[StevieD]

OK, I used to remember reading these and thinking that it would never happen to me. But, here we are, 6 months in, and while it would be a fib to say that things have always been rosy, it is true to say that we are well settled, the kids love school, and we are now in the process of buying a house here in Cambridge!!! :raebanana

Just had an offer accepted last week, so we in the middle of getting it all sorted. Should be moving in middle of next month. Can't wait because rentals are ok for the short term, but you just don't feel right in them.

It could take a lot of writing as for the job situation down here, especially as we felt that we would have to move to Auckland or Wellington, but we are so comfortable here, we would be reluctant to do this. Suffice to say I am now sorted in a decent enough job, doing what I know best. I am covering a huge patch (including the national park) doing Vodafone and Telstra Clear work with a few other engineers. Been up in Auckland on and off doing training for the last few weeks, and have the final installation this week. Going to be abseiling down the side of some building as well as other rope access stuff to add to the rescue stuff we did last week.

So, not going to go on too much about it. But, we are settled, happy, have a great circle of friends and feel that we are indeed, living the dream. The house is almost everything that we wanted, nearly every box is ticked, so hopefully we will settle even more now. It has a veggie patch, passion fruit, peach tree, lemon trees, 2 feijoa trees and enough space for us. 4 bedrooms allow us to have that little bit of space for Jan's scrapbooking room - always a requirement LOL It is in a quiet little cul-de-sac ovelooking the hills in the distance. New kitchen (which is fab!!) bathroom, en-suite and 2 new extensions. The deck is just asking for a spa which we intend to get sorted sooner rather than later.

We have done bodyboarding in the Pacific and Tasman, been to the capital, museums, Auckland Sky tower, been skiing to Mt. Ruapehu, sledding, walked by the river and lakes, cycled and I have even held a real live Kiwi at Maungatautari. We are now looking forward to camping as soon as the season starts and many other adventures. So you may gather from this we are here for the duration.
Going to UK next year for a wedding and to see everyone which will be interesting, but it is going to feel strange.


http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/bluekiwi100/CAMBRIDGE_2457366_640x.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/bluekiwi100/DSCF0864.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/bluekiwi100/DSCF0917.jpg

Just added a few photos of the house and the recent skiing trip. Hope you like them!!

Steve, Jan, Kieran and Louisa

[thezorbster]

Wow, Stevie, doesn't seem that long since we were seeing you off at your last NW meet! You all seem so happy and settled - good on ya'! Hope we're that settled in 6 months. We'll have been here 4 weeks on Wed, can't believe that either. If you're ever camping in Nelson bays area let us know.

Take care and keep living the dream!

[Sam B]

Fab picture of Ruapehu! Glad you are all doing so well, and v exciting about your house.

[Moorf]

The pics say it all. :) Great to hear you're all so settled, and congrats on the new house! :cheers

Moorf

[Lupin]

Breathtakingly beautiful picture if Ruapehu!

The weather in Hawkes Bay is wonderufl but the central location of Cambridge/Hamilton really appeals. It's a long way from anywhere here!

Good luck with the house buying, look forward to the pics :)

[vixxann]

Like Zorbster I too can remember your last NW meet and cannot believe you have been there six months already - Wow! Fantastic news on the house, looks great. Really sounds like you're all settling in fine with some excellent lifestyle opportunities - wouldn't get to do body boarding and ski-ing in Liverpool would you ;)

[StevieD]

It is indeed Ngaruhoe (sp?), one of the vent volcanoes of the Ruapehu range, we just turned a corner and it was there peeking over the clouds, a jaw dropping moment! There was the odd occasion when a gust caused the snow to powder off the top making it look as if it was smoking.....

Thanks for the wishes, we are very happy and settled. Suffice to say that we hope this may continue LOL

Don't think I'd trust bodyboarding in the Mersey, or skiing for that matter :laugh

And yes, it does seem so long ago those farewells at the Mascrat Manor :uhoh

Steve

[speckythecky]

Add to zorbster and vicki, can't believe you have been here 6 months and done so much. Now just waiting for vicki to get here

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

I can concur that the 'D family look more and more settled each time we see them. They'll be saying 'awesome' and 'sweet as' next!

They have been far more active than us, but we drag our carcasses out every now and again. Arriving at the start of winter and no having a job for a while didn't help (and being out of work again in 2 weeks) but the looming sunny season will deffo tempt us fair weather outdoor types outdoors more often.

Cheers Stevie, have a Red Lion or two for us....

[M&J]

Good to hear you are all settling in well and enjoying the new job. How exciting about the house too, I know how you feel about the rental, it isn't quite home. I can't wait to be in our own home, hopefully not too long.

Hope the next 6 months are as good. :raebanana

See you soon

Jo

[LesleyS]

Stevie

Congratulations on your new house - it must be a great feeling. :yes Your six month post is very positive and inspiring.

Apart from missing family and friends, are there any other significant negatives that you would care to share?

Looking forward to hearing all your future posts. :)

[leachio]

Nice 1 stevie boy, ur NZ dream has been challenging but now rewarding :raebanana

Lookin forward to more pics of the house as it progresses

take care the Leachio's

[Kim39]

Even though we caught up with you over the weekend its nice to read the 1 month, 6 month, and 12 month posts. We know how those first few weeks went for you guys and lived that nightmare with you, but once it settles things change, and i bet you thought that the pic's of Ngaurahoe would never materialise.

Good luck with it all from here on in matey.


Kim

[vixxann]

Now just waiting for vicki to get here

I'm trying, I'm trying :p
(and then we'll need to drag Andy-Dee over )

[holland]

Pictures are fab, glad your enjoying yourselves!

Long may it continue!

j and G x

[Timbo]

:cheers Great pics Stevie, and we are sooo glad to hear you have got yourselves settled in nicely. If you decide to try the camping bit out up this way, give us a shout mate, there are ALWAYS some cold ones in the fridge, and the barby is ready and waiting. You may even get to find out what the fishing is like.

[Belmont Babes]

Thanks for sharing such a positive post. Seems like yesterday you were helping us at the beginning of our process. I recall you getting ready for a car boot :laugh Well we hope to be in Hamilton November time. Look out for us. Look forward to pics of the new house and the hot tub :laugh

[Andy-Dee]

We're trying to join you Steve, like Vixx - waiting for the house to sell, grrrrrrrr
Keep a couple of tinny's on ice.

[andreamatt]

Lovely looking house - well done. I'm sure you'll settle into very quickly. We've been lucky enough to buy too (with a mortgage) are settling into life in Wellington (city end of Karori). Have you 'done' Wellington? You'll love it!

Wishing you the best of times

Andrea

[Supadolphin]

Hi Steve

Great to hear you're settled and enjoying this country. We've been here since mid-July and we're still renting in Hamilton - no internet access yet (long story!) but other than that everything is going really well and we're also looking to buy soon but not rushing into it only because we want to make the right choice of area. Totally rate the Waikato region and would recommend to anyone. Our container arrived yesterday but we have to store it as we're tied into this fully furnished rental until begining of November - bit of a bummer I know but we knew this would happen when we took on the tenancy. Lovely place overlooking the river. Borrowing friend's internet to type this so hopefully post some more when we get fixed up in new rental.

Debs

[Bruckner]

Great post Steve and glad to hear you and the family are doing so well. Great photos too!

Emily

[katandbob]

Nice pics guys, that deck looks inviting!:cheers
look forward to the 1yr post!:nice1

have fun on the rope courses, get your knots right now won't you! LOL;)

Hope jan keeps her hobby room tidier than mine :o oh well, I have 100 & 1 things to do and I can shut the door on it!

take care

Kat & Rob

[marcia]

Great post Stevie, Hope the house buying goes well, you'll feel even more settled once you have somewhere you can call your own! :raebanana and fantastic photos, just wish I had a better zoom on my camera, we get some gorgeous views of Ruhapeau (sp) from up here on a clear day, but my camera isn't good enough to get a clear picture.

This is the best i can get - if you squint you can just make out the mountain in the middle!!

[Hannah-NL]

Nice house Stevie,

It looks rather new to me (maybe the photo is playing tricks, but it looks great) Is that a special type of home, do you (or anyone else) know?
We're just starting to have a look around, and I really like the shape of this house!

[Familyofmonkeys]

I love the volcano piccie....must add to my list of places to visit :)

[StevieD]

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/bluekiwi100/DSCF0943.jpg

Kat, I didn't get my knots wrong :laugh Alpine butterfly, figure of eights, prussik knots, all good fun, and here is the photo to prove it! Anyone around Parnell yesterday by the Vectra may have caught sight of a bunch of lunatics abseiling down the side of a building.... yes, I was one of them.

(can't get on the photobucket site to use the img link, so will have to put photo link on instead.)

House is well under way, satisfactory building report and just waiting for the LIM, but all looking good. The house isn't new, but it has had and extension added and new cladding to the older part of the house. We really looking forward to moving in next month.

Steve

[Nettie 2]

:clap Congrats on your 6 months StevieD. How time flies. You helped me with my big move with advice etc and we have nearly made 5 months here now. Like you we have just found a house and we move in on the 1st of October, so only a couple of weeks to go, hooray! We have been very lucky with our rental, it's lovely and I will miss it, but our house is even better. Can't wait. Loved the photos too. We live at Taupo and have a view of the mountains from the window of our rental and our new house (and lake) they change every day with the different light (if you can see them at all through the cloud!) We love it....and it's nearly summer!!! :yes

[StevieD]

Thanks Nettie, good to hear you sorted out and settled too, got to go to Taupo soon to do a fault on one of the Vodafone sites, nice views as you say :)

[StevieD]

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/bluekiwi100/DSCF0946.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/bluekiwi100/DSCF0943.jpg

Got photobucket working again so put a couple of pics on of me abseiling earlier this week, the kit is very heavy, no wonder i covered in cuts and bruises! But is good fun, and opens up a whole new range of things to do. Already organised a place for abseiling and a couple of us are going to go to keep our hand in. But I expect that may change when we doing this up and down towers every week :laugh

[peebles16]

Congrats on the new house Stevie D and thanks for the post great to hear what everyone is up to on the 'other side'!
Cheers
K

[StevieD]

Stevie

Congratulations on your new house - it must be a great feeling. :yes Your six month post is very positive and inspiring.

Apart from missing family and friends, are there any other significant negatives that you would care to share?

Looking forward to hearing all your future posts. :)


Lesley, apart from missing family and friends - nothing that springs to mind that really grates on us. We do not feel as homesick as we thought we would.
As far as Jan and the kids are concerned, the lack of "vegetarian" foods in the supermarkets is a bit of a pain, but that is processed veggie stuff, so she not too worried about that, but it just makes it a bit harder to do a quick meal. But the options to get fresh food makes up for that.

There are only minor niggles as far as everyday living is concerned, but we all have them and it is not the fault of NZ by any means.

So, not really, we living in a place we like and hope to continue in this vein for a long time to come. :cheers

[LesleyS]

That's exactly what I thought you'd say, and it's the 'eyes wide open' attitude that seems to make a difference here.

The tone of your posts are always quite upbeat, and as a 'Northerner' I'm sure you would always tell it as it is, and not dress it up in fancy packaging :yes

Sure, nowhere's perfect, it's what you put into it that often counts.
The important thing is that you are in a beautiful country with the people you love around you. Congratulations to both of you for making a success of it this far (and keep posting) :raebanana :raebanana

[StevieD]

Lesley, I couldn't have put it better myself!! :nice1

Driving around the Waikato today in the sunshine was a pleasure, walking on the hills to the sound of cows and birds and little else. And this is working!!

The wildlife is amazing here, and as you said, the eyes wide open attitude is the best advice I can give to anyone wanting to do this. Not everything is rosy, but there are few things that we feel we can't cope with.

[StevieD]

Oh, and the mortgage was sorted out today as was all our other financial stuff. Now is it just a matter of waiting for the LIM, the builders report was very favourable for the house. The vendor is putting the remedial work to rights and with luck we will be moving in to the house on the 19th October.

Can't wait. :raebanana

[zardell]

Hey there PB1.

We've just got back from our holidays, so thats the reason for not responding to your post until now.

And hasn't there been a lot happening in your lives whilst we have been away?? Good on ya Matey. :clap :clap :clap

Hope all goes well with the house purchase. I'm sure that you will all be very happy there.

Julie and PB2

xx

[StevieD]

Thanks Jules and Steve, hope you had a bonza time in OZ!!

Yeah we have been busy haven't we! :laugh

Will tell you more as it comes through, but looking good at the moment. :nice1

[StevieD]

Just a further update, the LIM report arrived yesterday and there are no problems. So, armed with that information and a satisfactory builders report, looking good for the house move. :nice1

[zardell]

Bonza Mate, blooming Bonza..............:laugh

Julie

xx

[StevieD]

Sweet as Jules - PB1 out ;)

[LesleyS]

Did you do it then Stevie......? :laugh