Moved in Saturday am. Miranda and Stuart have worked really hard making it lovely for us. It’s a little bit bare and needs pictures and more odd bits of furniture, but is just great for us, and I’m keen to personalise it with our own bits (bought from charity shops of course). Only problems are that it is a little bit dark and quite cold, but certainly the latter problem will be a benefit when the hot weather comes. They stayed and chatted for ages about things to do and places to visit as well as how to work the washing machine etc. Then finally left and it was all ours. Mike said he should have carried me over the threshold.
Charity Shop Update
I’ve now discovered some smaller charity shops within Auckland, I guess the big warehouse ones are on the outskirts and smaller shops, more like UK ones, are dotted around the different inner city districts. There’s one group called the Mercy Hospice Shops which remind me of H&D in that there a bit more stylish than the rest with nicer stuff. I can definitely see myself volunteering with them . . . not just yet though.
The Auction, 14 November
I went to an auction yesterday (it’s on every Monday). Never been to one before and didn’t have a clue to start with, but what fun it was! There’s just loads of furniture in a large warehouse space with just about everything you could think of in terms of household stuff. It took 2.5 hours to auction everything and I bought 4 things for a total of $120 (about £60). A good solid coffee table for our lovely front room, a small table, a mahogany bedroom chair, and a lovely green teapot which I couldn’t resist. If I’d been pricing it in H&D I reckon it would have totalled £180 (though I did have a reputation there for upping the prices a bit). So I think I may become a regular. The funniest bit was when Mike appeared over by the entrance to collect me after his football training: I waved at him in greeting and the auctioneer thought I was making a bid of course.
The Swim, Beachlands, 13 November
We explored the southern east coast of Auckland on Saturday and as I knew the water was warm we took our cozzies. Found a lovely beach with a few people in the water so went for it. Ended up in a bit of a pickle because we hadn’t realised how shallow the water is here, so you have to go out miles to get deep enough to swim. Guess that partly explains why its so warm. It was also low tide which didn’t help. The beaches are deceptively pretty here with loads of shells and little pebbles. Trouble is once you’ve taken off your shoes it becomes almost impossible to walk them because of the jagged surface. So there we were, like a couple of old women holding onto each other trying to get into deeper water. I’m ashamed to say we aborted the attempt after 10 mins and went to buy an icecream instead.
The Weather
The seasons seem to change 2 or 3 times a day here so I end up changing my clothes all the time. I’m struggling with the wind, it has to be said. Now I know why all the women have their hair either tied back or cropped short. Because if, like me, you have mid-length hair you step outside the door and immediately look like you’ve been dragged through a bush backwards. The bright bright sun is a quite relentless but sun screen and dark glasses help a lot.
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