A Very Kiwi Year - The Beginnings

Cameron and I have been in New Zealand about 4 days now. Our travels went fairly smoothly, all things considered. The only bump being that I forgot to request a vegetarian meal for the flight. We had a brief stopover in Hawaii, which was actually very nice. Much of the airport is outdoors which gave us a chance to breathe the fresh island air, and soak up a few topical vibes. The airport itself was a bit outdated - but in the most charming way possible, with tons of remaining payphone booths, wood paneled desks at each gate, and spin-around dial phones for the airline employees to use.

We landed in Auckland on Christmas around 9:40pm, but with customs, contacting our hotel to ask for a shuttle, and the check-in process, we did not get to our room at the hotel until midnight. It was certainly a relief to have arrived. Even nicer to have a place to go to sleep.

The next day I awoke earlier than Cam, at about 4:40am local time. I spent the next few hours researching cars. Buying a car was really our only motivation to stay in Auckland. While Auckland is a great city, big cities are not our preferred environment, so we wanted to get a car and get out. 

There was one dealership called GVI (Genuine Vehicle Imports) that I had discovered by google search while we were still in the states, and felt really good about. They had hundreds of positive reviews, both about their service (during and after the sale), and about the quality of their vehicles. They were closed for Boxing Day, so we went and visited a few other lots that were open. We found a couple promising options, but nothing that spurred us to immediately buy. The next morning, we were the first to arrive at GVI with a vehicle in mind that we had seen on their website. It was low mileage and was priced below what we were seeing that car sold by other dealers. We took it for a test drive and felt really good about it. The dealership was able to wrap up with WOF (Warrant of Fitness - this is something the New Zealand government requires annually. It verifies the safety and "roadworthiness" of a vehicle) and registration of the vehicle within 3 hours or so. 

Our car salesman, Darrin, recommended a place called Bastion Point to visit while we were waiting for the WOF to be done on our car. It was about a 20 minute drive from the dealership (we had a rental car that we were using for car shopping) and it was such a wonderful experience! We weren't expecting much, but Bastion turned out to be a full beachfront with a very cute downtown area with shops, restaurants and ice cream parlors. We spent just under an hour there and decided to return later that night for dinner. Auckland may be small compared to many US cities, but even so, it was amazingly refreshing to get out of the city, get to the beach, see the water, and the view beyond. 

The beachfront at Bastion Point. It was a nice, sunny day, and plenty of people were out to enjoy it.

The next morning, Cameron and I took a walk around the neighborhood of the AirBnb we had for Auckland. The neighborhood is called Hillsborough which is an amazing suburban part of Auckland. You would never guess the city is right around the corner. The streets are wide, the houses are huge (even by American standards they are huge), and everything is well cared for. We started our walk around 8:00am. The walk started with a light rain which was lovely and refreshing. I felt so much joy in the fresh air and listening to the unique bird singing - sounds of which we just don't get in the US. We had a blissful time walking around and seeing what the people had done with their homes. We joked that while some people enjoy "people watching", Cameron and I really enjoy "House Watching". It's just so cool to us to see what plants people have decided to landscape with, what colors people have painted their homes, whether they have a sun porch or any other added features, etc. We even found a little walkway down from the homes to a small beach called "Granny's Bay". The shore was almost entirely made of little shells. It was a really wonderful morning walk that was only cut short because of our deadline to return our rental car and start our drive to Hastings.

A picture of our cars on the street outside our AirBnb. Our rental car is parked on the left, our newly purchased car on the right.

Granny's Bay on our walk the last morning in Auckland. This was just minutes from our AirBnb. I loved how this tree was growing sideways over the shore,

The shore of Granny's Bay was made up of almost entirely little shells

Our drive down to Hastings/Napier (two separate towns about 15 minutes away from each other.) went without hiccup. Our new little car, a 2010 Nissan Note, did very well! Along the drive, we marveled at the landscape (as one must do when in New Zealand) for the entire 5 hour journey. As we arrived to the general vicinity of our destination we started to notice orchards, vineyards, and small huts along the way advertising the sale of Apricots, Nectarines, and Raspberries - 3 of my favorite fruits!! We didn't pull over because we had told our AirBnb host to expect us at 3:45 and we were running a bit behind, but we made point to return the next day. 

A shot from our drive down to Hastings. We got just a few minutes rain and afterward the road was steaming like this. At one point, the steam got so thick that we had to break and drive quite slow. Very similar to a foggy day. So beautiful!

Our AirBnb here in Hastings is spectacular. We are staying with a man called Grant in his 4 bedroom home. It is a new build with a nice kitchen and an incredible backyard. Grant is very nice, and since arriving we've spent quite a few hours chatting with him, relaxing in the backyard (he has a very nice patio furniture set). 

A shot of Grant's backyard which does not do justice to its glory!

Today, Cameron and I visited Napier, which was our true reason for coming to this area. We had discovered Napier while on our honeymoon - not because it was a place we visited, but because while we were on our honeymoon, we had turned on the TV and had seen an episode of HGTV Househunters. This particular episode featured a couple that was looking for a place to rent in Napier. We watched the episode and said "wow that place looks nice" but we just continued on with our prearranged travel plans (which did not include Napier). When we got back to the states, it was still on my mind, and I looked up that Napier episode of Househunters for us to watch again. After a bit more research we decided it was somewhere we definitely wanted to try out. And now... here we are.

So! Today, Cameron and I drove the 15 minutes to Napier and had a fantastic day. We made some sandwiches and ate them at the cutest little park just outside the downtown. Afterward, we strolled through the many shops, selling everything from groceries, clothing, and souvenirs, to jade, pottery, and furniture. After that we strolled along the beach. It was about 70 degrees today with a light breeze. Really gorgeous weather, but of course, I was still cold. *eye roll at myself*. We did get back to the fruit stands we saw on our drive in, and bought a tub of apricots (after being gifted an apricot each to taste!) for $4 New Zealand dollars (roughly $2.70 USD). A steal! And delicious! 

We feel this is a place we would love to live. If we found jobs, we'd be very happy to stay. We have learned from various sources that Kiwi's take a long break around this time of year. They combine Christmas and New Years and businesses will close solidly through both. We are only booked at our AirBnb through the 11th of January and we are worried it will not be enough time after businesses re-open to look for jobs. Therefore, we may choose to extend our stay here to job-search. 

A prettily maintained fountain downtown Napier.

We are starting to feel more and more established, but of course jobs and a place to live are the biggest hurdles on the horizon. We will see what happens, but we are determined to enjoy the adventure along the way (New Zealand makes that part easy!).

We will continue to update as things happen.

We think of you all all the time. We see something beautiful and wish that you were all here to see it and marvel at it with us. Let me know if you have any questions about our travels so far. 

Until next time!

<3 Claire and Cameron