No Longer a Tourist

I’ve been searching for work now that I’ve gotten settled into my new flat. Looking for work has not been as easy as I’d anticipated, but I’m sure something will happen when it’s supposed to. Timing is everything. I also built my bike on the first day in the flat. It was a busy day: unpacked my suitcase, inflated my air mattress (need to get a bed) and built my bike. I rode down to the bike shop that sells Colnago and had them take a quick look to be sure I put her back together correctly and that my rear derailleur wasn’t out of whack. Aside from one little, slightly critical part that I hadn’t tightened (oops – I’m pretty lucky, having ridden down there), I did a good job! J Woo-hoo! So I went out for a ride. It was a nice day, although a storm was to come in that evening and the wind was picking up. They have lots of gusty wind here. At one point I was rounding a corner on the bay and nearly got blown over! You have to watch out for that here. Then I climbed back up to the flat… ugh. I have to say, months of that and I WILL be a hill climber. Geez! There are three main hills back to my flat, the first one being the hardest. At least you get it over with first. I messed up the computer and hadn’t started it so really none of my ride had been recorded, but going up this hill it was on and I looked down to see 12% grade – for somewhere in the range of 750 m – 1 km. The last few meters you get a break when it levels off to 10%. Ouch! Considering it’s been a good month off the bike I felt that one.

I’ve been walking everywhere here. Wellington is a very compact, walkable city. But if you live up on one of the hills, which is likely, you just have to climb back home, that’s all. There are little stairs built in the hills all over, so I need to explore a bit more to find the short-cuts home. It’s a funny little place in that way. It’s still pretty chilly here. I can’t wait til it really warms up. Jan and Feb are supposed to be the warmest. Looking forward to it. For now I have a hot water bottle in bed with me at night and fuzzy socks and a hoodie. But I’ll have to post more about the kiwi-life in the next post.