We've found a house

Although it might not seem like a big deal, we've found a longer-term rental to coincide with our container arriving in NZ. Our plan had always been to stay in a central short-term apartment as we didn't have any stuff with us and then explore a little to figure out where we wanted to live longer term.

Without a car, we've not been able to explore as much as we'd like. We decided that the location of Ian's work would dictate where we went. For a while we thought we'd be focusing on Petone, when Ian got a job in Lower Hutt.

But he gave that job up so we were a bit in limbo again. Well, very soon after leaving his last job, he's been offered one doing what he's done a lot of - aircraft refueller at the airport! At the moment he's due to start on 15th November for training and induction, but he's now got another interview with Airport Operations! So anyway, at least we know now that he's going to be working at the airport!

So we were able to focus our minds on areas a little. We decided to jump on the bus to Miramar and Seatoun (pronounced sea-toon) to have a look around. One thing that we noticed was that all the parks had "no dogs" signs on them. So we were struggling to find places we could take Maddy (when she arrives).

Although the area was nice, the apparent dog "unfriendliness" was a big downfall. So we decided to widen our search area. We also decided to hire a car for the weekend to get around with greater ease. So, we dutifully set up some house viewings in Karori, Island Bay (x2) and Plimmerton. All very different areas in very different parts of the region!

The second house we saw was in Island Bay. We established a nice rapport with the landlady and were having a laugh. Things seemed to be going well until she mentioned she didn't want "kids or animals". Our hearts sank as it was a really nice house. As we prepared to leave we mentioned how we were interested in the house but she wouldn't be interested in us, as we have a dog. All of a sudden this wasn't such an issue, there were offers to put a dog door in the garage and finish the fencing off to give us a secure place for her to go. It wasn't a done deal as we still had others to see, but we had a good feeling. The house is right next door to a dog friendly reserve and there is a dog friendly beach at the bottom of the hill (a 3-minute drive or about a 5-10-minute walk). Serendipity?

We visited the last two houses on our list (the first in Karori was a complete no go-er - it was awful!) but both were tiny, if lovely houses. We didn't even mention Maddy to these.

And so we told Vicki, the landlady, we were most interested in the house, she responded that we were her preferred tenants out of everyone they'd seen, but we decided to go back on the Sunday to have a more practical viewing. At this viewing we met Bruce, the landlord, and all seemed to go just as well. Bruce is a (short) plumber and this is evident in the height of the showers! The en suite doesn't even reach Ian's chin! :-D so they're going to put a monsoon/rain head shower in to rectify that. And so the deal was done. And we move in on 4th December.

So that's the major milestone, but what else have we been up to? Well, whilst having a wander around Miramar, we stumbled upon Weta Cave, the retail and mini museum related to Weta. This is a movie/TV special effects company that brought us Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Avatar, District 9 and will be bringing us The Hobbit as well. A fascinating place, a behind-the-scenes video shows you how it all works. The only photos we have include "Flat Stanley" so you'll have to put up with them!

We also continued our winning streak since arriving. Annalie won a Twitter competition for two free tickets to see the local football team, the Wellington Phoenix. They're the only NZ professional side, but it's not quite the standard we're used to! It was honestly like watching Sunday league at times! The Phoenix ended a winning streak while we were there so we're obviously bad luck for footy teams at the "Cake Tin"! Maybe we'll give football a miss down here!

We also both won t-shirts of Rico - Air New Zealand's new mascot who's becoming a social media icon! Click here to learn more about him and see some of his videos - parental guidance recommended!!

NZ also celebrates Bonfire Night - although there's no bonfires! Just fireworks. With the natural harbour that is Wellington, there are many good vantage points. We decided to stick to the Waterfront though. We met our friends Vanessa and Dave (we mentioned Vanessa from the SPCA previously - we've had a couple of nights out with them) and stayed at the pub until 5 minutes to go. Unfortunately a bad Southerly storm was starting and it was freezing stood out on the exposed wharf for the 12.5 minutes of the event! But it was a good display, even coming from the home of fireworks displays! Then it was back to the pub!!

We've also celebrated our first birthday out here! Ian's birthday present was finding our rental house! It wasn't the greatest way to spend a birthday, but it was an important achievement for our new life here and the next step towards settling down. We finished the day with dinner in a bar watching a rugby league international (Kiwis vs Kangeroos - NZ vs Australia) and then Vanessa and Dave joined us after a trip to the theatre. We ended up in The Library lounge - an interesting place with much "retro" furniture that makes the place smell like your grandparent's front room! The sofas were that old that they ate you! Getting up out of them was a challenge in itself!

Our move has been somewhat vindicated as well. OK, not exactly, but Lonely Planet has declared Wellington is the fourth best place to visit in 2011. And it is also, apparently, the coolest little capital in the world. So do you think we made a good choice? Although we will admit that it was more fate than intention that brought us to Wellington!

We'll leave you with a picture of Island Bay - just a few minutes from where we will be living.