First Impressions of Life in Auckland

Kia Ora!

So here we are in Takapuna, a suburb of Auckland. We live on the 4th level of a large, 3-block apartment building. I liken it to being a cave dweller. Our cave has 2 bedrooms, one of which is general overflow of laundry, clothes, etc.

The kitchen is designed for a non-cooking bachelor. 
The diminutive oven defies easy operation. I spent much of the first week reading directions for the oven, the iron, the stove top, the refrigerator, and the washer-dryer combination. The dryer function turns clothes out slightly damp and totally ragbag wrinkled. No one is allowed to hang anything on the balcony so I followed the model of other cave dwellers and bought a stand alone clothes rack to air dry the wash in the open door of the bedroom. It works.

Of course there was the usual hassle getting Telecom hooked up for telephone and internet service. There is no way around the $200 penalty for discontinuing service before our one year contract expires. Boo, Telecom!

The complex is built in a semi-circle around a courtyard with a swimming pool and facing busy Anzac Street. This arrangement simulates an outdoor amphitheatre so ordinary conversation in the courtyard carries well. Our first night here was interrupted about midnight when a group of adolescent boys decided to swim in the pool, lacing their loud communications liberally with expletives. The traffic in front of the complex is heavy and continual with buses, trucks and motorcycles in addition to cars. I look with envy at the flats at the back of the building. The occupants oversee roofs of businesses and an alley but I imagine it is quieter than the front of the complex.  I wrote "I HATE this place" in my journal at least twice during the first week.

Now in the second week, I can report things are much better. The internet is up. The Olympics are starting. The boys seem to be swimming in the late afternoon now that summer holiday has ended and they are back in school. I can work all the appliances except the oven; I stir fry a lot. The weather is warm, sunny, and dry. Our warm Southland clothes are packed away until the temperatures cool as fall comes on in April.

All is well.

Cheers,

Kiwi Traveler
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