Kia ora whanau, we are back on the land of the long white cloud. We arrived back just before the end of the year. We packed up both vehicles full to the roof, got up early and headed to Ōamaru.

For those who know me well, I freeze in a manual when I get to traffic lights or stop signs when there is another vehicle behind me. Our ute doesn’t have a great handbrake and she rolls back. Rowan has it to a fine art but I don’t drive enough to get the knack. I am a bit nervous of driving all the way on my own but once we had been going for a bit in Christchurch it all just came naturally. Rowan stayed behind me which made me feel more confident. When we finally got out of Christchurch I put my music on and sang the rest of the way. With all the stops to check on each other it took 4 hours to get to Ōamaru. We stopped at the dump station at the north end of town. Barely back in town and our neighbour Jimmy pulled over to say hi and wished us a happy new year. Small towns!

We unloaded all our stuff into the container. Parked up the ute and headed up Mt Misery. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing, chatting away.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed, off to town we go. We let ourselves into Leona’s office and pick up our keys for Till. We get to the house and have a good look around, we just want to measure up and make a mud map. We come across the notorious chest freezer, it doesn’t smell like the stuff has frozen in the time we have been away. I bravely open it. It smells really bad, mostly rotten vegetables. The freezer obviously doesn’t freeze anymore, at least it appears to keep things a bit colder. Rowan leaves the house almost immediately. I don’t think we will be going back inside today. What we really need is a skip, there is not much we can do without first getting rid of the rubbish to get a blank slate. I have the bright idea to hire someone to help us.

I ask a few friends if they know anyone who would like some work. No one knows anyone, so we get on Facebook and ask. Within a small time there are heaps of messages. I reply to all of them with photos of the work so they are not fooled into the job. We have a few people coming to check out the job tomorrow. Maybe $30 per hour was too much but I would rather a hard worker and it is messy work. It is not easy choosing someone but if they don’t work out we can say thank you and try someone else. Leona sees my post and tells me there are a few people that should be alright because she has sold a house to them. Cory is one of her recommendations.

One guy comes but he doesn’t appear to be enthusiastic about the job. Then a couple come who also want their son to help, now we are at $90ph! Not just that they are cleaners, I really need more a labourer than a cleaner. So we end up giving Cory a shot first, we need a skip but everyone is shut at the moment. Rowan and I decide we need to clear a space so the rubbish at the back of the house can come down beside the house. We get the Hilux into position tie a strop around the tree and drive. Works a treat on the pittosporums.

We will put up a cute picket fence instead. The pittosporums are a bit rotten and not in good knick.