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…
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