The surreality of being...

So today was (and still is) the big day.  I have mentioned, on many occasions, the nagging feeling that this must all be a dream but early this morning, having packed the better half off to work, I picked up my hire car and drove out to our new house.  I put the key in the door, open it, and stepped inside.  Every day being here seems more real and each little step we take forward brings the reality of life in New Zealand closer.  Walking into the house was a big step to waking me up from the dream.  I suppose this week has gone by in a daily grind of job applications and searches, followed by mentally disconnected walks along the harbour, and just entering the a house we could now call our own was a concrete indicator that we are actually living here.

I could bore you all with how wonderful the house is (very tempted to).   To tell you the truth, at the moment, it's a little cold and empty as it is completely unfurnished.  However, I'm sure you will agree the views from the balcony compensate for any other short comings. (Check out the panorama at the end of the blog.)  We have started furnishing it anyway.  I got to do my man-lego building with a flat pack dining table and chairs which was delivered this morning.  There should be a bed arriving later.  We will, very quickly, turn it into a home and not just a house.



       

Having justified my manhood and assembled one table and four chairs I took a short wander down to the parade (shops, cinema, cafes, bars, takeaways etc...) at the bottom of the hill.   I then enjoyed a stroll along the sea front and watched some Variable Oystercatchers feeding on the water line whilst eating lunch.  The walk back up to the house is steep but not too long (should keep me fit).  I arrived back day-dreaming.  I think I have almost mentally adjusted to being a Wellington resident, especially as I am now day dreaming about the future and not just marvelling at being here.  On that philosophical note I shall leave you with my favourite quote - you can decide for yourself how dangerous you think I am.

"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." - T. E. Lawrence

 

 

"It's not a holiday, honestly!"

This week has mostly been about putting the final plans in place for moving into a new house next Friday.  As explained in my last missal, we had two in mind but eventually decided to take the plunge and signed on the dotted line to rent a property in Island Bay.  The house is up on a hill and has a balcony with a view over Owhiro Bay.  It is well above the tsunami danger zone which is essentially a blue line painted across the road.  As the better half starts work on Monday we have been putting in the time this week searching for furniture to fill it with.

It's not all been trudging the streets and trawling the internet though.  We took a day off to explore the East Harbour Bay area.   The hills just behind the beach are criss-crossed with tracks through some thick bush with the occasional clearing and view across the harbour.  We spent a few hours slogging up onto the ridge, then trying navigate it south without getting lost in the forest, before returning to the beach for ice cream and the ferry ride back across to the city.

       

To contrast we have had an evening on the town with one the better half's workmates and then last Friday got tickets to the T20 Cricket - Blackcaps v England.  It was fantastic to get on board with the sports-mad Kiwi spirit and we cheered England to a huge win at "The Cake Tin" (Westpac Stadium).

This weekend has been more relaxed as the better half prepares to start work and I have started job hunting.  As I type, I am listening to more of the England cricket tour (the first ODI).   It's great to have a excuse to support either side - I am not hugely patriotic so really I just like to see a good game.  It does remind me that I am not in England though, and of all the people we have left behind.  Someone had better be the first to come and visit to stop us missing you.  After all, as of Friday we will have a spare room.  See you soon!

Beaches, birds, boats, and other B things (not necessarily in that order)

Five days worth of blog seems like an awful lot to catch up with: and to think I initially thought I would only post every week.  If I remember rightly (actually I've cheated and read my last post), we had just experienced "Windy Wellington" and were trying to arrange house viewings.  We were delayed in our first house viewings by "Waitangi Day" which is a public holiday.  We used the day to take a trip round the suburbs and get our bearings on where we wanted to look at houses.  It was a beautiful sunny day (you'll all get bored of that phrase eventually) and we even managed a walk up Mt Victoria to get a view over the city.
 

Having had a good look round the city we have decided, to start with at least, we would like to live in the Island Bay area, approximately 6kms south of the city centre.  It has a fantastic little bay with a sandy beach, fishing boats and good local facilities.  It is also good for buses to get the better half to work.  The best bit is that it has plenty of flats/apartments with views of the sea.  The down side is the slightly inflated rents in the area.  Looks like I will have to knuckle down and find work quickly.

From Thursday through to Saturday has mostly been taken up with viewing houses.  We have seen good, bad, ugly, cheap, expensive, damp, cold, hilltop, beachfront, and a whole load more.  We have put in two applications in the Island Bay area and are still waiting to hear back.  The whole rental process is more straight forward than the UK (at least it seems that way) and tenancy agreements are very standardised.  Fingers crossed we will have news early next week.

Today then, has been a day off from running all over the city and the better half found a Ship 'n Chip deal which included a morning in the Wellington City and Sea Museum, fish and chips lunch, then a boat trip to Matiu Somes Island in the middle of the harbour.  The island is a wildlife sanctuary.  They have managed to eliminate all the rats and other invasive species and now a number of endangered endemic species area flourishing.  We had beautiful sunshine (there's that phrase again) all day and enjoyed walking around the island looking at the birds, plants, insects and reptiles.  On the way back we took the ferry that stopped off at Day's Bay and then Seaton before returning to the city.  This gave us a good look round the harbour and a different view point on Wellington.

We are slowly settling in then.  It will feel more like home when we have a house.  There is still a long list to work through before we will be set up here.   We are trying to stop ourselves constantly performing mental currency conversions and adding up each days costs.  After all, you can't put a price on sitting down at the end of the day, beer in hand, looking over the harbour and listening to the sea.

Windy Wellington

So the first few days in Wellington have flown by in a whirlwind (not quite literally, although there have been 40mph winds today) of furious activity punctuated by attempts to relax and enjoy our new home.  The weather over the weekend was glorious so on Saturday after a lazy morning getting over the jet lag we went exploring and eventually ended up in a bar watching England's progress through the IRB Sevens Rugby.  This finished with celebratory drinks due to England (against all the odds) winning the tournament.  The sunshine continued into Wednesday, when we headed up to one of the many parks in and around the city and spent a few hours wandering aimlessly.

View of Wellington from top of "Cable Car"

Monday dawned a little different, the wind had moved to the south (which here means cold - still getting confused by this).  This brought rain and very strong gusts.   We discovered exactly why Wellington is called the "Windy City".  The better half had organised a list of jobs to do so we battled through the squally weather and managed to complete all the essential tasks of setting up bank accounts, mobile phones, tax registration, etc. that are necessary when you move to a foreign country.   At the end of the day we were both damp and exhausted so indulged in takeaway pizza and a bottle of wine.

Today has been more of the same weather-wise, although the rain has not been quite as intense and the wind has been stronger.  We have attempted to tackle the job of trying to find a place to live.   Viewings have been arranged for Thursday as tomorrow is a National Holiday - Waitangi Day.  Just looking at photos online of some of  the houses/apartments has got us excited about where we may live.  The areas we are looking at are closer to the sea than we are now and the majority of properties have balconies with sea views.

I hope I have made all you readers suitably jealous.  The only downsides so far in NZ have been getting used to the price of goods and of course missing everyone back home.  It has been great to talk to family and friends on Skype and I am doing my best to keep in touch via facebook/twitter/e-mail.  Further updates will follow soon.

Touchdown

We have arrived!

I write this sitting in an apartment looking out over the tree clad escarpment at the back of The Terrace in Wellington, NZ.  I really meant to post one last time before I left the UK but it all got a tad manic in the days leading up to the flight.  I thought we had everything under control and sorted but it appeared that was merely an illusion.  In amongst making all the visits to say our goodbyes, finishing cleaning the house, handing back keys and moving out we had a couple of problems.  Firstly there was the discovery that our baggage allowance was per individual bag and not cumulative.  This meant a complete re-packing of every bag (and the leaving behind of some heavy climbing gear that will have to be shipped).  On top of that my car decided to have engine issues.  In typical fashion this was the day after we sold the better half's car.  The result of these problems meant our idea of having a relaxing last couple of days, before the marathon flight, was not to be.

As is redundantly obvious, we sorted everything out and, after some tearful goodbyes to our nearest and dearest, on Wednesday morning headed down to Heathrow.  Special mention should go to my brother-in-law, Len, for giving us a lift there with our mountain of luggage.  We checked in our bags and were waved off through the security checks by the better half's family.  In keeping with my long standing record, I was stopped by security and my bag searched.  This was as dramatic as the journey got.  We watched films, drank NZ wine, ate airplane meals, landed in LA, disembarked, got searched by US security, re-embarked, watched more films, slept (sort of), ate more, drank more, landed in Auckland, cleared customs and immigration, made our connecting flight, took off then landed in Wellington.  All in under 35 hours.  I was truly impressed at how smooth it all went.

The better half's new employers met us from the airport and took us to our temporary apartment in the glorious sunshine that "always" shines here.  We spent the rest of the day trying to stay awake by exploring and shopping for a few essentials.  We quickly realised how mad the Kiwi's are.  It is the NZ leg of the IRB Sevens in Wellington this weekend.  Every street, cafe, bar and public space was filled with people in fancy dress.  We are reliably informed this is normal for this sporting occasion.  It certainly made an entertaining spectacle.  Hopefully we will join in some of the revelry later on as the England and Kiwi teams look set to clash in the Final.  Sleep finally overtook me at about 8pm and a good night's sleep has put my brain back into gear.  Despite the feeling I could still be dreaming everything, thoughts now are turning to the practicalities of setting up life here in NZ.  So the Adventure in the Land of the Long White Cloud continues.