Sunday, April 22, 2012

Settling in

Welcome readers.


We are settling in to our place in the Mount.  Beth is starting work at around 5 am Tues - Sat.  I am getting up at that time as well.  I generally start with some toast and tea.  Before heading out for a quick run.  Tues and Thur morning there is a group ride that leaves a couple blocks from the apartment.  From the flyer they ride about 1.5 hours, so I think I'll join up for a few rides to see how it goes.  I want to get a few kilometers under my belt before joining the Sat group ride as its a bit longer.  I don't have my legs under me yet as I didn't get the long rides under my belt back home.  You know the snow and all.  I am still looking for employment, but I have been in communication with one HR administrator about an opening they have.  They are working on their short list.  Hopefully I can make the list.

Everyday we have been busy exploring the Mount and surrounding areas.  I went out for a 30km ride to see more of the area.  I found a lot of cool little things that I will show Beth once she acquires a bike.  Otherwise, we spend a lot of time walking around trying to familiarize ourselves with the town.  Its not uncommon for us to explore this way.  As we walk we talk about past trips where we would wonder all day waiting for the next overnight train, ferry, or bus to take us to the next area for our exploration.  We have yet to take public transportation, but there is a bus system that circulates around the Bay of Plenty.  

A quick breakdown of what I sure will be our main staples are:
Nearest grocery store is about 2.5km away.  Along with a fruit/vege market and 2 more bike stores!
Farmer's market in the park a few blocks away open every Sunday, rain or shine. 
Post Office/Bank is about 4 blocks away
One Tree Bakery is about 6 blocks away.  Tasty treats and even tastier pies.
Butcher is about 7 blocks away
Bike store is about 6 blocks away
Beach less than 2 blocks away
Mauao is about 3 blocks away
Used book store is about 9 blocks away

This isn't to say that everything is peaches.  There are some complaints.  We are waiting to get our internet set up.  Beth needs to be connected on a reliable line for work.  Right now we are on the apartment complex's wireless and reception is about 1 bar and pretty unreliable.  Beth has been getting yanked around by the providers staff.  We don't know exactly when it is going to get installed.  Sometime between Tues and 7-10 business days from Thursday.  Awesome.  Our furnished place came with only 1 knife and it is dull.  The microwave pulls triple duty.  Microwave, conventional over, and grill.  Still trying to figure out the other two functions.  Minor complaints in the grand scheme of things, but I like to eat and I like to communicate in a consistent manner.

For those that want a post card send me your address. 
For those that want to send us anything, email me and I can give you our address.
For those that have questions, post them up.
For those that have recommendations, post them up.

1 comment:

  1. Finally got a chance to catch up on your blog! Let me know how long it takes for you to get your internet. We are presently looking at around a week or so, but people definitely take their time with any type of service in Germany. It sounds like you are having a blast! Keep posting!

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