The biggest excitement and relief has been getting connected back to the world with phones and internet. Weird, right, that it should be so exciting after globetrotting? Unplugging for 82 days was relaxing and great for creating extra head space, but after awhile you kind of want to know what is going on in the world. There's nothing like feeling REALLY far away because you can't call people or email or Facebook to check in on friends and family. So back to Vodafone we went to get a land line (the old fashioned plugged in kind of phone) and internet.
There is a plan for every type of call or internet package you can imagine here and a fairly good price tag to go with it. We learned that you pay for every gigabyte you use when you are on the internet. We had no clue if we have used five, 10 or 20 GB in the past, but we have dueling computers set up at our house so we opted for 10. We'll see how it goes. No more Blockbuster downloads for us. We've heard it takes about six hours anyway, so we can drive to the theater and watch a double header for the time and money it would take to download a movie at home. We've heard that the internet is slow in NZ, but haven't experienced that at all. It is still the super highway as far as we can tell. Our land line was a bit more straight forward and we put an international calling package on it to keep connected. So, with two mobile phones (Philip has pre-paid 20 minute a month plan and I have 120 minutes), a land line and 10 GB of internet, we are paying $200 a month. KaCHING. But, we are connected.
We've had a lot of excitement in the way of house hunting. It is the first time for both of us, which I imagine would come with lots of learning, but it seems really fast and furious trying to learn a new system of borrowing money, house hunting terms, and about New Zealand homes in general. I am definitely back in Kindergarten on this one. We have been through our 30th house today and seem to know a bit more about New Zealand houses, but haven't quite adjusted to how different they are. It is hard trying not to look for a Colorado or Minnesota house in Dunedin. We have learned that sun is everything when looking for a home. Location, location, location still exists, but don't even think about a house in a valley, on the wrong side of the hill or behind a bluff. That means that the first question during an open home is where does the sun come into the house. Next question is if the windows are double glazed (more than a single pane of glass - most windows here aren't, whereas in the US they are) followed by what type of heating does the house have. Forget about central heating or underfloor heating. Your options are wood burner, heat pump, radiators (usually mobile plugged in ones), HTV (some sort of funky fan that takes heat off a roof and distributes it. I think.), and wetbacks (water is heated from the heating unit. I think.) This area is still really fuzzy for me and I don't really want to know . I would prefer to see how I could decorate, what kind of a garden is there (yard to me, but this can mean yard, flower garden, and/or veggie garden) and does the house have a soul. Philip and I are a good team. I look to see if it is pretty and he looks to see if it will keep him from turning to ice. As you are probably gathering, Dunedin isn't a warm place.
Something else we have learned is that the laundry room is either as big as a small bedroom in the house or is across the garden in a grotty shed out the back. This could be good because there is a lot of rain and dryers are practically non existent, so it can be nice to have a building with a roof to dry laundry. Our favorite laundry so far was what we've called the Hobbit Laundry. You had to go outside following green indoor/outdoor carpet to basement of a house, bend over at the waist to duck through Froddo Baggin's door. Once inside we found a small washing machine in a damp, dirt floor 5'X7' space. THAT was not our house.
There's more to learn and more houses to see, but here is a glimpse at a couple of our favorites so far:
http://www.realestate.co.nz/1449257
Would have to remodel the kitchen and bath. GREAT yard.
http://www.realestate.co.nz/1428395
LOVE this house! Neighborhood, not so much.
We are very happy to report that we are both working. Philip is working with a company called Siliconcoach and is working on their website. It isn't quite what he wants to be doing in the long term, but suits him well now and he's learning quite a bit. He started a week after we arrived, which is great to start filling up the coffers again. Philip works in the same office as his good friend Andrew, which is an extra bonus. If you met Andrew at the wedding, you know he can be pretty entertaining. I am working with a company called AustraLearn to look after study abroad students who come over from the States to study in New Zealand for a semester or so. My job is working from home four days a week and I'll help develop internships for students and help them settle in to South Island life. I am still not entirely sure what I'll do, but it is a work in progress. I traveled to Rotorua in the North Island to help with orientation for my first week and leave again tonight for two weeks. Then I'm off Australia for a week after that. Glamorous, yes? Well, yes and no. I'd quite like to be in Dunedin snooping in other peoples' homes to find one to buy, but I did get to go inner-tubing in a cave with eels (they say they grow them big here and judging by the ones that were nosing my butt in the inner-tube, I believe it) and that was a lot of fun.
Better get to packing. We would LOVE to hear from you now that we are connected. We miss those of you far away and want to hear your stories!
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| Our Room with a View! (French Riviera? Not really - it is much colder than it looks!) |
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| The view from the parking lot |
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| Our new Ford wheels |
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| The study / dressing room |
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| Bathroom |
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| Our one-butt kitchen |
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| Dining area / living room |
