The Perks of Living in a Yurt

After about a month, we were forced to move out of our "dream house in the jungle" (washing machine and cockroaches included) and find some other place to live in. The owner was returning to the house, so we could not stay there any longer. After a single post on Facebook group for Waiheke accommodation listings, one lovely couple wrote us a message, that they have a place in their yurts for the winter. And we didn't hesitate - if somebody offers you a place in the yurt, you don't say no, because it is probably your fate.

Our previous home.

And we were really lucky - I love this place. We are living here in exchange for a couple of hours of work a week and so far I believe it is worth it. Here are the top five reasons why I like it here.

(1) The fabulous smell of the wood and new furniture

Every time I walk into our new "house", it feels like stepping into the fairy tale taking place in IKEA/Hobbiton. Every bit of the room is so perfect and cute I really can't believe it is real.

(2) USB plugs nearby the toilet

Well, it is pretty useful in case you are running out of battery on your phone and you really really need to finish that game (Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, 2048, Flappy Bird, whatever...).

(3) The best kettle ever

I had no idea a thing like this existed. You can choose from different water temperatures depending on the kind of tea you are going to drink: green, black and white tea, oolong; and also coffee. And there is even the button for keeping the water warm! I am pretty sure, this kind of kettle they have in the heaven.

(4) The sunshine and warmth

During the sunny days, it gets really warm in the yurt, you may sit inside just in the T-shirt and shorts. And as we live up on the hill, there is plenty of the sun throughout the day. Well, on the other hand, it gets cold during nights, but a few duvets always got us through the night.

(5) The amazing view

It is a wonderful feeling. You just sit in the room and you see the picturesque valley with small olive trees and the sea in the background, sheep, cows, horses and donkeys on the fields nearby. (And you drink a tea made in that fabulous kettle.)

The chairs and the table next to our yurt.

We do not know, how long we will stay here (it probably depends on how cold it will get during next few weeks), but so far, we have no intention to leave. Of course this place has some drawbacks (every place has!), there are cockroaches and spiders too and kitchen is a bit far away, but I love it here anyway.

More pictures and updates about our life here coming soon! :)

Relaxing in the evening - fish&chips and a movie!

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The most important places to visit in Auckland...

...are Auckland ZOO and National Art Gallery. Well, at least if you are just like me and my boyfriend - he, an animal lover, who always makes me go to the ZOO in every city we visit together, and me - the artistic one.

1 The Auckland ZOO

It was the first ZOO, where we have gone through all the paths showed on the map. We spend there three hours (somebody else could maybe spend there four or five hours, if he would read every sign and have a coffee or two), but I think three hours were just enough.

The red panda looks like a big red fluffy cat.

Highlights for us? Red pandas, real kiwis (I almost cannot believe they really exist, they are like unicorns, you see their pictures everywhere and people are talking about them, but you rarely see one) and very nice aviaries with friendly birds.

YAY!

What I liked: drinking fountains everywhere, very nice gift shop and interesting legends nearby the animals.

What I didn't like: not a great variety of places to have a snack (eating at ZOO is my favourite part of the visit usually), lack of geographical locations in descriptions of animals (a.k.a. they are happy to announce that some animal is super poisonous, but fail to say, if it lives in NZ or not.)

And here is the official website.

I just liked this guy, so I took a picture of him.

You can have a snack at Darwin's.

Me, taking care of plastic kiwi.

This turtle is real.

2 The Auckland Art Gallery

Firstly, it is situated in an awesome building. Sometimes I suspect myself, that I actually don't like the art itself and the paintings and other stuff displayed are sometimes boring (oh my, what a public confession), but the whole atmosphere of galleries just makes me feel better instantly. Big rooms painted in calming colours, awesome light (which makes you think you are a great photographer, because basically you cannot make a really awful picture in there), quite environment, nice leaflets and maps of museum with an aroma of novelty and exclusivity...

Well, if you are trying to find a nice place to relax and unwind for a while in the middle of busy central Auckland, try Art Gallery. We were expecting more of a Maori oriented art, but it all looked a little bit too European to really catch our attention. But I liked some contemporary pieces from NZ artists and portraits of famous Maori people as they were accompanied by the whole story about them. It is really fascinating, that just some two hundred years ago, people were travelling long weeks from UK to New Zealand and back again, getting married, fighting for their causes and trying to find their own place under the sun... what an adventurous life they had!

This looks to me almost like in Vienna.

Okay, let's stop this daydreaming session, here is some practical info about the gallery: it is free, it is nice and opened every day from 10am to 5pm except Christmas Day (they do not have that nasty custom of closing museums and galleries on Mondays like at some other places in the world).

More info here and some pictures of this awesome place below.

A contemporary installation....

I liked this one. A glowing broom.

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