Beautiful weather, beautiful beaches... We are staying in a beautiful house... right across the road from the kids school.
Price-wise, things seem to cost the same as in NZ, except you get a nicer house for the same price, and if you are earning more, then comparatively things are cheaper... so are for us... and many other kiwis who come over.
One thing we have noticed over here is the standard of education is so much more advanced than NZ.
This has become startlingly obvious in just a few weeks at the difference in schoolwork that Josh was doing in NZ compared with here. Back in NZ he was doing 12 + 4 etc, but here the children in his class... which is a mixed class of children his age and a year younger are doing sums like 572+ 346. They also have done a lot more advanced work telling the time and using money... so Josh (and to a lesser extent Joseph), have a wee bit of catching up to do, but they'll get there soon.
Anna-Maria however will be off to a flying start... she has already got a lot of basic words and maths facts sorted out and she is so excited about starting school in the new year.
I am enjoying my job, but they keep changing my roster. Initially I was working 32 hours a week... but in december they have increased it to 44, and they seem to have rostered me to work every single weekend between October and December. I am going to try and talk them into rostering me sensibly. In the meantime, I have been looking into GP work for when my contract ends, and Tane has a few more weeks to wait for his practicing certificate... He is then going to apply for legal aid status and look for a job...
The kids are enjoying life here. Yesterday they found we have a large lizard living in our garden. I thought it was a snake, but Tane assured me it wasn't. Today straight after school we went to the beach. The kids loved it... Tane tried to teach Josh to surf... then Tane had a surf. Joseph and Anna-Maria played in the whitewash. All the kids dug a series of channels and holes in the sand, which Ella-Rose loved crawling into and sitting in. As we were sitting on the beach I said to Tane it feels like we are on holiday and yet we aren't. It's just the beach is so close we can be there in 5 mins after school is finished. We got home around 5.30pm and would have stayed longer except Ella-Rose's teeth were chattering and she was getting cold.
The girls and I went to Bunnings Warehouse today and bought a spade, compost, and plants (capsicums, red onions, hot chillis, cucumbers, coriander and tomatoes). So tommorrow we have to get out in the garden and finish preparing the vegie patch so we can plant them.
Showing posts with label Moving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moving. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
The joys of moving...
The countdown for leaving Blenheim is fast upon us. We haven't figured out yet which day we are leaving... but we know we sell out house the 22nd August, so it will be that weekend. We have had a garage sale, and tried to sell our biggest stuff on trademe. We have given a car-load of stuff to the salvation army store, and there is still a lot more packing and sorting to go....oh no... only 2 weeks.
It is crazy that we have so much stuff. It's the first time since we have been married that we have had a really ruthless 'spring clean'... We can't believe some of the stuff we are finding. Some curtains that came from England... Some of the old wallpaper from my old bedroom... in England! - into the bin. Clothes I had from before Tane and I were married... I was glad to see they still fit, but had holes in so... into the bin they went.
We sold our bed yesterday... so last night Tane and I slept in the lounge on the inflatable camping mattress... We had spent the whole day packing and sorting... so when it got to 9 o'clock I was tired... it then took us another hour or something to pump up the bed while we listed to the All Black vs Wallabies game on the radio. Mission accomplished - we had a surprisingly good sleep.
Our bedroom. :( Sad to be missing our bed.
This evening the kids decided to dispose of our dilapidated washing basket once and for all. They took turn bashing it to smithereens with a wrench. They had such a fun time.
"It feels like camping" Tane says. The kids think its exciting... but I am sure the novelty of living out of suitcases and sleeping on mattresses on the floor will long have lost their novelty by the time we depart for Australia in October.
The kids are finding new and novel things to do with their time as most of their things have been sold, given away or packed. Today as we were getting ready for church I shushed Tane so I could listen to the boys conversation which went something like this.
Josh:... and we can be spys"
Joseph: "I don't want to be a spy"
Josh: "But we can be spys and figure out what people are doing" When Josh and Joseph are scheming they remind me of Angela and I when we were little.
We are sad to be leaving Blenheim... We have made some really good friends here, both from work and from church. We are really glad that we departed from the comforts of familiarity , family and friends to venture out on our own. We would never have made such good friends and Tane and I have had to rely on each other a lot. We may not have been to as many movies as Tane would have liked... but it has meant we had to choose just the best ones (which is fine by me).
We are getting excited to see Grandma and Grandpa. in 2 weeks and Aunty Hoana & Uncle Rob in 5 weeks, and also catching up with the rest of our family and friends before we head off on our next adventure.
It is crazy that we have so much stuff. It's the first time since we have been married that we have had a really ruthless 'spring clean'... We can't believe some of the stuff we are finding. Some curtains that came from England... Some of the old wallpaper from my old bedroom... in England! - into the bin. Clothes I had from before Tane and I were married... I was glad to see they still fit, but had holes in so... into the bin they went.
We sold our bed yesterday... so last night Tane and I slept in the lounge on the inflatable camping mattress... We had spent the whole day packing and sorting... so when it got to 9 o'clock I was tired... it then took us another hour or something to pump up the bed while we listed to the All Black vs Wallabies game on the radio. Mission accomplished - we had a surprisingly good sleep.
Camping in the lounge :)
We have no kitchen table or couches in the lounge. Our computer sits on the floor with the screen on top of the hard-drive. The kids beds have also been sold... but their mattresses are not being picked up until the day we leave.
We have boxes for chest of drawers. Initially there was a semblance of order... the boys had a box for their undies and pjs, a box for T-shirts and jumpers and a box for pants... but now whey just have a whole bunch of boxes and clothes everywhere... and that is when I have packed some of their clothes and given away a whole lot more.
Since we are now sleeping in the lounge, our bedroom has become mission control and storage for all our packed stuff. It was all orderly and neat until late Sunday afternoon when the kids got in there and started climbing all over the boxes, several have since fallen over and will need re-packing...(great).
This evening the kids decided to dispose of our dilapidated washing basket once and for all. They took turn bashing it to smithereens with a wrench. They had such a fun time.
Destruction is fun...
"It feels like camping" Tane says. The kids think its exciting... but I am sure the novelty of living out of suitcases and sleeping on mattresses on the floor will long have lost their novelty by the time we depart for Australia in October.
The kids are finding new and novel things to do with their time as most of their things have been sold, given away or packed. Today as we were getting ready for church I shushed Tane so I could listen to the boys conversation which went something like this.
Josh:... and we can be spys"
Joseph: "I don't want to be a spy"
Josh: "But we can be spys and figure out what people are doing" When Josh and Joseph are scheming they remind me of Angela and I when we were little.
We are sad to be leaving Blenheim... We have made some really good friends here, both from work and from church. We are really glad that we departed from the comforts of familiarity , family and friends to venture out on our own. We would never have made such good friends and Tane and I have had to rely on each other a lot. We may not have been to as many movies as Tane would have liked... but it has meant we had to choose just the best ones (which is fine by me).
We are getting excited to see Grandma and Grandpa. in 2 weeks and Aunty Hoana & Uncle Rob in 5 weeks, and also catching up with the rest of our family and friends before we head off on our next adventure.
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