Lunch Theft

Last weekend I decided to take a trip to the local fish market down by the quay. It's brilliant, you can buy just about any kind of seafood you can think of and it's all super-fresh! They even have live mussels and eels that you can take away with you, I stuck with the fillets of fish, although I was tempted to buy some whole ones. I purchased some red snapper, kingfish, a blue-nose thai fishcake and some smoked snapper. The snapper is phenomenal, and apparently you can buy snapper and chips in fish and chip shops, so that might be something for the future. I wanted to take pictures, but thought it was a bit weird so opted for a picture of the Skytower from outside the fish market instead!

On Sunday (as many of you will know from Facebook), I went to Auckland Zoo. I saw loads of really cool animals, and even a Kiwi. Apparently they're really rare to see (even at the zoo) because they're nocturnal, shy, and easily scared by noise so it was great that I managed to see two! I tried to take a photo, but because it was dark and there was no flash photography allowed it's not a great image. You can make out it's body, but the head was foraging in the leaves so it's kind of blurry.

The Meerkats on the other hand were only too happy to stand still and have their photo taken making it 'simples' for me..... sorry, but it needed to be said! I also saw seals, penguins, lions, tigers, zebras, wallabies and emus.

As many of you will be aware, I also had a run in with an elephant called Burma. I was sat in the middle of the zoo (no animal cages anywhere near), minding my own business, eating my cheese and tomato roll. Of course, I was busy keeping an eye on the seagulls that were obviously hatching some evil plan to gang up on me and mug me for my last crumb, so busy in fact that I didn't notice the trunk slipping silently past my left shoulder towards my roll (I think Burma and the seagulls had some sort of understanding). To my horror I turned to see this giant elephant with the end of its trunk about 2 inches away from my lunch with the keepers trying to fend her off. Just for good measure before she left, she also had a quick rifle through my bag for anything that I may have left in there. I was so gobsmacked that I didn't even have time to get a photo, but I did find her again a bit later for a quick snap.

Let this be a warning to all of you. It's not the seagulls you have to worry about, it's their partners in crime.

My New Digs

That's me, finally in my new place! I managed to persuade a couple of blokes from the uni to come up on Saturday and help me move my furniture in.... I say furniture - all I have is a bed! I then took a couple of days to move my clothes and bike up and had my first sleep in my new bed on Monday. I have to say it's really comfortable. I bought it off Trademe and hired a trailer to pick it up, I've never actually driven with a trailer before so I can now tick that off my list of 'things to do before I die'. Must be a pretty dull list if that's on there right?!

This is a picture of my new bedroom, well only the bed could fit on. It's really very small, but if you want to live in the city centre you have to make the compromise (unless you have lots of money) to downsize. I do have 2 double wardrobes and an en-suite bathroom though, and there's plenty of space under the bed for storage. It's in a really good area, so I can't be too critical.

It's a really short walk into uni and into town, and I found a great little sushi bar that does a happy 'hour' from 7-9pm. Why that's called a happy hour I'm not quite sure. It means half price sushi though so they got something right, because that makes me very happy! I'm also right next to the Vector Arena, and Taylor Swift was playing the other night. I believe that Lady Gaga, Radiohead, and Florence and the Machine are all due to play this year, so looking forward to the free concerts! It's taking me a while to get to sleep at the moment because of all the noise from the traffic, I suppose this is something I'll get used to though, or I could just buy earplugs! Here is the view from my balcony, with the tennis court below and the vector arena lit up towards the right hand side. As you can see, I'm right next to the road, and quite a busy one too.

On Tuesday I went up to the Anatomy Department to try and beg for work, but it seems they are desperately short of demonstrators. All of their current demonstrators are radiology registrars from Auckland City Hospital and are in the process of learning their anatomy too. That means I'm officially the most qualified there.... I don't think I've ever been able to say that before! Their anatomy museum is phenomenal, they have so many specimens and all displayed in beautiful cases, with lots of little study areas available for you to sit and look at everything. I can see myself spending a lot of time in there! My first day of anatomy demonstrating went a bit pear-shaped though. They are having renovation work done and one of the workmen turned off the air conditioning in the lab, that meant the formaldehyde levels were too high and the lab had to be cancelled. Of course being the newbie I had to take the blame! I walked back to my office all disappointed, but that all disappeared once I discovered the sushi bar that is literally a 1 minute walk from my building. It's self service, delicious, and reasonably priced, and now I know it's there I shall be making regular visits!

I have an exciting week planned next week - some anatomy demonstrating (hopefully this time), I will have the opportunity to practice my suturing skills, and I get to go into the Auckland City Hospital operating theatre. I'll learn how the electrodes we use (to measure the electrical current) are placed on the stomach, and how all the kit works. Looking forward to it already, and will keep you all posted.

Right, time for bed now. I've been to the apartment complex gym this evening, did bit of cycling and a few lengths in the pool, and finished off with a lovely sauna. I think I'm going to like it here...

'Working from Home'

So, today being a Friday (and a sunny one at that), I thought I'd work from home. Usually on a Friday morning I go cycling with the woman I'm staying with, and a few of her friends. It's always a nice pace, and we stop half way round for a coffee and a natter. I then get a shower and decide to either work from the comfort of the deck or sometimes the dining table. Today however, that was obviously never going to happen. It's not that I don't enjoy going into work as I do have a window with a pretty good view, and if I lean a little to my left I can even see the Skytower!

My day has actually been really unproductive, work-wise at least. I had my first full webcam-based Skype chat with my mum so that was pretty exciting. I got an excellent view of the living room ceiling on several occasions, but apart from that it went quite smoothly! After that I had a bit of breakfast (a beautiful boiled egg from Dorothy) and then decided to cycle to the beach near us, called Point Chevalier Beach. It's lovely and sandy and great for swimming. Even thought it was a nice day it wasn't that crowded which was good.

My plan for tomorrow is to move into my bed into my new flat, and hopefully take a few clothes with me too. I guess Sunday will be spent shipping my bike and the rest of my bits over. When everything's sorted I'll have to get a few pics of the new pad. I'll definitely miss Dorothy's eggs though, do you think the landlord will allow pets?!

Pasifika Festival

That's me just back from the Pasifika Festival - it was brilliant. The costumes and dancing were fantastic, and the food was yummy! There were tonnes of craft and traditional dress stalls around, but apparently you can buy them much cheaper elsewhere, so I didn't make any purchases. I started off in Tuvalu where I wandered down to the main stage to see some dancing and singing by the islanders, apparently it was their 'welcome' dance. I managed to get a picture and to catch the end of it on video.

I then went and bought a pineapple ice-cream from Samoa, which is a whole pineapple hollowed out with the fruit mixed in vanilla ice cream and put back in the pineapple shell for you to eat. I would have taken a picture but it was melting too fast! On the way round the park there were lots of Pukeko (a New Zealand swamp hen), apparently these have become quite a pest, but in my opinion they're still less pesky than seagulls or pigeons.

Next stop was the Cook Islands where there was more dancing and singing. The drummers were brilliant, and the costumes were amazing. This definitely makes me want to visit! I managed to catch a quick snippet of video, but my phone battery was dying so didn't want to use it all here. 

After watching this I popped along to Fiji and bought a whitebait fritter. This is an omelette with whitebait (little tiny fish) mixed in. Apparently it is quite the delicacy and whitebait is probably the most costly fish on the market because its only available seasonally. I was a little disappointed it didn't taste fishier, but I would buy it again. On the same stall they were cooking mussels, prawns and scallops in front of customers. The man in front of me bought a seafood bonanza, which consisted of 10 mussels, 5 king scallops, and 5 king prawns. I HAD to get a picture of it, and managed to do so just before the prawns went in. 

Just before I left I was given a frangipani flower from one of the Tongan stall holders. These are the ones used to make the traditional Pacific island leis. I was also informed that in Pacific island culture if you wear it above the right ear, it says you are seeking a relationship, and if put above the left it means that you are taken. I put mine in my ponytail... I thought it best to keep them guessing!

I had a brilliant time and is a definite must-do again next year.

Flat-Hunting Success!

So, after just a week of searching I have managed to locate and snap up a room in an apartment in the centre of Auckland. The room comes with an en-suite (so no fighting for the bathroom each morning), and the apartment complex has a gym, sauna, swimming pool and tennis courts (no need for a gym membership either). I'll be living with two other girls in the Parnell area of Auckland down by the quay, and just a 15 minute walk to work. I've also heard there are tonnes of bars and good restaurants in the area, and that I'll be near the gorgeous Mission Bay beaches and the ferries for the various islands surrounding the centre of Auckland. It seems that without even knowing it, I've done pretty well! Not sure when i'm moving in, but it'll be pretty soon, so pictures to follow. I'd love to take Bella and Boots (a Maine Coon) with me, but no pets allowed :( It'll also mean I can leave my seat unattended for more than a minute and not come back to find a cat on it.

I've already got my weekend sorted, planning to head to the Pasifika Festival - an event held annually in one of the local parks to celebrate the Pacific Islands. There'll be traditional singing, dancing, arts and crafts, and most importantly FOOD! Apparently each island has it's own little village and you can wander round the park and visit each one. You can click on the link below for a brief overview of what islands are involved and a short timetable. I'm looking forward to it already, there's going to be heap of pictures on here afterwards!

Pasifika Festival Timetable

The Way Every Weekend Should be Spent

Absolute scorcher in Auckland today, a high of 24! Had horrendous storms yesterday and last night, but today more than made up for it. I got up early and packed a egg mayo and ham sandwich (the egg was laid by Dorothy some time last night), packed up the car and headed to Takapuna on the North Shore. I had bought a bike off the NZ version of Ebay called Trademe and had to go and pick it up, so I thought why not make a day of it?

Got to Takapuna at about 10am and slopped on the factor 30, no sunburn for me thank you very much. Had a wander up and down the beach for about an hour and took some pics, then decided all that exercise had been quite strenuous and I needed a lie down. The beach was quite busy, but mainly with people walking up and down rather than sunbathing etc. Went in the sea a couple of times to cool off, and had a gigantic mint choc chip ice cream.

The beach started to get busy after lunch so I decided to pack up and head up the road to Killarney Park which borders Lake Pupuke. It was much quieter, and I got a pretty good laugh watching a young girl feeding some birds which then decided to follow her EVERYWHERE just in case there might be some more bread available! You could hire yachts and kayaks for the afternoon, but I decided that was a little too much like hard work.

At 3.30 I went to pick up my new bike (new to me anyway), and am looking forward to giving it a test run up to uni tomorrow. It's so much better than my current bike back in the UK and was an absolute bargain as it was on Trademe. Dual suspension, Shimano gears and Shimano disc brakes all for a fraction of the price of my UK bike! It'll definitely get some decent mileage and will let me explore a little more.

Just before I go and have a glass of wine on the deck, I must tell you all about the amazing thing that is a Kit-Kat Chunky Cookies and Cream. It was so delicious, possibly better than the peanut butter ones. A definite 10/10 and one chocolate bar I shall definitely be buying again. The Milky Bar Cookies and Cream however was a real let down, maybe 3/10. It shall never grace the inside of my stomach again.... well unless it's the only chocolate available of course, then all shall be forgiven. 

Driving in Auckland

Today was my first driving experience in Auckland. I drove all the way into Uni and back and didn't get lost or kill anyone once! I did nearly forget that in NZ if you are turning left and there is a car on the opposite side of the road turning into the same street, then you must give way. Apparently this ridiculous rule ends in 3 weeks time, and NZ will become like the UK where you have priority turning left. I'm looking forward to seeing the figures for the number of accidents and near misses increasing dramatically. My mode of transport was a battered old Nissan Bluebird, but it served the purpose so I can't be too mean.

I was a little concerned about parking as they will tow you for anything here, and the tow companies are not regulated so they can charge as much as they like for release of the car. I've heard that they even have 'spotters' that will watch you park, and will call a tow company for the slightest infringement. I got back and the car was still there though..... this time.

The definite highlight of today was a raspberry and pineapple Calipo which tasted remarkably like a fruit salad chew, and two amazing looking chocolate bars which I fully intend to test this evening. 

I'm hoping the cookies and cream Kit-Kat Chunky will be a good enough substitute for the peanut butter ones, which I can't find over here :( I shall report back on these delicious-looking bars of paradise tomorrow!