hello old friend! i realize that it's been awhile since i've been back here - to be honest things have been pretty hectic the last few months with lots happening.
First off being we bought a car. Now i realize thats not really a proper excuse for not writing (as it is big blog worthy news) but we've just been busy enjoying it. We bought a 1997 Mitsubishi Legnum (or "the leggy" as we affectionately refer to it) from the Ellerslie car fair which really is the equivalent of a parking lot flea market for cars. I say flea market because it's about the size (if not bigger) than the big ones i can think of back home. Like a flea market its in a parking lot and there are heaps of people selling junk and lots selling things that don't look like they're the type of product (car) to be bought by the people who frequent such events. As we're pretty much car buying novices we brought along our "petrol head" friends (and my colleagues) Conrad and Nicole. We kind of agreed that we wanted to get something that was a station wagon - i agreed to concede to Matt on that point. I wasn't however really keen to give up on getting an auto (i'm sorry but we live in a city - no matter how many long distance trips you may take you are still stuck in traffic and at lights 95% of the time making an automatic more practical). We test drove one car - kiwi's are so trusting. We looked at it, chatted with the guy, asked to take it for a test drive (all 4 of us) and then drove off in his car with him just standing in the spot with a clip board. Didn't have to show him ID he didn't ask to come along, just let us drive off. In any event it wasn't the car for us. With a bit more shopping Conrad and Nicole pointed out "the leggy". As you can see it's blue - it's a tiptronic so it can go from being a manual (sans clutch) to an automatic. Tinted windows, 1997 and only 145,000 km, all manuals in Japanese, cd player and other lovely features. Took it for a test drive and well, it turned out to be our car.
*I promise i will put a picture of it in here soon, for some odd reason i don't seem to have any yet*
Parking of course is another option. I read recently that because the real estate market is so fragile people are opting on taking their land and turning it in to a parking garage to maximize their guaranteed profit. I'd believe it. It only took us a few days of being annoyed at trying to find a parking spot to cave in and pay $70 pw for a spot in the garage below our building. I guess we're really paying for the convenience but it's still a pretty hefty sum.
Aside from our new car joys, i've had the joy of starting a new job. Many of you may have heard me around Christmas time crossing my fingers about the interview i'd recently gone on. Well as i think i've previously mentioned on here, i got the job and as of the 1st of February i started it.
There's something exciting about new things - whether its a new car, a new city or a new job - i guess it's the exploring - learning the in's and out's, how it all works and what to do and not to do. Even though i've been at the company for almost a year now i've really been finding myself learning so much. A lot of it's frustrating. I think i'm the kind of person who hates having to stop and ask questions. I want to know it all and get it all right and as much as i love the journey it's hard to have to go "sorry, i know you just explained that but can you explain it again"? Especially when words can blur together. In any event i'm really enjoying it. But it has me working slightly later and much harder than i was before. Which isn't really a bad thing but is just another excuse for why i've been neglecting to write in my blog. On the upside i can now talk like i know what's going on in the markets and even give you a quote for the stocks you want to buy (or just ask about). I'm also an expert on investment disclosure statements (don't ask - just believe me when i say work's been super, super busy lately).
Sadly tho i've had a few great friends leave work. For me where you work has a lot to do with the people because if enjoy the people who are around you, you will enjoy what your doing. You can do a job anywhere - what makes it special is who is with you. Said friends are still in town (although one is leaving soon to move back to Ireland) but it has still taken some getting used to.
Another fun recent event was the NZ Polo Open aka the polo. That's right i said *put on snooty voice here* the polo.
"the polo"
Victoria (who i work with) organised a great weekend - Saturday night was a party/BBQ at hers. Rather than face the challenge of who would drive home foresaking drinks for the evening we opted to camp in their back yard - we even had company with Rooney (another colleague) pitching his tent as well. Was a very good time. Sunday about 10 of us packed up in the drizzle and went to the polo (did you say that with a haughty voice?). We had a lovely picnic and had a big section right along the pitch. I have no memory of watching or ever going to polo so it was entertaining learning all the rules. Stomping divets, lots of porsches and the boys playing tennis racket cricket were just some of the highlights.
Taking a break from stomping divets to look pretty
The group of us
Aw..
Houghie and Rosie and baby Marshall came to visit us on their way out of New Zealand back home to Perth. They really did good - he's a cute kid. Which is good because it saves me the embarrassment of having to ever possibly go "wow what a cute kid" while i'm thinking the exact opposite. Luckily this is not the case with Marshall. We did Thai on the Friday night and unfortunately they brought the worst possible weather with them to Auckland. That Sunday we took them to Piha even though it was a bit grey in Auckland the weather out there was nice and sunny. Funny how just a 40 minute drive can bring about the exact opposite in weather.
Daddy and Baby Hough
That Sunday night the four of us went to the Lantern festival. The lantern festival holds a special place in my heart. It's one of the first activities/events we went to when we moved here last year. It's hard to believe that we've been here a full year - time seems to fly lately. As it was pouring the first two nights of the festival it meant that Sunday, the night we went when it wasn't raining, was completely packed. Tons of asia food in little stalls for blocks down a street and beautiful hand crafted lanterns. We had a really good time.
Lantern ninjas
Last weekend we went down to Managawhai heads which is about an hour an a half north of Auckland on the eastern coast. Unlike most of the other town's with a WH in them in New Zealand, Managawhai is not pronounced "main-ga-fai" like you think it should, but rather "main-ga-why" which is really confusing. Henry (who Matt plays footy with) and his fiance Sarah had rented a bach (kiwi speak for "beach house"). The remnants of another cyclone or something blowing past from Fiji hit Auckland so it was another weekend of pretty disappointing weather. We didn't let it stop us from going on a long beach walk and even going in the ocean (which was pretty cold and had a rip-current like you wouldn't believe). The evening was spent playing games and drinking and was throughly enjoyable.
Fun and games in Mangawhai
Matt and i had thought about looking to buy a house and while we're just as keen, we've decided to hold off a bit. The market is pretty volatile and with interest rates rising we're going to hold off just a bit longer (til people start defaulting on mortgage payments!).
And that brings us up to this week. I guess i don't have heaps more to say. The most exciting thing going on is that my family (mom + stepdad) are coming out to visit us in 2 weeks. While they're here we're taking a week off and all four of us are going down to the south island to see the scenery down there - Queenstown, Milford Sound, Fox Glacier (i'm going to see a glacier! How freaking cool is that!) and Christchurch. Trip aside i'm really really just looking forward to seeing them. It's been over a year now and given that i've never gone more than 6 months without seeing them, it's safe to say i miss them.
It's funny, i often find myself narrating what i'm going to write here as i'm walking around town. I'd mentally composed this lovely bit about how it is getting darker and cooler and that we're moving in to winter, but now that i'm writing this, it just doesn't seem right to put in. I guess thats just a fickle inner monologue for you.
In any event, i'll do my best to keep up writing so long as you all keep reading.
Lots of love,
Lindsay
