House and Car hunting this week.

I'm writing this at 6:30pm on Wednesday night, I'm lying on the floor of my living room listening to Terry Wogan broadcasting his breakfast show from the UK, streaming on the web of course, whilst Sky News UK is playing to itself on the telly... Bizarre isn't it ? Ok, Ok I admit it, I haven't moved to NZ after all, I'm living in a bedsit in Hemel Hemstead :o) Seriously, God love the Internet & Satellite TV, it makes this whole exercise much easier to deal with. Even lying here typing this blog helps me keep in touch with all dear family & friends in various parts of Europe and also it gives the interested reader (assuming there is one somewhere, anywhere) an idea of how I spend my time and also lets you know that I'm still alive and breathing and still in charge of my faculties.



Anyway, I bought a car this week. It's cost me about £4,000 in UK terms and is a Mitsubishi (Don't they make food mixers rather than cars?) Lancer Cedia. I think in the UK it's sold as a Carisma but is more often seen in the States as a Dodge Colt. Nearly all cars here are Japanese as they're cheap to import and also the Japanese drive on the left, as do the Brits, Kiwis & Aussies of course, so the cars are easily transferable to NZ. They're also automatic which is perfect for the NZ roads. In fact driving here is really easy, the cars, the roads and the general discipline is very much like driving in the States. In fact NZ looks very much like the States in many respects, it's quite surprising really how similar it looks, the houses, the road signs, road layout, the retail parks. I pick the Lancer up on Friday as the rental car goes back on Saturday and I will endeavour to post a picture next week. It was really funny though, the car salesman offered me a test drive and then gave me the keys and said "I'm off for a coffee, come back when you've had enough" With that, he left me to get on with it ! Remarkable really, I could have sped off, never to be seen again. The insurance was a pleasant surprise as well, fully comp cost me a mere £180 which is less than half what I was paying in the UK.



I'm currently trying to find another place to rent. This one in Botany is great and I'd love to stay here but it's hugely expensive, basically twice the normal rental cost per week. However, it is fully equipped and was a superb place to crash after the flight as everything that I could want is available. Botany, as I've mentioned before, is a shoppers paradise but it's not really for me. I didn't move 12,000 miles to live within 2 minutes of McDonalds, Kmart and Woolworths. Anyway, I've been hanging out on the North Shore looking for houses as that area seems more like my kind of place. All but one of pictures today are from the North Shore. The two pictures above and the one immediately below are all from Torbay.



Torbay is beautiful with a long, wide sandy beach and pretty little cottages along the cliffs. Albany is lovely aswell but its different to Torbay as it's not right on the coast and is surrounded by native bush and reserves.



The above picture is of Milford with it's gorgeous little marina right in the middle of the village. The following is of Lynfield, although not exactly on the North Shore, Lynfield was very pretty too as the picture below shows.



Anyway, I'm looking to find somewhere in either Torbay, Albany, Milford or Browns Bay so fingers crossed I'll get lucky ! I'm just waiting for a couple of agents to get back to me.

The weather was superb today. Officially it was 19 degrees but I can only assume that temperature was taken at 7AM down a mine shaft or some other darkened location as it was hotter than a Mexicans lunch! There wasn't a cloud in the sky for most of he day and even the daily breeze didn't cool things down by much. I'm going to have to take sun block out with me as my fair skin burns if I stand under a light bulb for too long.

Must crack on, Corrie is on in a minute (never used to watch it in the UK but when you've seen NZ telly, you realise that its one of the best programmes on, apart from the Premier League football of course)

Things I've learned this week :-

1. NZ Car insurance companies really do quote you happy.
2. NZ Car Salesman are a very trusting breed.
3. NZ streets look like mid town USA.
4. This is a truly beautiful country (OK I knew that already but it needs repeating)

By the way, feel free to leave comments by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of each specific post. It would be nice to know that someones out there !!


John