We moved to Rāumati Beach!

 

 

 

We've bought a 1952 bach-like weatherboard house at Rāumati. That's about a 30 minute drive north from our ex house on that windy hill in Newlands. Not that far as a seagull flies but it's a really  different environment. A warmer and calmer climate for starters. We can grow a bunch of things we couldn't grow in Newlands. Waaaay less wind here and a flat coast. We hear the sea.

Rāumati is the te reo (Māori language) word for summer. It's pronounced ro-mat-ee.

We're on an old sand dune so are a wee bit elevated (15 metres above sea level and prepared to host the neighbours running up the drive in a tsunami). 

We've been here a month already and still feel like we're on holiday!

Okay, let's go back to the move and work forward. It's been a while between blog posts.

'Twas a 2-day move. Movers loaded one truck on Feb 11 and then Mish and I abandoned the house and went into the city to a swanky hotel for the night. We walked out for a birthday dinner at the local yacht club on Oriental Bay. That's one birthday I won't forget.

Had to get back to the house early and we just made it before the jolly moving guys who cheerfully arrived with truck number 2. They loaded that one in a couple of hours and off we all went in convoy. Bye bye house!

At the new house, here's the front and a view from the garden the first day we saw it in October 2020.

Yep, liking it. Let's buy it!

In the same spot, five months later in March 2021. Mish is calculating what we'll see if we build something on the site and go up. She is full of, full of, full of...oh, ideas, that's it. 

Summer has been hot and dry - look at that grass, or lack of grass rather.

At the moment we have a peaceful interior green view (a lot like Robertson for those who remember that house), with western views over a huge park to the top of Kāpiti Island ... 

... and southern views to impressive hills leading into the Tararua Ranges. There will be snow over there. That's a big pohutakawa centre of image. We have trees and loads of interesting trees around us. Mish thrilled. Newlands has few trees. We had an exposed site in an exposed area and we copped the Cook Strait wind in both directions. 

There's lots of work to do on the house and in the garden. Here's a sample of house works so far, as the unpacking went on. One box to go I think.

In the kitchen, Mish draft-proofing a window and installing a UV sun blind (cause it has been blazingly bright in there).

In the washouse, we had to move the washing machine out to reveal the entry under the house the internet installers needed to crawl down into. Internet connection took nearly a month to install - hooray for wifi.

We have a mudroom! It's an add on room that will be veeeery useful. That's the house's original exterior back door steps and Mish is laying some garage carpet. We spruced up the room before that with a good dose of Wet and Forget. 

Screwing in some of the windows in anticipation of breezy winter nights.  This one had a monster gap. No more. The joys of an old timber house - we've done it before. 

Siliconing some bedroom windows shut. All original 1950s windows. The casement windows with the metal bar with holes in it you pop over a bump to hold open - they get to stay. 

Now Mish and I have both fallen off a ladder. She hit the ground and hurt herself, and I fell backwards into a chair and didn't hurt myself. Ladders!

It's not all work of course. We've had absolutely beautiful summer days since we got here, and walks and swims and cafe strolls (walk to great cafe!) and cycles (loads of tracks and parks and wetland areas) and bbqs and deck lounging. 

We're enjoying the large number of fruit trees we've inherited. We're never buying lemons again! Feijoas and figs and oranges and limes and tangerines and grapes are coming along; peaches and plums and blackcurrants have finished for the season. This is a pear experiment. 

The meringue maker is also enjoying the bigger kitchen.

Shops at the southern end of the beach. Mish with mosaic chair and a little library.

Our path to the beach at the end of the street. High tide. South Island just visible.

From the bottom of the beach steps, looking west to Kāpiti. The island has been a bird sanctuary since 1897 and you need a permit to go there. We've been over twice and walked to the top. It's a very cool place. 

A little boogie board surf. The long sweep of coastline from Wellington is not a surf coast. It gets a bit bigger than this but not much. Water temp lovely.

A panorama as I write this at the kitchen table. It's nice to have an actual dining area again. 

Standing by for visitors post-Covid.