Things I've been doing (Mostly Pictures)

I got a job.

I am not kickboxing right now.

I have not traveled too much, but we have gone to a few cool spots. We saw the oldest tree in New Zealand!

Things I've been doing

I LOVE the Library! And other gushing affections...

One should always check out their public Library

I have been doing a tonne of walking around lately. I have been going out of my way to walk everywhere. It certainly helps that the main bus line to the city center is still a twenty minute walk away. It has all really added up. Anyone who is my friend over Fitbit knows how on the move I have been. Want to be my friend on Fitbit? Feel free to add me HERE. We can roam around and compete against each other. ;) But speaking of walking... I walked about five kilometers to Brown's Bay, which hosts the East Coasts Library. This is my new "home" library, to which all of my requests will be sent. It's pretty cute! It's nothing like the central Auckland Library, which is huge, well-kept, well-used and somehow has enough seats for all of the butts, of which are attached to innumerable curious minds and book-worms. Yep, my home library is extremely quaint. I also have access to many e-books and audiobooks. Right now I am listening to a Spanish program and have started reading some books by Thomas Sowell-- an american Economist with in-depth views of the state of race, America and society as a whole. If you are a fairly liberal person, but you are seeking to challenge your ideas and preconceptions about societal issues- I suggest checking out this guy. His views from an Economic standpoint may give context and some well-rounded insight to help you consider the on-going issues we are currently seeing. Buenos terdes!

OK... but what did I see on my walk?

So other than the end result of my stroll was arriving at the library, I ended up taking more pictures to really round out my experience- and of course I want to share them with you! Some are more artsy-fartsy, and some of them are actually kind of nice. If you- yes you!- come to visit us, we will take you on this simple walk. It is really quite nice, relaxing and yields nice views of Rangitoto
and the ocean. So that is that!

Pictures from this Excursion and others...

Easter Plans: Rotorua and Tongariro- Here we come! (P.S. We bought a stationwagon)

So on the weekend I dragged Chris to Devonport, because I saw a giant yard sale ad! Being the frugal Manitoban that I am, I could not resist passing up going to Devonport again and checking out any stuff that might have a price-tag of next to nothing. Of course, they also had a car for sale! So we took a look at this 1998 Toyota Caldina, took it out for a test-spin and bought it for a cool $2700. Not bad, hey? So that sealed the deal for our Easter Plans. (By the way- New Zealander's take their holidays very seriously.) And so now we are driving to a smaller city named Rotorua, which has all kinds of natural wonders! Special mud, geysers, hot springs, a portal to hell... Well, it looks a lot nicer than what you would expect a portal to the underworld to look like... Pictures to follow. We are also going through a mountain pass and will be passing by MOUNT DOOM. Yep, THE Mount Doom in The Lord of The Rings film. We are not planning on going to Hobbiton yet though... maybe when we have some other LOTR fans come down. So that about does it for this post. I am exhausted from all of this walking! Don't hesitate to add me on Fitbit or request a skype/messenger appointment. Until next time!

UPDATE
Chris and I did not get to Mt. Doom, as the weather was forecast to be quite nasty. We instead drove home to Auckland on Saturday night after a nice visit in Rotorua where we visited the Polynesian Spa (which was crowded, loud and not all that relaxing), Wai-O-Tapo, which is a Maori holy place with geysers, sulphuric pools, craters and all kinds of fart-smelling areas, as well as a wonderful California Redwood forest with varying hiking trails... Wowee, is Rotorua nice. We think we want to move there. We did stay in a nice motel/hostel, but accommodations for another night were impossible because the whole city was literally 100% booked up. Also camping means something very different to New Zealanders than it does to Canadians...

So I suppose I will just make this an Easter Weekend breakdown as well.

We also spent $150 each to go on a Zipline tour of an old growth forest near Rotorua. Some of the funds go towards conservation efforts, so that this slice of old growth can remain a bird sanctuary. Possums, weasels (Stoats) and rats are threatening rare and important birds; So much of the funds goes to putting out traps to kill these predators that were introduced by people. Other factors that have threatened this forest are animal agriculture, of course needing to cut down forest to make way for grazing land. Currently animal agriculture, particularly meat production, are the largest reasons for Amazon Rainforest destruction in South America-- with Asia being the highest importers of South American beef as their expanding middle class demands to eat more in line with Western Nations. After all, meat is rich people food.  I bring this up because the nice folks showing us the forest mentioned they wanted burgers, seemingly unaware that the mere demand for meat is what threatens the thing that they work every day to protect. So I ask you, dear reader, to consider what your environmentalist values are. If you believe and support conservation efforts, love nature, want to stop animals from being needlessly hunted or killed or having their homes destroyed, you need to ask yourself what personal responsibility you can take to prevent it from happening. The simplest way is to start with what's on your plate.

This day's pictures HERE

Sunday - April 16th - The Piha Experience
Sunday was quite the wonderful surprise. Chris told me we were going to Titirangi and Piha, which is the west coast of Auckland. We are situated on the softer, more beach laden east coast, so the west coast was going to be quite the adventure. It did not disappoint. It was rugged, wild and the home of some very scary winding roads.
First we stopped in Titirangi for some prima Kaffee and there were wild domesticated chickens and roosters just chilling out by the road. Then we drove to Piha, which as mentioned before, is quite the scary drive. When we finally made it over the ridge we were given some exceptional views of the ocean. There were the biggest waves I had ever seen and some rugged terrain I had never experienced. This is where many elite surfers come to hang out and surf. There's also a surf school! Definitely going to try that someday soon!
Lion Head Rock is this amazing mount that just juts up alone on the beach and is quite the gluteal workout to get even half way up. Pictures of the views were taken.
Next up- we walked out to a touristy waterfall, but had the opportunity to break off and go on to a maze of hiking trails, which wind around the slopes in the jungle and was one of the only places of solitude we could find all weekend. New Zealanders take their holidays very seriously, so everywhere is packed with people on Holiday! Needless to say, we were quite relieved with the serenity of the woods and no sounds of other people. It makes us miss Canada a lot. We don't miss the bugs though!
There is a trail called Hillary and it spans 77km's. We figure we will take three days to go and do it, even in low season, which is coming up. It's supposed to be quite the trek and I am excited to do some REAL camping in the near future-- not this holiday park camping crap. (P.S. it's just a parking stall with some grass beside it for your tent)
So that's all for this installment. Sorry for the lack of pictures in the past week or two! I will just do a picture dump and you can see exactly what we have been up to!
These are pictures from Piha and Titirangi

Vegan Potluck, Still on the Job Hunt, Library?!

Hey folks!

Chris and I had the pleasure and good fortune of finding out about a monthly vegan potluck and being able to attend on short notice! We made some friends and will be going to a favourite vegan restaurant this Friday. We'll let you know if anything looks good.

We were also pleasantly surprised to find that the vegan potluck was as diverse as the general population of Auckland. We made friends with a few native Kiwi's, but also met Tai, who is from Brazil, David- from South Africa and Francois- originally from France. We were given the skinny on some vegan grocery chains and the best place to get vegan pizza. It's a place called Hell.

On Friday after Muay Thai, Chris and I decided to check out this Burger/Brew place for five dollar beers and they had a decent selection on potentially vegan fair. All burgers... and MAN, were they absolutely GIGANTIC. Like, biggest burgers 10 out of 10.

 On Sunday we thought we would go to Takapuna to go to Lululemon's free yoga. It was just packed though, which made it... somewhat less relaxing, so we jumped ship and went to find some coffee and perhaps some breakfast.

I remembered seeing a little place called Mimosa that proudly stated "We ❤ Vegan", so I thought we ought to give it a try. It was very cozy inside, but also fairly chic. Not unlike other restaurants, to a Winnipegger, it seemed rather expensive. A "long black" is really just an espresso shot served with a side of hot water, but I always get that and they are at least  $3.50. Always delicious though-- The Kiwi's take their coffee very seriously.

As for the food? Chris decided to order the "Ploughman's Platter" and boy was it nice to look at. It was tasty too. Four perfectly crisp slices of sourdough, perfectly ripe sliced avocado, scrumptious cherry tomatoes, olive tapinade, a walnut tapinade and their house made vegan cheese, along with some lightly oiled spinach. It was really pleasant to split between the two of us, but $19 just seemed steep at the time of order. Mimosa also serves traditional eggs benedict, so if you come visit, this may still be a great spot to go to if you're still into eggs.

So not much else has happened since this great meal. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their long-awaited spring! If you're jealous-- don't be! I am about to dip right back into some kind of "winter"...

Some leads on jobs seem to be getting more and more lucrative. I had an interview yesterday and I have another scheduled at a really cool company "EROAD" tomorrow. Wish me luck!

I have also decided that spending more than $20 on audiobooks is a little much and I should probably get a library card, because libraries now have their own audiobook portals! If you like audiobooks, you should definitely check out if your local libraries have such databases, because it's all totally free and libraries are cool anyhow.

That about does it for this edition! Please let me know if you want me to send you a postcard! I just might! Orrrrr if you want to send me a letter or something, please mail Chris and I at:
305A East Coast Rd. Mairangi Bay, Auckland, New Zealand - 0630

What have I been doing?

Muay Thai, Job Hunt, Neighbourhood Patrol and some Rained Out Days

Chris and I have joined a great Muay Thai gym here in Auckland, which was recommended to my by Pro Female Muay Thai fighter Claire "the vegan" Baxter(who just won a world title, by the way) and so we have been going. I will have attended these very strenuous and technical classes five times this week, already participating in sparring. Jai Thai is awesome, so if you come visit us and you want to go visit... We also had the pleasure of seeing their first Siam fight card on Saturday where many of their fighters fought well. The main event was a K-1 rules bout, but very thai none the less. Congrats to Daria on her win!

I have also been seeking employment for the past little while, with some success. I have had two interviews at a college for being an admin assistant and receptionist with some personal assistant tasks thrown in. Nothing I haven't done at my former employer in Winnipeg, whom I miss quite a bit. But I won't know until tomorrow whether I have the job or not. Who knows! Maybe Liz will be employed full time soon! 

In following with the trend of who I would call a guiding light in my life, whether I knew it or not, I have decided that I would like to pursue a career in law enforcement. My friend Karolya has also done just that in Winnipeg. I have to say though, she is a lot farther in the process than I am. But yes, I have ended up copying her actions in many ways throughout my life, as she is five years my senior. She's really cool, so I hope to keep in touch. But in so pursuing law enforcement here in New Zealand, I have to wait two years to become a resident. So what do until then? Well, I am now signed up to be a volunteer for the neighbourhood patrol and did all the paperwork for such a position last night with an awesome lady, who started it herself! We'll be the eyes and ears for the police and making sure things run smoothly around the neighbourhood, where police intervention isn't entirely necessary. Pretty nifty, hey? If you want to do something similar in Winnipeg, there are numerous street patrols, and I hear some wacky stuff happens on a day-to-day basis. 

We have definitely had some nice days and the weekend was of fair weather. Before going to the fight card, we walked from the city centre to a place called Mission Bay. MB is a slightly richer area with a real 1960's Miami art deco feel. The walk there was great. Totally sea-side and with plenty of volcanoes and sailboats to view as we strolled along. We found a Mexican place and split a $23 burrito between us and then headed off to the card. How was the burrito? Lackluster! Don't ever spend more than 10 on a burrito...As for the kebab looking things in the picture... they were vegan lamb kebabs and they were cheap and delicious, as well as in-perceptively non-fleshy! Cannot wait to try more.

Takapuna dreaming

After walking Chris to work I walked all the way to Takapuna, which was approximately 5 kilometres away from where Chris works. I spent the day getting some errands done, such as getting my cellphone set up as well as just looking around and going to the main Takapuna beach. I thought I would shoot this lovely video for you here, as I was listening to Miami Nights 1984 and it inspired me to make a music video. It's a bit of an amateur work but it'll have to do.

Takapuna is actually one of the places that Chris and I we're thinking of moving to when we decide to get our own Place although it's rather expensive. The beach is right there and there's tons of amenities. It's a very nice area Auckland and it's just another bus ride away from downtown so it's rather accessible, as well as being one bus ride away or hour long walk in the other direction towards Chris' work. Of course whoever wants to visit us is more than welcome to walk around Takapuna with us!

Tui Sing-Song

It's back to work for Chris, as I get my bearings around the neighbourhood

So I am still finding my footing in my new surroundings. It's one thing to take a guided tour with Chris, it's another to actually try and navigate the winding hills and streets without him. So I have simply tasked myself with walking Chris to work and remembering my way back. I have been successful thus far, so I must have some general sense of direction. What has thrown me off before is the sun. The sun is typically more in the North right now, so I keep instinctively keep pointing North and calling it South. Also having to look right first before crossing the street has been sort of difficult. I'll get there.

I had only attained a learner's driving permit in Canada, but now I have to start from the bottom here in New Zealand. I need to do the written test, get a learner's and then take some driving lessons, because these crazy kiwi's drive on the left side of the road. Hopefully in a year I will be a fully fledged driver. Also, cars depreciate the fastest in New Zealand. Don't buy a new car in New Zealand. Used cars can be exceptionally cheap, but the housing here is not! Almost every household is multi-group. There are hardly any single-family homes, as far as I could gather. I still need to get an IRD number after I get my letter confirmation from my new bank, then I can start paying taxes and have a job and really start adulting again.

I was able to scope out some stores yesterday and found some decently priced vegan mock-meats, such as chicken nuggets and "soy burgers", so hopefully those are tasty. Food is a tad more expensive, but the prices on all goods vary from place to place, so you're encouraged to shop around. Our lifestyle will likely include almost daily trips to a grocery store, but Auckland has open air produce stands like Vancouver does, which is really, really nice.
I will leave things off with a short video I took of a Tui bird just belting out his unique tune. I hope you like it!

I got 99 Problems, but a Beach ain't one...

The finer things in life do not typically include Vegemite

It is going to be quite the task to encapsulate a lot of my experiences in writing, and I am sure some days will be shorter than others. Who knows how long I will keep this up for! Pictures to come. I should also say that Vegemite is way too savoury. But it has the B-Vitamins you neeeeeeed!

Chris and I are situated around Mairangi Bay (ie A BEACH!), which is about a 20 minute walk away, but includes a steep hill and going past our new grocery hub. It is extremely nice, with dog owners being allowed to have their dogs off leash anywhere, unless otherwise posted. I just imagine Mi'ka at prime time hours trying to bite the waves and meeting other dogs between bouts of soccer- her favourite game. Someday we will bring her here. For those who don't know, Mi'ka is our adorable australian shepherd. The laziest aussie you would ever meet.

I am going to make a point of going to the beach almost every day, despite how salty it is. I seem to utter that particular adjective every time I go in. The water is between 14-18 degrees year round, so it's swimmable at any time. By the way, swimmable is apparently not a word, according to the auto-correct dictionary. Every beach has a changing facility and usually a washroom. I also have to mention that the washrooms are "smart" washrooms, as they tend to talk to you and they all play What the World Needs Now by Burt Bacharach. So I feel like I am in an Austin Powers movie every time I use these Exeloo's.

SNAKES! Why did it have to be SNAKES?!

Yesterday, Sunday the 19th of March, 2017, Chris and I went to Victoria Park, which features some impressive cliffs along a beach and a 150-step climb back to the top. Needless to say, I was a bit tired when we reached the top to continue on our way to Takapuna. We didn't quite reach Takapuna before we had to catch a bus to Downtown Auckland, but only because we had to stop for a swim at a beach along the way. It was very refreshing after a bit of urban hiking.

Photos from our excursion yesterday are available HERE

So following our hiking into the early afternoon, we made it to downtown Auckland again for a quick bite of pick-your-own-adventure sorta sushi. Like any metropolitan city, the center is packed with wall-to-wall food and oodles of things to look at and do. It is reminiscent of Vancouver in the way the downtown couples with the beauty of the ocean, except Auckland has waaaay more sunshine.

So our activity of the day was seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark in a theater with a live symphony orchestra. It was pretty damned incredible as a part of the Auckland Art Festival, which is running for another week. I could not have imagined how important, effective and breathtaking the score of the first Indiana Jones movie is. It must have been so much fun to play it will an audience enjoys a classic film. If you ever get the chance to see any movie with live music accompaniment, I strongly implore you to do so. It is worth the price, whatever that may be. My only gripe is that I couldn't see the entire orchestra while they were playing, but I was able to see all of the violins and most of the horns as well as a sparsely playing harpist. Truly exceptional.

Come the evening we were invited by our landlord to come enjoy some wine and chinese cooked vegetables. Our landlord is from Singapore and is an investment broker with a penchant for traveling the world to visit vineyards and find the finest Pinot Noir. It's actually really nice to meet someone who wants to just sit and enjoy wine very slowly and carefully while speaking with good company. He says that Pinot is best served with good friends. I had never been guided as to how to enjoy a nice wine, but I think I will develop a deeper appreciation for the stuff. I will have to mention that I sip about an ounce to two ounces in a glass at a time. We aren't downing three bottle between us in an evening, so it really helps us savour the moments and complex flavours. I'm no connoisseur yet, but our landlord certainly is.

I will have to leave it there for now, as we needed to pass out at 9pm last night, just from the behemoth of a weekend Chris and I had. I did walk with Chris to work this morning, just see where it was, and wow... kind of a hike in itself. But that's it for now, folks!

March 19th, 2017

https://goo.gl/photos/ySQbaZ8ttG49kW1U7

A room with a view

The view from our common room in Mairangi Bay.

The Lizard has Landad

Dearest friends and casual readers,

I have almost been in New Zealand for 24 hours and I cried when I first got here. I mean, I cried after I got off the plane, went through the passport check, waited for my bags to drop and whisked through the "bioscan" x-ray of my luggage.(note: They are VERY serious about declaring things that that may have come in contact with animals and soil on other continents), saw Chris and got on a bus towards our new home. That's when I cried. It was a pretty gleeful cry, however, because it's weird to think that Auckland is our new home. This is not just a vacation - this is where we live now. The gravity of that is sort of staggering, exciting and a bit scary.

Chris broke the ice and ground the beans

I am grateful that Chris has already done most of the legwork in terms of knowing what and where things are. On our way to dropping off our luggage at home we stopped at the bank, that both of us will be using. The process of getting a bank account really isn't all that excessive, but getting an IRD number, which is required to be able to start paying taxes and therefore work and get paid is a little stringent. I won't outline it here, but it requires having a recognized address, which means having mail sent to you, having a bank account recognized already and blah, blah, blah... Chris is also already well versed in bus transit here, as well as cycling and crashing! The bus system is very similar to that of Vancouver's, so it isn't entirely foreign. Also similarly to Vancouver is the SMELL as soon as I got off the plane... musty, but delicious ocean air. The air tastes nice. Think lakeside cabin smell- that is how our new house smells. It's pretty much paradise for a Canadian.

Nature, Nature Everywhere

There is just so much to talk about in terms of the scenery here. It actually exceeded my expectations when I arrived. Imagine your favourite Disney Fairytale World was real, with all the animals and characters just plainly out in the open. It's sort of like that. Imagine the postcards or scenic shots in a nature documentary and how they made you feel. For me, at least, I always felt something about the landscapes in postcards or in movies. A kind of vicariously felt awe and relaxation. When Chris and I went hiking yesterday, which was only a few beaches and a bus trip away, I realized that where I was is exactly how they postcards made me feel, except it completely surrounds me now. I am sure people who visit Vancouver Island or their favourite getaway feel the same way- I had just never realized it before. I do have to say though, that the drive around Lake Superior and the ruggedness of that part of the Canadian shield is still the most awe-some terrain I have seen. But perhaps that's just a warm sense of nostalgia and belonging that directs me to feel that way. I have been very lucky to have experienced raw beauty in a few countries now. As for the animals- I haven't seen too many wild and wacky birds, despite it being bird mating season. But I can tell you, dear reader, that the animals around here are surprisingly relaxed around people. Millennia without natural predators will not elicit a deep-seated "fear" response in these Ornithurae. We did see a dead penguin though, which means:

• a - I have seen a penguin in the wild for the first time
• b - New Zealand totally has penguins
• and c - I saw a dead penguin

But enough about all that hokey crap and dead birds 'n stuff! We went to three separate beaches and hiked along their sandy and sometimes rocky shores, which brim with barnacles, tide pools and innumerable sea shells. The specific place we hiked is a nature reserve, so you aren't really allowed to pick up souvenirs, despite the countless number of shells ashore. We went up and down ridges and looked over cliffs at the ocean and went for a quick dip in the ocean. I had set foot in the ocean before, but had never in my adult life swam in it. My first response was how salty it was, which Chris thinks is hilarious. The water in the numerous bays around Auckland average 16-18 degrees centigrade, so not at all chilly. Very unlike Lake Superior.

How about THAT view!

It seems that everywhere has a view of the ocean, which is mind-boggling and the topography is hills, hills, hills. Chris mentioned that you get used to the beauty very quickly, and I found myself becoming accustomed within a few hours. You can't be in shock and awe about how gorgeous it is here forever, but you can practice gratefulness. I have to say, I am exceedingly grateful to be here. I really hope that I can share this with all of you someday. It's strange, but I feel like I don't deserve to be here, because New Zealand is fairly insulated from the world's problems. Sure, there's the odd gripe here and there, but New Zealand may never have to worry about ethnic tensions, water shortages, famine, war, or any of other problem plaguing parts of the globe. Even Canada doesn't have the best situation at the moment. But that's just my general sentiment.
Well, dear reader, that just about ends my patience for writing this sort of thing. I hope to blog a lot about my experiences here, because I am horrible at keeping in touch with people. This is the least I could for the largest amount of people, but if really feel like you want to talk with me, just set up a facebook messenger or skype chat date with Chris and I at waronelizabeth@gmail.com
Toodles!