Two weeks in....

After all the farewells and the very long flight we are finally here....in the winter! Although the temperatures are above freezing the cold southerlies from the antarctic can make the wind chill quite severe.

After viewing many properties all over the city we have finally found a house in the hills overlooking Wellington Harbour to rent...sounds great but in reality with the topography of wellington 75% of the houses fall into this category :o)

We knew that the houses did not have heating, but we didn’t appreciate how cold the houses get....and as a result another layer of clothing is worn at all times with a fan heater in each room. Lets hope the reported high power bills are not that bad!

Everywhere we go, we are greeted with warm welcomes....the people hear are so generous and friendly. We have been given a TV, air bed, blankets and even a surfboard while we wait for our furniture which at the moment is somewhere in the Indian Ocean.

Theresa has started her student life well, finishing her homework on time and enjoying a 4 day week, while I am making some progress on the job front, while waiting for my application to be reviewed. In the meantime I have a new project of converting a Nissan Van into a Camper van which will keep me occupied for a little while :o)

We have started the Kiwi lifestyle by going for walks in the hills and joining a gym.....everywhere we go we see people running, cycling and walking. So plenty of motivation for us!!!
One of the walks is a “City to the Sea” finishing at a beach cafe near the surfing beach. The sign inside the cafe records that last time an Orca was sighted only a couple of months ago......I think I need to improve my surfing quickly to avoid being fish food.

So the summary for the first 2 weeks is:

- A big cafe culture
- Everyone is exercising, healthy and very friendly
- Houses are cold!!!

“The baggage allowance is what?!?!”

It finally came: the last day at work! After 3 months of wrapping up everything all that was required was the final farewell email to many friends and colleagues and the return of phone, laptop and security badge. Free phone calls are no longer after 8 years!!!

Rather than turning left out of the office gates, it was right turn to the airport to start a brief holiday in Spain before leaving for NZ....a nice start to unemployment ;o) En-route to the airport, I picked up my daughter in her birthday present; Rosie, a bright red Ford Ka car. She drove her first car for part of the way with her ‘L‘ plates attached. Slightly nervous with “Dad” in the passenger seat providing “guidance in her driving” we managed to get to the airport safe and sound only for Becca to hand the keys over to a parking attendant. I am sure she threatened him to look after Rosie while she was away.



Spain was a good opportunity to catch our breaths before the long flight to NZ a week later. All the planning and deadlines were now over, it was time to relax. It was great to do very little apart from sit in the sun, wine and dine. At 40 degrees in the shade on some days we are actually started to look forward to the 11 degrees in Wellington.

Now back in the UK for a brief moment we are now packing and repacking what feels like the whole house packed into two suitcases. The 43Kg baggage allowance seems very small! All I need to do is keep on eye on Theresa sneaking the heavy items into my suitcase and using my allowance. Lets just hope the bathroom scales were accurate!!!

All that is left to do is the farewell party....after saying goodbye to majority of the family earlier in the week it’s just the remaining family and friends at a small local venue. The following day and we are off.......cant wait

Although we will be missing Becca’s birthday, we have already started planning her month out in Wellington during August...Lets just hope our furniture gets there before she does :o)