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Thanks Kiwi! It did and it didn't go smoothly... LOL but it could have been worse!

Let's see, the movers picked us up on Thursday, my last day of work, but were a few hours late so that I actually passed them trying to find our house on my way home from work! That was okay, until we discovered that they'd only sent two guys... DUMB! The manager came out to look at our stuff and do a quote and SAW that our house was up a steep hill... he knew they wouldn't be able to get the truck up the driveway and that they'd have to carry everything down 26 steps from the front door and then down the driveway to the street... and still they sent only two guys. *slaps forehead* Oh well, they got it done eventually and we got the place cleaned up without a hitch on Friday. Saturday we set off on our three day trip to the South Island amidst howling winds and driving rain. (Yes, all that REALLY nasty weather was happening just as we were moving.) The first day of travel wasn't too bad, just a lot of driving rain, as I said, and some squeaky wind screen wipers. VERY annoying. We got to Turangi without a problem and stayed at a really nice little motel. The next day, as luck would have it, all the snow was blowing in and Desert Rd. was closed. That was okay because we had time to detour - we'd booked the last ferry crossing from Wellington to Picton. However, as the day went on and we hit another road closure due to elements and then another due to an accident, we decided we were really cutting it close. The gale-force winds down in Wellington had cancelled all the day-time ferry crossings anyway, so we thought that ours might not go and it wouldn't matter if we were late, but a call to InterIslander confirmed that our ferry WAS going (and non-refundable). Well, despite everything we made it on time and were in fact early because they delayed the crossing. We got into Picton close to midnight, but the thoughtful motel owners had left a room unlocked for us, with the heater turned on. YEA. The third day, when we had no time restrictions, was beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky of the South Island. We arrived at our friends' house just in time for tea.

We started looking for a place to rent right away - you wouldn't believe the dumps they are trying to rent out for $300/wk! In just a week we found a place we really like and got lucky in securing it. It's an older house but has been maintained and even updated in some ways. We've got two large double bedrooms and one smaller one we use as the computer room, a modernized kitchen and bathroom, a double garage and a small, easy-care section with a huge deck for entertaining. There's insulation (YEA), a log-burner (YEA) and a heat-pump (YEA), and the landlord informed us he wants to put in a night store heater down by the bedrooms. (SCORE) We're having a few problems with the toilet at the moment, but hopefully that won't take long to get sorted, and in general I think we'll be really comfortable here. Even the neighbours are nice! They actually came and knocked on our door to say hello - quite a change from what we're used to!

Stephen starts his graphics design course on Monday and I start hoping for work on Monday. I've got my name listed with 10 schools already and will contact more in my immediate area, now that we know where we're living. I've also got two applications out and will get the forms for two more jobs on Monday. Oh, and I'm going to join a placement agency for relievers. Hopefully I'll get enough work to pay our rent and bills without having to dip into my savings much.

And there you have it. That's what I've been doing for the past month, and why I've been scarce! Anyway, if anyone in the Chch area wants to get in touch with me, just send me a note and I'll send you my number! Oh, and I just joined Facebook tonight as well, due to external pressures, so if anyone else is on that...

WHOOSH... the unpacking is never done!

Thanks, I sincerely hope so!