Squatting or Glamping?

That’s 2020 over with then. It has been quite a year hasn’t it. The “big” things have of course been Covid-19 and moving house. I am not going to do a detailed review of the year Dear Reader, because if you are a Dear Reader then you have either read it all before, or can go back through the blog and read it again!

Where I will recap a little is with our house move. This time last year we were fresh faced land owners. As I sit down to start writing this week’s post, I am sitting in a camping chair in what will become the dining area of our home, once it is finished and our belongings have arrived. We are nearly there, but not quite.

Last Sunday was our last night of hastily arranged accomodation at the holiday park. They have been really good to us and stored our frozen food in one of their own freezers so that it didn’t disappear from the communal freezers while we were in Ōhakune. After a cool start to accompany our packing we returned to Tīramaroa to do some more cleaning before the hour and a half drive to Ohakune. While we were rolling up our sleeves, a man arrived to fit the bedroom carpet. We had been expecting him on Tuesday even though Bert had originally said he would come Monday, which was a public holiday. So, about 5 hours later, our bedroom and walk-in wardrobe carpet was laid, completing the floor coverings in the house. We felt we might start to win the floor cleaning battle now that there was no longer any exposed concrete in the house. We also had a visit from our new neighbour’s niece, to whom we gave the now customary free tour as she liked the lead lights AND the colours in the bedroom/loo/sewing room.

As a consequence of the carpet layer’s arrival (sorry, neither of us can remember his name) we discovered we had some power in the house. He needed electricity for his iron for joining the carpet underlay. We couldn’t get the builders’ electricity pole working so contacted Bert, who fortunately replied a few minutes later. Apparently the sparky had left one of the internal power sockets working, but Bert didn’t know which one and couldn’t contact him. I rose to the socket-testing challenge and on the 7th one had success! I continued testing and found that all the double sockets on the east wall of the house (the main living area) were working. Gosh we got over excited! We celebrated with a pot of tea (the first made in our kitchen) and piece of Christmas cake each.

Once the carpet man had finished, we headed off to Ōhakune, buying half a dozen bottles of wine en-route (I told you we were over excited). We arrived just as the family was starting to gather for dinner.  It was great to see them all and exchange lots of news.

Crown Removals were due to deliver our good and chattels between 8 and 8.30am on Tuesday. With every day between collection and delivery being either a weekend or public holiday, I had only been able to leave phone messages and un-replied-to emails to cancel the delivery, which would be departing from the Palmerston North depot around 7am by my calculations. I woke up around 4am on Tuesday morning and was unable to get back to sleep because of the delivery/cancelation issue. I got up and drove to Palmerston North, arriving there around 6.30am and breakfast-less. Just before 7am a couple of guys arrived and one was able to contact the driver of our container (which was already on the road) and stop them driving to Whanganui. With relief I departed, and started looking out for open cafés. I soon arrived at Viv’s Kitchen in Sansom, home of some apparently famous cream horns, and “Food the way it used to be”. Themed in a 1950’s style, the café was clean, tidy, quiet and open. I ordered the full breakfast , and it lived up to their slogan:

With mission accomplished and a full tummy, I wasn’t concentrating when I reached Bulls on my journey back. I missed the junction for the road to Ōhakune, and found myself half an hour later driving into Whanganui from the east. It was as if Tīramaroa was calling me home, so home I went, as I needed a loo stop anyway.

I arrived back in Ōhakune in time for lunch (just a light one for me!), which Nicky and I followed with a gentle amble down to the Carrot Park. Steve arrived and the warm sunny weather encouraged much family lazing. Later in the afternoon I received an email telling me that the husband of one of my friends from the Deep and Meaningful group had died in the hospice on Christmas Day. They had only been married a few years and it put our Christmas Day trials into perspective.

I was very jaded on Wednesday, so had a couple of extra naps after walking into town with Nicky, having morning tea and doing some supermarket shopping. The afternoon was very hot and highly conducive to not doing anything.

Thursday dawned cool and clear, so Nicky and I decided to walk to the railway station (about 2.5kms away) for coffee (which Jenny had recommended) and to have bit of a stretch. While we had a lovely walk there and back, the coffee turned out to be very expensive as Jenny didn’t mention that the station café also had a clothes shop. Nicky found a very nice jumper and purchase was agreed (we should stop shopping together).

Pat and Clem were on dinner duty and we had agreed to help, so provided desserts. Nicky made a fruit salad and we had taken both a Christmas Pudding and Christmas cake and cheese with us. The pudding went down very well though how any body had space after Pat’s wonderful spicy shepherds pie I don’t know. As ever, all the diners produced by the family were treats for the taste buds, and I was not concerned about the calories as I must be loosing weight with all the cleaning we are doing. It’s amazing what you can get up to when you don’t have a comfy chair to sit in. Unfortunately the bathroom scales are in the container and the elastic on my “working/walking shorts” is no indicator as it is old and his been loose for ages, so corroboration of my theory isn’t possible. Before dinner the family presented us with a card and a small fortune which I found touching, moving and unexpected, because that’s the sort of brilliant family that they are. I am fortunate in so many ways.

No body stayed up to see the New Year in. Most of us were woken at 5am on New Year’s Day by the fire station siren calling for its volunteer force. As a result, there were many early breakfasts before the pre-departure cleaning of the lodge began. We were away a little after 10am and after the group photo. 

Shortly after our arrival at Tīramaroa on Friday, our new neighbour Jacqui and her partner Glynn arrived at her section to do some measuring, for her newly acquired caravan, so came round to have a look at how we are getting on. Due to now having power in the living area, I had decided while in Ōhakune to unpack the fridge/freezer and microwave so that we had cold storage and a means of cooking. We had lunch on the south patio in sunshine, which we didn’t think it would get, and did food shopping in the afternoon. After Christmas Pie for dinner we opened a bottle of dessert wine to celebrate our first night as residents. January 1st seemed a good day to do this.

It was lovely waking up in our own home on Saturday morning. We had scrambled eggs and bread for breakfast (no toaster). Did more tidying and cleaning by moving the yet-to-be-fitted shelves for the wardrobe into the wardrobe. We met Mark one of the owners of the other section and new house, during the morning, which was good. We did a big shop in Mitre 10 - wheel barrow, clothes line (rotary drier), red paint for the letter box, and some other bits and bobs. We haven’t set up home like this for 35 years.

Just as we were starting a late lunch, Judy (Blockhouse Bay quilter and customer of mine) and Terry and their grandson Lou, who are having a week in Whanganui, called in. They had a cup of tea and a free tour and invited us over for dinner on Monday, as they are staying just a few streets away.

Nicky spent the afternoon working on the pot plants while I painted our wine/letter box, put up the house sign, which we had been given by Agent Felicity, and then I cleaned the bedroom windows and shower room floor (again). I moved the fairy lights now that we have some White-Tac. Yes, we brought the fairy lights with us - we did pack some important things.

Sunday started with another early cup of tea - can’t sleep-in at the moment. It was a bit damp and we had decided yesterday that we should have some down time, so instead of going for a walk (rain forecast) I thought we could start a jigsaw. As a result of this inspirational idea, I moved the newly painted doors that were propped up in the sewing room to reveal the ranch sliders and we subsequently cleaned them. I then constructed a “table” out of dishwasher and fridge/freezer packaging, and have started calling it the games room. We haven’t stated a jigsaw yet.

Nicky went off to Christ Church for her first proper Sunday morning service and did some shopping on her way home. I ordered broadband for us which should arrive on the 13th, and started writing this as I thought it might be a long one. Shortly after lunch we had more visitors, this time an elderly couple who live up the road and have been watching the build from the beginning. We have had some heavy showers too, and have felt very safe and cosy inside.

So that has been our week. Our “sit-rep” as they say is this: we are really enjoying the kitchen and walk-in wardrobe and discovering unexpected pleasures (e.g.: a deep sill round the sink drainer). We have running cold water, two working toilets, one hand basin and two kitchen sinks that work, fridge and microwave. There is only one internal door hung so far (for the walk-in wardrobe) and we are not using it! We are getting used to not having doors, even on the toilets. We have no electric light, but long summer days. Our only sources of heat are the sun and the fridge/freezer, but it is summer. I discovered yesterday that standing naked on the south patio and pouring a bucket of warm water over myself was almost as good as a shower. We accept that we are technically living in a building site, and we possibly shouldn’t be here, but we don’t want to continue paying for holiday accomodation, and Bert the Project Manager is aware of our residence.

Sometimes we can’t stop smiling. We quite like our new home!

Take care, Rick