A Quarter Of A Year Has Come And Gone

I cannot believe that I have been in this wonderful country for three months already. In one breath it feels like I've been here for ages - and in another it's still so new. Greater Wellington is the only area I've been around for now, and it's mostly been exploring areas for homes and grocery shopping. There has simply been no time to do other, more fun, journeys.

Last week we moved into our long term rental house in a lovely little suburb named Aotea, which falls under the Porirua City Council. It's quiet, clean, and as Lisa says "Stepfordy". heh. The day we moved in was a Thursday and there was a lot planned for that day - gas needed to be switched on, Internet and phone activated, container delivered (and checked by MAF), and the washing machine was scheduled to be delivered. Based on our previous experiences in South Africa, it was a long shot that all of this would be done with incompetency inevitably causing delays with one or more of these.

But, to our wonderful surprise, the truck with our container turned into our street at the scheduled time. The telephone technician arrived and did what he needed to do. The washing machine was delivered. The MAF official checked our goods. And finally the gas technician came to switch on the gas. Simply fantastic!

I must state, that since arriving here, I have become more aware of succumbing to a natural disaster. I never really gave it a thought before. It was always a problem for another place in the world. But now being in an active earthquake and volcanic zone, possibly being swamped by a tsunami, as well as being blown away by (possible) cyclones. It is taking some getting used to the "island living" on the edge of a tectonic plate. Enough people live here though and it's just an adjustment to make (and a bit exciting).

I still haven't experienced the raw power of an earthquake yet. But when I do I'm hoping that I will be in a comfortable spot with my little family - and not in an elevator or on the bog :).

There is still so much to see around our new hometown. And it's going to take us years to explore the rest of the country.

I can't wait.