March 1, 2007

Changing Locations

"Variety is the spice of life" so they say, so with that in mind I am preparing this weekend to put my bundle of my back once again and move to greener pastures. For the last six months I've been lucky enough to live in a really nice part of Auckland City called Mount Eden. For the most part, I've been pretty happy there - not too far from the centre, not too far "out in the wops", as the Kiwis themselves say! Living beside the rugby grounds meant that there was always something happening nearby, but in general the area had a sleepy, easy-going vibe to it that I really liked.
Still, it's nice to be embracing change again and living in a different area. This move works out quite well for me because I'll be living right beside work and I can just walk in every morning instead of sitting in the constipated city traffic for an hour! There's going to be more of a gender balance in this house too which I will REALLY welcome, I can tell you!
Not looking forward to packing though. Ugh! It's never a nice job. You'd think for a backpacker, that I'd have...well...just my backpack. But noooo. My belongings seem to have tripled in size since I arrived. Time for some pruning again!
Today is the first day of Autumn and you can feel it in the air. The leaves are starting to fall now and it almost feels as if I'm back in Ireland some days. Autumn has always been my favourite time of year and I'm looking forward to doing some treks here once it cools down. One big thing on my list of NZ Must Dos is the Tonagriro Crossing, so I"m going to have to try and wangle a day off work to accomplish that. At Easter Weekend, myself and Joff are heading North for a few days which i just can't wait for. Auckland is just dull, sorry Auckland, but it's true. The real attractions of NZ lie outside its towns and cities (for me anyway).
So, now it's off home to get stuck into cleaning and dusting and packing.......