savory muffins

This past week has been all about business – getting a bank account, applying for a tax id, getting a cell phone,  figuring out the public transit system, getting lost, meeting work contacts,  and looking for/buying a car (and eating savory muffins for breakfast). With all those things finally taken care of, I drove away in my new-to-me 96 toyota corolla station wagon a little after 5pm on Friday. Excited about the freedom of having my own wheels again, I began thinking about a weekend trip I could take. I had put one of my bags in storage at my work permit office, which wouldn’t be open again until 9am Monday, so I couldn’t stray too far. There is a wonderful surfing community black sand beach only 1.5 hours from here – sleeping on the beach here I come. But I eventually realized that ALL my camping gear, and my bathing suit, was in the storage bag.

Of all the things I’d accomplished this week, nothing excited me more than scoring a FREE PARKING SPOT IN THE MIDDLE OF DOWNTOWN FOR THE WHOLE WEEKEND! Riding that high, I finally resigned to the fact that I’d be stuck in Auckland (no way was I gonna  leave that parking space) and I realized it was time to really enjoy the city for the first time since I’d been here. So I grabbed my sweet little French roommate and we went off into the night to search for some live music. We walked into this bar and stumbled into Austin, Texas… with kiwi accents. While my little French girl seemed to feel out of place amongst the mutton chops and pearl snaps, I felt perfectly at home. The rockabilly band was pretty decent and after their set I thanked them for bringing a little Texas down here. They gushed at the compliment and we talked for an hour about their experiences touring the southwest united states.

I woke up this morning excited about  not having anything to do today. So I went for a run,  had a fantastic breakfast at the wharf, and I think I’m gonna go check out Christmas in the park this afternoon.

One of the work contacts I met this week invited me out to the island he lives on, about a 30 minute ferry ride from here. It’s supposed to be beautiful so I’ll probably go out there tomorrow. This guy is a trip. He is a native kiwi, ex-local 80 brother,  and the inventor of cable-cam. He moved back to NZ about 3 years ago to live on this island and fish for his breakfast. When I walked into his shop he was making what was essentially a gas powered post hole digger out of a chainsaw and an outboard motor, wearing flipflops and overalls, no shirt. Why should I be surprised ? ;)

love and savory muffins (oh how i love savory muffins)