A week spent getting fit, looking for jobs and meeting new friends. We joined a group of expats in Auckland and partied with them. We left Auckland for the first time and headed to the magical north where we discovered the real Kiwi way of life. We enjoyed our long weekend walking on the beach, watching stunning sunsets and trying new fresh foods.

Day 147 (26/01/11) Mission Bay

I have decided that today I want to get out of the house and visit a part of the city I have not yet seen. This is somehow easier said than done as we did not know where to go, or more correctly how to get to where we wanted to go. Finally we went down to the centre of town and got bus & train maps for all the lines in Auckland. We then found the right bus, jumped on and headed to Mission’s bay. We visited a memorial in a nice green park and laid in the sun for a while, before going into the centre of Missions bay and having a pure NZ ice cream. The ice cream is very light, but full of flavour. We sat on the beach for a while; it is great to have beaches in the biggest cities in the country. I feel that people enjoy their lives a lot more.

The houses in missions bay are nice and it is somewhere I would consider living if we stayed in Auckland for a longer time.

Day 148 (27/01/11) Day at Home

We spent the morning applying and looking for jobs. I got a call and have an interview next Tuesday, does anyone see a pattern here, Tuesday’s in Auckland = interview followed by a cheap movie. Hopefully soon it will be work followed by a cheap movie. Wish us luck!!

Day 149 (28/01/11) Meeting new friends

It was raining today and I did not have any meetings to go to, so we went to the gym; for the first time in I don’t know how long and it hurt. I made a promise to myself to go almost everyday, but I will see if I can manage to keep that promise.

In the evening, we were invited to a party that was being held by a group I have joined called the Inter-continent group, it’s a group of people from all over the world living in Auckland, which meet and share ideas. It was raining very heavy when we left to go to the party and by the time we got there we were all wet. The party was very fun and we met some interesting people. We walked back home in the heavy rain, let it rain, let it rain!

Day 150 (29/01/11) Heading North

We were watching Australia’s Master Chef on TV, when my phone rang; it was Briar asking us if we were ready to go north to her parent’s home with her. We jumped out of bed got dressed, packed our bag and met up with her. The drive north should have taken about 1 and half hours, but because of the flooding caused by all the rain that has come down lately, it took us 4 hours to reach where we were going. We had to use the back roads that were blocked with traffic. It feels great to get out of Auckland; everything is so green and alive up here. We stopped at a few of Briars friend’s houses; everyone was very friendly to us and spoiled us with wine and other local products.

We had dinner at maybe the best pizza place I have eaten in outside of Italy called Waipu Pizza barn, they had this great lamb pizza. We then drove up to Briars parents’ house, where we were spoiled again; we got to sleep in the best room of the house that has large French windows with a view of the sea.

Day 151 (30/01/11) Day at the beach

We woke up to the stunning view of the ocean right in front of us, got up had a coffee then took the dog, jess, for a walk along the beach. We all really loved it, and then we can back home and had my favourite meal, brunch, made up of fresh fruit, yogurt, muesli, cheese, toast tomatoes, and natural and fresh.

We spent the day at the beach, sun bathing and chatting.

In the evening we watched a classic comedy on TV. It has been a great relaxing day.

Day 152 (31/01/11) Time to head home

All good things always seem to be too short; it is the end of the long weekend, so we have to head back to Auckland. First of course we enjoyed walking on the beach and having a healthy breakfast. On the way back we stopped at Briar’s Grandmothers house, where we tried mountain paw paw and chocolate and raspberry cookiesJ A good way to end a great weekend. On the way back the roads were open again and it took us only an hour and a half to get back.

We caught the end of the seafood festival; even though we did not go downtown we could hear the concert from home.

Day 153 (01/02/11)

Back in Auckland, back to business. I had an interview with a recruitment company today, but they did not have anything interesting to offer me. Being Tuesday we went to the cinema and watch The Green Hornet, a very cool movie, great to take your mind of the stress of not finding work. Not much else happened.