Previewing Auckand, Kawau Island

Change is afoot, and I will soon be moving to Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand (but not the capital - that's Wellington). Lots of people in Christchurch complain about Auckland being too big and crowded, and the traffic being bad, but relative to California traffic, it's really nothing, and the big size means it has a lot of stuff to do, most of the touring concerts and things only go there, etc. Auckland has around 1.66 million people, which is more than 1/3 of the country's total population, and that percentage is set to increase. Although the government tries to encourage people to live and work elsewhere, it's hard when that's where most of the businesses are, so the strategy isn't working very well. It's also quite ethnically diverse, with 23% Asian and 15% Pasifika peoples living there, in addition to other ethnic groups. 

I'm looking forward to a change. It will be more crowded and more expensive, but the trade-off is a bigger, more bustling city, with more to do, and new people to meet. The university environment here has grown stale, and when you're not growing anymore or being challenged, I think a change of scenery can be good. Plus, it will give me new stuff and new parts of New Zealand to write about! :)

I went up for a visit recently and rented a car, and was surprised that they gave me an upgrade to a brand new car (only 13km total on the odometer). I had never heard of a Toyota C-HR, and it was a bit cramped and had lots of blind spots, but it was definitely sporty and cool to drive one straight off the lot. The back doors open from the top, like some futuristic car. 

Speaking of cars, I need to give an update on my own car. I decided to sell my Subaru Legacy and upgrade to a Subaru Forester, which is the number one car in New Zealand. I sold the Legacy to a German backpacker who was happy with it, and I am very happy with my new one. It feels so luxurious to have a newer car with modern upgrades, like heated seats and a sunroof, plus Bluetooth and computer safety features. It also has a tow bar for the move north to haul stuff.

Back to Auckland...there was a cool night food market with lots of stalls and choices. I tried something new at a South African place - it was a really tasty marinated steak sandwich - then got cheesecake in a cup and a piece of peanut butter chocolate cake. 

There are way more birds in Auckland, which is great, and you can hear the tuis and see the wood pigeons in town - you don't have to go out of your way for an encounter. They're hard to photograph since they like to move when you get your camera ready, but I got a couple with the zoom. I can't wait to get to hear tui every day.

I took a ferry out to an island called Kawau Island, which is supposed to have some Australian animals there (wallabies and kookaburras), but unfortunately I just got to see the peacocks and other normal birds. The hike was nice though, and the views looking over the ocean were great. There were some remains from mining there too.

I also finally got to try the chocolate-covered ice cream bar that has been advertised in Christchurch but that I haven't been able to find at the grocery stores. Apparently it is just sold in individual packs at the dairies (convenience stores). It was butterscotch popcorn and it was delicious. Definitely worth the $4.50 price!

In Christchurch, I haven't done much besides tutoring and preparing for the move. You are reminded how much stuff you have accumulated over the years and what a pain it is to haul it around with you. I'm trying to clear out stuff, but I won't part with my books. There was a pop-up Krispy Kreme store at the mall for two weeks and when my coworkers said they had never had one, I had to get some for them. You couldn't just buy a couple though, so I got a whole box and got to eat a bunch of the leftovers myself. They taste just like I remember - so yum.

I also went out for a friend's birthday to a Chinese restaurant that serves dim sum for lunch, which I hadn't ever had before. They are like tapas in Spain - little plates with just a few items, and you order a bunch of them and share. It was a good new experience and different from the other restaurants we've been to - there was more gelatin in the dishes and thicker coatings, but the flavors were good. We ordered one Chinese-style dessert, which was glutinous rice in a carrot-shaped breading. I thought it was cute so snapped a photo of that one.

Hobart, Tasmania

From Melbourne, we traveled across the Bass Strait over to Hobart, Tasmania, which is the big island underneath mainland Australia. The high temperatures were in the 10-12 degrees C range (50-53 F) and lows hovering around 5 degrees C (41 F), just above freezing! Fortunately it was mostly sunny and not very windy, with a couple light rain showers. That made traveling in winter a lot more tolerable.

flying in to Hobart

Hobart was home to some interesting artsy pieces in seemingly unlikely places. And we arrived on the final days of one of the weirdest events, their annual Dark MOFO festival (an abbreviation of the Museum of Old and New Art [MONA] and Festival of Music and Art [FOMA]), which is a wintertime week-long festival. Sunday evening there was a large procession of people walking in the central city with a couple floats, one of which -- the ogoh-ogoh creature -- was to be burned (to dispel the bad spirits?). We waited around but it was freezing and there was no indication that the chanting and drumming were actually leading to something, so we gave up and left. Apparently a couple hours later it finally was burnt. It was one of the strangest things I've been to and confirmed that I was not interested in going to the MONA museum, even though several people in NZ had recommended it. We're not that into modern art, and we didn't have extra time in the schedule to take the ferry out to it.

close-up of the ogoh-ogoh (looked like a dragon)

the procession of the ogoh-ogoh through the city's edge

The conference over the next several days went well, and Hobart had some beautiful (albeit very cold) nights, being on the waterfront with the moon rising.

Fish Frenzy's fried food was just average, though the
Caesar salad was good.

Tried a Panookie (cookie in a pan with ice cream and marshmallows)
at an all-day dessert restaurant