Relocated

Kathleen and I have now joined Peter in Wellington, and we are back together as a family living in our new house.

It's been six weeks now since Peter started his new job in Wellington. Kathleen and I stayed on in Auckland with the intention of being there until the house sold. The impression we got from the real estate agent was that it would sell quickly, as other properties in the area had done. However it proved to be quite a saga which I will document in a later blog when I have more time.

So after being apart for a month we decided that that was enough, and Kat and I would come down to Wellington whether the house in Auckland was sold or not. On the day we left Auckland the house sale went unconditional, so that was a weight off my mind.

Kathleen and I drove from Auckland to Wellington over the course of two days. Normally Peter and I would do the nine-hour drive in one long day, but with Kathleen along I had to stop more often to give her breaks.

On Day 1 Kathleen slept while I drove from Auckland to Hamilton. I haven't been that way for almost a year and it's great to see the roadworks have finally finished and the dual carriageway almost all the way to Huntly makes a huge difference. We stopped for lunch in Hamilton and had a play at a park where Kat had great fun chasing the ducks. We then continued on to Taupo and once again Kat slept the majority of the trip.



Spent the night in Taupo at a motel. Kat was pretty well behaved although I still kept shhh-ing her every time she squealed so she didn't annoy the neighbours. Then there was the bachelor party who came back to their units at whatever time in the morning. And the guy who knocked persistently on my door at 5am only to find it was the wrong room.

Day 2 we hit the road nice and early, and Kat immediately fell asleep all the way from Taupo to Waiouru. We continued on for another 45 minutes to Flat Hills where we stopped for lunch and Kat got to see the pigs and goats and sheep and cow and chooks. Once again she fell asleep as soon as we left there. We stopped in to visit friends in Palmerston North for a late lunch and another play. Then there was the final drive from Palmy to Wellington.

With all the stopping it was 7.15pm by the time we arrived at Peter's mum's house in Island Bay. A very long day and a very long drive. Kathleen handled the drive very well, only complaining when I put her into her carseat.

It's great to be back together as a family again. We stayed with Peter's mum for a few days until moving into our own house. Peter is absolutely loving being back in Wellington. He says he has run into people he knows on the street every single day. His social life is very busy. In the week before Kat and I arrived, I think he was out every night. In the four nights we have been living in this house so far, we've only cooked one night. I have yet to catch up with any friends as I have been busy on house stuff, but I hope to do so this week.

It's great to be back in Wellington, but I have to admit there are some things I miss about Auckland. Like summer for one! Haven't seen much of summer yet here. But I'll save those things for another post.

Cheers,
Megz