Mo' Money Mo' Problems

Hello again all! Another two weeks have gone by, and it's hard to believe that we have already been here for almost 2 months.  For those of you who haven't already heard, Kayleigh found a job! She is working as a waitress in a busy Irish pub kicking ass and taking names. (Still trying to convince her to blog about it, but she's apparently built quite a tolerance to my undeniable charm)    

If you couldn't tell from the title, today I'm going to be talking to you about money, so if numbers aren't your thing then consider yourself warned.  Now that we've gotten into a day to day rhythem, we've been able to get a feel for the true cost of living here in Auckland and it turns out things are not as they seem.  It is quite easy to get sticker shock when coming to Auckland for the first time, what with gas at about $2.15* per liter (1 gallon ~ 4 liters), milk at $2.50 per liter, and a couple of burgers with a soda from a local joint coming in at $25.  That's not even considering the absolutely outrageous prices on clothing and consumer electronics.  Compared with the low, low prices in America I thought we'd blow through our cash in no time.  Then something unusual happened.  While Kayleigh was still looking for a job, I was able to cover all of our daily living expenses as well as put away a few hundred dollars a week on my income alone!** That was something that would have been totally impossible for us while living back home (Just imagine, a couple being able to live on one income.  What is this, the 1950's!?)

Now me being me, I had to figure out why this was.  Last Friday night I was invited to a friend's house where I met a guy hailing from good ol' Danville, CA.  Would you believe, he also turned out to be an economist? He has been working in New Zealand for the last 5 years and confessed that he was similarly confused when his girlfriend had been out of work for a short time.  Needless to say, we got right to work trying to sort this problem out, and what we (mostly he I admit) worked out was this: The pricing structure in New Zealand is very transparent, whereas in the US it isn't.  For example: In the US when you walk into a restaurant to buy a meal, the sticker price is very low which leads you to believe that the food is cheaper than it truly turns out to be.  When you go to pay your bill you need to pay an additional (8-10%) tax on what was advertised AND a (10-20%) tip to your server making the total cost about 20-30% more than the advertised price.  This would put prices more in line with what you'd pay in New Zealand (if not higher), only in New Zealand there is no tip and tax is included in the advertised price, thus, more transparency.  

Now I don't mean to say that nothing in New Zealand is more expensive than it is back home (you still can't explain the ludicrous price on name brand clothing and electronics this way) and a restaurant is a rather special example because of the tip, but there are a few other factors that come into play here:

-While the things you have to deal with on a daily basis are pricey, monthly costs like cell phone service are surprisingly affordable.  For unlimited calling, texting, and 200MB of data on our iPhones we were paying $70USD per month per phone back home, where here for roughly the same deal we pay only $20 per phone per month.  Another example is car insurance, which is roughly $20/mo for basic liability for people under 25.   

-Minimum wage is higher, at $13.75/hour

-Sporadic costs like bank fees or parking tickets (yes…we've gotten one) are astronomically lower ($15 as opposed to >$60USD)

-Rents are cheaper.  We live in the biggest city in the country within a 30 minute walk to downtown and pay $1000/mo for a bedroom in a two bedroom house with a yard.  (Compare this to say, San Francisco or New York)

It can be a bit hard to pinpoint exactly where, but there is no doubt that at some point the balance DOES get tipped in New Zealand's favor, and that's no problem for me at all.    

Kiwisms:

poncy = stuck up, snobbish

twink = white out

eraser = rubber

to erase something = to rub it out (I laughed uncontrollably for several minutes the first time I heard this)  

*All prices in New Zealand Dollars unless otherwise specified.  Current exchange rate at about $1 NZ = $0.77 US

**With the caveat that I was making marginally more money here than I was back home (something to the tune of about $0.50USD/hr more). 

Rugby Romp

Before coming to New Zealand, I remember reading a guide saying that there were really only three essential things necessary to survive in New Zealand.  First and foremost was an enthusiasm for rugby, or the ability to fake enthusiasm for rugby.  Last Saturday marked the first game of the 2013 Rugby Union season when New Zealand's team the All Blacks faced off against their rival, France at Eden Park Stadium just a short drive from where we live.  To give you a little background, this was the very team and stadium where France and the All Blacks faced off in the final game of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand.  The All Blacks emerged victorious and it was a proud day for all kiwis.  The parties must have been epic.  

This comparably insignificant game still had the stadium packed nearly to capacity and brought with it all the rambunctious fandom you would expect from a high stakes football game in the States.  But if you think American football makes people go bonkers, hear this:  Our roommate Ryan who is a policeman informed us that when the All Blacks lose a game domestic violence calls increase by 60%! As we settled into the living room drinks in hand to watch the game, something unusual happened.  A lady began to sing the French national anthem.  Naturally, I inquired about this and it was explained that here in New Zealand the other team is allowed to sing their national anthem first out of respect.  I guess the sport isn't as uncivil as it first appears. After both anthems were sung the All Blacks performed a Haka dance which is a Maori dance traditionally used to intimidate a rival tribe before battle.  This really seemed to rial up the French and the game commenced.

It quickly became apparent to me that while similar to American football, it is much faster paced and therefore much more compelling to watch.  Sorry football fans.  Rugby Union games are 80 minutes long with no clock stops and no real stopping between plays.  There are 15 players on each team and it is played on a field almost exactly the same as a football field.  There are no quarterback or receivers.  Instead you can only pass the ball laterally or backward while rushing towards the end zone.  A play is over when the man with the ball is tackled or brought down by the opposing team whereby a sort of dog pile is formed on top of the player with the ball in an attempt the wretch the ball from his hands. Once the ball is taken or he successfully rolls it to one of his teammates the game continues.  It really is just as brutal as it sounds; even more so because they do not wear any pads.  Not even cups.  Ryan was telling me stories of a few guys who had testicles smashed and still went out to finish the game.  

By about thirty minutes into the game it wasn't looking good for the All Blacks, who were performing sloppily and trailed by 4.  Luckily for women across New Zealand, they came back and soundly defeated France 23 to 13.

Kiwisms:

keen = committed/eager/into it/down (e.g. I'm keen to go snowboarding this weekend)

camp = a really polite word for gay

hori = ghetto/rough/unsophisticated (roughly equivalent to trailer trash)

Glowworm Galaxies

The next day we woke up before sunrise and drove back to the highway before making our way to Waitomo.  Waitomo is a tourist town famous for its huge system of caves, particularly the glowworm caves.  Calling them glowworms is really quite misleading, as they are actually cannibal maggots with glowing poo.  They use the glow to attract any cave bugs that are unlucky enough to get stuck in their sticky silk strands that hang from the ceiling before devouring them whole.  Eventually they cocoon themselves and emerge as flies with no mouths whose soul purpose is to mate and after about three days they die of starvation.  For being vile little creatures with such brutish lives, they sure do make a cave look prettier.

I can't believe the camera actually picked them up

The tour got off to a great start when we went to check in and found out that due to a clerical error, our reservation had already been paid for and so we gained entrance free of charge.  The first cave we toured was Ruakuri Cave and we practically got a private tour because of how early we went.  The man made entrance to the cave was something straight out of a Star Trek movie.  It was there we got our first introduction to the glowworms and got to see some awesome cave formations.  After that we toured Aranui cave which had halls much larger than those in Ruakuri Cave and we got to see a few cave wetas (big bugs).  With the way the cave had "shelves" and the way they had the lighting done, it felt like we were being led into a sacrifice chamber straight out of a movie.  The third and final tour, and the real highlight  was the Glowworm Cave.  It is by far the most famous (and subsequently most touristed) of the three caves.  The tour starts with the group being led down into what is known as the cathedral which is known for its great acoustics.  Every year the Maori tribe who owns the cave holds a sermon and concert in the cave and it's supposed to be spectacular.  Later we were brought down to the lower level of the cave where we boarded a small boat and were prompted to remain silent while we glided through the water with hundreds of glow worms lit overhead like little stars.  It was quite a sight to behold, and when we emerged from the cave into the forest I felt enchanted and refreshed.

The following day we took our final tour of the weekend, back to the Ruakuri Cave, but this time instead of a walking tour we were black water rafting.  After we suited up into our wetsuits we entered the cave, this time through a barely visible hole where the river enters the cave.  The water was very, very cold, but we soon forgot about that as we squeezed through a low overhang and into a small chamber where we walked through a gushing underground waterfall.  The river gradually got deeper until our awesome Maori guide prompted us to turn off our headlamps and get into our tubes.  From that point on we floated in the darkness staring up high overhead at the many glowworms while he serenaded us with an assortment of famous Disney tunes like In the Jungle, A Whole New World, and even the Titanic theme song.  The way it echoed through the cave was magical.  Near the cave exit our guide explained to us that he would now leave and it was up to us to find our way out of the cave on our own in the darkness.  This of course, was a joke. We continued to silently drift downstream unguided to the cave opening and again emerged enchanted and refreshed. 

After a hot shower and a complimentary bagel and soup, we decided to go check out some sites further down the road that our guide the day before had recommended to us.  We passed a sign on the way mentioning that there would be no gas for 100km.  This is something very strange about New Zealand infrastructure that I have yet to mention.  There doesn't seem to be many gas stations, even on the main highways.  On the way to Waitomo from the DOC campground we almost ran out of gas and had to take a 20 minute detour to find a gas station.  Another thing worth mentioning is that instead of being a grid, their highway system seems to be more like a tree with tons of small branches connected to a primary highway.  When you're trying to get from one place to another this can make things a bit tricky and take much longer than you might think since there is often no direct route.  To compound it all there are tons of hills and mountains which makes New Zealand roads windy and slow going.  

We closed out the day by driving to Marokopa Falls and Natural Bridge before the three hour drive through beautiful country back to Auckland.  Kayleigh and I both agree it was the best day we've had.  

Even the farmland is beautiful

Kiwisms for today:

alcoholic = pisshead

drunk = on the piss/pissed

There and Back Again

The last weekend of May in the States is usually spent together with friends and family around a BBQ or out on a mini vacation for the long Memorial Day weekend.  Here in New Zealand however, we were busy working that weekend.  It was the following weekend however, that we got our chance to escape for a long weekend to celebrate the Queen's birthday.  Woooo Queen!  So we capitalized on the opportunity and headed out to check out the Lord of the Rings filming location for Hobbiton.

The site is on a big ranch on the outskirts of a small New Zealand town called Matamata and it's no surprise why they chose that site to build the town of Hobbiton.  It is tucked away in the beautiful rolling green hills of the ranch and it is a fairy tale landscape if I've ever seen one.  We began the tour by walking through the little gap where Froto met Gandolf as he rode into Hobbiton.  As we walked through the set with our guide, she explained all the painstaking effort Peter Jackson and the crew went through to make sure every detail was right, and some of the movie magic that went into filming.  There were apple trees that were completely de-leafed and re-leafed with plum tree leaves and fruit.  There were all kinds of hobbit holes of every scale, all of which were little more than 2D fronts and opened up into a few feet of space before dirt.  All the indoor areas, including that of Bag End, were all filmed in Wellington.  I'm sure we will tour the studio when the time comes.  As the tour came to a close we walked passed the party tree and across a bridge into a totally recreated Green Dragon Pub where we had a cider and sat next to the fire while listening to the celtic music playing.  It was a great day.  The night however, was a different story.

Cider in the Green Dragon Pub

That night we had to drive about an hour and a half to our campsite, an hour of which was off the highway on unsealed roads.  It was a bad time to realize that Velma's headlights were in terrible need of replacement.  Picture being in the woods in the middle of the night with nothing but a cell phone to light your way.  Needless to say, a good chunk of that hour was spent slogging through the darkness at a snails pace and yet still managing to miss every turn as it came up.  When we did finally arrive at our lakeside campsite we were exhausted and starving and I was more than a little grumpy.  It was freezing and pitch black, and not a good time to for us to learn that we couldn't efficiently cook pasta with a gas cooker.  Eventually, we did get dinner sorted out (thank you Kayleigh!) and when we did get a chance to relax, I realized what a wonder the night sky was.  I've never seen so many stars, and the milky way stood out so clearly across it.  It was as if we were in a cave, looking up at a million tiny glowworms…oh wait, that was to be the next day, and you'll have to wait until tomorrow to hear about that.  Good night!

An Audience With the Mayor

How long have we been in New Zealand now? A little more than a month? Well, in that short time I've already found myself in an audience with the Mayor of Auckland, Len Brown and been on the local broadcast news channel.  What an up and coming star right? Pretty soon I'll be bigger than Justin Bieber!  Ok, so maybe this isn't all I'm making it out to be.  Last Friday, Len Brown came to the office of the Unitary Plan for a brief photo op, and the news cameras followed close behind.  I didn't get to shake his hand or anything, and I may or may not have been in the background of one of the news reels (Honestly I didn't watch the news that night, so I really don't know).  It was kind of cool nonetheless.  

There he is! The one on the left.

Other than that there isn't too much excitement in the office from day to day.  I'm basically doing the same thing I was doing back home, but with a different data set.  That being said, there are a number of things that make it a million times more enjoyable.  The office atmosphere is so much more laid back than back home and that goes a really long way.  The work culture here is more egalitarian and flat i.e., less authority driven.  Coming from my last job, I feel similarly to how I felt moving from high school to college.  Also, almost all the current team of data entry staff is college age temps from the same recruitment company, so we're all generally in the same state of mind.  It feels great to be working with my peer group again (no offense to anybody back at Webster).  I've already been able to make a few friends there. 

Well, I think that's enough talk about work eh? The next blog will be about fun stuff i.e., our amazing weekend at Hobbiton and Waitomo.  One more thing, I am just starting to break into the New Zealand music scene, so for all my music loving friends out there I do plan on doing a full post about it when I get more information.  As for now, I'll just say you should check Fat Freddie's Drop for some reggae/dub goodness, and The Dirty Sweets if you're in the mood for some Motorhead esq straight up rock and roll.  

Kiwisms for today:

-The slang word for crystal meth here in NZ is "P"

-University is just called uni

-A turd is called a nugget.  LMAO

An Office With A View

It's Friday (thank goodness) and I finally have some time this evening to sit down and talk with you all.  We had an awesome weekend last weekend and got to test out the camper van. Between that and the fact that I've been working 12 hour days since I got hired, I haven't had much time (or energy) to write any blogs.  A lot has happened since the last blog, and to avoid an incredibly long and unfocused entry, I'm going to roll these out one per day to catch you all up.  

Last Tuesday we moved out of our month long home, the Oaklands Lodge (great hostel btw if anyone is traveling to Auckland) and into a two bedroom house with our kiwi roomies Eden & Ryan and their black lab Daisy.  (177 Richmond Road, Auckland for those of you who want to street view it).  Our new roomies have been a great resource in familiarizing us with Auckland and New Zealand and have kept us laughing since we met.  Eden is a freelance graphic designer, while Ryan is a cop and they're both around our age.  We really look forward to hanging out and getting to know them better as time goes on.   

That only covers half of the big news, so as I mentioned above I got a call about 5pm the night we moved out of the hostel informing me that…I got a job! I was to start the next day bright and early at 8:30am (talk about short notice right?). Luckily the bus stop is literally a stones throw from both our new place and the office.  I'm working for the Auckland Council processing citizens opinions of the new draft Unitary Plan put forth by the council for the future growth of the city.  The donut shaped office has 360 degree views of the city and harbor from the 22nd floor of the ASB building downtown, about a block from the Sky Tower (135 Albert Street, Auckland).  It's a good thing the view is so nice, because I hadn't worked but for maybe 30 minutes before they asked if I could stay until 9pm and have been doing so most days since.  So I went from being unemployed for a month to a 12 hour days 5 days a week.  Don't mistake this for complaining though, one thing I haven't yet mentioned is that my hourly rate is more than I was making back home.  If you couple that with the overtime, I'm easily making more money than I ever have in my life.

A sunset view over the harbor from the office

Kayleigh hasn't had quite such good luck, but as you all know, she is a trooper!  She is still looking for a job, and she has had a few interviews so far, so let's all cross our fingers for a call back!

That'll do for today, but check in every day this week to hear about our amazing weekend, New Zealand food, music, some of the best kiwisms yet, AND…(drum roll)…Kayleigh's first blog!

The kiwisms for today are:

-In multi level buildings, the 2nd floor is called the 1st floor, 3rd floor is 2nd floor and so on.  This is due to their calling the bottom floor the "ground floor" as opposed to the "first floor" 

-The trunk of a car is called the "boot"