Update from Wellington

Hello to anyone still reading! We congratulate you for making it this far...

There's just time to say what we've been up to in the last few weeks, now we've been in NZ for our first month. We've settled into a routine which usually involves Emily heading out to work while I stay home or look for a job - still unemployed for now - but on her days off, we've been finding things to do. Every Sunday, we head to one of two farmers' markets to get the next week's worth of cheap fruit and veg. We discovered them both very soon after arriving, and now rely on the supermarket only for milk, meat, cheese, bread and cereal when we can help it. Hopefully this'll help us to save a few pennies.

We've been back to the Te Papa National Museum on the waterfront, since we both enjoy museums, and especially free museums. We think they change some of the exhibits each month, so it'll be something we can go back to whenever we don't feel like spending money. Aside from anything else, the quality of the exhibits is excellent; fascinating and thought-provoking, and mostly about New Zealand's ecology and social history. I was particularly intrigued by the section about the Earth's core (which warmed me up).

Speaking of natural history, we endured our first earthquake recently, although we managed to sleep through it. Measuring a 5 on the Richter scale - strong but not particularly harmful - it hit in the wee hours of a Friday morning, but we remained unaware of it until Emily's workmates told her about it later that day. My friend then told us that these 'little' earthquakes help to stave off 'The Big One', predicted for sometime in the next thousand years. Apparently, this upcoming earthquake is set to completely obliterate Wellington, and our apartment on The Terrace is but a stone's throw from the guilty faultline.

But, always one to remain optimistic and calm in the face of potential destruction, we visited Wellington's annual Book Fair in the TSB Arena this weekend. Emily picked up a few bargains after coming close to the end of the Ayn Rand book she bought in Nelson, while I purchased a Reader's Digest Book of Facts for $2. Since then I've been starting most of my sentences to Emily with the phrase 'did you know that...?'.

After that, we wandered along the harbour area and discovered a boardwalk full of neat eateries and bars. While most of them are well out of our budget for now, we split a pizza, and were inspired to return the following day to explore more of the beautiful waterfront. So we made the most of the fantastic weather on Sunday by reading in a park, before observing a great deal of cyclists and roller bladers scooting past. Not wanting to be left out, we headed to the rental shop; I grabbed some blades to show off some of the skills I've learned while playing hockey, while Emily chose a bike to remind her of cycling around Amsterdam again. From just outside the TSB Arena, we went all the way up the coast, past Oriental Bay and almost to the tip of the peninsula in Roseneath before heading back. (Feel free to plot our journey on Google Maps.)

This morning we went to play tennis again, having discovered some decent courts last week, just south of the town in Brooklyn. I currently stand at 0-2 against Emily in our two bouts here, but my excuse is that I was hurrying the game alone so we could get back to watch the US Open... Nonetheless it's something we could see ourselves doing sometimes, but sparingly, again because of the expense.

I'll upload some of the photos of our first month onto Flickr when I get the chance.