Ten things I've learned in my first eleven days in Auckland

Hey y'all! Giac and I have made it to New Zealand! We come from exactly 34 days of travelling in the States and yes, I did plan to blog all about it, HOWEVER it turned out that I'm not that good at transcribing from my journal things that have happened about two months ago, therefore for now we'll just have to do with a list of things that I've learned by living in Auckland for the past 11 days.(One thing that I've learned in the States is that yes, it's cool and all to meticulously keep a journal, but if you want to be a blogger it comes quite handy to also have a flipping computer with you.)

1. Auckland is hilly. Yep. Lots of ups and downs. Get your legs ready. (I know, I could have looked this up beforehand but hey, I like surprises.)
2. There is no logic in the way people drive. Or in the way roads are designed. It might be because everything here works the wrong way round, but intersections are puzzling, turn signals are optionals, and the safety distance is reduced to 2mm from the car in front of you.
3. Books are expensive. I only set foot in a book store on day 10 because I had been warned that book prices were prohibitive, and I was dreading the moment I had to confirm that myself. The first book I picked up (a paperback, no finishings) was $40. I foresee a lot of Kindle reading.
4. Coffee is amazing.

   Expensive, but amazing. And this means anywhere: you could probably walk into a kebab shop and have the best coffee experience of your life.

5. Soy milk is available everywhere. Even at Denny’s. Enough said. (Although they will charge you 50 cents for it.)

6. You can be a vegan and go to a dairy. Because a dairy is a local corner shop. You’re welcome.

7. You can drive 40mins to an hour from Auckland and find yourself in some National Geographic-like locations. While Auckland itself -let's be real- is nothing remarkable, its surrounding are breathtaking. Everything is so green and lush! And these places are so easy to reach it's very plausible that we will be going hiking/swimming/skiing/surfing/canoeing every single weekend if/when we move here at the end of our wanderings.

8. Everyone has lived in a van at some point in their life. Every time we mention to someone that we’ve just bought a van and are about to set off for some travelling around New Zealand, every single person will recall their own experience doing exactly the same -possibly with the same kind of converted car and the same equipment bought in the same shop.
9. There is no such thing as unlimited Wi-fi. I'll give you a moment to take that in.
10. You know when they told you that people walk around barefoot? It's true.