Novo stanovanje, novo leto, nove dogodivščine / New apartment, new year, new adventures

Veliko stvari se je še zgodilo v letu 2014. Prvič sva tudi okusila slavni novozelandski BBQ-party, na katerega so naju povabili kar najini gostitelji, ker sva bila dobra čuvaja hiše. Hrana je bila odlična, meni osebno se je zdelo, da je tukaj vse manj mastno in lahko, zelenjava, ki jo jedo kot prilogo je pripravljena čisto enostavno, brez nekih posebnih omak, a vseeno okusna in najini želodčki so bili povsem srečni.

A lot has happened in 2014 in NZ. Among other stuff we have tried the famous BBQ at our host family. The food was delicious, I found everything less greasy, lighter and at the end our tummies were very pleased.

Slavni NZ BBQ
Famous BBQ

Drug nov mejnik na najinem potovanju je bila selitev v novo stanovanje v Aucklandu. Tukaj bo zdaj najin dom naslednje 3 mesece.

The second milestone in our journey was moving into our new apartment (studio) in Auckland where we will stay for the next 3 months.

Jedilnica in spalnica/dnevna soba
Dining room/living room

S to odločitvijo sva ubrala povsem neobičajno pot za imetnika delovno-počitniške vize. Večina namreč prileti v Auckland in ga željni narave zapustijo že po nekaj dneh. Midva sva se odločila ostati, saj naju je mesto povsem očaralo. Ta pregovorna prijaznost se v tako velikem mestu še posebej pokaže. Do sedaj sva imela z vsemi ljudmi pozitivne izkušnje in tudi to nama daje nek zagon za naprej. In da ne boste mislili, da bova zdaj v betonski džungli. Uporabil bom kar besede ene od tujih blogerk: Ne glede na to, kje na Novi Zelandiji se nahajaš, vedno si največ 15 minut oddaljen od spektakularnega razgleda. In to drži tudi tukaj. Auckland in bližnja okolica ponujata toliko, da tudi če bi ostala pol leta, ne bi uspela videti vsega.

With our decision to stay in Auckland for so long, we have taken a rather unusual path for a WH-visa holders: most of the people that come here, leave Auckland in a couple of days but we have decided to stay because we are completely charmed by the city. Don’t think that we will be trapped in a city jungle; I will borrow some words of a well-known travel blogger: No matter where you are (in NZ), you are never more than 15 minutes away from a spectacular view. And this is true also here. Auckland and its surroundings offer so much that even if we would stay here for 6 months, we would not be able to see everything.

Pogled na Auckland iz North Head-a (Devonport)

A view on Auckland from North Head (Devonport)

S tem, ko sva se odločila, da bova ostala toliko časa, sva mogoče še bolj drzna kot ostali, saj je tukaj še težje priti do službe in vse je dražje, a verjameva, da nama bo uspelo, saj res želiva začutiti utrip tega mesta.

By deciding to stay here for so long we are maybe even more daring than the rest, because it’s harder to find a job here and everything is more expensive but we are sure that we will make it.

Albert Park v bližini najinega doma
Albert Park near our home

Pa še tri zanimive cenovne cvetke Nove Zelandije:

- najemnina za najino stanovanje (veliko 20 m2) znaša 880 EUR (s stroški) na mesec,

- škatljica cigaret stane 12,3 EUR,

- 1 liter bencina stane 0,72 EUR.

Naj vas najina najemnina ne zavede. Za primerjavo: najino stanovanje je novo, nahaja se v hotelu s petimi zvezdicami in je popolnoma opremljeno (razen skodelica za kavo je bila samo ena). Če bi najela staro, prazno stanovanje, približno 15 kilometrov ven iz Aucklanda, bi mesečno sicer prihranila okoli 120 EUR, vendar bi bila že zaradi nakupa jogija, kuhinjske opreme itd. na koncu celo na slabšem. Pa še ne bi bila v središču dogajanja, ki sva ga doživela tudi na novoletni večer. To bo ostala nepozabna izkušnja za vedno. Ulice so bile polne ljudi, predvsem mladih, a so bili vsi večinoma trezni, brez alkohola v rokah (ki je na javnih mestih prepovedan). Tudi o petardah ne duha ne sluha, edina stvar, ki je kazala na novo leto je bil ognjemet iz Sky Tower-ja. Ko smo že zajadrali v 2015, sva se hotela udeležiti zabave v enem od mestnih klubov, a me niso hoteli spustiti noter, ker sem bil v kratkih hlačah in natikačih. Le kaj sem mislil, da sem za novo leto skakal okoli na pol nag.

Three interesting price fasts:
- Rent for our apartment costs 1.320,00 NZ$/880 EUR per month;
- Box of cigarettes costs 20 NZ$/12,30 EUR;
- 1 litre of petrol costs 1,12 NZ$/0,72 EUR.

But don’t let our rent to mislead you. To compare: our apartment is new, it is placed in a 5-star hotel and it is completely furnished (with an exception: we got only one coffee mug). If we would have rent an old, empty apartment 15 kilometres outside of Auckland, we would have saved approximately 120 EUR per month, but at the end we would not save anything because we would have to buy mattress, kitchen supplies … And we also would not be in a centre of happening; how great this is, we have experienced it for the first time on a new year’s eve. We will never forget this night! Streets were full of people, mostly young people but they were all more or less sober, they didn’t hold any liquor in their hands (which is anyway forbidden on a public places). There was also no sound of firecrackers, only fireworks from Sky Tower. Funny thing happened after midnight: we wanted to go to a club, but I couldn’t get in because I was wearing shorts and flip-flops. What was I thinking, walking around half naked?

Zadaj je slavni ognjemet, kolikor sva ga uspela ujeti.
In the back you can see the famous fireworks, as we were able to catch it.

Statistika, verjetno običajna za novo leto v Aucklandu, je torej sledeča: en velik ognjemet, 0,0007% pijanih, štirje poki petard, 6 kadilcev, 0 incidentov in približno ducat policajev na najbolj "divjo" noč v 1,4 milijonskem mestu.

So, statistics, probably normal for Auckland on new year’s eve, is: one huge fireworks, 0,0007% of drunken people, 4 bangs from firecrackers, 6 smokers, 0 incidents and approximately 12 policemen keeping us safe.

Razgled iz najinega balkona

View from our balcony

Novo leto sva začela sveža, pripravljena na nove izzive in osredotočena na najpomembnejšo misijo: dobiti službo. V Aucklandski knjižnici sva odkrila možnost za brezplačen in "hiter" internet, s katerim si pomagava pri pošiljanju prošenj. In kakšen je trenutni odziv? Glede na to, da je tukaj praznični čas (ki traja od 20. decembra. do okoli sredine januarja) je odziv potencialnih delodajalcev vseeno boljši, kot pri nas med letom. Za eno službo so me zavrnili (ne še dokončno), ker naj bi bil moj CV, kot je rekel delodajalec: precej impresiven. Tukaj te torej zavrnejo tako, da dobiš zagon za naprej. Se nama pa obema z Nino obeta priložnostno delo sprehajanja psov in hranjenja mačk. Bova videla kmalu, kaj nama bo prineslo novo leto. Upava, da bo uspešno, nepozabno bo zagotovo. Enako pa želiva tudi vam vsem!

We started this year fresh, ready for new challenges and focused on our most important mission: to get a job. We found free and "quick" internet in a city library so each day we are sending numerous applications. And what is the current response? Even though it’s holiday we are getting many more answers than in Slovenia during the normal working time. I got a negative response for one job because my CV is "too impressive", as I was told by an employer. So, here you get rejected in a way that you are pushed forward. We also have the possibility to work as petsitters. We will soon see what is ahead of us. We hope that this year will be successful, for sure it will be unforgettable and we wish the same to all of you!

Auckland Domain

  

Auckland Domain še iz druge strani
Auckland Domain from the other side