Coffee withdrawl and NZ observations

I have been off coffee now for almost our entire trip. And not by choice. I haven't been entirely caffeine free b/c i've attempted to drink some really bad coffee but can never finish it so I am having with drawl. I'm tired at night and sleeping well so maybe its not a bad thing but I miss it :( There are no coffee shops like there are in Canada here in Auckland. They are all Batista's, which is nice and very yummy, but also very expensive and harder to obtain quickly. We went in search last night for caffeine out of desperation and much begging by me but here they also roll up the pavement by 5:30pm. Go figure. Nothing is open, at least in our area of town. We finally tracked down one place after our third attempt. There is one Starbucks in the area but even they were closed by 7pm. I guess its in keeping with the relaxed lifestyle feeling that everyone hears about here so its just gonna be an adjustment for me to adapt to people not working all hours.

The Rat tail. Has that somehow come back in Canada and I do not know about it? Because they are ever where here and I am wanting to carry my scissors around and start snipping them off. That is one hairstyle that should NOT return.
Is it just that the people over here never got rid of it? Do the New Zealanders have a name for the people who where rat tails like we do for people who where mullet's? I thought it was a random thing the first time I saw it but its like a bad recurring nightmare here.

Cost of living: People told us that it was expensive here and to stock up on things like toiletries before coming but nothing prepares you for how ridiculously expensive random things are here. Cereal is $12.95 (Allan, you wouldn't be able to handle it here), mascara ladies-$33.00. This is not MAC mascara this is drugstore brand. Diapers-$46.00 for 36. Zaiah is getting potty trained immediately!! I don't know how many times we've wanted to get something to eat but cannot bring ourselves to pay $10 for a hamburger or $15 for nachos form an icecrea parlour. They would go crazy in Canada for how cheap everything is.
Even the rent for housing here. Its all per week instead of per month and the cost for 1 week is what some people pay per month.

CRAZY

Thankfully the pay is also better here. We should be able to surrive on peanut butter and grilled cheese sandwhices for 6 months.

Darryl got out kiteboarding today and Tracy and I went window shopping with the girls this morning and by ourselves tonight. I drove all by myself for the seccond time and am doing better and feeling more confident about it. We also got a GPS so I am very excited to have that.

We are hoping to have news tomorrow about a condo that we would like to rent so pray it works out.