Home Shopping

Well it's been a little while since I've posted but though I have been quite busy there hasn't been too much to write home about. After I got my car I immediately put my energies towards finding accommodation. I had one week left in the motel that my company had put me up in but I still had no idea where I was going live when that time was up but in my naivety I figured It wouldn't be too much trouble. How wrong I was, as it would turn out like Victoria housing costs in Auckland have just been through a bit of a rapid increase and I realized pretty quickly that I would have to up my budget to get into something reasonable. Also because I'm only here for a relatively short time I decided that is would be easier to just get a furnished place instead of having to spend the time and money to go out and buy all the furnishings I would need for my time here. The problem with furnished places is that, 1 they are more expensive, and 2 they're not very common anywhere but in the down town core where all the high-rise apartments are and where property is the most expensive. And if that was not enough trouble I was also trying to find a place right in the middle of the student rush when students are coming back from their summer vacation and trying to sort out their own accommodation for their next year of school. There were many occasions when I would find something that I liked and by the next day it was taken, frustrating! So after a week of fruitless searching I was at a loss, and a little stressed as to where I would stay after my time at the motel was up. After on less ditch effort to find something on Saturday I gave up and decided to try and enjoy the rest of my weekend.

Sunday was defiantly enjoyable, after a morning service at HCCC (Howick Christian Community Church) I headed off to my firsts gig as a photographer. Michelle Griffiths 21^st birthday party. Having met Michelle 2 weeks ago through her boyfriend Martin, I felt pretty privileged to be invited to apparently one of the biggest birthdays of a young kiwi's life. Having found out I was a little into photography she asked me If I would be willing to help document the day with some photos. Giving me a chance to meet many of her family and friends and be useful and the same time, needless to say I was more than happy to.

During the party I was invited to stay at a few different people's homes when they found out that I was going to be out on the street the next day, and one of those offers came from Graeme and Alison Wilcox, Martins parents, after giving them fair warning and trying my best to dissuade them I finally accepted their offer to stay in their spare room until I could find accommodation of my own.

After the party I stuck around to help clean up and then was invited back to Michelle's parents house for some snacks, gift opening and some reminiscing of Michelle's last 21 years including some junior school drama video's. At a hour slightly to late for a Sunday night I thanked my hosts and headed home for my last night in the Aarangi Motel in Kohimarama.

The following week was much more promising on the home front, no longer having the stress of having no place to stay allowed me to relax and not have to jump into anything that I may have regretted later. On Wednesday I looked at an apartment downtown that looked like it would fit the bill but the realtor assigned to it was being quite flakey and ended up being half an hour late to the showing. He rarely answered phone calls or emails and even when you did get to talk to him he was quite hard to understand having a VERY thick Chinese accent mixed with Kiwi English. I found out later that it just so happened that his computer and his phone decided to pack it in that week, and when I finally signed on the deal he gave me one week of free rent for the inconvenience YAY! So now I have a place but there's no power or hot water, and because I moved in at the end of the day on Friday I won't be able to hook that up until next week but at least I have a place! It's on the 10^th floor of the C-Vu (Sea View) Apartment complex and its situated about a 15 min walk from the downtown core and has a great view over the city and out into the harbor. It is a 2 bedroom place, so if any of you find yourself in Auckland give me a ring and I can put you up, as long as none of my co-workers or boss are in town.

I was also able to enjoy some local indie music last week, Marty, Michelle, Sophie (A good friend of Michelle) and I went to a little pub to see a double bill with 2 Kiwi bands Mercury Crow and Glory Sea. Both bands were quite enjoyable but I think my favorite was defiantly Mercury Crow; they were a bit of a rock/blues mix reminiscent of Canada's own Wide Mouth Mason but of course wouldn't be able to hold a candle to Shaun Verreault and the boys. Still a good show none the less.

Once again thanks for all your comments and well wishes and Much Love!

P.S. I promise to post some more pictures soon!