I’ve been mainly in research mode up till now in terms of buying baby supplies.  On Friday, I took my research and put it into practice: we went shopping!

I’ve mentioned before that we decided not to buy a car here.  Luckily, some friends of ours are out of the country for the next month and have graciously allowed us the use of their vehicle.  We  appreciate it!

Here’s a photo of Chris pulling out of our garage.  This is what happens when you convert the boiler room/basement of a 100+ year old building into a car park:

Narrow!  You can see scuff marks along the ramp walls from other not-so-lucky vehicles 🙁

Our first stop was “Potential Unlimited”  – the only secondhand children’s store that I could locate in all of Auckland.  Sad!  You can find secondhand goods on TradeMe.co.nz {similar to CraigsList in the States}, but I usually click on there and click off a short while later, disappointed and unimpressed with both the prices and the variety.  Still, it’s worth checking out.

“Potential Unlimited” looked promising from the outside…

…and then we walked in.  It was a bit overwhelming – lots and lots of stuff was stacked and stored way up to the ceiling.  They didn’t have much in the way of large nursery items, but they did have a ton of toys, DVDs, baby clothes, and small items.  We didn’t purchase anything, but it might be good for stocking up on smaller necessities.

Our next stop was Botany Town Centre.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but Botany TC was modeled after American shopping centers.  That might explain why, when leaving, I mentioned to Chris that shopping there had felt a bit like I was back home {in the States}.

Our first stop was Baby City.  Apparently, we weren’t the only ones shopping for baby gear.  This little guy {or gal?} was hanging out around the pajama section…

Thankfully, cricket-shopper hopped on its merry way without coming any closer.  Crickets are nice… from a distance.

We asked a Baby City employee about strollers.  I had certain criteria in mind, but when I told her what I wanted, she looked as though I had just asked her to tell me the Pythagorean Theorem.  A few suggestions were offered up, none of which met all of the criteria.  Finally, sensing that we were about to leave, she landed on a stroller that almost met all of our criteria.  The problem was the cost – over $900.  I regret to say that I was a bit rude and burst out laughing before I could stop myself.  Then I apologized, thanked her for her help, and said that I was not interested in spending that much.

Quinny Buzz 3 Wheel Stroller – $999

Overall, we weren’t too impressed.  I did buy a few linens as well as a sheep’s wool mattress liner.  Those are fairly common here.  It gets quite chill in winter and having one of these will keep baby boy just a bit warmer 🙂   They’re also useful at keeping baby cool in summer.  They’re soft, hypoallergenic, and 100% machine washable.

Next stop was Baby Factory.

{Side Bar: The names of these stores give me a bit of the creeps.  Baby City?  Baby Factory?  New Zealand also has a Baby Universe.  All we need now is a Baby Planet and Baby Galaxy in order to have total Baby Domination, mwahaha!}

Baby Factory was more to my liking.  The staff seemed to know about their products – always nice.  They also knew that they had 2 strollers that would suit my criteria.  We saw both of them and Chris, who is normally Mr. Laid-Back-On-The-Fence-Neutral-I-Don’t-Care-What-You-Buy, was quite impressed with stroller #2.  I was, too, but wasn’t sure about the price.  Impulse buyer, I am not.  I blame my Dutch ancestors.  I hate spending money, which makes shopping a bit tricky.  When I do have to spend money, I like to know that I’m making a wise decision.  I’ve been researching strollers for months, comparing prices and looking at the costs/benefits of buying a stroller here vs. buying one in the US for Chris to bring back… and finally decided that the Baby Factory stroller was a good deal {it was on sale} + it more than satisfied my criteria.  So we bought it!  Yay!  I’m so excited about this stroller!  Yes, I have turned into one of those women who goes ga-ga over a stroller.  I’ll tell you all about it in another post 😉

All things considered, it was a great afternoon.  We got a stroller, purchased some linens, and I was able to check out some products firsthand.  I’m always happy when a shopping trip ends well!