Wow, it feels like this week has been packed full of exciting news and steps forward in getting ourselves settled here in Christchurch. So where to start?!
On Monday we found out that our application for a house had been accepted, and we signed the tenancy agreement. We don't have any photos of the place yet, but I'm sure there'll be plenty to share once we're in! After viewing several properties in different parts of town, we just had a good feeling about this little house (it had nothing to do with the HUGE fluffy ginger tomcat who greeted us.. and who will unfortunately be moving out with the current tenants). It's walkable to work for D, in a quiet residential part of town, and close to a park and a gym, which were important to us. We've set our moving date to 27th September, which brings me to the next bit of news...
OUR CONTAINER HAS ARRIVED! We've been tracking it across the world, from Liverpool to France, Madagascar to Melbourne and finally, Lyttelton port, just outside Christchurch. We were so excited to see that it was due in this morning - a mere 71 days (10 weeks) after the shipping company came and packed it all up and took it away - that we drove down to Lyttelton to see it arrive! It still has to pass biosecurity and customs checks, but we hope it will be ready for moving day on 27th September.
We got far too excited about the fact that one of those colourful containers is ours! It's going to be like Christmas day when it arrives in our new place, and we open it to find all our belongings. We were pretty ruthless when we left the UK, and only kept essential furniture and things that are important to us (like our Lord of the Rings books of course, and some souvenirs from our travels over the years. Oh, and I guess our wedding photo album too!). Some stuff we haven't seen since we sold our house in the UK a year ago, as it's been in storage, so we're really looking forward to getting unpacked and settled in.
We've had the most perfect Spring weather this last week, and today was no exception. We took the opportunity to have a little wander around Lyttelton, and the Saturday market that they have on every week. Lyttelton was hit hard in the 2011 earthquake, and there are still empty squares of land on the main road where buildings once stood, and the main coastal road remains closed while it undergoes repair. Despite this, Lyttelton is a thriving little township with some great cafes and tasty coffee, great vegan options, and gorgeous boutique shops.
The other brilliant news we've had this week is that we FINALLY HAVE OUR RESIDENT VISAS! I did a little jump for joy when the passports returned. I was a bit bummed to find out that they are electronic visas, so we don't get a fancy page in our passports, but I guess that's modern technology for you. Regardless, these resident visas mean that we can stay in New Zealand indefinitely, I can start looking for work, we can register with a doctor, get our New Zealand driving licences, and generally get ourselves bedded in!
There's so much to do still, but this week it certainly feels like a few of the major things are falling into place.
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