Sunday, May 10, 2009

The daily commute

Thought we'd share a bit about our daily commute to work. A normal day starts around 5:30 a.m. when the alarm goes off, then we snooze for another 40 minutes or so. Jake's up first, then me. I eat a little breakfast and check my blog/e-mail/facebook/twitter (yes, I'm a big dork) before making us some lunches. 

Jake's out the door around 7:15 a.m. then I follow around 8:15 a.m., so we don't ride together. Our separate trips start by walking maybe 50 metres down the street, where we find the stairway leading down from our suburb on the hill. These 460 steps aren't so bad in the morning, even if it's raining, compared to when we climb back up every evening. Near the bottom of the steps, we pay $3 NZD ($1.50 USD) to hop on a bus for the short trip into downtown. No one calls it downtown though; it's called the CBD, or central business district. 

The bus ride takes maybe 10 or 15 minutes, depending on traffic. Jake's stop is a few block before mine, and we each have a few blocks to walk to get to our buildings from there. 

A couple more shots of the CBD. I have to say that I love NZ's public restrooms. They're nice, clean and they're all over the place. 

We also see a lot of travel agencies. I swear there are three of these Flight Centres within two blocks of my workplace. We haven't used them to book anything yet, but we're considering a little trip over to the Cook Islands. Apparently American Somoa is out of the question because all the hotel rooms in the main city are booked while Survivor is filmed there. Stupid reality TV!

We were told to buy an Entertainment Book -- the same kind they have in the states -- with coupons to every restaurant in town. It's a great way to learn about all the cool places we haven't visited yet. So Jake took me out to 3C, a nice little after-work spot last Thursday. Excellent beef filet and tasty little after-dinner chocolate mint.

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3 comments:

Corey said...

They misspelled "center."

I know, I know. Joking.

Mom Deed said...

Your daily commute looks like a real workout--460 steps--very interesting pictures of the downtown or should I say, the CBD. Jake looks real handsome all dressed up, with the same familiar smile!

Alicia said...

I just love reading this and seeing the photos although I understand about the camera situation. :-)

CBD is quite the urban sociological term. That what we use to say downtown or urban centers too when writing about the urban landscape. LOL. The rest of the world is so funny...so are we...:)

I like pizza on the grill???