Moving House

Who would have thought that we would have been living in shared ‘student type’ accommodation now that we are (almost) grown up, property owning adults? I certainly did not think so but then I always thought I would be married by 25 and even remember saying in a job interview that I wanted to be a deputy headteacher by the time I was 30. And yes, before you ask, I did believe in what I said back then.

Anyway, our time at Somerset House was good (not as good as two years ago but isn’t that the case for most revisited things?) and it certainly has helped us settle here in Christchurch. Not only did staying there mean we did not need to have any household equipment (remember our possessions were boxed and travelling the high seas) but we have also made new friends and acquired contacts through living there.

Our room in Somerset House Emptied of Our Possesions

You may think that after the various moves we have made over the past few years, we should be used to it by now. Well, let me tell you, packing up your belongings into boxes and then having to unpack them again really is not much fun. Having said that, fifteen of those boxes were still unpacked and just stacked in the corner of our room.

We moved out of Somerset House, on Saturday 24th June to house sit Darren & Jen’s house in St Albans, for six weeks. Of course, as prepared as we would liked to have been, it was still a last minute rush. No surprises there then, for most of you.

All those good intentions of packing up throughout the week leading up to our ‘moving date’, just did not materialise. There were just too many things that got in the way. Especially work! Anyway, after shifting two carloads of stuff on Friday, after work, it still left us to do another five trips on Saturday to move all our belongings from our bedroom in Somerset House over to Darren & Jen’s house.

There's always room for one more thing!

When you start to pack things up and have to move them, it is amazing to see how many possessions one has. We couldn’t believe how much (junk?) we have collected over the last five months here. As we would, eventually, like to buy our own kiwi house, we have started to buy pieces of furniture. All courtesy of Trade Me, of course. Our motto: ‘No expense spent!’ has not been left behind in England! Not that we have much furniture to speak of, yet. To date we have: a dining table that can seat ten – with seven non-matching dining chairs, a coffee table – but no settee, and many other useless but wonderfully nice things! Not quite sure how handy my wheelbarrow is going to be just yet, but I am sure it will serve its purpose in many years to come! And a parasol is very useful at this time of the year, not!

Making Ourselves at Home at Darren and Jen's. Of course it is very important to set up the stereo!

Luckily, Darren & Jen have a big house so we can store all our belongings and things we will be buying, until we move again (beginning of August). Yes, we have to do this all over again in the not too distant future! The box(es) room at Darren and Jen's House

Football is Played With a Spherical Ball

Following the World Cup from the other side of the world requires dedication and plenty of early starts (or late nights!). Kick-off is either at 1am, 4am or 7am. Luck had it that England and Holland played their group games a day after each other, at the same time, thus preventing any confusion for us!

I wonder who lives here!

England v Paraguay
This match was on at quite a good time, relatively speaking. A 1am start meant that we were able to watch the game without having to get up early in the morning. The plan was to go out around 10pm, meet up with friends for a few beers and to watch the game. However, it was slightly complicated by the fact that Chantal's employers were holding their 'Midwinter Christmas Dinner' the same evening (Yes I did say 'Mid-winter Christmas Dinner' - more about quirky New Zealand things in another article, some other time!). Therefore, our night started earlier than planned and meant we had to pace ourselves drink wise. That was a shame, as it meant we were not able to take full advantage of the free booze! Anyway, the disappointing dinner set the tone for the game so the less said about that the better! Uninspiring comes to mind, though.

England v Trinidad and Tobago
We had hoped to watch the 4am kick off at home, in the lounge. Unfortunately, the lounge was out of bounds that night due to overnighting visitors. We do not have SKY reception in our room (You don't think we would be paying for such a luxury, do you?) so we had to go to the pub (The Bard on Avon)! We got up at 3.45am, walked to the pub, ordered a pot of tea and the spectacle that is known as the English team kicked off. Well, that was about as exciting as it got! Pub prices for a bacon buttie were of London's kind, so we passedon that. During the second half, Pete had a pint of Guiness, which went down dangerously well! We walked back home after the match, had breakfast and then went off to work. The things one does for their country!

More tea vicar!

England v Sweden
As this was a 7am start, it meant we were able to arise at a civilised time and breakfast in front of the tv. During half-time, Pete walked down to the Bard to meet friends, watch the second half and have a cheeky pint of the black stuff. Once again it went down dangerously well! After the game, it was time to roll in to work. Late again but as there are other poms (and two argentinians) in the office nobody said a word.

The Dutch Games

These matches were mostly watched at home. The first match against Croatia was played at 1am, Monday morning. We both went to bed on Sunday night, arose at 12.45am and watched the match in the lounge with a cup of tea (no beer, please!). After the game, we went back to bed for a few hours before waking up quite tired at 7am to go to work!

The second match against Cote d'Ivoire was at 4am so again, we were up early. We sat in the lounge drinking cups of tea and watched an enjoyable first half and a very frustrating second half. At full-time, it was definitely Saturday morning, and as no reporting to the boss had to be done, we both retired back to bed, for a deserved sleep-in. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Unfortunately, the 3rd match against Argentina was not watched at home. We hoped the more modest 7am kick-off would mean a relaxed breakfast whilst watching the game. However, the weather had different ideas. The snowy, bad weather meant that there was not any SKY reception on the tv. That meant we were reduced to turning to the internet to find a site that would give a minute by minute up date of the game. During the second half, Chantal went to work and rather annoyingly discovered that the SKY reception in her canteen was perfect.

Who's Been Eating My Porridge?

So What Has Christchurch Got to Offer?

Many people say that The Garden City has an English feel to it. The only similarities with England that we have found are punting on the River Avon (of course idiots in straw hats can be found pushing flat bottomed boats, with sticks, all over England!), a cathedral (Only ever found in England!), and plenty of municipal planting displays. However, it does seem that every other person we meet is English, even though a few endangered Kiwis can be found!

Lyttelton Water, just over the Port Hills from Christchurch

Location

One of the main reasons why we chose to live in Christchurch is its location. It has sandy beaches, a windy lagoon (superb for wind and kite surfing), nestles up against its own set of hills (the Port Hills) and is even close to the mountains (Southern Alps). It means that we can do loads of activities with the minimum of travel and fuss. However, Chantal likes it because the city is flat. Can anybody think of another place like that?

Paragliding in the Port Hills overlooking Taylor's Mistake

The most popular beaches are Sumner and New Brighton. Both are only a 15-20 minute drive from the city centre and have plenty of space for sunbathing and surfing. Pete intends to do a lot of surfing in the summer, whilst Chantal will become very experienced in towel minding!

The flipside of Christchurch is that in the winter, 'fair weather surfing Pete' can take his snowboard for a 90 minute drive to the ski slopes. There are at least 5 or 6 snow fields within close proximity so spur of the moment decisions can be made.

One of our old shots (circa 2004) of Mt Hutt

The City

The actual city is quite attractive (Notice I did not say stunning?) even though the central shopping area needs invigorating. When one starts looking up it can be seen that the city was built on money, as many of the buildings are solid, decorative and impressive. Very much like Milton Keynes! Not. The cathedral is impressive and dominates the central square. There are plenty of green leafy parks and squares and we are lucky enough to live just a 5 minute walk from Hagley Park. This 'Pride of Christchurch' is approximately the size of Southampton Common but is more sports orientated and therefore open. It is home to rugby, cricket, football and hockey pitches; an 18 golf course; tennis and netball courts; lakes and ducks; and of course open spaces to laze around in the sun. It is also a popular place for joggers, cyclists and walkers. Pete has been running there 2 or 3 times a week!

Hagley Park Lake

Nightlife

Christchurch has a buzzing nightlife, especially after the Crusaders win at home. There are the usual trendy bars and clubs but also a number of homely pubs and cafe bars so there is something for everyone. The 'Bard on Avon' is a favourite haunt of expats and kiwis alike. A lovely English style pub that we've had many a good night in, and it even serves Speckled Hen. A warm log fire in winter keeps us 'locked' in! The 'Twisted Hop' is a lovely micro brewery, brewing beers according to 'olde Englyshe traditions'. Pete has a favourite pint there!! A very lively spot, at weekends, is an area called 'The Strip', which has about 7 or 8 cafes/bars in a row that turn into clubs in the evening. To finish a night off a stop at a particularly 'dangerous' venue is the 'Jolly Poacher', which is open 24 hours. This place has a nasty habit of 'time shifting'. I swear you can go in that place and come out a couple of drinks later in broad daylight!

The Port Hills

According to guide books, the Port Hills is Christchurch's weekend outdoor playground. This does not mean there is a see-saw, climbing frame and slide but it's a place where city bound kiwis can take on the great outdoors. Basically, sane people attach their bikes to their cars, drive up into the hills and go mountain biking or walking. However, mad people (and New Zealand has many of those) prefer to cycle or run up, in preparation for their next Ironman competition. Some people (no names given but this person sometimes munches on tulips) prefer to be driven to the Sign of the Kiwi, buy an ice cream and sit in the sun looking down on the city!

The Sign of Kiwi is at the summit of the Port Hills and is a great lookout spot (or make out spot if I was 18).

It is great having the hills on our doorstep but we are already taking it for granted; just like we did with the New Forest. A shame really.

One downside of the hills is that the smog of the city can be clearly seen hanging over it on still, cold winter days. It makes one realise that New Zealand's clean, environmentally friendly image is not all it is cracked up to be!

View from Sign of the Kiwi of the city with the Southern Alps in the distance

Four Seasons in One Day!

No. Not the Crowded House song but I am referring to the weather. What is going on with it? Is mankind really affecting the seasonal cycle and balance or is that now we are older we seem to take greater notice of it. From childhood, I remember summers being hot (or maybe that was because we were always sweaty and red faced from playing footie, with the obligatory jumpers or bags as goalposts) and winters were cold. However, it now seems that we can get all four seasons in one day.

Satellite image of the snow covered South Island

Last Sunday (11th June), it was riduculously warm, for this time of year. Nice as it was, it was rather wasted on us due to the fact that we did not surface from our pit until 1.30 in the afternoon. Well, we did not go to bed until 4am, as we had spent the evening/night cheering on England in a pub beforehand. Anyway, by the time we surfaced the mercury had reached 18 degrees C so the rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around shops wearing just a tee-shirt (obviously we had jeans on too!). We knew the warmth was not going to last, as rain was forecast for the next day and snow for the higher areas. What nobody expected was the 'weather bomb'. Well that is what the papers called it, before informing us that its meteorological name is a bomb low, and that it was not quite one anyway! I can't say I have heard of either, but then I'm just a 'warm beer' drinking pom!

Left: Christchurch City Centre

So what is a bomb low? Technically, a bomb low is one that deepens by 24 hectopascals (hPa) or more in 24 hours. They are caused by huge temperature contrasts. In this case it was the mixing of the warm, moist north-westerly winds of the day and the cold southerly winds of Sunday night, plus a few other meteorological happenings thrown in for good measure! Well that's cleared that up then. What it all meant though was that the South Island received a huge dumping of snow. In some parts of the Canterbury region it was the heaviest fall for 30 years. Of course, this caused all manner of problems and mayhem (power lines down, roads closed, roofs collapsing under the weight of the snow, etc.) And yes, all the usual people were blamed: the MetService, power companies, politicians, etc.

A Quick Snap of Our House Before Going To Work

Whilst this was all going on in the South Island the North Island was taking a different sort of battering. In Auckland, high winds snapped a substation power line causing it to short out. That meant Auckland's C.B.D. and 700 000 people were left without power for hours. People were stuck in lifts, the roads were in 'Italian Job' style chaos and alarms were ringing everywhere.

How did it affect us? I hear you ask. To be honest, it didn't, apart from create that child like excitement that only snow can bring. As we only live a ten minute walk from work, we did not have any real excuses for not turning up! Also living in a city at sea level, the snow was not as severe as elsewhere and had turned to slush on the roads by late afternoon. But just imagine all that powder on the mountain slopes waiting for my snowboard!

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/new-zealand-towns-cut-off-by-snow-storm/2006/06/14/1149964581987.html