Lulu's life in Devonport

Lulu lounging around at our Devonport rental

Our little Lulu is really enjoying the life in New Zealand, although I'm sure she loved it back in the UK too!  Auckland is a very dog friendly place and strangers often stop to stroke and admire her.  She's never been one for very long walks (like our Poppy who we still miss very much) and prefers the shorter, but more frequent walks she gets here.  When we take her to the shops with us and tie her up outside, she gets lots of attention from passers by.  And, yes, we are confident that there are no dog kidnappings here - the crime rate is very low, especially as it's a city.

So here are a few piccies of Lulu in Devonport.  First off was one of our regular walks along the coastline.  You can go for miles when the tide is low and it feels like a bit of an adventure with some places having paving, but many others where you have to climb over rocks and boulders.

The walk along the coast to Cheltenham Beach, Devonport

Cheeky grin from Steve

One of the things I loved in Devonport were the dog hooks outside shops.  They are so darn cute and very creative too!

Waiting patiently outside Devonport Chocolates

Sitting pretty outside the Chateaubriant, a French patisserie

Another amazing thing about Devonport are the huge trees that line the coastal walk and dwarf Devonport Library.  I think they are called Morton Bay Fig trees.  Lulu loved to sniff around the massive roots on her daily morning walk.

Huge trees that line the coastal walk (yes, that is Lulu's bottom staring at you!)

Daily sniff at another huge tree in the garden of Devonport Library

Now I don't recall EVER seeing a dog wash before so I was amazed when we saw one outside a pet shop!  They are very common in Auckland and of course Steve had to give one a try.

Yes, it is as fun as it looks!  Lulu was very well behaved and obliging.  A lot of the pet shops also have an on-site vet and lots of babies animals - my favourite shops to visit!

Well I hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of Lulu's new life in Devonport.  As I mentioned in my last post, we've now bought our new home so I'll share a bit of that in my next post.  Ta ta for now!

Devonport's life on the water

One thing you can't miss in Devonport (and in most places in Auckland) is the life on the water so I thought I'd share a a bit of it with you.

A common view of all different types of boats on our daily walks

Auckland is known as the City of Sails - a lot of people here own boats and there are lots of marinas dotted around the coastline.  Being surrounded by water, it's an easy past time.  Many of my colleagues tell me that when they get home from work, they take the family out on the water and sail around for a couple of hours or stock up on food and drink on the weekend and sail around Auckland.  Something that we aspire to do one day too!

Devonport also has its own Yacht Club at Torpedo Bay.  There is always a whistling sound as you walk past it as the wind blows through the sails.  There are always people pottering around fixing up their boats or taking their boats out onto the water.

Our daily Lulu walks were most often walking along the coastline here where we regularly saw the huge containers going from the CBD wharf area out to the Hauraki Gulf.

Huge containers leaving Auckland CBD via the Hauraki Gulf

There is also the Devonport Naval Base, home of the NZ Royal Navy.  It's a bit weird seeing the massive ships sitting just outside this quaint village.

The Canterbury berthed at the Devonport Naval Base

If you have read my previous post, there is also the Devonport Ferry Terminal.  IMHO there is no better way to commute to work than the ferry, especially when you get the occasional peek of orcas and dolphins swimming beside the ferries - wonderful!

My view of Devonport Ferry Terminal from the ferry

We've now moved from Devonport to our new home (a new post on that soon!), but looking at these photos makes me feel a bit nostalgic for that lovely place!  But I've still got lots of photos to share on Devonport which I'll be sharing more of in my next post.  See you then!

Life in Devonport

Wow, I can't believe we have been here now for over four months!  So where to start?!  The headlines first:

• We received our residence visa a few weeks back.  The next step is for us to apply for a permanent residency visa after 2 years on receiving our residence visa
• PwC has created a new role for me so I've now also got a a permanent job

This means we don't have to leave the country now after my 12 month work visa expires.  We can now relax and can go ahead and commit to buying a house.

I thought I'd share with you today a little bit of our life here in our first home in Devonport.  Our small rental is on a site that used to have a big house, but it was demolished and five smaller houses now replace it.  Our house is the third one.  Only one of neighbours are Kiwis - one are Aussies and the rest are British!  This is typical as Devonport is made up of over 70% of Europeans.

Our rental home with our bright red rental car outside it

Palm trees in our garden

Flowers outside the front door

The back courtyard (no grass for Lulu!)

Even though Devonport is so close to the city centre, it feels like a sleepy seaside town.  It has lots of history, housing is mainly protected quaint Victorian villas and there is a strong community spirit.  There is always something going on - local runs, art fairs, jazz festivals, Beagle owner dog walks (yes, really!) and a Spanish class group and local au pairs meet up weekly in the local cafe. There are quite a lot of galleries, second-hand bookshops, boutiques, parks and four beaches.  No big high street brands here - so refreshing!  Below are a few photos on our regular walks around town.

Victoria Road, the main thoroughfare

The Esplanade Hotel

More Victoria Road shops

Winsdsor Reserve with Art Deco style public toilets

Devonport Beach and walk along the front

Bette's one of our favourite bar restaurants and the old post office in background

Devonport is directly across the water from the CBD (Central Business District) and my office and it's been fantastic to have a 20 minute commute.  I love taking the ferry to work, especially when the sun is out.  One morning we had a group of orcas splashing around in the water.  It was so amazing to see!  There has also been a seal sunbathing at the CBD ferry terminal.

Devonport Ferry Terminal

Ferry docked at the terminal

View of the Central Business District right across the water from Devonport

Every day we also walk past the new Devonport Library which is a very impressive building.  We have used it quite a few times (especially as books are so expensive to buy here!) and it's always busy.  They have lots of little nooks with people of all ages sitting around.  There is even a teenagers area which always has kids on the weekend sitting around on the bean bags, reading away.  Not a PS2 in sight!

Outside Devonport Library

Outside and inside Devonport Library

Okay, that is a small window in our lives at the moment.  Steve, Lulu and I are having an amazing time time in Devonport.  We originally thought we could live here, but property is very expensive and there is only one road out of it so the traffic is appalling, easily adding an extra half hour to a five minute journey.  We'll be sad to leave when we eventually buy our new home.

Well, I'll leave it at that for now.  I'll will again soon to share more of our life in Devonport.

Two days in

Hi all!  Thought I'd take advantage to give an update to our move to New Zealand as I'm wide awake at 4.15am - yes, still adjusting to the time zone here in New Zealand!  Fell asleep at 8pm yesterday, dribbling into my top (gorgeous) whilst trying to stay awake to look for somewhere to live.  But I'm getting there and hope to have acclimatised by the weekend.

So we've been living for two days now in a service apartment at the Barclay Suites, which basically means it's got a kitchen, washing facilities, etc.  This place is slap bang in the middle of Auckland Central and has amazing views from our apartment on the 22nd floor.

View North towards the ferry terminal.  My office is the white building behind the ANZ building nearest to the water.

The famous Sky Tower - the tallest man-made structure in the Southern Hemisphere.

Our first sunset in Auckland.

We're here for two weeks so we're now on a hunt to find somewhere to rent a.s.a.p., but we're a bit limited because we need a dog friendly place and they are few and far between.

Speaking of our dog, we're picking up our Lulu on 6 June.  The poor thing has been stuck in a crate, on a 30 hour flight without any food. She should have landed by now in Auckland and residing in a kennel for a 10 day quarantine.  I really want to go and see my baby but we're not allowed to touch her so I think it may be more distressing for her to see us but then watch us walk away.  I miss her so much and feel sooooooo guilty putting her through this.  Now I need a hug after writing that.

The weather has been really mixed - pouring with rain one moment and then glorious sunshine the next.  Typical NZ weather.  We're just about to enter into Winter (yes, very bad timing for our move!) which means average day time temperatures of 14-18 degs.  Not too bad.  Better than the UK with winter average in the South East of 3-5 degs.  One of the main reasons of moving here.  I've had many people asking why we want to move to the other side of the world, away from our family and friends.  Believe me, it's not because I'm trying to get away from them, lol!  It's beautifully captured here Why I Love New Zealand by kiwipom so feel free to take a look.

It's all feeling very surreal to me being here.  It feels like being on holiday and it's not sunk in that this is now our home.  I really do miss my family and friends though.  I saw a lady today in a shopping mall who looked a bit like my mum and I started crying.  I wish you could all move over here and be with me!

Other initial observations since arriving:

1. The city has really developed due to hosting the 2011 Rugby World Cup. It's much more cosmopolitan with designer shops and good looking restaurants.  Having two harbours there is plenty of waterside views
2. When we were here eight years ago we were surprised by how many Chinese and Asians there were.  This time round, there are a lot more Indian.  A very multi-cultural city just like London, but the people here are still really friendly, unlike in London!

Okay, switching off now.  Will write again once we've moved into our rental.  See you soon!