The BIG MOVE

Well, we made the move safely on Friday 19th June to our new house in Stanmore Bay. A new friend of ours kindly watched Molly and Caitlin for the day while Crown arrived to deliver our long awaited containers of furniture.

I arrived at the new property (after dropping the girls off) to find Mark armed with the itinery ticking off boxes as they were marched into the house. It certainly took fewer hours for the delivery compared to the pick-up in Rangiora.

The guys were amazing...carrying couches and t.vs on their shoulders. Only one piece of furniture was slightly damaged in transit,,,so we were pleased with the result.

I decided not to take photos of the boxes...we have all seen enough of them.

But I made sure to get shots of the beautiful bay which is so close to our new home.

Although I miss aspects of Canterbury and sooo many people I am astounded by the beauty of this wonderful peninsular I am living on. Surrounded by water I feel very calm and happy when admiring it. If I ever feel lonely or nostalgic I certainly get some warm fuzzies from the beautiful views!! lol

Unfortunately the same weekend we moved, I caught some icky virus that gave me terrible

headaches and vertigo so the unpacking has been a slow process. Phoebe is teething again and daily mother duties continue of course. I have given myself until the end of this coming week to have the house in order.....nearly there.

About the house...it reminds us of a bach, and is nestled into the hill with other bach-like houses. Most of the bay is like that. In fact the whole township feels very relaxed, despite having a lot of houses all perching together over the hills. But the place we are renting is hilarious. There aren't any nurtains in our curtains, but it makes me giggle all the time.

Our landlord has done a great job tidying the place up,,,renovating inside and out so it feels clean and fresh. A wonderful environment to find for my children, especially floor travelling ones.

However, the building reminds me of a Dr Seuss book. The floors slope, window frames don't sit in line with walls and floors. Our dining room table is leaning on a downhill slope and Phoebe's toy balls roll across the lounge floor. It makes the place quirky and is giving our middle ears a real work-out. It is the funniest building I have lived in for a long time!!!!

Mark and I were chatting about how it reminded us of our first flat,,,Burke St, Sydenham, CHCH. Although this Stanmore Bay place is much bigger and far more sanitary lol.

Our first flat in Sydenham was a a very old cottage, split down middle, sloping floors, doors would never stay open because everything sloped all over the place. When you jumped out of the shower you had to stand, squeezed into a small gap beside the washing machine to towel dry yourself and it was so cold in winter we would sit in the one bedroom wrapped up in a duvet watching the snow outside.....the good old days huh!

I'm quite sure it has contributed to our characters or at least made us appreciate how far we have come. It is a little strange to be renting after owning two homes, but in some ways nice to not have the responsibility and to simply RESIDE.

Once the unpacking is over,,,our weekends will be ours to explore again....in fact we still have boxes lying around and the bay is surrounded in fog, but we couldn't resist popping out for a drive today! Got some great snaps, but you will have to read about this over the next few days.

Tomorrow I must tell you about Caitlin starting her new school. More emotional for me I think.

Until then....the unpacking continues :-)