Mel-bin, Oz, a new adventure

 My last night in Christchurch included a beautiful sunset, viewed from the top room of the Kookabura Nest.  I will certainly miss the port hills that can be seen from most parts of the city. 

I arrived at the airport in the evening.  I got myself a nice cheap phone and a good bottle of whiskey at duty free.  What else does one need when starting a life in Australia?  After getting a free boot cleaning at customs, I was off to find my rental car from Alamo... while lugging around all of my luggage. 


After searching around for my rental agency, I gave up and went to the information desk.  The person behind the desk had no idea where the rental car companies were and had no idea what I was talking about when I brought up the need to get a pass for going through the toll boths.  It slowly became obvious to me that there was little information to be found at the information desk.  Then I looked at my reservation and saw a phone number to call in order to get a shuttle to the car.  I called for a shuttle (Europocar, not Alamo) and when it arrived, the driver told me that the rental car place was closed and that I maybe should talk to the Europocar people at the airport.  Finally, after talking to them, they explained that they are "Alamo" and looking back I'm still slightly confused by the adventure, but I did finally have my car.     

 Anyhow, the rest of the adventure to get my new apartment isn't as exciting... although it wasn't much easier. 

The following day, I headed to the mall to get a phone, internet, and other such things.  I started to realize that things in Australia aren't very cheap, as can be seen by the kettle price in the above picture.  By the way, this was at Target!!  It was strange to see a Target.  Then I thought about getting a coffee grinder, but realized that $169 may be a little steep for grinding coffee, but at least the particular grinder was on sale for $379, as seen below.  The espresso machine I wanted, was not much of a deal either, $300.  So then I gave up on Target.

Then I walked around to find some coffee and saw Burger King... I mean a Hungry Jack's?!?  Apparently they have a Whopper, so Hungry Jack's is apparently Australian for Burger King.  Speaking of which, Fosters is looked down upon here.  Apparently Fosters is not Australian for beer. 


As an update on the espresso machine, I found one for free from my new best friend.  Well technically, he's my office-mate and getting an espresso machine from him is a great way to start off the relationship.  My boss is pretty great too.  I got a free lunch yesterday... which turned out to last until 10 at night and about 10 drinks later.  Another good start.