Monthly Archives: October 2011

Getting a move on

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Just got back from AU this morning, been an awesome trip which I’ll probably blog about next week, as this one is far too busy.

Started this morning with a dead car battery when I went to take Lisa to the airport and a txt from the movers advising that the truck had broken down, not the greatest way to start my day.

Fortunately Lisa managed to get to the airport in time and the AA battery replacement service was pretty fast – turns out the battery in my car dated back to 2002, infact it even seems to run better with the new battery whilst driving and starts even faster, wonder if the old one was impacting the motor.

The movers arrived and took away all my furniture to Auckland, it arrives on the 26th and I’m up in Auckland 26th & 27th for work projects so can help Lisa start setting up the flat.

After I return on Thursday, I’ll be living on an air mattress for Thur, Fri and Sat nights. Not really wildly excited about the air mattress part, but have to just live with that till the drive up to Auckland on the Sunday.

Somehow I have to fit all my computers into my car, along with clothes and various other items, it’s looking like it will be tight squeeze TBH – and my brother is coming along as a passenger for his first Auckland roadtrip, so there’s not going to be much room by the time the car is loaded up.

Clearly this is a sign that I should have less things…. anything that doesn’t fit and that I don’t want ASAP will have to go to parents for now.

Busy Buffer Overflow

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It’s an insanely busy month – I’m up in Auckland again for a few days, before heading back to Wellington, then off to Melbourne & Brisbane for a few days, before returning to Wellington, then Auckland for a few days, then Wellington, then drive to Auckland and speed a week there, before returning to Wellington for a weekend….. as you can see, too much going on!

Really sick of hotels ATM, have spent 2+ weeks in different Auckland North Shore motels in the past week and none of them can seem to tick all the boxes – bad showers, bad beds, bad living space, over all just pretty disappointing.

Will be great once we’ve settled – Lisa will be moving into the new flat on the 26th and I’ll be following shortly on the 30th, I’m sure it will make us both feel a lot better – the inability to truly relax currently is getting very annoying.

Anyway, time to sleep, prob catch up on blogging in early/mid November!

Week in Auckland

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Been a busy week – I flew up to Auckland first thing on Monday morning and just arrived back tonight on Sunday. There’s a bigger update here on how things are going with the move and plans, this post is mostly just a dump of a few pictures from my future home-to-be.

Auckland skytower in the distance obscured by rain

Standing on the Northcote Rd motorway bridge, looking out towards the Smales Farm busway (where the very excellent North Express (NEX) runs to/from)

Driving along the Auckland Harbour Bridge

Donuts. One of the delicious perks of being in Auckland. (there is essentially no donut shops in Wellington. TBH, that's probably a good thing for my waistline)

Noooo.... broke my only bag halfway during the week... was a real PITA finding alternative ways to carry stuff :-( Vinyl just isn't that great for hard wearing joins like that.

Maybe I should carry around less things.....

Sal's Pizza, part of the staple Aucklander diet. Some chick I managed to pickup with my studly ways in the background.

Lake Pupuke in Takapuna, North Shore, Auckland at night. (see wikipedia)

It's the moon! Either clouds or smog :-P (ok prob not, but let's all mock Aucklander's addiction to cars some more)

Slowly morphing into an Aucklander

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October is shaping up to be a pretty insanely busy month, I haven’t even had the time to update my blog for a while or finish some of the project I’ve been hacking away at. :-(

This month is pretty much non-stop travel around both NZ and AU – I have 5 days over in AU in Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as a number of flights to and from Auckland for work projects as well as the impending move up to be with Lisa.

Infact, based on hours spent in different cities this month, I’m going to be around 30% Wellingtonian, 20% Australian and 50% Aucklander…. before becoming an official Aucklander from the 30th of October.

Whilst it’s pretty hectic, it is somewhat good timing. Work is flying me to Auckland a bit for an important project that’s underway, so far I’ve already spent an entire week in Auckland, and likely to spend another week or maybe more up there whilst Lisa and I hunt for a flat – plus it means Lisa and I don’t have too many huge gaps without seeing each other.

(I’ve literally just landed in Wellington and expect to spend (at most) two nights in my own bed before flying back out).

We haven’t confirmed a flat yet – really not a fan of flat hunting, always so many different flats to sort through until you find something that isn’t entirely disappointing, and then there’s all the fun of working with agents and owners to actually get an application in and approved.

The fact that NZ rental stock is utterly crap also doesn’t help towards this goal – far too many hours lack any insulation, have kitchens or bathrooms last renovated in the 70s, are way over priced and have horrendous terms like 12 months fixed term, renewing in blocks of 12 only.

We’ve submitted an application for one place, which the agents appear happy with, but haven’t had final confirmation yet, so there’s a bit of limbo currently – hopefully we get it, as it does look like an ideal place for us and they can do an 8month contract with flexible renewal.

I think Lisa and I have pretty much settled on the shore now, looking at places around Takapuna – there’s a good selection of food and other shops, good transport to town if needed, and we can actually afford enough space to live out there, unlike in the city with tiny apartments.

I’ll be back up next week, so I’m sure further updates will follow by the end of that week. :-)