Back in Auckland

It's been a cold and sunny winter week. I saw frost for the first time in Auckland this morning and Sin Yat told me it was the first time he had ever seen that in Auckland. It must have been below zero last night, but that's difficult to believe now in the afternoon. My new-ish flatmate Thomas is sitting outside in the sun in shorts and t-shirt eating a Sandwich.

Hi Thomas

Welcome back, Thomas
Thomas moved in just before I left for Brisbane last week. He used to live here, but he has been in Montreal, Canada for three months. Before returning to Auckland he spent a month in Europe and I was surprised to learn that he has been in Denmark. A lot of Kiwis would find it cold there (even in late spring), but I think he enjoyed his time in my home country. But he liked Montreal even better. He found himself a girlfriend there and is talking about moving there permanently. But until he does, he is part of the large family here.

Finding the rhythm
After an exciting week, I find it quite enjoyable to return to my everyday life. Work is great, I like being there and I like what I do. It's good to be with the family again, dipping in the spa, playing board games, having nice wine and going to church as I have come to expect. Also, I like just being here in Auckland. It has become my home and I like the familiarity of a walk on Mairangi Bay beach or along sunset road where you get the most amazing view of the city in the orange glow of the setting sun.

On a clear day like this you can see Coromandel, 50 km away

Dinosaurs
There's been a bit of a dinosaur theme this week. Thursday we watched Jurrassic World in the cinema and today we are going to play a dinosaur board game. I was not very impressed with the movie, but I didn't expect much either. The dinosaurs were beautifully animated, but I feel like the script might be even worse than that of the previous films. I'm more excited about the board game. I've spent almost 3 hours reading rules and reviews and I have even watched a few YouTube clips about it.