Reay’s cats are safely contained in the property’s aviary during the day while they become accustomed to their new homeWell, it’s done and dusted. The big move is over and although I swear I am never going to move again, really it all went well.
We moved the household last Thursday and I couldn’t believe that even after filling two skips, and loading a lockup, we still have too many paintings and accessories.
We are slowing getting the new house in order and with the help of my Waiau Pa friend, her daughter and my Pukekohe daughter, by the end of the first day all the beds were set up and the bathrooms ready to go.
The Saturday before the move, the owners of the house allowed us access to the property so I was able to bring all my garden pots and garden art across. Again, so many things! We were extremely lucky to have had family and friends of the younger generation available for lifting and heaving all the heavy things.
Two big trips with two trailers and we were done but scattered all around the property is a little bit of us! Thank goodness we had early access as I don’t know how we could have done it all in one day.
I have certainly learnt a lot about packing but unfortunately not a lot about throwing away. It was lucky that we had the Christmas break to get stuck in and because the weather was awful over that time I did get a lot of the packing done even though Brian was out of action after his accident.
Now that the move is behind us, it is exciting to be at the new property especially as the house and gardens need updating! And, that’s what I love doing. I didn’t want to buy a house that was perfect, it’s just not me.
It’s also been fun measuring driving distances – Waiau Pa friends will be seven minutes away when they move into their new home, Pilates (Jo Plummer) is six minutes away and Patamahoe village is just seven minutes away.
The only distance that is awful to negotiate is my daily commute to Botany. This week it took an hour and a half going into work but coming home (not on the motorway) took only 45 minutes so that was much better.
I have now collected the cats from All Seasons Pet Resort and, at this stage, we are not having a lot of sleep. Jessie’s not too bad but our Burmese, Billy is going spare! The sooner he gets a chance to go outside he’ll find there’s a lot of rabbiting for him to do.
I have to say that all the people out here have been fabulous and really helpful. I had Craig from Illuminate come and do all the dismantling of the TVs etc and then he set them up at the new property.
Today a Kevens rep is coming to measure up for blinds – so many new things all in a week.
While, Brian and I were really sad to leave our old home, we now have a new and exciting challenge ahead so, roll on the new year… and I’ll keep you all updated!
Reay Neben is a Franklin resident and publisher of Rural Living.