Settling in Tauranga.

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I am currently in the midst of my first rain-day here in New Zealand, and considering that it's the 16th day of my trip, I guess I can't complain. You get a shower just about every day here at some point, but today is the first time that we've been stuck in our tent or indoors for more than five minutes or so.

I've spent most of my day reading (John Belushi biography), watching smutty New Zealand daytime television (the Kiwi version of Maury Povich, with the lie detector and everything!) and Leigh Ann and I rented and watched a Chris Rock standup DVD this morning during breakfast. A german traveller sat in the tv lounge and ate breakfast during the same time, and I think I was more entertained by watching her looks of confusion and disgust as Chris Rock strutted around the stage in a shiny suit, screaming about the importance of having a baby-daddy in your life. For her sake, I hope most of the humor got lost in translation.

Leigh Ann and I have been looking for jobs here in Tauranga during the last few days as well , as we have decided to stay here until close to Christmas time. We enjoy the city - plenty of interesting places to visit, eat, drink, etc. - and we are a 10 minute drive to another town called Mount Maunganui, which also has an interesting city center and is a surfing/beach hot spot (not at the moment however). We also have been planning some possible day trips to areas that are within a moderate drive from here. Rotorua, about a 40 minute drive away, is home to the Zorbing phenomenon and is high on our list of things to do.

We have spent our last few days wandering around the two towns, visiting lots of shops and fighting the urge (most of them anyway) to buy a bunch of stuff. The temperature also continues to rise here, so hopefully we'll be spending some more hours on the sand as the month winds on.

I have a few hours of work lined up at a hotel in town starting tomorrow afternoon. I'm not exactly sure what I'll be doing - probably a little bit of cleaning and gardening - but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I might get some 'pool boy' duty. A boy can dream I guess.

Anyways, I hope everything is great back in Nova Scotia (or wherever you're at when you read this).

Fully.

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Photos

Having a Beer at the Corvette Bar & Grill.
Sunny day in Whangamata.

Blowfish.
What a showoff.

LA and I.
Tent Party.

Boardwalk in Tauranga.
Directly behind our campsite, the boardwalk that runs along the harbour. The seaweed really stinks by the way.

Afternoon at the Beach.
The Beach at Mount Maunganui.

Mount Maunganui.
The Mount in all of it's glory (not much)

Comments

[Army]

Sounds deadly fully my man..keep the blogs coming..reading this is better than studying haha.. take care ol boy

[Cindy]

Hey
Sounds like you are having a great trip! We need more pictures. Continues to be warm here- not your typical November. Will you be coming home for Christmas? Talk to you soon, Cindy

[gat]

Nice Fully ! Sounds and looks like you are having fun down under. Look for the movie Once were Warriors for the next rainy day, its a new zealand classic. . . Well I second Army's comment as well. ! Gotta get back to er for now ... Paaiiix

[Tammy Fulmore]

Pool Boy?
Brett, I hope your pool boy dreams come true! That sure is a big blowfish - wow. Great pictures - keep them coming. Love Mom xoxo

[Alison & Jim]

have fun
Enjoy every minute! We love reading your blog. Alison