ROSEMARY ABBOTT | Culture
BAY OF BOREDOM
Just months after making the move from Newmarket to Tauranga in search of a ‘laid-back lifestyle,’ former Aucklander Millie Evans, 32, has now found herself facing the grim reality that the Bay of Plenty might actually be a little too laid-back.
“I don’t know, I just thought there’d be more,” sighed Evans as she sipped on her oat flat white at one of Tauranga’s five identical beachside cafés.
“Like, obviously there’s the beach, and you can walk up the Mount, but I’ve done that about a hundred times now. It’s a great view, but how many times can you stand at the top and pretend to be amazed?”
Evans, who once spent her weekends hopping between Ponsonby wine bars and boutique shopping in Britomart, said she was initially charmed by Tauranga’s slower pace.
“At first, it was a novelty. No traffic, people saying ‘good morning’ unironically, that sort of thing. But then I realised that after you go to the beach and do the Mount, there’s basically nothing left. I miss having options.”
Friends of Evans say she was once the biggest advocate for moving out of Auckland, often describing it as “too hectic” and “overrated.” But now, just six months into her new coastal existence, the cracks are starting to show.
“I thought I wanted a simpler life, but now I’m just walking aimlessly around Bayfair shopping centre on a Saturday because there’s nowhere else to go,” she admitted. “I’m not sure how much longer I can pretend that going to a farmer’s market is an event.”
More to come.
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