Hilary & I went to lots of ‘Open Homes’ on Sunday, to find out what I could get for around 350,000NZD which is what I’ve calculated I can afford over here (if I sell my section) and still have enough to buy a very small flat in the UK. We concentrated on Raumati Beach in the morning & then went to Waikane in the afternoon, which is even further up the coast, but gave up there after a couple because I definitely like R.B. best. Saw a very nice place for 425K, but out of my league unfortunately! At least it firmed up my ideas.
In the evening was invited to join Erola at her friend Vicki’s to see a video of ‘Maharaji’ (I told you they were into spiritual things) which was actually quite good but I am an old sceptic. Vicki also provided dinner unexpectedly & it was a nice evening.
On Monday I got the Quick Quote from Golden Homes, this is 294K approx including all the bits & pieces but excluding landscaping & ‘drapes’, since I can do them myself. Facing the way it does, I don’t think very many curtains are actually necessary, only in the bedrooms really. This is certainly food for thought. Arranged to see some actual homes on a new sub-division so I can see the finish tomorrow.
In the evening was invited to join Erola at her friend Vicki’s to see a video of ‘Maharaji’ (I told you they were into spiritual things) which was actually quite good but I am an old sceptic. Vicki also provided dinner unexpectedly & it was a nice evening.
On Monday I got the Quick Quote from Golden Homes, this is 294K approx including all the bits & pieces but excluding landscaping & ‘drapes’, since I can do them myself. Facing the way it does, I don’t think very many curtains are actually necessary, only in the bedrooms really. This is certainly food for thought. Arranged to see some actual homes on a new sub-division so I can see the finish tomorrow.
The homes were as I thought they’d be, not brilliant finish but adequate. Houses are brick & tile, which is not really what I wanted, but at this juncture speed is of the essence & I really don’t have the time to investigate other possibilities. My’ neighbours’ house was built by Rocca Homes, he used to own Golden Homes, but it took 8 months & I really need to be home before Christmas. There is at least quite a choice of brick & tile colours, so I may get my white house with blue roof almost. Not at all fashionable, they are all ‘mud’ colours, especially inside, but I want mine to be ‘seaside’ colours, at least when I come to sell it it will be different.
I am still scouring what are known here as ‘op’ shops (opportunity), what we call Charity shops, for various bits & pieces. I need plastic containers to freeze my meal portions in, a necessity when you live alone. Also I am looking for sewing & knitting bits & pieces, because if I don’t or can’t get a job I will have to do something with my time. Thought I might try making cushions & selling them in one of the local markets, I did start at home so I have some ideas.
The weather is still absolutely beautiful, went for a walk along the beach, found someone had made a sand-person, decorated it with the shells which are very plentiful & called it ‘Shelley’, very inventive!
Went into the city by train to find the NZIS (Immigration) office, to inquire about the process for staying longer than the 6 months allowed by a Visitor’s permit. This appears to be very simple, I have to provide evidence of my flight home, plus a bank statement to show I have $1000 per month to live on, shouldn’t be a problem. Only in NZ! Went to Te Papa afterwards, which is the wonderful free museum, impossible to see it all, but I ‘dip into it’ each time I visit Wellington. This time I went to the special exhibition on the Scots in NZ, which is very interesting,if small, and looked at the wonderful wool outfits donated by Mary Burgess, who used to promote NZ wool. There is a beautiful olive green fine wool evening dress which would not look out of place today on the QE2, though dates from the 1950s.
Disgraced ourselves at a quiz on Thursday evening, it was run by the girls football club in Tawa, where my sister lives. We came next to last, so didn’t even get the wooden spoon prize, but we did get a free T-shirt & some chocolate for coming last in 2 rounds! Just shows you should only go to quizzes where you have some connection, all those quizzes on the QE2 were of no use whatsoever!
On Good Friday all the shops shut, so we had a very quiet day. We did do some cleaning, I had to use Erola’s vacuum cleaner, which would not be out of place on the Antiques Road Show!
I am still scouring what are known here as ‘op’ shops (opportunity), what we call Charity shops, for various bits & pieces. I need plastic containers to freeze my meal portions in, a necessity when you live alone. Also I am looking for sewing & knitting bits & pieces, because if I don’t or can’t get a job I will have to do something with my time. Thought I might try making cushions & selling them in one of the local markets, I did start at home so I have some ideas.
The weather is still absolutely beautiful, went for a walk along the beach, found someone had made a sand-person, decorated it with the shells which are very plentiful & called it ‘Shelley’, very inventive!
Went into the city by train to find the NZIS (Immigration) office, to inquire about the process for staying longer than the 6 months allowed by a Visitor’s permit. This appears to be very simple, I have to provide evidence of my flight home, plus a bank statement to show I have $1000 per month to live on, shouldn’t be a problem. Only in NZ! Went to Te Papa afterwards, which is the wonderful free museum, impossible to see it all, but I ‘dip into it’ each time I visit Wellington. This time I went to the special exhibition on the Scots in NZ, which is very interesting,if small, and looked at the wonderful wool outfits donated by Mary Burgess, who used to promote NZ wool. There is a beautiful olive green fine wool evening dress which would not look out of place today on the QE2, though dates from the 1950s.
Disgraced ourselves at a quiz on Thursday evening, it was run by the girls football club in Tawa, where my sister lives. We came next to last, so didn’t even get the wooden spoon prize, but we did get a free T-shirt & some chocolate for coming last in 2 rounds! Just shows you should only go to quizzes where you have some connection, all those quizzes on the QE2 were of no use whatsoever!
On Good Friday all the shops shut, so we had a very quiet day. We did do some cleaning, I had to use Erola’s vacuum cleaner, which would not be out of place on the Antiques Road Show!
Erola runs some Taiko groups when she is not nannying, i.e. on Fridays & on Sundays. Taiko is Japanese drumming, very impressive. I only discovered today that Erola has only just mastered the art herself, the original teacher went back to Japan so the children teach each other! It is very disciplined, you have to be very dedicated to make it. The ‘Performance’ group performed at Waikane Market on Easter Saturday, they were terrific. They have several performances coming up, they are much in demand.
I then went shopping at Pak ‘n’ Save, which is unique in that the check-out person does not pack for you, just puts your stuff in a trolley. In most supermarkets, like in America, they pack your stuff into bags. I will be really spoilt when I get home! I am really surprised by the cost of food in NZ, I now realise that we have really cheap food in the UK . I do think the quality is better here though, certainly the meat tastes better. An average weekly shop for just me is about $100 i.e. £40, I think a supermarket shop for one person in the UK would be about that, but of course the wages here are a third of ours. Petrol is going up, as in the UK, it is 1.77 a litre, about 80p, but again the wages thing. Big ticket items are cheaper, like houses and new cars, though second-hand cars don’t seem that cheap to me. A decent 1998 model will cost me about $5000 I think, which is about the same cost as in the UK. Insurance is much cheaper, my car insurance will cost me approx $225, i.e. less than £100, for Third party, fire & theft on an old car, I was quoted £800 in the UK for my son’s old Ford Fiesta!
Saturday night we went to a film in the local Church Hall, made for TV by Gabriel Preston (she was there) about Rita Angus, probably the most famous NZ painter. It was a lovely film, saw lots of the pictures in close-up, & since nearly all of them are hidden away in Te Papa this was all new stuff. Also Rita herself was a recluse, but the film attempted to explain this & give some insight into her personal life. However the most interesting part for me was the composition of the audience! Erola had already explained that Paekok has a large female gay population, & I think they comprised 50%. Also, Paekok is ‘arty’ & certainly some of the clothes were unique e.g. a skirt made out of men’s ties, actually it looked very good! But I’m certain I’ve never been part of such a company!
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