Our last offer on the Glen Almond house was accepted!!! We are so ecstatic!
With our application packet all ready to turn in (save for Graham's birth certificate which we will get on Thursday), our biggest focus now is preparing the farm for the auction and having a HUGE garage sale. Billy has been spending every spare moment mowing, weedeating and selling livestock. I have been sorting though all of our stuff!!! So much STUFF!!! I'm going from room to room deciding what we will take, what we will sell and what we can simply throw out. My criteria for bringing it is 1) Is it functional? and 2) Do I love it? I've also taken some breaks from sorting through the house and shopping for things we want to bring. Since the kids will be playing musical beds and some will be sharing rooms, I've purchased new bedding for them. I've also chosen some new bedding for Billy and me. I really like the colors on the walls in the bedrooms in the new house and have found lovely bedding that will work great! I've also looked at dining tables and will soon be looking for patio furniture. And with all that I have sold or am going to sell, I'm not spending any extra money.
My biggest concern is my horses. I so dread selling them and have even looked into shipping them. I pray that if I'm not supposed to bring them, God will provide the perfect people for them and I will be at peace about leaving them.
Busy busy busy!!! December will be here before we know it!
31 August 2010
28 August 2010
One More Offer???
When you are waiting to hear back about an offer on a house, a 16 hour time difference is maddening!!! Business hours in NZ is the afternoon/evening for us and during our business hours, New Zealand is sleeping. Plus, we submitted our offer on what was Friday in NZ. Sunday night, we received a counteroffer $28,000 over our initial offer. Wow! This may be harder than we thought. We increased only $5k, not willing to pay too much over GV (Government Valuation) or RV (Council Rating Value). The vendors’ attorney all but called us either cheap or without funds to our attorney. He also spoke of two other interested purchasers, one from Russia and another from Australia. He said the vendors will not be countering. Disappointed, I began pouring over the listing websites again in search of a “plan B”. Our attorney, however, had also spoken with the agent (realtor) who indicated we were fairly close to an acceptable price and that the Russians had purchased something else. She made no mention of any other interested parties, Aussie or otherwise. I spoke will Billy, who of course was at work, and we agreed on a top dollar amount we were prepared to spend on this property. I then emailed the agent and basically told her that if the vendors are at their lowest acceptable price then I guess we were done. (I can play hardball too!) I thanked her for her assistance and suggested that perhaps she’d be the agent on another property that may work for us. Before she even received the email, the agent called me after having spoken to our attorney and was quite concerned that perhaps we were calling it quits. She indicated, as she had with our attorney, that the venders were prepared to accept a price just over our last price. She encouraged us to make one last offer over X amount but I told her that X amount was our top price we were willing to give on this property. She said she’d speak with the vendors and to go ahead and submit that amount as our final offer. So we submitted our last offer…
26 August 2010
Back to the Paperwork!
There was no easing back into the swing of things and we had no time for jet lag. Unfortunately, jetlag didn’t get that memo and Billy and I both trudged through the week like a hot, heavy blanket was weighing us down. Billy had to be at work for 7am Monday morning and was on call to boot. I had to prepare for the kids to start school on Wednesday as well as help my mom and sister prepare for and hold a garage sale for my grandmother.
For the past nine years, Gram had been residing in a retirement community in Somerset where I could take her to doctors’ appointments and run various errands for her. I had never considered moving from Somerset, even to Corbin, an option. Billy had mentioned the New Zealand idea to Gram some months ago and she decided that she would take this opportunity to move in with my sister, Jenn, and my nephew, Sam. By Gram moving in with them, Sam would have someone with him at night and Gram would nearly always have someone home with her, as Jenn sleeps days and works nights as a nurse. What we hadn’t anticipated was Gram selling her house so quickly! While Billy and I were in New Zealand, Gram sold her home, just barely four weeks after listing it. This was such a blessing because Gram, being a worrier by nature, fretted over the sale of her house day and night. She closed on her house the Tuesday after our return, we went through her house and held a garage sale that following weekend, movers came and packed her house on Sunday and she was sleeping in her own bed in her new house with Jenn and Sam Tuesday night. Wow! God’s hand was in that one all the way! And we praise Him for it!
Immigrations was another issue. Physicals on the eight of us were completed, most of the paperwork was done. We just had to organize it and go through the check list one last time… or so we thought. One jetlagged sleepless night, Billy got up at 3am and began going over things. To his shock and horror, he had misunderstood that we needed the children’s passports for the application, not simply for traveling when we actually moved. His work schedule, however, would not allow for him to go with us to sign for the passports. Plus the kids were now back in school. He managed to have someone cover for him Friday afternoon, so at 4 o’clock there we were, all at the post office in Somerset, with 5 passport applications (all to be expedited) and 6 children all hyped up after school. I’m sure the staff there were LOVING us!
Now, we lacked only 3 things- the letter from Graham’s pediatric cardiologist, Graham’s birth certificate and his passport. The letter had been requested one month prior at his annual cardiology exam. Graham has a congenital heart defect and had valve repair surgery at age two. He’s great now, perfectly health with no restrictions. Sometime, likely in his late teens, he will need another repair. His doctor simply needed to send a letter stating his current condition, the monitoring he requires and future prognosis. We had expected the letter to have arrived while we were in NZ but upon our return, it had still not come. I called the cardiologist’s office to inquire about it and was informed she was out of the country! Panic set in. Our deadline for having our application in was rapidly approaching!
Meanwhile… we had decisions to make about a house. I strongly feel that moving directly into “our new house” will help the children as well as myself adjust most smoothly. Winging it with six kids is really not feasible. Finding a place to rent that would accommodate the 8 of us was looking sketchy. But most importantly, we BOTH really liked the Glen Almond house! Since we were in a holding pattern with our immigration application, we shifted our focus on buying our home in New Zealand. After struggling over the legalese of the purchase agreement (guess some things are the same in whatever country you may be in), we submitted an offer…
For the past nine years, Gram had been residing in a retirement community in Somerset where I could take her to doctors’ appointments and run various errands for her. I had never considered moving from Somerset, even to Corbin, an option. Billy had mentioned the New Zealand idea to Gram some months ago and she decided that she would take this opportunity to move in with my sister, Jenn, and my nephew, Sam. By Gram moving in with them, Sam would have someone with him at night and Gram would nearly always have someone home with her, as Jenn sleeps days and works nights as a nurse. What we hadn’t anticipated was Gram selling her house so quickly! While Billy and I were in New Zealand, Gram sold her home, just barely four weeks after listing it. This was such a blessing because Gram, being a worrier by nature, fretted over the sale of her house day and night. She closed on her house the Tuesday after our return, we went through her house and held a garage sale that following weekend, movers came and packed her house on Sunday and she was sleeping in her own bed in her new house with Jenn and Sam Tuesday night. Wow! God’s hand was in that one all the way! And we praise Him for it!
Immigrations was another issue. Physicals on the eight of us were completed, most of the paperwork was done. We just had to organize it and go through the check list one last time… or so we thought. One jetlagged sleepless night, Billy got up at 3am and began going over things. To his shock and horror, he had misunderstood that we needed the children’s passports for the application, not simply for traveling when we actually moved. His work schedule, however, would not allow for him to go with us to sign for the passports. Plus the kids were now back in school. He managed to have someone cover for him Friday afternoon, so at 4 o’clock there we were, all at the post office in Somerset, with 5 passport applications (all to be expedited) and 6 children all hyped up after school. I’m sure the staff there were LOVING us!
Now, we lacked only 3 things- the letter from Graham’s pediatric cardiologist, Graham’s birth certificate and his passport. The letter had been requested one month prior at his annual cardiology exam. Graham has a congenital heart defect and had valve repair surgery at age two. He’s great now, perfectly health with no restrictions. Sometime, likely in his late teens, he will need another repair. His doctor simply needed to send a letter stating his current condition, the monitoring he requires and future prognosis. We had expected the letter to have arrived while we were in NZ but upon our return, it had still not come. I called the cardiologist’s office to inquire about it and was informed she was out of the country! Panic set in. Our deadline for having our application in was rapidly approaching!
Meanwhile… we had decisions to make about a house. I strongly feel that moving directly into “our new house” will help the children as well as myself adjust most smoothly. Winging it with six kids is really not feasible. Finding a place to rent that would accommodate the 8 of us was looking sketchy. But most importantly, we BOTH really liked the Glen Almond house! Since we were in a holding pattern with our immigration application, we shifted our focus on buying our home in New Zealand. After struggling over the legalese of the purchase agreement (guess some things are the same in whatever country you may be in), we submitted an offer…
20 August 2010
Back To The USA
Saturday morning we rose for what would be a VERY long day. We packed up our things and walked to the mall in Hamilton for breakfast and flat whites (latte), then we set off for Auckland. We navigated our way to the airport without incident, returned the rental car and waited. The car had to be returned by 4pm but our flight wasn’t to leave until 9pm.
At some point (Friday night, I think) we received a call from our realtor with the French House to inform us that the vendors (sellers) had received an offer. We didn’t want to lose the house but we were also not ready to make an offer. We held our breath and prayed that if this was the house we were to buy that God would hold it until we were ready to make a move on it. Eventually, we learned that the offer was rejected. Shew!
We flew through the night on a lightly loaded plane which allowed Billy and I each to have a whole row of 3 seats to ourselves. We ate the dinner, brushed our teeth then turned in for the night. When we were approaching LA, the pilot cautioned us about opening the window shades, as the sun was up and would be blindingly bright. I can’t even begin to comprehend the time change thing. We had left NZ at 9pm Saturday night but arrived at LAX Saturday at noontime!
We had a 9 hour layover but after going through immigration, customs and rechecking our luggage, we had 6 hours to kill. We’d had enough of airports for a while and had several more hours of that still to come to we hopped in a cab and headed to the boardwalk in Santa Monica. Wow! After being in New Plymouth for over a week and having lived rural Kentucky for the past 11 years, THIS was a culture shock! The honking horns, shouting people, bumper to bumper traffic and standing room only boardwalk was overwhelming.
We ate lunch at a restaurant on the boardwalk then walked down to the beach. We sat for a while where there was nifty gym area with rings, parallel bars, high bars, and mats. It was entertaining to watch the people on these apparatuses. The beach was lovely but crowded. We watched the sun go down over the rides on the boardwalk then caught another cab back to the airport.
We board one last plane and took off for Cincinnati at 10pm. We arrived there at 6:30am, retrieved our luggage and our car and then we were FINALLY on the last leg of the trip. The kids were already at church when we got home so we quickly showered, dressed and headed to church. What a reception we received when we walked through the doors of the sanctuary! Five lit up faces and five sets of arms around us. Kaigan was running the soundboard so he saved his hugs until after the service.
The service was amazing as always and I bawled like a baby throughout. I love it when we let God show up!
At some point (Friday night, I think) we received a call from our realtor with the French House to inform us that the vendors (sellers) had received an offer. We didn’t want to lose the house but we were also not ready to make an offer. We held our breath and prayed that if this was the house we were to buy that God would hold it until we were ready to make a move on it. Eventually, we learned that the offer was rejected. Shew!
We flew through the night on a lightly loaded plane which allowed Billy and I each to have a whole row of 3 seats to ourselves. We ate the dinner, brushed our teeth then turned in for the night. When we were approaching LA, the pilot cautioned us about opening the window shades, as the sun was up and would be blindingly bright. I can’t even begin to comprehend the time change thing. We had left NZ at 9pm Saturday night but arrived at LAX Saturday at noontime!
We had a 9 hour layover but after going through immigration, customs and rechecking our luggage, we had 6 hours to kill. We’d had enough of airports for a while and had several more hours of that still to come to we hopped in a cab and headed to the boardwalk in Santa Monica. Wow! After being in New Plymouth for over a week and having lived rural Kentucky for the past 11 years, THIS was a culture shock! The honking horns, shouting people, bumper to bumper traffic and standing room only boardwalk was overwhelming.
We ate lunch at a restaurant on the boardwalk then walked down to the beach. We sat for a while where there was nifty gym area with rings, parallel bars, high bars, and mats. It was entertaining to watch the people on these apparatuses. The beach was lovely but crowded. We watched the sun go down over the rides on the boardwalk then caught another cab back to the airport.
We board one last plane and took off for Cincinnati at 10pm. We arrived there at 6:30am, retrieved our luggage and our car and then we were FINALLY on the last leg of the trip. The kids were already at church when we got home so we quickly showered, dressed and headed to church. What a reception we received when we walked through the doors of the sanctuary! Five lit up faces and five sets of arms around us. Kaigan was running the soundboard so he saved his hugs until after the service.
The service was amazing as always and I bawled like a baby throughout. I love it when we let God show up!
16 August 2010
A Dream Come True
Friday morning, Billy and I walked around the corner from our motel to a cafe for breakfast then we headed to the place where we were to go horseback riding. The drive took us along the the coast where we saw surfers waiting for a good wave then wound around the hills, still along the coast, to the ranch of Wayne, Penny and their three children. We started up their dirt drive which, because of the winter rains, was actually mud. Billy slowed the car in an attempt to avoid some ginormous potholes but instead we slid in the mud until the car's rear tire rested against a rock. We were stuck. Billy tried forward and reverse but no good. So we hiked the rest of the drive to the barn where Wayne was tacking the horses for our ride. His jeep pulled us out with no problem and soon we mounted and hit the trail, Wayne as our guide. It was only the three of us- a perk of visiting in the winter.
We rode through cow fields, through wooded areas, through creeks, up and down hills and through some pretty muddy spots. Some of the muddy spots were on the downside of hills and we would just hold on while the horses slid down as if they were on skis. A little scary but quite fun.
In one wooded section of our trek, Billy's horse spooked or something and he darted off the trail, through some tree branches. Billy was able to stop him quickly but as he did he clutched his face. Wayne and I rode over to find that he had busted his lip and had what looked like a cat's claw scratch across his cheek. Thankfully he was wearing sunglasses which may well have saved his eyes from injury. With minimal blood loss and a fat lip, we continued on.
We crossed the road that ran along the coastline, entered another cow field, rode up a hill and there before us was the Tasman Sea. We crossed over sand dunes, rode around a couple of fisherman and headed to the surf. As awesome as it was to finally be riding on the beach, I found the waves made me feel rather seasick. I guess not having my own feet on the ground made my equilibrium all off. My poor horse must have though me an idiot because when the waves rolled back toward the sea, I'd pull the reins back to halt him but he wasn't walking at all. It was like when the car next to you backs up and you press the brakes harder because it feels like you are the one moving.
We left the surf and rode up to softer sand and Wayne gave us some instructions. We were gonna take a little run. Billy handed Wayne the camcorder to capture the event. And we were off! We tore down the beach, kicking up sand, wind in our face... It was awesome!!! A dream come true for me! I was in horse heaven!!
Wayne and Penny's place was just picture perfect. To sit at the barn with a view of the beach... it just doesn't get any better than that.
After having to be towed out of mud for the second time, Billy dragged me away and we headed to Hamilton and our hotel. We cleaned up then headed downtown on foot in search of dinner and wifi. This was our last night in New Zealand. :-( If we could have just sent for the kids, we may not have left.
We rode through cow fields, through wooded areas, through creeks, up and down hills and through some pretty muddy spots. Some of the muddy spots were on the downside of hills and we would just hold on while the horses slid down as if they were on skis. A little scary but quite fun.
In one wooded section of our trek, Billy's horse spooked or something and he darted off the trail, through some tree branches. Billy was able to stop him quickly but as he did he clutched his face. Wayne and I rode over to find that he had busted his lip and had what looked like a cat's claw scratch across his cheek. Thankfully he was wearing sunglasses which may well have saved his eyes from injury. With minimal blood loss and a fat lip, we continued on.
We crossed the road that ran along the coastline, entered another cow field, rode up a hill and there before us was the Tasman Sea. We crossed over sand dunes, rode around a couple of fisherman and headed to the surf. As awesome as it was to finally be riding on the beach, I found the waves made me feel rather seasick. I guess not having my own feet on the ground made my equilibrium all off. My poor horse must have though me an idiot because when the waves rolled back toward the sea, I'd pull the reins back to halt him but he wasn't walking at all. It was like when the car next to you backs up and you press the brakes harder because it feels like you are the one moving.
We left the surf and rode up to softer sand and Wayne gave us some instructions. We were gonna take a little run. Billy handed Wayne the camcorder to capture the event. And we were off! We tore down the beach, kicking up sand, wind in our face... It was awesome!!! A dream come true for me! I was in horse heaven!!
Wayne and Penny's place was just picture perfect. To sit at the barn with a view of the beach... it just doesn't get any better than that.
After having to be towed out of mud for the second time, Billy dragged me away and we headed to Hamilton and our hotel. We cleaned up then headed downtown on foot in search of dinner and wifi. This was our last night in New Zealand. :-( If we could have just sent for the kids, we may not have left.
13 August 2010
Abseiling at Waitomo Caves
Thursday morning we bid farewell to Elise, Jeremy and the dogs and began our journey to Waitomo Caves. We took a rather leisurely pace, stopping for photo opps, lunch at the Fat Pigeon and an occasional shop. We found Adventure Cave Tours and waited for our caving expedition. A shuttle took me, Billy and Hector, a 19 year old student from England to the point where our adventure would begin. Our guide, Scott, gave us our gear. Let me pause here to mention just what a stressful moment this was for me. I have this thing about people germs and ABSOLUTELY DETEST wearing community clothing, hats, gloves, shoes, etc. For our caving trek we had to wear a jumpsuit, a hard hat with a light, a harness and rubber boots. It took some deep, calming breaths for me to be able to put on the garb, particularly the boots!!
Suited up, we took a short walk to the platform over the opening to the underworld. Peering down from above, we could not see the river below, though we could hear it. It was dark and misty and quite exciting. Scott showed us how we would be proceeding and it was about time to take the plunge, so to speak. Now it was Billy's turn for deep breathing. Eighteen years of marriage and I never knew he was afraid of heights. He was so funny! His nervousness brought about a side of him I’ve never seen. He was making goofy comments, interrupting Scott’s instructions, basically stalling. I finally told him to “just stop talking!” Quite the role reversal!!
The four of us slowly descended on our ropes, lowering ourselves down the 100 meters to the ground below. It was fantastic! At the bottom, the river was deafening. We detached ourselves from the ropes and began to hike through the gorge, frequently having to climb over rocks and boulders. There were different types of formation, not a lot unlike Mammoth Cave. Often we had to turn our headlamps on just to see where we were walking. At one point we stopped and Scott had us turn off our lights. We looked up at the ceiling of the cave to see what looked like the sky full of constellations. In fact, what we were seeing was larvae poop! Yep, a certain type of fly (guess I should look up the name because I don’t recall) fly into the cave and lay larvae on the ceiling. The larvae’s excrement glows to attract other insects which then become stuck in webs the larvae make. The larvae then eat the insects. They are in larvae form for 9 months. When they become flies, they mate, have baby larvae then become trapped in webs and get eaten by like a cousin or something. They are flies for only 3 days. Honestly, I’m not making this up!! The brochures called them glow worms so there was a slight letdown to find out that it was actually larvae poop!
Once we had our fill of larvae poop, we continued our trek through the cave. I had wondered briefly about how we would get back up out of the cave that we had abseiled down into. Well, that question was answered when we arrived at a 100 foot ladder, virtually straight up and down! Scott had gone up first to secure the rope and then I went. That climb up was 10 times hard and scarier to me than the 100 meter descent. Oh, the burn!!! My arms and lower back were on fire and panic set in about three quarters of the way up. Okay, so we were attached to our harness and rope, but we were not pulled up. And I did not want to find out just how strong our dear guide Scott was by letting go! Hector zipped up like it was nothing! He confessed he ran cross country. Billy and I were feeling our age panting and aching.
We had a little more hiking and climbing to do before emerging out of the cave and into the forest. Billy and I were exhausted but invigorated at the same time.
We shuttled back to our car, purchased every photo of our adventure then headed to Raglan where a hot tub and our motel room called our weary bones.
Suited up, we took a short walk to the platform over the opening to the underworld. Peering down from above, we could not see the river below, though we could hear it. It was dark and misty and quite exciting. Scott showed us how we would be proceeding and it was about time to take the plunge, so to speak. Now it was Billy's turn for deep breathing. Eighteen years of marriage and I never knew he was afraid of heights. He was so funny! His nervousness brought about a side of him I’ve never seen. He was making goofy comments, interrupting Scott’s instructions, basically stalling. I finally told him to “just stop talking!” Quite the role reversal!!
The four of us slowly descended on our ropes, lowering ourselves down the 100 meters to the ground below. It was fantastic! At the bottom, the river was deafening. We detached ourselves from the ropes and began to hike through the gorge, frequently having to climb over rocks and boulders. There were different types of formation, not a lot unlike Mammoth Cave. Often we had to turn our headlamps on just to see where we were walking. At one point we stopped and Scott had us turn off our lights. We looked up at the ceiling of the cave to see what looked like the sky full of constellations. In fact, what we were seeing was larvae poop! Yep, a certain type of fly (guess I should look up the name because I don’t recall) fly into the cave and lay larvae on the ceiling. The larvae’s excrement glows to attract other insects which then become stuck in webs the larvae make. The larvae then eat the insects. They are in larvae form for 9 months. When they become flies, they mate, have baby larvae then become trapped in webs and get eaten by like a cousin or something. They are flies for only 3 days. Honestly, I’m not making this up!! The brochures called them glow worms so there was a slight letdown to find out that it was actually larvae poop!
Once we had our fill of larvae poop, we continued our trek through the cave. I had wondered briefly about how we would get back up out of the cave that we had abseiled down into. Well, that question was answered when we arrived at a 100 foot ladder, virtually straight up and down! Scott had gone up first to secure the rope and then I went. That climb up was 10 times hard and scarier to me than the 100 meter descent. Oh, the burn!!! My arms and lower back were on fire and panic set in about three quarters of the way up. Okay, so we were attached to our harness and rope, but we were not pulled up. And I did not want to find out just how strong our dear guide Scott was by letting go! Hector zipped up like it was nothing! He confessed he ran cross country. Billy and I were feeling our age panting and aching.
We had a little more hiking and climbing to do before emerging out of the cave and into the forest. Billy and I were exhausted but invigorated at the same time.
We shuttled back to our car, purchased every photo of our adventure then headed to Raglan where a hot tub and our motel room called our weary bones.
Last day in New Plymouth
First thing Wednesday morning, Billy and I headed to the final property we were to view during our stay in NZ. On the way Billy stated, “This is it! I’m not looking at any more houses this visit!”
“Wouldn’t it be great if we walked in and we were both like ’This is it!’?” I asked.
He said, “Yea but don’t say that or act like you love it.”
Victoria again met us there along with the agent. The house was listed as a “magnifique” , French provincial home. It had two French doors on the front of the second floor (main floor) that opened onto small balconies with iron railings. The main entrance was up a ramp on the right side of the house. The kitchen was terrific! Looong, stainless steel bar with the sink in it. Beautiful, hardwood floors. Gas stove. Built-in shelves. Two different living areas were off of two sides of the kitchen. There were 4 bedrooms and 2 baths on this main level and another bedroom and bath downstairs, off of the tandem garage. The back part of the garage was nearly finished and could easily be made a rumpus room with just carpet and a set of doors or wall separating it from the front of the garage. There was a fully shelved storage area which I have no intention of filling! The downstairs bedroom opened to a small patio on the front of the house, blocked to the street by a wall, though open to the driveway on the side. Back upstairs, the master was roomy and opened with double doors to the beautifully landscaped backyard and patio, complete with an outdoor fireplace.
Not only Billy and I, but Victoria as well, walked through expressing our love for the home. Victoria even teased that if we didn’t buy it, she would!. And Mr. Don’t-Let-Them-Know-How-Much-You-Like-It was gushing all over the place!! We left with high hopes that we’d found “the one.”
We headed to a cafe, just blocks from the house, for coffee (flat whites were our choice) and breakfast. Billy made some phone calls, one of which was to make an appointment with an attorney about buying a house. We visited Victoria and Arthur’s lovely home which was one of the first built in New Plymouth and then parted with Victoria to roam downtown before our appointment with the attorney.
That night, we shared one last dinner with Elise and Jeremy before retiring. We were headed out in the morning forWaitomo Caves …
“Wouldn’t it be great if we walked in and we were both like ’This is it!’?” I asked.
He said, “Yea but don’t say that or act like you love it.”
Victoria again met us there along with the agent. The house was listed as a “magnifique” , French provincial home. It had two French doors on the front of the second floor (main floor) that opened onto small balconies with iron railings. The main entrance was up a ramp on the right side of the house. The kitchen was terrific! Looong, stainless steel bar with the sink in it. Beautiful, hardwood floors. Gas stove. Built-in shelves. Two different living areas were off of two sides of the kitchen. There were 4 bedrooms and 2 baths on this main level and another bedroom and bath downstairs, off of the tandem garage. The back part of the garage was nearly finished and could easily be made a rumpus room with just carpet and a set of doors or wall separating it from the front of the garage. There was a fully shelved storage area which I have no intention of filling! The downstairs bedroom opened to a small patio on the front of the house, blocked to the street by a wall, though open to the driveway on the side. Back upstairs, the master was roomy and opened with double doors to the beautifully landscaped backyard and patio, complete with an outdoor fireplace.
Not only Billy and I, but Victoria as well, walked through expressing our love for the home. Victoria even teased that if we didn’t buy it, she would!. And Mr. Don’t-Let-Them-Know-How-Much-You-Like-It was gushing all over the place!! We left with high hopes that we’d found “the one.”
We headed to a cafe, just blocks from the house, for coffee (flat whites were our choice) and breakfast. Billy made some phone calls, one of which was to make an appointment with an attorney about buying a house. We visited Victoria and Arthur’s lovely home which was one of the first built in New Plymouth and then parted with Victoria to roam downtown before our appointment with the attorney.
That night, we shared one last dinner with Elise and Jeremy before retiring. We were headed out in the morning forWaitomo Caves …
10 August 2010
Tuesday morning, while Billy was again doing his thing at the hospital, Victoria picked me up and we searched for several homes she and I had found on another website that Roland hadn’t mentioned. We called the listing agents for three of them and arranged two showings, one later that afternoon and one the following day. Victoria would meet us for both, but first Roland had arranged for us to see the “subdivision” house.
The house was very pretty with a view of the mountain as well as distant sea views. However, we had learned that “if you can see the mountain, it’s cold.” I wasn’t terribly impressed though Billy was. I felt it was rather far out and if I was going to sacifice land, I wanted convenience. Also, I felt the subdivision was too American which lessened the whole “move to a foreign country” thing.
We left the “subdivision house,” retrieved our hospital loaner and hurried to our appointment to see what I’ll call the “wood house.”
The “wood house” was located in the Merrilands area, not too far from the contemporary house. It was, however, on a cul de sac. We entered through an iron gate in a brick arch to a courtyard. There were raised flower/vegetable beds and shrubbery but no grass. We entered the main door into a foyer and walked back to the kitchen where the wall of windows revealed a simply breathtaking view!! Behind the house was a reserve which consisted of forest down the hill to the river below. While there were paths down to the river, the vegetation was too thick to be able to see it. Oh, but you could hear it!
The house was quite suitable logistically. The kitchen was terrific and had an amazing 5 gas burner, 2 electric burner, 2 oven, one grill drawer stove imported from England. It was black and huge and awesome! I might would even enjoy cooking with it!! But…
Billy was not a fan of this house. The main floor had tongue in grove wood on the walls AND the ceilings as did the master bedroom. The backyard extended out a few feet from the back of the house then dropped to the river below. There were paths with steps but Billy saw a lot of work in improving the steps. I didn’t find any deal breakers that a can of paint or a hammer couldn’t fix but Billy saw work.
At the end of the day we had one house Billy liked but I did not and another that I liked but he did not. Hmmmmm….
Dinner of pork tenderloins at Roland and Linda’s house with Debbie, Jim and Stephanie. Billy mentioned the “wood house” to which Roland said had “peat slipping”. We'd have to do more research on tha!. Billy also mentioned the house we were to view the next day to which Roland commented on it's single car garage. I had read it was a tandem but we would see...
The house was very pretty with a view of the mountain as well as distant sea views. However, we had learned that “if you can see the mountain, it’s cold.” I wasn’t terribly impressed though Billy was. I felt it was rather far out and if I was going to sacifice land, I wanted convenience. Also, I felt the subdivision was too American which lessened the whole “move to a foreign country” thing.
We left the “subdivision house,” retrieved our hospital loaner and hurried to our appointment to see what I’ll call the “wood house.”
The “wood house” was located in the Merrilands area, not too far from the contemporary house. It was, however, on a cul de sac. We entered through an iron gate in a brick arch to a courtyard. There were raised flower/vegetable beds and shrubbery but no grass. We entered the main door into a foyer and walked back to the kitchen where the wall of windows revealed a simply breathtaking view!! Behind the house was a reserve which consisted of forest down the hill to the river below. While there were paths down to the river, the vegetation was too thick to be able to see it. Oh, but you could hear it!
The house was quite suitable logistically. The kitchen was terrific and had an amazing 5 gas burner, 2 electric burner, 2 oven, one grill drawer stove imported from England. It was black and huge and awesome! I might would even enjoy cooking with it!! But…
Billy was not a fan of this house. The main floor had tongue in grove wood on the walls AND the ceilings as did the master bedroom. The backyard extended out a few feet from the back of the house then dropped to the river below. There were paths with steps but Billy saw a lot of work in improving the steps. I didn’t find any deal breakers that a can of paint or a hammer couldn’t fix but Billy saw work.
At the end of the day we had one house Billy liked but I did not and another that I liked but he did not. Hmmmmm….
Dinner of pork tenderloins at Roland and Linda’s house with Debbie, Jim and Stephanie. Billy mentioned the “wood house” to which Roland said had “peat slipping”. We'd have to do more research on tha!. Billy also mentioned the house we were to view the next day to which Roland commented on it's single car garage. I had read it was a tandem but we would see...
09 August 2010
House Hunting
Monday morning we met Roland at his office and he took us all over New Plymouth. He showed us a very lovely, brand new, but “in the city” house in the Merrilands area. It was mere blocks from the beach but had no yard and was on a busy road. The house itself would accommodate our family and the idea of being walking/biking distance from the beach was rather appealing. The modern kitchen was great and had a wet pantry (pantry with an additional sink). The house was set higher than the surrounding houses and the view from the large balcony was stupendous!!! Suddenly I saw the beauty of having everything so close and I had a revelation… 1) If we are going to make this major life change, this is part of it. Living in the city will be such an different experience for all of us and in a good way. 2) The kids have frequently expressed interest in living closer to other people so that they could have nearby friends to play with. While I think they’ve enjoyed living on the farm, it is, for the most part, MY dream, not theirs. 3) Finally, if we were not going to be able to be on a couple of acres farther out, we may as well take advantage of living in town and all of the conveniences that entails.
The simple fact that I was remotely interested in this house about knocked Billy over! It was not our style. Very contemporary. However, it would suit our needs and finding homes that could do that could be few and far between.
The garage of this house was at the top of a steep hill and we had concerns regarding the kids riding their bikes down it to the sidewalk. Roland pointed out that at the street level was an additional garage that could store our bikes and kayaks so Billy and I headed down to take a look. The view, however was more than I bargained for! While Billy was filming the view of the house from the street and the surrounding area, I squinted for my eyes to adjust from the beautiful, bright sunshine to the dark of the inside of the garage. Once I could see, to my horror, I saw one of the construction workers relieving himself in the corner!! He probably wondered why I was staring for so long when, in fact, it was only because it took me that long to actually see him!
From this house Roland drove us to one of the pony club locations where horses may be boarded. This was actually close enough to bike to! While there, we chatted with a girl and her mother who were visiting their horses. They told us that the girls would meet there and all go riding together, even down to the beach!!
Roland drove us around some more and I was becoming more and more oriented. We had a quick bite at a local café then headed to the house on 6.8 acres in Oakura. Again I’ll stress how incredibly gorgeous the property and views were, however, once inside the house it was clear that it would not suit us very well. The master bedroom and three other bedrooms were all upstairs and shared only one bathroom while there was a fifth bedroom on the first floor with its own bathroom. No matter how beautiful the land was, I just could not imagine sharing a bathroom with 4 kids!
From there we dropped Billy at the hospital for his meet and greet and Roland and I continued to tour New Plymouth. He took me to several spots that provided awesome views of Mt. Taranaki for photographing. When Billy was finished at the hospital we went to one more house in a very American style subdivision but were unable to see the inside.
Billy and I went back to Jeremy and Elise’s for a wonderful lamb dinner, exhausted, overwhelmed but more open minded. Sleep , however, for us both, was restless.
The simple fact that I was remotely interested in this house about knocked Billy over! It was not our style. Very contemporary. However, it would suit our needs and finding homes that could do that could be few and far between.
The garage of this house was at the top of a steep hill and we had concerns regarding the kids riding their bikes down it to the sidewalk. Roland pointed out that at the street level was an additional garage that could store our bikes and kayaks so Billy and I headed down to take a look. The view, however was more than I bargained for! While Billy was filming the view of the house from the street and the surrounding area, I squinted for my eyes to adjust from the beautiful, bright sunshine to the dark of the inside of the garage. Once I could see, to my horror, I saw one of the construction workers relieving himself in the corner!! He probably wondered why I was staring for so long when, in fact, it was only because it took me that long to actually see him!
From this house Roland drove us to one of the pony club locations where horses may be boarded. This was actually close enough to bike to! While there, we chatted with a girl and her mother who were visiting their horses. They told us that the girls would meet there and all go riding together, even down to the beach!!
Roland drove us around some more and I was becoming more and more oriented. We had a quick bite at a local café then headed to the house on 6.8 acres in Oakura. Again I’ll stress how incredibly gorgeous the property and views were, however, once inside the house it was clear that it would not suit us very well. The master bedroom and three other bedrooms were all upstairs and shared only one bathroom while there was a fifth bedroom on the first floor with its own bathroom. No matter how beautiful the land was, I just could not imagine sharing a bathroom with 4 kids!
From there we dropped Billy at the hospital for his meet and greet and Roland and I continued to tour New Plymouth. He took me to several spots that provided awesome views of Mt. Taranaki for photographing. When Billy was finished at the hospital we went to one more house in a very American style subdivision but were unable to see the inside.
Billy and I went back to Jeremy and Elise’s for a wonderful lamb dinner, exhausted, overwhelmed but more open minded. Sleep , however, for us both, was restless.
First full day in Taranaki
During our first night in Taranaki, all of our friends and family in the States must have been on their knees praying that we'd hate New Zealand because Billy and I both woke in the middle of the night in sheer panic! Prayers of those who don't want us to go? Jetlag? Satan? Or just the realization of the magnatude of this endeavor... We had cold feet!!
We had hoped to attend a church Sunday morning, however, Debbie had arranged for lunch at a local winery called Okurakura with another couple she and Jim thought we should meet. Roland and Linda and their daughters Bernadette (15) and Stephanie (12) , Jim and Debbie and Billy and I all arrived in torrential rain that blew sideways. The fierceness of the ocean waves crashing on the black sand outside the window of the dining room was exactly what I was feeling in my head.
Roland, a real estate agent, chatted with Billy while I discussed schools and youth life in Taranaki with the girls. Bernadette told me about the boarding school which she attends and both girls were quite eager to meet our kids. At one point, after speaking to Roland for some time, Billy turned to me to inform me that we would likely not be able to purchase a house on a couple of acres, close enough to the hospital. To this I tearfully and adamantly replied, “Living in the city IS NOT an option!”
Being the OCD kind of person I am, I had been obsessing for months over New Zealand real estate websites and had compiled a list of houses I wanted to see. My first choice, unfortunately was too far from the hospital. So after lunch we headed out in search of my second choice. We found it with little trouble and the property was just as amazing in the pouring rain in person as it was in photos on the internet.
We all headed back to Debbie and Jim’s for Scrabble, chatting and leftover Thanksgiving dinner.
Tomorrow the house hunting really begins…
We had hoped to attend a church Sunday morning, however, Debbie had arranged for lunch at a local winery called Okurakura with another couple she and Jim thought we should meet. Roland and Linda and their daughters Bernadette (15) and Stephanie (12) , Jim and Debbie and Billy and I all arrived in torrential rain that blew sideways. The fierceness of the ocean waves crashing on the black sand outside the window of the dining room was exactly what I was feeling in my head.
Roland, a real estate agent, chatted with Billy while I discussed schools and youth life in Taranaki with the girls. Bernadette told me about the boarding school which she attends and both girls were quite eager to meet our kids. At one point, after speaking to Roland for some time, Billy turned to me to inform me that we would likely not be able to purchase a house on a couple of acres, close enough to the hospital. To this I tearfully and adamantly replied, “Living in the city IS NOT an option!”
Being the OCD kind of person I am, I had been obsessing for months over New Zealand real estate websites and had compiled a list of houses I wanted to see. My first choice, unfortunately was too far from the hospital. So after lunch we headed out in search of my second choice. We found it with little trouble and the property was just as amazing in the pouring rain in person as it was in photos on the internet.
We all headed back to Debbie and Jim’s for Scrabble, chatting and leftover Thanksgiving dinner.
Tomorrow the house hunting really begins…
06 August 2010
Taranaki
Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day for flying!! The sea and Mt. Taranaki were stunning!!! We were greeted at the New Plymouth Airport by Billy's future colleague, Jim, who took us on a quick tour of New Plymouth before bringing us to the home of he and his wife. Jim and Debbie are also Americans but having lived in the Middle East for 2 years and NZ for nearly one, they have a slightly different perspective of the whole moving to the other side of the planet thing. Added to that, they are from Pittsburg and have no children at home. Wonderful, fun and helpful people!
The hospital had loaned us a car and so after visiting with them for a little while, Jim lead us to the home of another future colleague where we were staying for the week. First experience driving on the left from a right-sided driver's seat!!! Billy did quite well, though following someone else is a good way to start. Driving on the left also entails alot of talking to oneself and cussing.
Jeremy and Elise are a lovely couple originally from South Africa. They've been in NZ for 18 years and were a wealth of information. They live on 3 acres and have 2 standard poodles, one black and one white, so we felt quite at home.
After freshening up and chatting for a bit, we headed back to Jim and Debbie's for dinner where we met the last of the physicians in the group with whom Billy will work. Arthur and Victoria, both Kiwis (I think), were also quite lovely and Victoria became simply invaluable when house hunt! More on that later.
Debbie had prepared an American style, Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious which is good because the bird was $120!!! We had a wonderful time and laughed harder than we had in a long time. Four couples from three different continents, and each with completely differing life paths makes for great stories and side-splitting laughter.
The magnitude of this journey God seems to be leading us on was beginning to become more real and, quite honestly, more frightning!! Billy and I both woke that night in sheer panic and fear. "What the heck are we doing?!?" was all we could say. And this is when the praying REALLY began!
The hospital had loaned us a car and so after visiting with them for a little while, Jim lead us to the home of another future colleague where we were staying for the week. First experience driving on the left from a right-sided driver's seat!!! Billy did quite well, though following someone else is a good way to start. Driving on the left also entails alot of talking to oneself and cussing.
Jeremy and Elise are a lovely couple originally from South Africa. They've been in NZ for 18 years and were a wealth of information. They live on 3 acres and have 2 standard poodles, one black and one white, so we felt quite at home.
After freshening up and chatting for a bit, we headed back to Jim and Debbie's for dinner where we met the last of the physicians in the group with whom Billy will work. Arthur and Victoria, both Kiwis (I think), were also quite lovely and Victoria became simply invaluable when house hunt! More on that later.
Debbie had prepared an American style, Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious which is good because the bird was $120!!! We had a wonderful time and laughed harder than we had in a long time. Four couples from three different continents, and each with completely differing life paths makes for great stories and side-splitting laughter.
The magnitude of this journey God seems to be leading us on was beginning to become more real and, quite honestly, more frightning!! Billy and I both woke that night in sheer panic and fear. "What the heck are we doing?!?" was all we could say. And this is when the praying REALLY began!
03 August 2010
Scouting Exposition- Part 2
First impressions of Auckland…
Very clean! No trash…er, I mean rubbish on the streets, etc.
Very ethnically diverse. It was not uncommon to see a person of a very obvious ethnicity, say Chinese or Indian, but then they begin to speak in a heavy Kiwi accent! Or hear several different languages spoken while just waiting at a crosswalk. Once while chatting with Mikaylie on the telephone, she asked if I would get someone to talk to her so she could hear the accent. I laughed and said, "I could ask 9 people before I find someone with an actual Kiwi accent!"
Fairly mild for winter. A light jacket was all one really needed. Unfortunately, mine was in my luggage so I had to buy a new one! The funny thing was that many locals dress as though it would snow at any moment.
Kinda quiet for a city- you could hear the vehicles on the streets but not much of horns or sirens, etc. And the people were rather quiet. It didn't really feel like a bustling metropolis.
Have yet to see a Pepsi product! Love me some Coca Cola!!!
Prices weren’t quite as high as I had feared.
Had many of the usual food places- Subway, Starbuck’s, McDonalds, etc.
Once we got our room we took a nap then headed down to the hotel restaurant for a seafood, brick oven pizza with 2 glasses of wine for $20NZ, including tax and tip! Finally we turned in for the night in exhaustion.
Friday morning we ate a breakfast buffet in another hotel restaurant. We checked with the concierge regarding our luggage and learned that they would, in fact, not arrive at the hotel until the afternoon. Meanwhile, my legs were killing me from making two mad dashes in airports in topsiders (good for easy removal in airport security but terrible for sprinting!)!!
On to the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere where one could do somewhat of a bungee jump. We opted not to do so simply because it was quite chilly. (That’s our story…) Extraordinary views!!
Next we headed to the harbor for a whale and dolphin safari. It was a lovely cruise around Auckland’s harbor for four and a half hours. The first three and a half hours we took in the beauty of the islands around the harbor, as we didn’t see any whales and finally saw HUNDREDS of dolphin in the last hour, just as we were heading back in. I managed some terrific photographs, though they will need some editing because most are off center from just snapping repeatedly.
When we arrived back to our room, Praise God! our luggage was there!! Gave them all a quick hug then retired for the evening. It was all of 7:00pm! We didn’t even eat dinner.
Saturday we boarded a twin engine bound for Taranaki Region.
To be continued…
Very clean! No trash…er, I mean rubbish on the streets, etc.
Very ethnically diverse. It was not uncommon to see a person of a very obvious ethnicity, say Chinese or Indian, but then they begin to speak in a heavy Kiwi accent! Or hear several different languages spoken while just waiting at a crosswalk. Once while chatting with Mikaylie on the telephone, she asked if I would get someone to talk to her so she could hear the accent. I laughed and said, "I could ask 9 people before I find someone with an actual Kiwi accent!"
Fairly mild for winter. A light jacket was all one really needed. Unfortunately, mine was in my luggage so I had to buy a new one! The funny thing was that many locals dress as though it would snow at any moment.
Kinda quiet for a city- you could hear the vehicles on the streets but not much of horns or sirens, etc. And the people were rather quiet. It didn't really feel like a bustling metropolis.
Have yet to see a Pepsi product! Love me some Coca Cola!!!
Prices weren’t quite as high as I had feared.
Had many of the usual food places- Subway, Starbuck’s, McDonalds, etc.
Once we got our room we took a nap then headed down to the hotel restaurant for a seafood, brick oven pizza with 2 glasses of wine for $20NZ, including tax and tip! Finally we turned in for the night in exhaustion.
Friday morning we ate a breakfast buffet in another hotel restaurant. We checked with the concierge regarding our luggage and learned that they would, in fact, not arrive at the hotel until the afternoon. Meanwhile, my legs were killing me from making two mad dashes in airports in topsiders (good for easy removal in airport security but terrible for sprinting!)!!
On to the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere where one could do somewhat of a bungee jump. We opted not to do so simply because it was quite chilly. (That’s our story…) Extraordinary views!!
Next we headed to the harbor for a whale and dolphin safari. It was a lovely cruise around Auckland’s harbor for four and a half hours. The first three and a half hours we took in the beauty of the islands around the harbor, as we didn’t see any whales and finally saw HUNDREDS of dolphin in the last hour, just as we were heading back in. I managed some terrific photographs, though they will need some editing because most are off center from just snapping repeatedly.
When we arrived back to our room, Praise God! our luggage was there!! Gave them all a quick hug then retired for the evening. It was all of 7:00pm! We didn’t even eat dinner.
Saturday we boarded a twin engine bound for Taranaki Region.
To be continued…
01 August 2010
Scouting Exposition- part 1
On July 27th, Billy and I set out on the trip we’ve dreamed of for years. We drove to Cincinnati and flew to Denver. Because of a weather issue, our landing was delayed and, though we ran our hardest, we missed our connection. Three hours later, we were flying to LA. Because of the previous delay we had less than 45 minutes to make our international flight to Auckland. Again we ran, exited the airport, hopped in a taxi and sped to the international terminal. They rushed us through security and we ran to our gate with actually time to spare. We settled into our seats amazed we made the flight.
The flight to Auckland was uneventful, though looong! Finally, we stepped off the plane and into New Zealand! Passing through immigration was a breeze. Unfortunately our baggage had not run as fast as we had and were not on our flight. They would be delivered to our hotel the following morning. We bought a prepaid phone with $50 worth of international minutes and called home. While wrapping up the call with Mikaylie, we headed out to board the shuttle to our hotel. The shuttle was nearly full with only two seats available. The driver asked Billy and me who would like to sit in the front seat and I quickly said I would. Still chatting with Mikaylie, I rounded the front of the shuttle to get into the front seat. To my embarrassment I had forgotten that in NZ the driver’s seat is on the right! The driver, fully anticipating my error, asked if I would like to drive. The entire shuttle-full of passengers, including Billy found this quite amusing. I, too, was laughing so hard I could barely explain to Mikaylie what was going on.
Our driver was extremely informative and gave us tons of information about the city and New Zealand in general. We arrived at our hotel late in the morning, too early to check in. We checked our carryon bags with the concierge and headed out to purchase some clothing to tied us over until our bags arrived. We grabbed a quick lunch in a bakery shop. I had a delicious curry chicken salad sandwich with walnuts and Billy had a veggie sandwich. We found a mall and a clothing store that also carried toiletries. Prices were quiet reasonable, with tax included in the price. We returned to the hotel where they allowed us to use the gym facilities to shower and freshen up. We then, utterly and completely exhausted, waited in the lobby for our room to become available.
To be continued…
The flight to Auckland was uneventful, though looong! Finally, we stepped off the plane and into New Zealand! Passing through immigration was a breeze. Unfortunately our baggage had not run as fast as we had and were not on our flight. They would be delivered to our hotel the following morning. We bought a prepaid phone with $50 worth of international minutes and called home. While wrapping up the call with Mikaylie, we headed out to board the shuttle to our hotel. The shuttle was nearly full with only two seats available. The driver asked Billy and me who would like to sit in the front seat and I quickly said I would. Still chatting with Mikaylie, I rounded the front of the shuttle to get into the front seat. To my embarrassment I had forgotten that in NZ the driver’s seat is on the right! The driver, fully anticipating my error, asked if I would like to drive. The entire shuttle-full of passengers, including Billy found this quite amusing. I, too, was laughing so hard I could barely explain to Mikaylie what was going on.
Our driver was extremely informative and gave us tons of information about the city and New Zealand in general. We arrived at our hotel late in the morning, too early to check in. We checked our carryon bags with the concierge and headed out to purchase some clothing to tied us over until our bags arrived. We grabbed a quick lunch in a bakery shop. I had a delicious curry chicken salad sandwich with walnuts and Billy had a veggie sandwich. We found a mall and a clothing store that also carried toiletries. Prices were quiet reasonable, with tax included in the price. We returned to the hotel where they allowed us to use the gym facilities to shower and freshen up. We then, utterly and completely exhausted, waited in the lobby for our room to become available.
To be continued…
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