Auckland, and more Auckland, well car shopping really

Well it took a few days, but John and I finally bought a car! We were hoping to be on a ferry last Saturday, but instead, we are going tonight from the ferry!

So here is a brief synopsis of all the play by play action. We continued to enjoy staying at Lois and Steves’ (perhaps a little too much….got pretty comfy), and they continued to entertain us. Lois took us to Piha on the West Coast one day, which is a very scenic beach, but very dangerous! Luckily, it was not too warm out so we skipped going in at all – much to my dad’s delight, I’m sure.

Also, I have found a bond with Steve – he does not enjoy dogs too much, but more importantly, he scrapes mold off of food like me and eats it still! Here is a picture of us celebrating the mold on this hummus.

John and I had a harrowing few days debating cars, it was quite stressful. We actually ended up getting some late night advice on facebook from Uncle Bart via his daughter Sara’s instant chat – and we went with this lovely Suburu wagan! Yah!

Mostly thought, we have just been enjoying “trade me” the new Zealand equivalent of craigslist, went on a few runs around the field in our hosts’ backyard, also to a park where I saw some beautiful rosellas (look up a pic on the internet – they look like parrots! I didn’t have my camera on me), making stir-fry for our hosts, and getting to play with the grandchildren. Trinity street quickly became our home and we had to force ourselves outta there!

Also, last night John and I met up with Liam. He is a guy I messaged via myspace several years ago when I was considering a move to New Zealand and he and his friend Jerry gave me all sorts of advice. We then just stayed internet pals through facebook and myspace, and decided we had to meet up. He is an awesome guy – we all made stir-fry again together and went and got a beer at a pub that had a fireplace and couches! I have been looking for a pub in the Northwest with a fireplace next to couches and I have failed miserably, so needless to say I was pretty thrilled.

Here is a pic of me with a lovely flower in my hair.

So we are getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road, figuring out interesting things like barley is sweet and meat pies and cordials, and driving about 9 hours to jump on a ferry to the South Island. We are having a blast, praying we can stay on top of our funds and will write soon!

(we will be adding pictures later - we have some exploring to do at the moment)!