I'd hoped.
Can't remember what happened in detail between Tues and today (Tues 28 Jan), so here's an overview:
We appear to have settled in to our accomodation at Aqua Lodge, with clothes and what few belongings we have already spread over the floor. We have been into Napier to orient ourselves, compare the price of goods with the UK and to purchase essentials (power cord for the laptop and some shorts for me, an iron for Emma). Stuff is generally a lot cheaper, which is good. We have discovered the Napierian equivalent to Trade-it - the Wednesday Mover and the Thursday Trader. We have sourced a car from one of the local papers, a Mazda Capella (626), for the princely sum of $800 ( just over £200). It'll sell for about $1500 in about 6 months (I hope)! We have looked at a few houses to rent, but have settled on a two-bedroomed ground floor flat about 14km out of Napier. A long way out, but such a fantastic position - on the beach!! Windsurfing potential is awesome (though the prevailing winds are offshore).
This is OUR beach!
Emma is by now well-aquainted with her school, which is wery pleasant. We went for a meal with our landlady (whose job Emma has taken over) and the Principal of Napier Girls High School. All seem very nice and helpful. I have not found any work yet, but I'm working on it. I have an application in for a lab technician with some district health thingy and also with a microbiology/food testing lab. Of more interest, however, is the application for cellar hand or assistant winemaker! Fingers crossed... E-mailed most of the wineries around here last night, so I hope something turns up, otherwise it's apple picking for me.
Tues 4 Feb 03
The weekend was spent in an alcoholic haze. Hawkes Bay has a very high concentration of Wineries (vineyards to us poms), and this weekend was the Hawkes Bay wine festival. You pay $30 for a ticket and that allows you to travel on three bus routes especially laid on calling in at around 30 wineries! How civilised! It requires a bit of logistical planning to decide which wineries one wants to visit, and which bus route they are on. The best thing to do is to pick a bus route and spend one day on that route. We hitched a lift with a freindly Maori to the first winery, Esk Valley, which is about 2km down the road from where we are living, where we were issued with our glass on a string. Sampling ensued, along with a tour of the vineyard. We had dinner, then caught the next but to another winery. And so the pattern continued! Quite a lot of wine as sampled that afternoon, with one winery offering Venison Burgers (yum).
On
Sunday we drove out to Park Estate winery for dinner (and a few more tastings,
which was nice. Funny how after several wineries or tasting sessions all the
wines seem to blend into one, and it becomes very difficult to tell the difference
between them... We were able to identify at least 4 bottles that we liked enough
to purchase. It would have been very easy to buy more, though.
The adventure continues with Art Deco weekend and so on here.
For more photos, click here.
