This is boutique shopping central. Tonnes more than in sydney. Lots of little independent stores selling unique products. Very niche. In fact with such a small population I wonder how they make any money. Lots of funky second hand stores and you don't see as many of the big franchises here.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Auckland radio stations are awesome
They really are. I'd heard that Auckland has one of the most saturated radio markets in the world and there is certainly a heap of stations. Because of this there is far greater choice. If you want Hip Hop there's a station for that. If you want electronic beats/ dance music there's a station for that. BFM started out as a Uni radio station way back when, and it has a great mix of intellectual conversation, new indie music and classic old indie music.
The radio jocks over here piss on the Sydney jocks. They are really smart, witty, interesting people and the ones I listen to know their music inside and out. I certainly don't miss Sydney's stale homogenized radio stations. Triple J was OK but you could almost guarantee that if you turned it on you'd get some guitar rock. FBI was also good but they were sooo indie that they appeared to have a problem playing anything that had made it commercially. They also had very little electronica, compared to everything else. Mind you I think that truly is a reflection of Australia. It's a garage rock nation and electronic music doesn't get much of a look in.
George FM, which is the dance music station, is just fantastic. But they don't just thrash your head with repetitive electronic beats all day. There's jazz, funk and heaps of other bass driven music, not to mention intelligent conversation, news and current affairs.
I believe there is a station that plays more Kiwi indie music although I've yet to tune into it. And of course you can get all your classic FMs, classic rock and pop stations as well.
I'm torn now between which stations to have on and whether to play my own music in the car.
The radio jocks over here piss on the Sydney jocks. They are really smart, witty, interesting people and the ones I listen to know their music inside and out. I certainly don't miss Sydney's stale homogenized radio stations. Triple J was OK but you could almost guarantee that if you turned it on you'd get some guitar rock. FBI was also good but they were sooo indie that they appeared to have a problem playing anything that had made it commercially. They also had very little electronica, compared to everything else. Mind you I think that truly is a reflection of Australia. It's a garage rock nation and electronic music doesn't get much of a look in.
George FM, which is the dance music station, is just fantastic. But they don't just thrash your head with repetitive electronic beats all day. There's jazz, funk and heaps of other bass driven music, not to mention intelligent conversation, news and current affairs.
I believe there is a station that plays more Kiwi indie music although I've yet to tune into it. And of course you can get all your classic FMs, classic rock and pop stations as well.
I'm torn now between which stations to have on and whether to play my own music in the car.
Are Kiwi's tech heads
They definitely appear to be faster uptakers of technology than the Aussies. There are some pretty cool things here that Kiwi's take for granted. The bus routes all have electronic timetables at each bus stop to tell you when the next bus is due. Sydney is still living in the dark ages with this one, although, once again, I shouldn't judge the whole country on Sydney's transport problems. Because Sydney's are really shit.
Working in the TV industry it's quite noticeable how far advanced the industry is here. The main TV channels, TVNZ and TV3 do not accept tapes anymore. Everything is uploaded to their servers. Pretty impressive. Nobody shoots on Digibeta (geek speak I know)anymore whereas in Oz they still mainly use it, although that is starting to change.
It's a shame our internet speeds are not keeping pace with our needs. The internet is definitely slower here, especially around peak time.
Banking is also really easy and because they don't charge you for using an EFTPOS card everyone uses them for everything. I was surprised to find out that my bank doesn't have BPAY though. You can pay bills through your bank but you need the payees full bank account details. That's a bit crazy
Working in the TV industry it's quite noticeable how far advanced the industry is here. The main TV channels, TVNZ and TV3 do not accept tapes anymore. Everything is uploaded to their servers. Pretty impressive. Nobody shoots on Digibeta (geek speak I know)anymore whereas in Oz they still mainly use it, although that is starting to change.
It's a shame our internet speeds are not keeping pace with our needs. The internet is definitely slower here, especially around peak time.
Banking is also really easy and because they don't charge you for using an EFTPOS card everyone uses them for everything. I was surprised to find out that my bank doesn't have BPAY though. You can pay bills through your bank but you need the payees full bank account details. That's a bit crazy
OK I get the Auckland traffic problem now
Yes after spending a good part of a morning stuck in the traffic which inches its way from the North side, over the harbour bridge, I now get what the fuss is about. We left at 8:30am and it sucked. However, what I will say, is that even though it sucked, it did actually still move. So they are doing a few things right but basically they need a new bridge, or tunnel, and a decent public transport system. The dedicated bus lanes are ace and so is the free parking at the stations but we got there at 7:45am and the parking was completely full. Nightmare. Currently looking for work closer to home if we can get it.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Some Cool Stuff here
So a mate of mine told me I was going to hate the traffic problems they have in Auckland and I'd read about them so I was expecting the worst. Well I'm happy to say that so far I'm completely underwhelmed by the 'problems' they have. Perhaps living on the North Shore makes it easy or perhaps after living in sydney, where places like the M2 can be giant carparks, then Auckland's woes are really nothing in comparison.
Getting around is actually quite easy. Being used to Sydney traffic, if I have to go somewhere I get on google maps and suss out all the streets and try to find the parking garages. But the few times I've been into Auckland central it's been a breeze to find parking and not really the big deal I've turned it into.
Outside of peak traffic driving around the road up here on the East Coast Bays roads is like Sunday every day. Quite funny really.
My mate chortled when he said that traffic is so bad they have traffic lights on the on ramps to slow the traffic down going onto the motorway. I must admit that nearly made me rethink our move. But, as it turns out, I think these are actually a really good way of keeping the traffic moving. Apparently it's an idea taken from those crazy yanks. Perhaps this is something that Sydney could well do with.... of course they could always just fix their bloody public transport.
Now that bring me to public transport in Auckland. OK they definitely have some issues that need ironing out. Bridge too small. No railway line to the North shore. More railway lines needed. But they actually appear to be doing something about it. The Britomart building at the bottom of Queen Street is truly a beautiful building.
The dedicated road for buses on the North Shore is another system that really is awesome. You can park your car next door to the bus stations along the route - FOR FREE I might add - And within 20 minutes you can be in central Auckland. Brilliant!
Another scene which is great to see is kids walking home from school. What a novel idea. Perhaps they could try that in Sydney. That would take a few cars, especially those badly driven four wheel drives, off the road. And blow me down, kids might actually get some exercise. I've been told they also have this system for the younger kids called a 'walking bus'. Basically its where the kids who live on the same route are picked up along the way by their peers and a parent, and all walk to and from school in a convoy. It's a system used in Europe and the UK. Very cool.
The weather maps on the news are really cool. All 3D and quite informative.
Getting around is actually quite easy. Being used to Sydney traffic, if I have to go somewhere I get on google maps and suss out all the streets and try to find the parking garages. But the few times I've been into Auckland central it's been a breeze to find parking and not really the big deal I've turned it into.
Outside of peak traffic driving around the road up here on the East Coast Bays roads is like Sunday every day. Quite funny really.
My mate chortled when he said that traffic is so bad they have traffic lights on the on ramps to slow the traffic down going onto the motorway. I must admit that nearly made me rethink our move. But, as it turns out, I think these are actually a really good way of keeping the traffic moving. Apparently it's an idea taken from those crazy yanks. Perhaps this is something that Sydney could well do with.... of course they could always just fix their bloody public transport.
Now that bring me to public transport in Auckland. OK they definitely have some issues that need ironing out. Bridge too small. No railway line to the North shore. More railway lines needed. But they actually appear to be doing something about it. The Britomart building at the bottom of Queen Street is truly a beautiful building.
The dedicated road for buses on the North Shore is another system that really is awesome. You can park your car next door to the bus stations along the route - FOR FREE I might add - And within 20 minutes you can be in central Auckland. Brilliant!
Another scene which is great to see is kids walking home from school. What a novel idea. Perhaps they could try that in Sydney. That would take a few cars, especially those badly driven four wheel drives, off the road. And blow me down, kids might actually get some exercise. I've been told they also have this system for the younger kids called a 'walking bus'. Basically its where the kids who live on the same route are picked up along the way by their peers and a parent, and all walk to and from school in a convoy. It's a system used in Europe and the UK. Very cool.
The weather maps on the news are really cool. All 3D and quite informative.
Is NZ expensive?
Now here's something I've just realised I missed while living in Oz. Incredibly sad I know but its decent sized supermarket trolleys. The trolleys are huge here. Our youngest can stretch out across the seat while sucking on a bottle. Very handy. And even better than that the trolleys here only have the front wheels turning. Not the back. And it makes it so much easier to steer. Who was the idiot in Oz who decided all 4 wheels should turn. Going around corners on those wonderful supermarket ramps is no longer dicing with death or the risk of crushing a limb against the wall. Here in NZ you just push on one side and pull with the other. If there is any proof that Kiwi's are smarter than Ozzies then this is surely it.
The supermarkets themselves are really nice and spacious and clean but there doesn't appear to be as much of a selection, especially in the deli areas. Even crappy old Coles has a large selection of cheeses still floating in brine or different olives, dried tomatoes or any of those lovely rich things you have with crackers. For crying out loud I CAN'T FIND TWIGGY STICKS. Not good! If you do want something somewhat exotic it probably comes in a packet and is horrendously expensive.
Food prices are the biggest downer in NZ supermarkets. Because NZ is produce really is excellent then a lot of things are exported and if its in high demand the Kiwis have to pay those high prices. Consequently butter, meats and many other products which we produce in abundance here is really expensive. How's this? Watties spaghetti appears to be more expensive here than in Sydney. It's a Kiwi product! And a damn good one I might ad. Oh they also have a product here called Chicken Bacon. It's basically a bacon substitute made from chicken. Not sure how they do it but there was a lot of numbers in the ingredients. Not bad for one go but won't be buying it again.
The locals are really getting ripped off on the mobile phone bills here. Everyone texts each other and for good reason. There are none of the good contracts and deals that you get in Oz. Prior to leaving I had a $20 plan which gave me 90 minutes of calls and then I had $10 worth of data which my iphone never really got through. Currently I haven't signed up to a plan yet as I don't have a job. I'm using a 2 Degrees prepaid, which are supposed to be cheaper than the big players, but in one month I've already chewed through around $60 worth of calls and I haven't used it much at all. Data chews through a heap as well which makes using a smart phone not a very smart idea. Consequently I am very wary of making calls.
The internet is not much better. It appear you have to pay to use an internet company and THEN you have to pay for usage separately. $40 was all I paid TPG in Sydney for 20 or so gigs. Here a 20 gig download limit will be roughly $60 to $80. However I have come across Xnet here and even though you still have to pay $60 a month to belong you only pay for how many gigs you use, which is unique. So if I use 20 gigs it will cost me roughly $20 but if I use just 3 gigs I only pay $3 for the month. Pretty fair I thought. I'm also using them for my phone calls through their voip system.
Power bills here are sent out monthly and for good reason. If they were sent out quarterly as they are in Sydney you would probably have a heart attack. I monthly here costs roughly the same as a quarterly bill in Sydney.
Parking is definitely cheaper here. In fact if you don't go into the city you don't really ever need to pay for parking. You don't have to pay for parking in any of the small shopping districts we've been to so far on the North Shore. i.e. Browns Bay, Mairangi Bay or even in Albany. And today I parked in a City of Auckland parking building near Karangahape Rd (bit like Kings Cross) and it cost me $4 for 2 hours. Sooo cheap! Of course once you get right into the center near Queen Street you can find more expensive parking but its also easy to avoid.
Childcare is a dream compared to Sydney. Where you have to put your child on a waiting before they're born and once you get them into a centre, which may not be your preference, then you have to sell your kidneys to afford for them to attend. The centre we had ours in cost more than private secondary school. No kidding!
Here there are centers everywhere and really good ones. Some of the more popular ones have waiting lists but there is plenty of others to choose from which are also very good. We have 2 kids in a new eco-friendly center close to us for a lot less than the price of just one child going to the center in Sydney. They also appear to be better centers with more alternative theories on how to bring up kids. We definitely prefer the centers here. And hows this? The other day I went to pick up my son and him and a bunch of other kids were all having fun around a tap that was running water continuously into the sandpit. I don't think wasting water like that would be though highly of in Sydney.
Due to the parallel importing rules here it is cheap to buy a decent car and cheap to register it so owning a car here is certainly better on the wallet. However, if you actually want to run it.....with petrol....then you get stung. Petrol is currently a $1.80 and it's about $1.30 in Sydney presently. Bit of a difference. Kiwi's may be the first back to horse and cart when petrol starts to sky rocket.
Monday, March 29, 2010
First impressions
Our life has been incredibly hectic so I've been jotting notes as I go about our new home. It has been easy to come up with content as both myself and my partner have been over analysing everything. So here's our first impressions.
The first part of my blog in NZ is from Queenstown as I went on a final work trip before my boss kindly flew me to Auckland to meet with my family.
Flying in over Auckland on route to Queenstown I was amazed at how many new areas in Auckland seem to have developed and new motorways being built. Obviously Auckland is really starting to move outwards now. The other thing that's noticeable after living in Oz is just how green everything is. Funnily enough, Auckland is having somewhat of a drought at the moment. They haven't had decent rain in months but its still a lot greener than Oz.
On arriving at Auckland Airport its quite funny to see how small it is. It feels about the same size as Sydney's domestic airport.
The first thing I noticed in Auckland was the automated passport control for Aussies and Kiwis which was very futuristic and sophisticated. I've since found out that Sydney has one for Aussies and Kiwis too.
The domestic airport appears larger and its quite amazing to see the different faces there now. A lot more multicultural than it used to be, which is good.
Day 2
Arrived in Queenstown and boy has this place grown up. I was here about 8-9 years ago and was really disappointed by it but now I'm really impressed. It appears they have someone running the show who has a little foresight. Building codes have been adhered to and it has a wonderful alpine feel about it with quaint little back alleys reminicent of old European cities. Food is really good and the tunes being played in the cafes are really funky.
Staying in a hotel down here and the food is really good. I mean it might be me but the food actually has flavour. I've always thought that the fresh food in Sydney was pretty average and this goes to prove it. The eggs taste like eggs should. Not the horrible bland things you get in Sydney. I consider myself an expert on good tomatoes and Sydney has absolutely the worst tomatoes, and these ones here in my hotel are really tasty.
The internet connection here is, of course, a rip off. When I stayed in the States I had free internet. In Melbourne it was also cheap or virtually cheap, but here it is ridiculously expensive. Here you pay $10 for 2 hours. I guess that represents the state of our small telecommunications industry. Very small and uncompetitive.
Well after a week of dealing with some of the most laid back yet professional companies I've ever dealt with (I've dealt with a lot worldwide) I'm heading up to Auckland to find a car, house and a job.
Wellington airport is bloomin busy. Lots of families and kids running around. Kiwis are a motley lot that's for sure. It seems really disorganised and security appears to be a non-event. I guess Al-Qaeda don't see Wellington as a target. That's good! And the airport really needs a revamp. Very old looking. It's also windy which is a bit of a cliche for Wellington.
Something else I'm noticing in airports is how many people are reading. Loads of people with big fat novels or newspapers.
The kiwi accent is pretty funny aye. It's kind of cute, a little basic but they pronounce their words well. It's almost like they're over pronouncing. Hard to explain but I think their lips and mouth move more or something . A bit like a strict female school teacher. But a nice one. Can't quite put my finger on it. There is a definite genuine friendliness in their voice. It's very sweet. Not the voice or accent you want calling your name when you are having dirty sex with a stranger. That's reserved for a French or Spanish accents. But definitely the one you want to wake up to asking you if you want bacon an eggs for breakfast. And most definitely the one you want calling out the names of your kids to come in for dinner. Kiwi mums are the best in the world.
We are definitely back in the land of the kiwi girls. I hope not to offend to many of the ladies from this beautiful land but I don't think we are a nation blessed with looks that's for sure. Can't talk for the men as I don't really keep an eye out for them. I remember seeing NZs Next Top Model on Australian TV and thinking how plain they looked. And they're MODELS! Lucky I brought one back with me and she's beautiful, and from Wanganui!!.
As I go further north I'm hearing more Maori accents which is really nice to hear. On my global travels It has always made me feel at home when I hear the melodic tones of an older Maori lady speaking in a friendly nature. In Queenstown I chatted to a young Maori fella running a bar and his slightly high pitched, honey dripped voice was quite beautiful, as a lot of Maori voices are, I would imagine he has a great singing voice. I think that's the reason Kiwi hip hop sounds good and Aussie hip hop is so completely shit.
Well almost home to Tauranga to meet the family before heading to Auckland for a new life.
The first part of my blog in NZ is from Queenstown as I went on a final work trip before my boss kindly flew me to Auckland to meet with my family.
Flying in over Auckland on route to Queenstown I was amazed at how many new areas in Auckland seem to have developed and new motorways being built. Obviously Auckland is really starting to move outwards now. The other thing that's noticeable after living in Oz is just how green everything is. Funnily enough, Auckland is having somewhat of a drought at the moment. They haven't had decent rain in months but its still a lot greener than Oz.
On arriving at Auckland Airport its quite funny to see how small it is. It feels about the same size as Sydney's domestic airport.
The first thing I noticed in Auckland was the automated passport control for Aussies and Kiwis which was very futuristic and sophisticated. I've since found out that Sydney has one for Aussies and Kiwis too.
The domestic airport appears larger and its quite amazing to see the different faces there now. A lot more multicultural than it used to be, which is good.
Day 2
Arrived in Queenstown and boy has this place grown up. I was here about 8-9 years ago and was really disappointed by it but now I'm really impressed. It appears they have someone running the show who has a little foresight. Building codes have been adhered to and it has a wonderful alpine feel about it with quaint little back alleys reminicent of old European cities. Food is really good and the tunes being played in the cafes are really funky.
Staying in a hotel down here and the food is really good. I mean it might be me but the food actually has flavour. I've always thought that the fresh food in Sydney was pretty average and this goes to prove it. The eggs taste like eggs should. Not the horrible bland things you get in Sydney. I consider myself an expert on good tomatoes and Sydney has absolutely the worst tomatoes, and these ones here in my hotel are really tasty.
The internet connection here is, of course, a rip off. When I stayed in the States I had free internet. In Melbourne it was also cheap or virtually cheap, but here it is ridiculously expensive. Here you pay $10 for 2 hours. I guess that represents the state of our small telecommunications industry. Very small and uncompetitive.
Well after a week of dealing with some of the most laid back yet professional companies I've ever dealt with (I've dealt with a lot worldwide) I'm heading up to Auckland to find a car, house and a job.
Wellington airport is bloomin busy. Lots of families and kids running around. Kiwis are a motley lot that's for sure. It seems really disorganised and security appears to be a non-event. I guess Al-Qaeda don't see Wellington as a target. That's good! And the airport really needs a revamp. Very old looking. It's also windy which is a bit of a cliche for Wellington.
Something else I'm noticing in airports is how many people are reading. Loads of people with big fat novels or newspapers.
The kiwi accent is pretty funny aye. It's kind of cute, a little basic but they pronounce their words well. It's almost like they're over pronouncing. Hard to explain but I think their lips and mouth move more or something . A bit like a strict female school teacher. But a nice one. Can't quite put my finger on it. There is a definite genuine friendliness in their voice. It's very sweet. Not the voice or accent you want calling your name when you are having dirty sex with a stranger. That's reserved for a French or Spanish accents. But definitely the one you want to wake up to asking you if you want bacon an eggs for breakfast. And most definitely the one you want calling out the names of your kids to come in for dinner. Kiwi mums are the best in the world.
We are definitely back in the land of the kiwi girls. I hope not to offend to many of the ladies from this beautiful land but I don't think we are a nation blessed with looks that's for sure. Can't talk for the men as I don't really keep an eye out for them. I remember seeing NZs Next Top Model on Australian TV and thinking how plain they looked. And they're MODELS! Lucky I brought one back with me and she's beautiful, and from Wanganui!!.
As I go further north I'm hearing more Maori accents which is really nice to hear. On my global travels It has always made me feel at home when I hear the melodic tones of an older Maori lady speaking in a friendly nature. In Queenstown I chatted to a young Maori fella running a bar and his slightly high pitched, honey dripped voice was quite beautiful, as a lot of Maori voices are, I would imagine he has a great singing voice. I think that's the reason Kiwi hip hop sounds good and Aussie hip hop is so completely shit.
Well almost home to Tauranga to meet the family before heading to Auckland for a new life.
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