Public Transport the Auckland Edition

Britomart Station - Feb 2015

Last week our car died just as we got off the motorway and we had to get it towed home. This left us a bit stuck with getting to work for the rest of the week so we had no other choice but to go by bus (and then by train for me) to get into work.

On the first morning that we caught the bus I felt completely out of my depth (Mark did not as he is well-versed in catching buses and trains in Auckland) and I felt uncomfortable on the bus. I did not have a Hop Card and had to pay cash. Then I felt as though I was going to clobber people with the 3 x bags I was carrying to get all my things to work. Then catching the second bus from Britomart to Newmarket I nearly embarrassed myself by falling on my face on the bus and then nearly getting jammed in the closing doors.

By lunch time I had purchased my very own Hop Card and topped it up with some money. I felt confident and happy about catching a train to Britomart to get on a bus home. Honestly, having the Hop Card for travel has changed my life! I got excited by my discount of .40c on the train.

My experience of public transport has grown from one of fear/trepidation to one of excitement and calm. I love Britomart Station I find that everyone is so busy and focused on where they are going and somehow there is a fast ebb and flow of people as they criss-cross each others paths on the way to the next (or) end stage of their journey. I love it. I feel like a kid in a candy store when I go down the escalator to enter Britomart in the morning.

I have since suggested that perhaps Mark and I catch the bus and train once a week to get to work as it is quite relaxing and gives us a break of the monotony of having to drive in peak hour traffic.

The only issue that I have is that in Auckland it is not particularly cost-effective which seems strange given that we want our city to move towards it. However, I figure that for one day a week we can have one less car on the road. 

Oh and in case you are wondering whether you can survive a Zombie Attack on public transport, my fabulous cousin sent me this link on how to do it. 

Do you catch Public Transport (or have another way to get to work)? Do you love it/hate it?

Breaking up is hard to do

When we met it was amazing, inspiring, motivating and like a warm, comforting hug from a close friend.

As the months went by I learned to love you more and I got so much out of our time together. We had some incredible experiences that enriched my life and made me stronger. I did not think it could get any better.

Then things changed; actually I think we both changed and as a result the things that drew me to you were the things that I started to resent. You did things wrong and so did I.

It became apparent that there were particular rules for some and not for others. You expanded and grew quickly and I slowly started to feel a sense of distance.

Little things started to upset me, make me angry or sad. Now that I have some distance I can see that this was the way that I processed my grief at deciding to pull away and then finally leave.

Leaving you was like leaving a relationship. It was hard and painful to make the choice to leave and now that you are gone from my life I am both sad and glad. I look back on the time that we had and realise a lot of good came out of it. You got me through a really tough time in my life and for the most part I enjoyed the journey.

While I will never go back I do wish you all the best for your journey.

Thoughts of Christmas and Holidays

Christmas 2014 seemed to roll around extraordinarily fast. Mark and I decided that it would be nice for him spend Christmas with his family as he has not spent a Christmas with them for 10 years.

Faced with a quiet Christmas I felt a bit flat. I had the best plans to put a tree up early to get into the festive spirit and as the days went by I procrastinated about putting it up and felt a bit down.

Things changed the week before Christmas when I received a text from my cousin (pretty much my sister) asking seriously what were “my plans for Christmas” as they were all keen to come up. So we went from a relatively quiet, low-key Christmas of 3 to a full-on-family-fun Christmas of 7.

Suffice to say I put the tree up the day that they arrived as her eldest daughter was getting quite stressed that I had not put our tree up. It is simply amazing how fast you can put a tree up when the pressure is on.

Christmas was fantastic. It was pretty low-key and really relaxing and lovely. There is something to be said for having Christmas with teenagers as they still really get into the whole festive side of things.

The day that they left was the day that my best friend from Wellington arrived and we had an absolute blast. We drove all over Auckland, relaxed a bit, ate yummy Mexican food and did a teeny bit of shopping. 

Two of my friends had their babies in December which was amazing and exciting. 

For the rest of our holidays Mark and I just chilled out and did a few things around the house. Could we have done more? Probably. Was the weather really hot and humid…absolutely. Did we finally have our first summer BBQ? YEP! Mark made us some rustic pallet furniture.

Amazingly, I was really laid-back about returning to work on the 12^th and I eased back into the work-year without much trauma.

Now it is February…and we are already planning for things in April.