Sunday, October 11, 2009

The big day has come and gone.....

Hi all, just a short update from the Grey's....

We have been here for 3 weeks now, and it's been wonderful!

The flight was great, we flew from SA to Sydney, then on to Auckland NZ. Our toddler Phoenix (almost 2 years) slept through most of the flight, as it was night time in SA, Phew!. Arrived about 8 pm, and Daniel's NZ Friends greeted us at the airport. We stayed with them for a little over a week. Surfing the net, looking for cars & Accommodation. They were very welcoming, and warm, and made us feel right at home! John, Delysse, Harry & Tom, you are a true blessing!!!
Jet lag lasted for about a week.

We bought a car about 6 days after landing, a 2005 Ford Mondeo Station wagon for $12000. It use to be a rental, so it's in Perfect condition, even smells new!
You can imagine our surprise when the car salesman handed us the key, and then stepped back so we can take the car for a test drive ALONE! The whole experience was very pleasing, and FAST!

Got a wonderful Rental property in Mount Wellington - $500 pw. 4 Bedroom, 2 bathroom, Laundry, living room, kitchen/dining room. All Wooden floors, Victorian bath, we LOVE it! The property is on the market, so we are seriously thinking of buying. We also got ALL our furniture & Household goods for really good prices. (Did a lot of bargaining with the furniture shop, and it really paid off! Saved us about $600 overall).

I went for my first Mid-wife appointment on Wednesday. Two very friendly ladies, who patiently answered ALL of my questions and more (I kept them busy for almost 2 hours) I am now a day shy of 35 weeks, so, if this little boy is to follow his two older brothers, it could be only 3 weeks before we meet him! YIKES! Luckily we met up with some old SA friends of Daniel, Ruellyn and her husband Louis, they have been a great help, showing us where to bargain buy. And Ruellyn has been helping me get hold of some baby-stuff, as I have nothing but clothes and blankets for this little one. (Our container has STILL not left SA! The company we are using has no idea when they’ll be able to send it)

I have to admit, the weather has not been perfect, today being our first full day of sunshine (3 weeks in) but to NZ’s defense, August was one of their driest months to date, so these last couple of weeks rain has been making up for that (well, that is my guess at least) And to my understanding, high summer only starts mid to late January. But today was STUNNING! What a beautiful day, a bit on the cold side, 19 degrees Celsius being the high, but Sunshine all day! We went to church this morning, picked up a baby bouncer we brought on Trade Me for a Bargain, and went straight home to do some gardening.

Overall, I am absolutely LOVING NZ! It’s such a strange sensation, you don’t realize it when you’re living in South-Africa, but you are constantly under stress (Because of the crime & work situation) About a week after we landed, both Daniel & I got this calm over us, we’re just so happy & content.

Daniel is officially starting his business tomorrow. He has a long list of contacts to see. NZ is out of recession, so now is a very good time to start up his graphic design business. (Or should I rather say restart) He will be running his company under the same name he used last time he lived here – Pure Graphics. We are all very optimistic, and excited.

I just want to thank God above all, without His Grace we would not have made it this far so successfully.

We are happy & home!

I will post some pictures soon!

1 comment:

Ter said...

I'm so glad that your move was a success and I wish you all the best with everything... new jobs, new baby, new home. :)