Day Two

This morning started early with Brandon waking up at 7am – a shocker since I’m usually the early-bird (early being a relative term.) Brandon ran across the street to a small “dairy” (corner grocer) to buy bread, nutella and some fresh NZ fruit. He brought back the biggest, sweetest kiwi I’ve ever tasted, which I preferred to the moist, spongy quality of the bread.
After a frustrating hour on the computer trying to figure out how to put a slideshow on the blog, we set out for Pt. Chevalier to look around at potential properties.
Sadly, it was a very cloudy day, but my skin is thriving in the warm humidity.
We walked around Pt. Chev. for about four hours, exploring the many shops lining the streets: everywhere you turn there is a new delicatessen or bakery or butcher or produce shop, not to mention the cafés. Throughout the city, in fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find any duplicate shops – every one is unique.
In the afternoon, we treated ourselves to mince and steak pies from a small pastry shop before making our first trek to the beach which is a mere 2km from a potential residence. And despite the cloud-cover, I was thrilled to finally see the ocean.
After following a raised plank footpath through dense vegetation, we reached the shoreline. The park and beach were deserted except for a young maori girl’s birthday party which was taking place at the playground.
It was low-tide, so the water was about half a kilometer from the shore. As we set out, I was surprised to find that, instead of sand, the ground was covered in seashells. Millions and millions of them. Every step we took resulted in the crunch-crunch of breaking shells. Sadly, we were running short on time and had to turn back before reaching the water, but the salty smell and the warm wet air were enough to sate my desire for the ocean.
We viewed two properties today. One was absolutely hideous: a mouldy bathroom, bubbling carpet, and dirty kitchen (the cupboards were lined with stale arrowroot cookies and grains of rice.) The second, well, let’s just say it was love at first sight.
Every window is decorated with stained glass in this circa 1940 house. A large veranda greeted us before we walked through the front door. Once inside we were awed by the 10-foot ceilings and the decorative moulding that covered them. The floors were all polished wood, and the walls were painted neutrally, except for a stunning feature wall the color of wine. The kitchen was clean and equipped with many tall cupboards. The bathroom, er, toilet, was also clean and white with room enough to spare. The master (and only) bedroom was easily a room and a half, again with polished wood floors and a wardrobe that reached the ceiling. (I’ll definitely need a footstool.)
So, we’ve received the application and will be submitting it on Monday, hoping to move in next week. And besides the lovely architecture and design, the house is three blocks from my school, and across the street from a grocer, butcher, and bakery.

Finally, after spending so much time walking, we returned to our hotel and went for dinner. We ate at a pizzeria called La Pancetta which was full to the brim. Our table was inches from the next, which was also inches from the next. The pizza was flavorful and explained the crowded restaurant and frenzied service.
Dessert was taken at The Chocolate Boutique. Mom, this would be your heaven on earth. We had a hard time deciding between the 10 pages of coffees, teas, cold drinks, ice creams, cakes, pastries, crêpes, and, of course, chocolates. We settled on sharing the Chocolate Pot.
The setting is a teapot of hot, liquid dark chocolate, two shot glasses, and a creamer. First, you pour some cream into the shot glass, then top it up with the liquid chocolate. After mixing the two with a miniature spoon, enjoy! With less cream the concoction was bitter, with more it was like drinking milk chocolate. It was amazing! Not surprisingly, the quaint boutique was filled with girls and women of all ages getting their fix of choco-therapy.

After another long, successful day, we were getting ready for bed when I caught a good look at the back of Brandon’s neck. It was beet red! Like a lobster. Utterly confused, we examined each others’ skin to find that we had each burned today. Brandon’s forehead was shiny and taught, and my back bore a white criss-cross from the straps of my shirt. This was our first lesson on the powerful effects of the UV rays here in NZ. Despite thick cloud-cover, which yielded heavy rain at points throughout the day, our skin had fried. I can only imagine the potential for burns when the suns rays beat down hot and strong. Starting tomorrow: sunscreen.

Until then…