Travel Page 28

28
Have we found our dream home?


Sunday 19^th March was a lovely day and we had breakfast outside, still located at the Kennedy Holiday Park in Napier. We were going to have an easy day and go for a walk into town. I finished writing up last week’s log and answered my emails and then after lunch we set off into town in the hope of going to see the Dolphin show in Napier. We arrived too late so we decided to go swimming instead. Napier has a very nice outdoor pool, with heated seawater to swim in and then Hot Springs to relax in. It was a lovely afternoon and quite warm, incredible to think that it is now most definitely Autumn and we were feeling as if it was the middle of summer. They had a steam room and I went and sat in that for a bit too. Lovely, just what the doctor had ordered. We walked back through Napier and enjoyed the wonderful buildings and the Central Park . It would be great to live in Waipawa and come here for a change of scenery. Napier has wonderful museums and lots to see and learn about Art Deco. Hectic traffic in Napier ----->

Our conversation inevitably returned to Murray and Helen’s house and it was good to just talk about it at random and in this way work on a solution to the situation. We returned to the Holiday Park for one more night.

Monday morning was taken up with giving Turbo a good clean and tidy up. After lunch we visited the famous Sea Life Aquarium which has a similar tunnel to the Seal Life Centre in Brighton . It was lovely to see all the different fishes and crustaceans and we saw an interesting video about New Zealand ’s fish, corals and seaweed. Very informative indeed and at the same time a soothing experience! Then came the final walk through the tunnel of water and the sharks and other fish swim effortlessly over our heads. The sharks are most beautiful, but also quite eerie.

We returned to Turbo Snail to make a final list of our thoughts about the house and then we set off back to Waipawa, Helen and Murray. We got there just in time and they were both pleased to see us, wondering if we might change our mind and just not turn up?

We set off around the land and to find out more information. Both Helen and Murray answered all our questions patiently and without hesitation. The land is lovely and has lots of mature trees. We will be allowed to walk anywhere, even on their land so long as we remember to shut the gates behind us. Our land would be plenty big enough for an evening stroll and the main house is surrounded by a circular drive and has a lover’s lane. Everything is lovingly laid out and every time you go and have another look, you find another little niche you did not see before.

The grazing paddock

Eventually it was dark and we returned to the house to sit down and hammer out a plan. Quietly we all got very excited as it looks like buying this property is becoming a reality. Helen opened a bottle of wine and we toasted to new neighbours and Murray ’s birthday. They invited us to dine with them and in the end we stayed parked in the grounds and slept for the first time in what will hopefully be our new home. The final price is still to be agreed and we hope to have that sorted out in a day or two.

We slept wonderfully well and in the morning Helen came to greet us and tell us that we could stay here if we wanted to. We felt that that would be great but we really must agree a price first and then sign a contract. Then we will see again and yes it would be lovely to start living there as soon as possible.

Last Friday, 17^th March, I got an invitation to go back to Whangarei to meet up with Karen the Physiotherapist, whom we had met all those months ago at Moureese’s Bay. She has invited me to give a talk to her medical colleges in Whangarei on Thursday 6^th April, about feet and pointe shoes. This means that we will head north again as soon as we have finalised things with Helen and Murray. On the way we will visit some of our new friends and Geri and Colin in Auckland . It will be lovely to see them again.

In the meantime it is Thursday and all is still well. Murray and Helen have still not been able to tell us their final price and while they are sorting themselves out we have taken off again. We will stay in touch with them by email and there is no rush, as our money is tied up until the 3^rd of May. We have started to buy Lifestyle Block magazines and we are looking at various options of what to do with the land which will come with this lovely home. A whole new learning curve for us and it is fun to dream and think about doing something very different with our lives. There are various exhibitions up and down the country and one can go on courses for specific projects. All very interesting and we are looking into what we might do with the land.

Pourere Beach


Pourere Beach		This morning we set off again from Waipawa Holiday Park but not before we said our good-byes to our new friends. Then we made our way to another of the beaches at Pourere to see what that would that would be like. It has been raining now for almost 48 hours and we desperately need the rain, as it has not rained here for months. Even in the rain this beach looks just the ticket. The beach does have some houses but it is a much nicer beach than the one we visited two weeks ago. In other words there is a choice of beaches all within 30 minutes from Waipawa and so we will have the best of both worlds. A wonderful house, with a separate granny flat, set in 3.7 acres of wonderful, almost park-like farmland. We would buy half of it now, get to have the granny flat as a base. Murray and Helen will build their new house on the other side of the hill and when they move into their new house we will pay the second half and complete the purchase. While they build their house Helen and Murray can stay in their house and we can go off travelling again and finish what we have started. We would have the right to return to the granny flat anytime we want and we will be given space to store all our belongings in one of the garages or farm buildings, as well as starting up our very own vegetable garden. If it works, it would be fantastic! That is the plan and we just hope it comes off!

Friday 24^th March and we are at the Hastings Holiday Park and we are here for life-style block exhibitions on this Saturday and a Farmer’s Market on Sunday. We did attend both and were delighted with all of it. There is lots of free information, advice and courses we can attend. Enjoy the pictures:

Our way back to Hastings was barr-ed for a while ----->

Then on Monday 27^th March came the email with the final price. Delighted we accepted by email and just as I walked over to Fergus to hug and kiss him, this wonderful cat walked into our Turbo Snail and made herself at home. We answered immediately saying that we would be delighted to accept there offer and that we would like to go ahead with the sale as soon as possible. We agreed to meet at our Lawyers at 10:30am on Tuesday to draw up a binding contract.

We were bursting to tell someone the good news and we were lucky. Another motorhome drew up next to us for the night and it contained two charming Australians, Max and Jane. We shared our excitement with them and ended up having drinks and then dinner with them. A delightful evening and Jane, a theatre nurse, who took some of my feet and pointe shoe information with her back to Australia to give to her medical colleges there. How delightful is that?


		NEXT PAGE -->