Found a DELICIOUS Vegan Restaurant

Well, my visa came back in my passport last Tuesday, before noon, the day after it was approved online.  The speediest service anyone has heard of!  I have been applying to many jobs since then, but in the mean time, I responded to a recruiting company's ad about needing personal carers.  I met with the woman at the recruiting company Wednesday, who then passed on my CV (newly created in NZ format) to the North Harbour Health Trust, who called me today to schedule an interview with them directly and find out my availability.  The trust does in-home elder care as well as special needs care for children in the area.  So depending on what jobs are available, I could be doing a bit of both.   Most of the full-time jobs I have applied for only start in July, leaving June for all the hiring process.  This is more of an ideal start-date anyway, so I won't have to ask for time off for our trip to Cairns, Australia June 27-July 4.

Tuesday morning, I went down to Devonport to see Tessa dance at toddler toes and then we went to the cafe for a catch up (with Jess and Ariel) but Tessa has become so chatty she wanted all of my attention for conversation.  Apparently, she needs frequent encouragement to play with her little friend that is there as well.

Wednesday I had another Hilltop reunion!  I caught up with Anna, one of my counselors my very first year camp.  The last year I saw her was my CIT year, 2003.  She is from CO but married one of the Kiwi counselors and moved to NZ shortly after.  She was up staying in Albany for work so I brought her to Corelli's with the gang for dinner.  Now, I have to make a trip down to Palmerston North to see Craig and their 1-yr-old baby, Jessica.

Friday, Nikita, Courtney and I had a girls night catch up and dinner (which will turn into a monthly tradition).  Courtney's boyfriend, Jamie, is also doing PAS (professional accounting school) right now (what Jacques is doing) so he also has workshops one Friday night and Saturday every 4 weeks.  We ate at Elliot Stables, a sort of upscale food court, where you can order a meal from any of the restaurants but all sit together at the same table no matter when you've ordered from.  Courtney tried to eat mainly vegetarian, so we were both very excited to discover Basilicum!  It was fabulous! I had purple tofu (bbq style) and eggplant the same way.  Both the flavor and texture were really nice.  They even had vegan desserts, which I was very excited about!  I wanted to try the vegan chocolate cake, but it still had about 20 min of preparation to go, so instead I went for the vegan carrot cake.  It was also very delicious!  Now, I can't wait to go back and try the chocolate cake and more items off the strictly vegan/vegetarian menu!

Saturday we went to a "onesie" party, where many were wearing adult sized footed pjs.  Nice and cozy! I didn't have any, so I took that opportunity to wear my random one-piece fitted suit I purchased at the unclaimed baggage center.  I knew I'd get the chance to wear it someday!  Was nice to meet Nick's girlfriend Laura and some of her friends.

Sunday, we went out to Martha's Backyard (the American Store) full of overpriced items imported from the USA that you can't find here.  I was in search of Cream of Wheat, since nothing similar exists here, but didn't have any luck.  Instead, Jacques found 2 new pair of shoes from the shop next door, not only super discounted but buy 1, get 1 50% as well.  So it wasn't a wasted trip.  Because it was a nice sunny day, we decided to take a ride up Mt. Wellington, another one of Auckland's volcanos, and walk around the perimeter of the crater. It offered some very nice views from a different perspective in Auckland.  We also stopped at a beach near home to collect some sand for my yoga sandbags.  Mitre 10 would have made my buy 25 liters of sand.  When I asked the guy if I could just purchase the amount that I needed and said that it was for sandbags, he suggested my best bet would be to just go to the beach.  Yesterday, I bleached the sand and immediately upon pouring in the bleach many bugs surfaced and escaped.  Today was nice and sunny and in the 60s so I set the sand out to dry.  Hopefully soon I'll be able to load it into my sandbags.

I also went for my first run today, taking advantage of the nice weather and braving the hilly terrain.  It went surprisingly well and although I went at a slow pace, it felt pretty easy.

Our new mattress was collected and set up last week Wednesday night.  The story of how Eugene (Jacques' dad) and I retrieved it is a story for a separate blog post!  Quite an hour and a half of adventure.  It is amazing and soooo comfy! Great nights sleeps since then!  Also, after a suggestion from Dad on how to fix squeaky slats (felt between the frame and slats), and my handy work the next day, it is now a silent slat bed!

Excited for a sleep on the new bed!

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View from Mt. Wellington

Beach where my sand came from

Onesie/PJ party