We got the house!

Today, we signed on the line which is dotted for our house, so that's good. It ended up working out okay, but the day didn't begin well. I had to be at the realty office with the check at 10am but our bank doesn't open on Wednesdays until 9:30am. Why you ask? Because there's a weekly meeting.

That alone would have been okay, but all the bus drivers got today off while the union negotiated pay raises. Technically, the drivers weren't on strike. Union members just get the day off when negotiations take place. Crazy! So instead of a $2 bus ride to the top of the hill, I took a $20 cab ride to the top.

My choices as a consumer here are kind of interesting. But it explains some things we noticed, like how come no one here talks on their mobile phone? And of the very few we do see talking on mobiles, how come no one has Bluetooth?

There are two mobile phone companies to choose from. New Zealand has the most expensive mobile phone plans in the industrialized world. You pay approximately $40/mo for service and $0.40 a minute when you talk. You can some phones for free or for a nominal price similar to the US, but the more features you get, the more expensive it is. A PDA phone costs nearly $1000. Which explains why no ones uses their mobile unless they have to and also the popularity of text messaging.

I thought about starting my own phone company but Telstra (an Australian firm) has beat me to it. They announced the beginning of their service yesterday. They only charge $20/mo and $0.21 a minute. I'm thinking about signing up with them!

Most people think rugby is the sport of New Zealand. Those people are correct. However, another very popular sport is jetsprint boating. It's on for like two hours a day on the sports channel. We might have more jetsprints in the US if those damn environmentalists weren't protecting the wetlands and air quality. See what you're missing out on here: