It's been awhile...

...and that's all I'm going to say about that! We are now in Auckland, NZ and the adventure continues.
We arrived at the Chifley Suites which on first glance looked a bit rundown and old but now after having been here a few days is actually pretty nice. After taking 20 minutes to check in while Abby is melting down because she is so tired, we head up to the lucky 13th floor. I don't believe in superstitions and I'm just happy to be high up in the building so up we go. Will we have a nice balcony to sit on with a good view? The excitement builds. Unlocking the door and stepping inside we reveal a clean, nicely furnished albeit mostly gray, two bedroom, two bathroom, teeny tiny apartment. I realize just how small it is when I get up this morning and literally take 5 steps to get from my bed to the couch, and I've also gone through the kitchen! It's small but nice and the three of us do well in small places. I used to consider our house in Philly small...HA! A peek out on the balcony and it seems to me that something has gone wrong in the design process of this building. It's not quite a juliet balcony where there's a door that you just look out of, you can actually step out onto it. But, if you had feet any larger than mine, you might not fit. I'll miss our nights talking and drinking out on the balcony in Sydney.

A few other oddities exist in the place and I find that they make me laugh every time I encounter them. The window in the lounge has a little toggle switch that you hold on open and the window slowly and mechanically (and loudly!) cranks open. The little sign on the window amuses me, "This window may operate at anytime and must be kept clear at all times". I imagine sitting on the couch on a cold night and the window decides it's time to crank open. Brrrr...In actuality it's part of the smoke evacuation system for the building but I enjoy the sign and hope it never opens on its own.

Now, for the bathrooms, there's two of them, but neither with a bath. Which poor Abby is not too happy about and neither am I. I enjoy my showers, turning them really hot and just standing there. Now, my showers are luke warm if that and I have Abby holding on to my leg yelling, "turn it off!" I think I may just start taking two showers a day. One with Abby for cleaning purposes and one by myself at night for relaxing. We shower in the 2nd bathroom. Jason, who showers in the master (I use that term lightly) bath, really should think about ditching that one and heading to the 2nd bathroom for his showers. The master bath is shaped like a triangle and the hypotenuse is probably only three feet long...and that's the longest side of the triangle for those of you that didn't pass geometry. I can hear him banging his elbows and dropping stuff all over the place every morning.

And lastly, the kitchen. It's going to be a challenge that's for sure. The first is that the fridge (which is perfect size for Abby) only fits about two days worth of food. Then there's the stove which only has two electric burners and then the cookware which consists of one pan and two pots. I think I will be able to work with what we have but it might not taste so great, especially since it's not a non-stick pan. I don't understand these pans and I am terrible at cooking with them. Maybe that smoke evacuation window will come in handy after all.

Tuesday, the 12th of April was Jason's first day of work here and my first day out in a new city alone. Just like we did in Sydney, I packed some lunches, threw a bag together (don't forget the map), and headed out. We stepped outside mid-morning and found that it was a beautiful day, lucky us! Abby told me, "It's chilly" so we stopped to put on coats. One thing that Sydney has prepared me for is to pack everything when going out for the day. So, I had coats, sunhats, umbrella, extra shorts and t-shirt, the list goes on and the bag is big. We walked down Albert St. towards the water as there is always an indescribable pull towards the water. It was the first thing I wanted to see in this "city of sails". We arrived on Quay Street at the ferry wharves and I was a bit disappointed. Looking back I realize my expectations were unrealistic coming from Sydney where at the ferry wharves you have the Opera House to one side and Harbour Bridge to the other. But the ferry building was beautiful and had cute cafes that I will have to stop at to indulge my coffee habit. We were now out in full sun and it felt great; the coats came off and the hats went on. There was also quite a bit of construction down on the wharves. Normally I would enjoy stopping to see what they are working on and hopefully file away some detail for use when I am back at work, but it just killed the view.

We continued on our walk with both of us walking now. This is usually how the day goes, Abby lasts about 10 minutes in the stroller/pram/buggy/push-car and then wants to get out and walk herself. So, I race to get where we are going and then let her out and we travel at about 1/10th the speed and I push the stroller next to her. I have to give her credit though, she loves to walk!

We arrive at Viaduct Harbour, what used to be the commercial harbour of the city but has been transformed with upscale cafes and apartments and a beautiful waterside walkway. It was also the site of the 2000 America's Cup which everyone seems super excited about but I'm not even sure what that is...some sailing race I imagine. But how, after 11 years are they still all pumped up about it?

Heading back to the apartment to be sure that Abby gets her afternoon nap, we walk through the city and in the shade of the buildings Abby lets me know again that, "it's chilly". So, coats go back on, only to come off when we get back inside. It was a good first day and I'm sure there will be many more to come.