The hunt is over

We found a flat! A nice little one beddy in Mt Eden.
We move in next week- photo's to come.

Another reason to cross the ditch.

Searching for a flat is a full time job. I am pooped. We saw 6 apartments today and most were smelly and the size of a match box. Below are some pictures of a " One bedroom Apartment" in Epsom- where we were looking today. 

 

I would describe this place as a claustrophobic box on stilts. If the Bucket family lived in Auckland this is where they would have stayed.

This "One bedroom apartment" would cost you a pretty $280. 
For the same price in the Gold Coast you could rent the apartment below:

      

More affordable accommodation. Reason #12 to move to Aussie.   

All good things must come to an end

We are now back in New Zealand and I have to admit- I really missed breathing our clean, fresh air and smiled to myself when i heard familiar accents in the girls bathroom.
Tuks and I had such a rad time in Aussie, and at the risk of sounding boastful I am going to list all of the things we did while we were there, as a reminder to myself of how blessed I am!

We spent: 

4 scorching days at the beach 

3 days bargain hunting ( quite successfully i might add )

1 day at Byron bay

2 days at Movie world

2 days at Wet 'n' wild 

1 day at Sea World I touched a Sting Ray!

1 rainy day at the Movies 

We hung out with our good friends:

Wilson and Rhiannon

Rubena 

Brie- Ann

Annette 

The Ngawaka family

Aunty Cookie

Vanessa and Cory 

Zelda and Aunty Janette 

And i made friends with a Dog Massimo 

 

We ate at:
Grilled 

Twice at Salsa's

Fasta Pasta 

Chiang Mai Thai 

Krispy Kreme 

Twisted Sista

Big Chief's

and my favorite of all MAX BRENNER'S. We ate there more than we should have and it was the best chocolate i have ever eaten ( and i have eaten a LOT of chocolate in my life time). I wish we had one in NZ and this is now one of my Top 10 reasons to move to Australia.
We spent the final hours of our last night in the Gold Coast at MB's enjoying a dark, thick, Italian hot chocolate in a hug mug. And just when i thought the trip could not get any more fabulous my hubby let me purchase the Max Brenner's secret Recipe book! The night could not have been more perfect.

Thank you  

to our wonderful friends who made the trip so amazing for us.

We look forward to our next visit. 

Us x

Confessions of a Shopaholic!

When I enter a Mall my body instantly gets into super serious shopping mode.

The phrase " Shop till you drop" does not apply to me- rather, when i find a bargain it gives me even MORE energy and i could continue shopping until closing time. 

Now, although my hubby does not share the same enthusiasm for shopping as i do he is FANTASTIC to shop with. He can sniff out a bargain as soon as we enter a store, he waits for me outside the changing room, gives constructive feedback about certain outfits, carries all the bags and does so WITHOUT complaint ( how the heck did i get so lucky!!!) 

But the best thing about Tuks is that he is very practical, and will tell me when i am going too far. So on our latest shopping escapade he warned that i had already brought enough shoes. Of course i didn't listen because there were just so many bargains i simply couldn't pass them up! It wasn't until this morning that i realised he may have been right. I tried packing my suitcase in preparation for our flight home and ... all my clothes fit nicely  

But i don't have any room left for my shoes!!

Uh oh... So- we brought another suitcase and called the airline to pay for an additional peice of luggage. Cha ching!!! A whopping $170 later and i am wondering why my husband still loves me. 

So what do YOU think my two blog friends? Did i maybe go a little overboard on the shopping this time OR  did i snatch a ton of bargains that will save us thousands of dollars in the year ahead??? 

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today i turned 25! All day i have been reminded of how lucky i am to have so many wonderful friends. From phone calls to Facebook messages to dessert at Max Brenner's i have truly felt the love from all of my friends today. And of course my caring, loving husband who always makes this a special day for me.
So thank you all for being my friend. Here's to another great year!

Love Tiff x

Apologies to all ma dogs

Ok,  I feel a little bad about my rant yesterday. So to make up for it, i have been trying extra hard to make friends with the dogs who belong to the people we are staying with. Meet my good friend Massimo.

Holidays

Those of you who know me well will know i am not very keen on dogs... or any animal for that matter. But now is not the time to get into that, i just wanted to preface today's blog with that piece of information so  you will sympathize with me when i tell you about what happened yesterday.
 
Tuks and  I planned for the beach, and seeing Tuks has lived here before i trusted him when he said he knew of a good spot.

He suggested the " Spit" which was quite a drive from where we are staying, but not many tourists know about it so it would be less crowded. 
We pulled into the car park and i saw a lady walking her dog down the beach path.  I said to Tuks " Yuck, i hate it when people bring their dogs to the beach". 
As we got out of the car and began our walk onto the sand i noticed there were a ton more people who had also brought their dogs to the beach.

Then i saw THIS: 

Me:" Tuks!!!! Is this a dog beach????? "" 
Tuks: " I don't know i've never been here with so many dogs before" 
( notice how he didn't actually answer the question) 

Can i just mention that there were very few dogs there that were actually on a lead. Most of them were running wild trying to sniff my feet and crotch. Dogs have a very special gift of being able to "Sniff" out the people who are most afraid of them.  So, i'm sure i don't need to tell you that i wasn't very happy. In fact i was close to tears. I am ok with one dog that has a owner i trust, but not a beach full of them!  
 We walked and walked and walked and walked until we couldn't see dogs anymore. And after a 2km walk down the beach, a few tears and many encouraging words from my hubby the "Spit" was the perfect spot and we had a fantastic day in the beautiful Gold Coast sun.
 
Happy holidays to you too!