And...we're in!

As the house buying process in NZ is slightly faster than in Britain, it meant that we were able to bring our move forward three weeks to Friday 1st June.

Packing up again!

The first weekend of June is Queen's Birthday Weekend; for which we have the Monday off. So, we thought, why not move in then, as that would give us an extra day to get settled into our new abode. However, we both forgot we had entered the Christchurch SBS Marathon event. Pete entered the half marathon, and Chantal entered the 10 km event. This race was on the Sunday, with the start and finish being at the Town Hall, only minutes walk from the cottage.

Yesterday (Saturday), Mark, Lisa, Ryan & Emily helped to move most of our possesions from the cottage to our 'grown-ups' house. Thanks again! Because of the run we decided to spend the Saturday night at the cottage. Yes, we have not yet spent a night at our new house! Anyway, moving house the day before running your first half marathon is not such a good idea, but Pete finished in a great time of 1.34.21. Lisa finished near enough the same time and Mark came in at 1.33.39. See www.sbsmarathon.co.nz for the results. Chantal ran the 10 km in a great personal best, of 56.40. Already thinking ahead, Pete is hoping to be able to run the full marathon and Chantal will try the half marathon next year.

Our cosy lounge

Anyway, this running event only temporarily halted the moving in process. After the race we went back to the cottage, emptied the whole house of our remaining possessions, loaded the truck and off we went, back to Avonside. As I am writing this, at midnight (Sunday), the kitchen and one of the spare bedrooms are full of boxes. The lounge is box-free and so is the bedroom, we will just ignore the rest for now!

Putting a roof up is already on the list of jobs!