First, the wire transfer from NZ came through, so our money-stress went away. Mort's Dad chased up the bank in NZ, and must have scared them something fearful.... It seems it had been "Forgotten" somehow in Auckland, pretty shocking, really.
Then we had a call from the real estate people to say our application for the rental we're after was accepted despite our lack of credit records (must have been our sweet smiles), so now we have somewhere to live, and a way to pay them tomorrow! I'm not sure if we can move in tomorrow, but I hope so. If not, I think we can move in Monday. Either way, I'll be able to start work-proper next week (other than just hanging out at necro & histo rounds).
My "Grown-up" check-books arrived today (my temporary checks had Tigger & Bugs Bunny on them), although I have no idea what the bank thinks I'm going to do with five new check-books.... Papier-mâché a giant money-box, perhaps.
We wandered into the public library and I was able to get a library card (I needed a letter to prove my address, even though I'll be moving soon), I expect we'll spend quite a bit of time in there.
Then we went BIKE SHOPPING. We had a great time trying out bikes and comparing bells etc., and you can't beat the customer service when the bike-shop-guy (Vernon) says he wants to "make these the best bikes you've ever had, and have them remind you of that every day". We picked all the bits we wanted, and they said we could pick up the bikes at the end of the day. Yay for Cyclotopia, they rock.
To celebrate, we had lunch. At a brewery-pub. McMenamins. It was awesome. The pub itself was very interesting - there was a fairly major water feature taking up a wall - it consisted of taps pouring water into sinks which led to other sinks and so on....
The underside of many of the sinks were painted, usually a face. Sometimes a Beaver.
The rest of the bar had plenty to look at, it was a great place to have lunch.
And the server got us a tour of the brewery, where the brewer, Gary, showed us around.
Aren't those fermenters awesome? And the beer was great.
Later on we made our way back to Cyclotopia, noticing there are quite a few sunbathers around here. I guess since it isn't such a death-sport in this country more people take part. Our bikes were fine-tuned and fitted for us, and Vernon modelled them for us with good humour (Mort's has a pump tied to the rack, in case anyone's wondering what is going on there).
Cycling back to the campus was great. It was fast and smooth, and it only took a minute to get used to the skinny(ish) road tyres. Best of all, my feet didn't hurt at all the whole way back, until I got off the bike and realised my blisters were still there, and will be for a few days. At least now they can have a chance to heal up - no more Te Waewae Express!
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