Windy Welly

We have now been in Wellington for two weeks and I am starting to see why it is dubbed “Windy Welly.” The Antarctic breeze tends to finds all nooks, crannies and warm spots to creep into and chills one to the bone!

Moving into our apartment was a bit more stressful than it probably should have been, but both Russell and my nerves were raw, not to mention exhausted from the volume of effort and work that we have put into the past 14 days.

And so, now we are here. In a place we can call our own, although we know that this is temporary.  I get a bit homesick at times, seeing a golden retriever walk past, hearing a particularly beautiful bird song or even just feeling the rain on my face and realising that it is not African rain. But I guess these phases are normal and despite this time of adjustment, I really like New Zealand.

I like that you can go to the cheapest store around and find fresh, free-range, organic and New Zealand bred chicken, eggs, bacon, beef and greens. 
I like that there are young girls selling fresh red cherries on street corners.
I like the street musicians ranging from ages 8 – 70, who are never put off by the weather. 
I like that I am woken up by birdsong every morning. 
I like that our friend Cristina is just 5 minutes drive away.  
I like that random shop attendants ask us about ourselves and strike up wonderful conversations about fishing, hiking and trees in the heater and cellotape isle. I like the earthquakes. It makes me feel very humble and aware that every moment is a gift and that the earth is alive. 

 I love that everything is beautiful; that the land and the Maori culture just permeates and dominates everything, including the most industrial parts of the city. 

 We were blessed to spend some quality time with our dear friend Cristina soon after we arrived.

 

The Waterfront

 Russell and I took the road running past the coast to get to our new flat...

 Now we are in Brooklyn, the area where we live:

A strange but fascinating house has all these metal sculptures scattered around its garden:

And here she is, our flat. We stay at the lower level.

 Our little backyard. We are going to grow some veggies here soon:

There are goldfish living in this half well.

And here is some of the interior. We are receiving the rest of our furniture on Wednesday and I shall then take pictures to give a more rounded idea of the space.

The Bedroom: 

The livingroom:

Russell splitting wood for our fire.