The start of our life in Wellington. Finding an apartment, job, friends ect… The blog takes a 7 month break now as I start working and each day will almost be the same.

Until November we have worked in Wellington, with its ups and downs… I will post blog articles on daily life in New Zealand, but wish to keep it off this blog, as this one is for our travel adventures.

Week 29

Day 196 (16/03/11) Looking for a place to stay

One the of the most important things to do when you move to a new city is figure out where you want to stay. Where, how much, do you want to commute or walk to work, city centre or out of town? Once you figure all that out all you have to do is find the right place for you. We have worked out that we want to live near or in the city and what are maximum budget is.

The more difficult part of this task is finding that perfect place you will call home.

That is what we have spent most of today doing, going to flats and having to look to see if they match what we want. So far none have.

Day 197 (17/03/11) My first Interview in Wellington

I had my first interview today with a recruitment company I was in touch with in Auckland, it seems like they may have some work for me soon. This is very good news for me, us. Money coming is better than it going out.

We went to look at some apartments, but they were unfurnished so they are not good for us.

It was St. Paddy’s day so we went to an Irish bar and drank…I mean what else are you meant to do on St. Paddy’s day?

Day 198 (18/03/11) Interview at Russell McVeagh

I had an interview today with a temp agency that sent me for an Interview at the same law firm that I was working with in Auckland, Russell McVeagh, the office is nicer here and the people are more friendly, however the job is only 5 hours a day which is not enough for me, so I wont be working with them here.

While I was at the interview Fred went to look at some apartments, he found one that looked good, so at least we have one option.

I am trying to collect all the papers to request a police clearance from Kuwait and it requires many steps, today I completed one, I got my finger print report, which was given to me by the police, certified. Sometimes I feel the more I do, the more I have to do.

Day 199 (19/03/11) Apartment hunting

Due to recent events, the earthquake in Christchurch, and the fact that the universities have started back, it is very hard to find an apartment. Many of them are rented before we have time to visit them. Today we had 2 appointments, when we got to the first one the apartment was already rented. The second was really nice, but the problem was that it was a ground floor apartment and we don’t want to stay on the ground floor for safety and noise reasons, so no luck today.

In the afternoon we went to the cinema at The Embassy an old style embassy that had very nice architecture. We watched Rango that was very funny and made us laugh and forget out apartment issues.

Day 200 (20/03/11) 200 days since we left France

Today it has been exactly 200 days since we left France! We are now in Wellington and planning to stay here until we go back to Perth at the end of the year. We are almost about to move into an apartment and hope to start working full time. The travelling part of our trip has come to a close for now and we are settling for the next 6 to 10 months.

We watched the dragon boat race which was fun; we saw a ray in the Wellington harbour, which was quite amazing.

In the evening we posted things online and played pool.

Day 201 (21/03/11) Still looking for an apartment

Today I had a interview with the parliament, I maybe working there and might have a chance to meet the man with all the power in New Zealand.

We also looked for apartments again; this took us up to Kelburn, which is the closest suburb to the city, right on top of the hill. The apartment we visited was nice but too small for us, which is a shame because it was in a very nice area.

Week 30

Day 202 (22/03/11) Found an apartment!!

We found and got approved for an apartment we really like in the centre of Wellington. It is a one bedroom flat, in a building, close to the supermarkets and to the bars and restaurants.

We signed a 6 month lease and move in tomorrow.

It seems that we are finally making ourselves at home after 6 months on the road. Oh, Fred & I will officially be living together for the first time, as the apartment is in both our names.

Day 203 (23/03/11) Moving in

This morning I went to my job as a temp in an office in down town Wellington. I spent the day entering data into an excel sheet, not very interesting, but it pays the bills.

After work, I went home, to our new home and celebrated our new home with a bottle of wine and a nice pasta dinner.

Day 204 (24/03/11) Work

A very long day at work, not hard just long, entering lots of data in to excel sheets, the office is nice and the people I work with are friendly.

Farmers a department store has a sale and I went to buy lots of things for our new home, it took me 3 hours and I went home with lots of bags, full of stuff for our home.

Day 205 (25/03/11) Admin Stuff

We had to fill out a form on the state of our apartment, which took us some time as we had to go around the apartment and note anything that was not perfect. I also tried to do some paper work, but did not succeed because I was missing some information. I really don’t like it when I am not able to complete the things I want to do.

A nice evening at home, watching a movie and staying warm.

Day 206 (26/03/11) Adventure to Lower Hutt

Public transport in New Zealand is not user friendly; you never know where to get the bus from, where the lines go and when they are coming. It took is an hour to find out how to go to Lower Hutt. Once we finally got to Lower Hutt, we went to the bank, our main reason for going there, because I needed to get a bank draft and all the banks in the city are closed on the weekend. Once at the bank I was told by the teller that because it was Saturday, she could not issue a bank draft for me, meaning that we went all that way for no reason. We spent the rest of the day in the shopping mall. I brought some new clothes as there were lots of sales going on.

Day 207 (27/03/11) Sunday on the Couch

Just your average Sunday, not doing much at all, spending time in front of the tv because it is raining. I made another brioche; I hope this one turns out better than the last one. The most exciting thing that happened today was that I got to speak to one of my best friends that is in the States and that I don’t get to speak to very often.

Day 208 (28/03/11) The Botanical Gardens

I started the day by going to complete the request I have been trying to do since last week. I went to the bank and asked for the bank drafts, I was told not a problem; they will call me once they were done. So I went away and did other things 3 hours later the bank was almost closing and I thought it maybe time to check in to the bank again. The bank drafts had not been done, they did them while I was there, lucky I went back or I would not have gotten them today. I sent the documents off finally, after lots of hard work.

For lunch we went to an Irish Pub and had a very nice lunch of burger and chips and a big paint of cider. We spent 2 hours there talking and laughing, very enjoyable.

After lunch we took the cable car up to the botanical gardens and enjoyed walking around the gardens and the cable cars museum. We took a path that lead us back to the city through the gardens. It was a lovely sunny afternoon even the ducks were lying on the grass enjoying the sun.

Week 32

Day 209 (29/03/11) Job Hunting

I feel like we are always working on something, today’s mission was to find a full time job. I spent a large part of the day looking for jobs on the internet. We went to the French embassy to register with them, but did not have all the correct documents so we have to go back tomorrow. I found out that there is a job vacancy at the Alliance Francais that I will apply for.

I spent the evening sowing a new pair of pants that I have gotten that is too long and posting photos online.

Day 210 (30/03/11) Still Hunting a job

Today I decided that I have to move and go out there and find a job. I can not stay home anymore I am getting a bit crazy and board. So I went out and dropped my CV off in all the recruitment agencies that I have not already contacted. I met one that gave me an interview straight away and seems to be very professional. Let’s see what happens.

Day 211 (31/03/11) Working at a cocktail

No news on the job front and I spent the whole day looking for jobs online. I got a text asking me if I would like to work in the evening for a cocktail at a law firm. It seems that law firms like me here.

I went to work in the evening, which was easy and fun.

Day 212 (01/04/11) Interview

I got woken up by my phone this morning; it seems that someone is finally interested in me and would like to have an interview with me in the afternoon.

I went to the interview and got the job, I start on Monday, it is not my dream job but it is better than staying home all day long which makes me crazy.

Day 213 (02/04/11) Trip outside Wellington

We are part of Inter Nations, which is a website set up for professional people living outside of their home countries to connect with other professionals and share ideas and meet up. That is where we met Jim from Poland, who took us on a trip outside of Wellington.

We went to Martinbrough, a famous wine region; we tried the wine and had anti pasta. Afterwards we went to castle point which is the last land fall before Chile it was a very nice day out and we learned lots of interesting things about Wellington, like our home is on a fault line!

Day 214 (03/04/11) It’s raining in our home

Lazy Sunday, I worked on my secret project for most of the day before it started to rain in our home and then I had to call the plumber, nothing is fixed yet, but maybe tomorrow we will have the leak and the hole in our roof fixed. One can only hope right.

Tonight we are going out for a Jazz evening at the Lido café.