Some random observations

Ok, granted we’ve only been in Auckland 3 days (pop 1.2MM), but I thought I would point out a few observations. First, in Colorado there is a saying that goes something like ‘if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change’ – well that statement is much more accurate here. It has gone from rain to cloudless sky back to rain again within 15 minutes. We walked into a grocery store yesterday under cloudless sky and came out needing an umbrella.

Many have asked about the cost of living down here and I now know a bit more than before. One example that really hit home is contact solution – cost in US is about $3 and here it’s closer to $18 (US). Other grocery items come in much smaller volume (I’ve yet to see any super sized anything) and the choices are greatly limited (I think I recall only 4 brands of peanut butter). We’ve done a bit of car shopping (more details in our next post) and most used cars here are new to New Zealand but actually several years old as they have been imported from Japan (most have been heavily smoked in). It is also fairly cumbersome to get a credit card down here. Unlike the US where you just need to be able to sign your name and accept a free gift, you actually need to show that you have NZ income and an address here. We filled out the necessary paperwork and were surprised not to get a free t-shirt or duffel bag and immediate acceptance. Oh well, we’ll wait and see.

As for TV – we’ve been watching a lot of sport (tour de france, world cup) and local news. We did catch the NZ (or Australian) version of “Deal or No Deal” and it is definitely watered down compared to the US version. It’s basically played the same but without all the flash and exaggerated drama. First the top price is $200k (about $120k US). The set looks like it is from a 70’s game show. The briefcase “ladies” are regular folk rather than models – if they guess how much is in the case they are holding, they get $1000. There is no “banker” sitting in a glass box high above the set that calls down and supposedly exchanges words with the host – rather an amount just flashes on screen. Finally, the contestant finishes within the show’s half hour as opposed to the hour of drama in the States that results in a cliffhanger to the next episode. Of the two shows I’ve watched the contestant was very happy to walk away with around $15k (USD $9k).

Also we watched our first rugby match yesterday (All Blacks vs Wallabies) and after 80 minutes, I still have no idea of the rules. All Blacks (NZ team) did win 32-12.
We did find an "authentic" Mexican restaurant around the corner – we figure we’ll test it out over the next day or so. We bought tortillas at the store and they aren’t quite the same (didn’t think they would be considering they are made in Malaysia). We did find some tortilla chips that aren’t bad.
Next post we’ll discuss our car purchase.