Life back in New Zealand...

Hi Peeps (and Peepettes),

I think and adequate amount of time has passed for me to be able to deliver an adequate summation of life in NZ so far. I've been at Auckland uni for five weeks so far, and so am in the midst of hard study. Lauren and I have finally moved into a beautiful little studio apartment which lies a mere stones throw (literally - 50 metres) from my Law lecture theatre, and I have new Gainful employment as a part-time underwriter for IAG New Zealand.


So, without further ado, here's the good and bad...

THE GOOD:

• Being back at uni rocks -seriously, being a full-time student is one of the cushiest things one can do without feeling too guilty
• This country is gorgeous. Even the crappy beach next to my parents house is stunning at dawn and dusk. The city is so green and feels so fresh that it just makes you want to get up at sparrowfart and go for a jog! (But I'd rather lie in bed)
• The food and the shopping. Not as bad as I was expecting it to be. We have a 'Foodtown' down the street from our new apartment that really puts the SUPER in Supermarket. Makes Piedemontes look like an old roadside street-merchant cart selling bags of fried dogshit. Apart from the lack of JB-Hifi and Ikea (Which will both be coming here soon!) New Zealand seems quite a reasonable place to live. Stuff is cheap,and the wages are fairly good in comparison

THE BAD:

• Mobile phone services. Bloody Vodafone and Telecom! Why the hell do I have to pay 89c a minute for mobile to mobile calls? Why is there no such thing as a cap plan? Why do I have to pay $30 for 200 off peak minutes. Honestly, what a piece of ass.
  
• The price of the Internet. GOD. It would be cheaper to string a phone extension cable from Melbourne than it would be to pay for net usage here. you see a trend? Right now I'm using Woosh wireless internet, which is pretty cheap, but as slow as a pig in super glue.
  
• Public Transport. I do not think it is acceptable to wait 45 minutes for a bus at midday! And all the bus services operate radially (ie. straight in and out from the suburbs to the city) so it's really hard to get from suburb to the city without a lengthy stopover in Auckland central.
• The Uni brats. Oh the short shorts, the tight little tops, the huge ambitions... I'm definitely out of step with the youth of today.... I mean I like the short shorts, but they can take their high school cliques and gossip..
• The humidity. Oh the humidity! It feels like I am in a sauna ALL the time! A short walk up a hill becomes a task of gargantuan proportions

THE LAME:

• Missing all my mates from Melbourne!