Hello Auckland

We made it!! Two of the longest flights we’ve taken....we arrived bleary eyed but ready to kick start our honeymoon and begin our year of travelling.

First things first.....DATA. We bought a cheap sim and a reeeeeeaaaaally rubbish burner phone from Vodafone. Easy.

One cheeky McDonalds breakfast later (breakfast here is so much more than just a muffin by the way.....#bigbrekkiebeefburger) and we were in an Uber on our way to our little Airbnb apartment for the next two weeks.

We were staying near Britomart, so great transport links and a super trendy area for drinking and eating.

We very quickly realised that it was pretty expensive to buy groceries.....and that often it worked out cheaper to eat out.....sooooo that’s what we do now.

Pretty quickly we jumped on Trade Me to find a place to rent for the next six months (you can find aaaaaaanything you could think of on trade me.....possibly even a new life partner if you wanted haha). We lucked out and fell on our feet with an awesome private landlord who offered us a fully furnished place. Anything that wasn’t already provided we scooped up at my new fave shop- Daiso. You gots to check it out!! It has everything you could think of and each item is $3.50 (or three things for $10).

So we’re now at the K road end of Queen Street, another sweet location. Carl sorted us WiFi with Freedom- up and running within an hour of moving in :) solid. We did need to chase them to get the speeds we were promised....but they have since delivered!!

Our electricity is through Powershop. Very highly rated and great customer service. No need to worry about gas.....as no apartments here seem to use that. And water is almost always included in the rent.

Most places in the city centre are walkable. But if you’re going to be training or busing around I’d get an AT HOP card for cheaper fares.

If you really don’t feel like walking or you’re running a bit late then grab an electric scooter from the street and rent it for a ride!! They are insanely speedy and can cope with the crazy hills too. There are many brands and my husband has tried and tested them all- Lime is easily the best.

And all too quickly we were starting work..... *sigh*