Am not on a holiday

I'm here in the land of the long white cloud at last. Up front, I must apologize for the sheer boringness of this post. (If boringness is not a word, I will add it to my dictionary of fun, made up words which includes my all time favorite, "funner"- because it's funnier without the i.) Anyway, it's boring because I really haven't done anything exciting since I've arrived. Instead, I've managed to open a bank account, get a cell phone, find a place to live and buy a bed all in 7 days. The bank account and cell phone happened within the first 5 hours and the place to live within 24 hours, so I am quite proud of that! I've done all this by repeatedly saying to myself, "Am not on a holiday. Cannot go bungy jumping off Sky City Tower. Cannot get on ferry to the Great Barrier Islands. Cannot go to museum. Cannot walk into that kitchen store with the super cute plates in the window."

It's been tough at times. Right now the weather is Charleston hot and humid, the sun is dangerously strong, there is no such thing as air conditioning, and apparently the walls of my hotel room are made of paper. I've probably lost over 5 pounds from all the walking I've done and because food is incredibly expensive. I've eaten lots of Ramen noodles, and they cost 3 bucks fifty each! If I were on vacation I'd be pissed. Luckily, I'm not. As if to prove that point further, I haven't even taken a single photo since I've been here.

I found a roommate who rents a house in a quaint beachside suburb called Pt. Chevalier. The house is a wooden Victorian cottage (a ubiquitous design in NZ) about two blocks from the beach. I'm looking forward to getting out of the hotel tomorrow and moving in. We shall see how it goes living with a complete stranger with only one bathroom (also a ubiquitous design in NZ).

Well, I'm on a public computer and my time is running short. Sorry for the lack of creativity here - I'm just so tired and really hungry. Will probably eat a $4 banana for breakfast. I promise to post photos soon. Non-vaca photos, of course.