... is just like Valentine's Day in Canada but much warmer. Young (and old) lovers can stroll through town, have a picnic in the park or snuggle under a canopy of lush green leaves. And they do, everywhere. I have been too busy to really notice or care. The one thing that made me remember what day it is was the frantic, even panicked looked on the face of one young hopeful gentleman as he tried the door tof his local florist to find it locked. Poor sweetie looked downright devistateded as he paced around outside the darkened store in cicles before trying the gift shop next door and then the confectioners' next to that. All closed. He was totally perplexed. Well an hout later I saw this same young lover-to-be getting on the bus 2 stops down with a fetching young pretty on his arm who was carrying her bouquet of red mums. She had a look on her face that said she knew that mums were lots cheaper (and what they erally meant) than roses or any other flower he would have been better to choose. Worse still, she is oriental and there is a thing (can't remember what it is) about mums being seen as bad to orientals. If anyone erading this remembers or knows what I refer to please reply to me with details. Anyway, it did not seem like he was going to have the luck he was hoping for.
So yesterday and today were spent in desperate search of a place to live. Saw three places today. The first... no good for many reasons. It was a one hour trip on 2 buses out of the city centre and with a day pass it cost $8 for the round trip (full fare would have been $10.40) which is costly. Even if I only went into town 5 days a week that is $40 per week in transit fares. It was a 6 minute walk down the hill from the bus stop and 10 minutes up the hill. It was also not a very well kept place and they did not even try to cover that up by tidying up. I apologized to the fellow for taking up his time and explained that spending the money and time to commute was too much for me. He was quite nice about it.
Second place was great in what has become my favourite community so far, Ponsonby. It was a clean, bright, nice room in a modern building. The fellow who owns it is very nice and has great taste in furniture and seemed quite nice. BUT he wanted to have another few people go through and then he'll review all applicants and make up his mind tomorrow evening. OK, fare enough. So off I went to the third place.
Third was an interesting house owned by a 'now single' lady and she lives in as well. She has a young couple in one room (he is Italian and she is Chilean) that are here on a working holiday for a year and her son Christopher just recently returned home to start his career in TV and film. She has a big old dog, Skippy, who is the sweetest old dear, totally deaf, half blind but perfectly healthy otherwise. He has a good, healthy bark but is as gentle as a lamb. She wanted an answer soon as I was the first to come see the place and she had a bunch looking for appointments to see the place.
As I walked along Ponsonby Road I made up my mind. No to the first. No to the second because I would have had to buy too much furniture (bed and everything), the cost was higher and did not include 'expenses' which is what the kiwis call the utilities (water, electric, phone, gas) and I felt Simon was stupid to not just at the great opportunity of having me as a flatmate.
So I called Elaine and told her I would take the place. Walked back with a deposit and got the key. There is a very comfy, new bed in the room and Elaine sid she would supply linens and find a small bedside lamp for me. I move in tomorrow at my leisure as she and her son are off to visit her niece who has a new baby and want to leave in the early am. As I was leaving I saw a garage sale next door and checked it out. There was a perfect bedside table they sold me for $5 and the woman had her boyfriend carry it over to the house and up the stairs for me. So now I know the neighbours already.
It is a great neighbourhood. Very eclectic, artsy and trendy. A fab variety of architecture: old (as old as 200 years) and brand spanking new and everthing in between. The main road, Ponsonby Road, is lined on both sides with cafes, bars, little shops of all sorts, small green grocers, designer shops, art studios and TV & film production companies. Every Real Estate company in New Zealand is represented on Ponsonby including (knock me over with a feather) Reimax. One has a different name but the exact same logo as Royal LePage. Coincidence?
In Ponsonby, as in the rest of Auckland, one must go up and/or down a hill everywhere one goes. The people are friendly, polite and helpful. The population is a mix of eccentric artists, yuppies, students, middle-aged professionals, retirees and old folks of every shape, size, colour and nationality. People here have pets and walk the dog in the morning and afternoon. And the piece de resistance... there are street names like Sussex Street, Byward Ave. and Clarence Drive. My new place is on Richmond Road. So I feel very at home in this neighbourhood. If I have to I can walk to the Westhaven Marina but the Link Bus will get me 3/4 of the way there and the rest is just about a 10 minute downhill walk.
The Link Bus is actually a pilot project. It is a bus system entirely on the GPS tracking system. The buses are constantly tracked by GPS satellites and their location is updated and relayed to receivers along the line every 90 seconds. A display at these receivers (at about 75% of the bus stops) shows when the next three buses are due. They have recently decided to expand the system to the entire bus system of Auckland. It seems to be working very well most of the time. Of course the displays will eventually tell you what the next three buses coming are too. Right now the Link does a circuit around the city in both directions. It goes up and down Ponsonby and the nearest stop is at the corner of Ponsonby and Richmond less than a 2 minute walk from my front door. It is cheaper than the Stagecoach lines also.
Well I must go for supper now. On Monday the job search starts in earnest. Got to get my resumes ready to send out and fill in a bunch of applications I got last week. Tomorrow is a big day as I will be moving to the new place. Oh, yeah. The rent is $165/week. All rents here are weekly, even apartments and houses. The cheapest places are $120 but they are 'student' residences and usually advertise the friendly atmosphere or easy going attitude. They are almost always in a 'backpackers' and have a loud, smokey bar as a front lobby.
Must run.
Posted by gailene at February 14, 2004 06:32 PM