Yes, you read that right, the suitcases (well, cargo bags) have been unpacked and are now stored away, for now at least! We moved into our new home a week ago today and have had an interesting time working out the quirks of living somewhere different. I wouldn't say it feels like home yet, more like we are living in a posh, spacious AirBnb! Once our container arrives, and we have our own stuff around, I'm sure it will feel more like home.
Like most New Zealand houses, insulation and central heating seem to be foreign concepts so the first thing we got wrong was how to heat the house! For the first night, we didn't put anything on as it's quite sunny and generally warm in the day. However, it gets very cold at night and even Jonathan was uncomfortable. We had made the mistake of leaving the HRV (heat recovery ventilation) system on overnight. HRV circulates the hot air at the top of the house to the rest of the house and in doing so improves ventilation and helps prevent damp. However, the roof is cold at night so it was blowing cold air into our bedroom all night! Apparently it's a good system and we may be glad if it later in the year but we've learned to put it on in the morning and turn it off when it gets dark. I am also making the most of the electric blanket!
The house comes with many home comforts and gadgets and I have been on a mission this week to make the most of them. Today's challenge was the real fire. As you can tell - my pyromania skills have not been lost.
Other gadgets I have mastered include the hob, the cooker, the microwave, the washing machine, the tumble drier, various blenders, the nespresso machine and the slow cooker. My pulled pork tasted delicious but will keep us fed for days. Our local butcher is awesome and I think we will become very loyal customers.
It feels weird to have so much room after living in hotel rooms or hotel apartments for 5 weeks. There is far more space here than we need but it feels like a wonderful luxury that will help keep us sane if further lockdowns happen.
We have got the internet working and, after toiling for many hours, the television with Netflix so we've officially made it to season 2 of Ozark (definitely worth watching!) With none of my sewing equipment here, I've got back into knitting and am now working my way through a fair bit of wool (thank goodness they have sheep here - even if the wool is pricy!) My efforts have started of small and simple with hand warmers and a cowl neck, but I finished them too quickly so I've just got the wool for a sleeveless jacket.
The garden here is easy to maintain but very peaceful. There is a lovely sun trap which works well for a coffee in the morning, whilst listening to the water feature bubbling away.
I missed out on growing my tomatoes etc this year in the UK as I didn't think we'd be around to harvest them. I've been eyeing up propagators here but in the meantime, our local supermarket started giving away freebies for children (who said you ever had to grow up?) so I've been collecting these too!
I've been catching up with old friends and previous work colleagues which has been lovely, particularly Paula, Vicky, Helen and Brian who have become what Jonathan has nick-named the Borg collective. (Star Trek reference.) They have been an incredible source of local knowledge and translation which has made settling in here a whole lot easier!
I've been doing more exploring of the local area this week, finding great little shops, bays, reserves and wildlife. This was my route home from the local 'posh' supermarket this week:
Not only was this a lovely walk home (10 minutes from the house) but I also spotted a paddle boarder - and as a result, a route through the mangroves to our local park where I can launch my kayak!
I'm making good progress with job hunting and will hopefully have more definite news next week. However, I turned down a job in the ICU here as the hours wouldn't be feasible with other work sadly. It looks like I should be able to do a part time teaching job and have a part time clinical role though so more of that soon.
In the meantime, I'm having fun exploring the area, finding new exciting things about the house and tracking the car and our home contents which are currently on their way here (car is in the mediterranean, contents are somewhere near Eritrea.)
Thanks for reading this and feel free to comment if you wish.
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