D-day

Yes it is finally here. We have been fully packed and the house cleaned yesterday. Again we are waiting! This time for the movers to show up. To speed things up everything we own is either in the garage or on the deck waiting to go . 

Mitch is in a mission to go and find us some coffee.  Not dependent aye, wait till you don't have any way to make a cup!!! 

14 hours

Never thought we would see the day! 14 hours and we are on the road to an new, uncertain, but exciting future.  Everything is packed up and every room is empty except thelounge where we will be sleeping. The moving crew will have a fabulous time loading as everything is either in the garage or ready lutside for loading (under cover). Fridge is off!

The challenge will be waking up with no coffee! A plan will have to be hatched!! Next time I write, i will be out of Auckland. As Melita said, no longer a Jafa, not sure what we are soon?

Almost!

Just over 5 days to go until the move. Everything is ready, some stuff is already loaded on the trailer which we are towing down on Monday.  The rest is already packed in boxes, ready to be loaded in the moving truck.  We have been living with essentials only for the past few weeks.  

What a revelation on how many boxes we have. So far we have packed about 100 and there are more to come. At least another 4 or 5 still left in the kitchen and perhaps another 4-5 with bits and bobs.  Unpacking is going to be time intensive as well as a revelation of those items that have been in storage since November. Almost going to be like Xmas opening presents! 

Certainly going to have a new motto: minimalist living. This may just result in a Sunday garage sale!!!

Never thought I would ever want time to go a bit faster, but only for the next 5 days! 

Time is marching on SLOWLY!

Still slowly packing up more stuff and looking more and more for items long being packed away. I have officially 12 workings days left. Sounds a little, but there are two public holidays over easter weekend making it actually slightly longer.  

Weekend also mean that i should be getting more pics of Bella.  I have to constantly stop myself from either calling or emailing for more photos. It is really hard to contain myself and wait for 5 April.  Toys, brush, pigs ears, lead, blankets all bought and packed.  Saw a lovely winter jacket at RD1, and had to remind myself that she will be a farm dog. 

Below is a pic received last Monday,

Speaking of RD1, Mitch and I have been to, obviously RD1 in Albany and found PGG Wrightson in Kumeu last week. Real agricultural shops stocking feed for livestock, dips, drenches, and all sorts. Hugely interesting. Tomorrow we are going to the Kumeu show to see what else we can learn and hopefully pick up some bargains.  Amazing to have rural on your doorstep although we live in the city! Gotta love Auckland!! 

Hope everyone has voted for their choice of flag already! May the new one win. 

Adoption

Our readiness campaign is making huge progress, today in exactly 1 month we are moving!!  But the best news ever, is that in one month, Mitch and I will meet our daughter, Bella!  So named, as the meaning is beautiful in Italian. Below is a photo of of the newest Prins family member.  There will probably be lots more in the future. 

Our implements and stock is also on the rise, with the aquisition of a ATV and trailer.  Our quall eggs will be delivered on 20 April and theoretically we should have little babies 18 days later. More to follow.....

Counting down!

Time is reeally dragging. Like waiting on a kettle to boil? However, we have cracked the 40 day mark till moving day. On the side I am counting working days left and is currently on 24. 

Bring on moving day! 

Checking out manual milking pumps with goat attachment. Butter,cheese,milk, bring it on. 

Produce Taste Test!!

Every family has issues, this one certainly has issues with a tiny, little fruit!!  Apparently having your mouth on fire for a couple of hours, getting hiccups, drinking lots of milk to try and extinguish the pain is pretty normal in this house!

So today is the day to test the first chili of this years crop.  Thank goodness the other varieties are not yet ready for consumption as they are a just a bit hotter on the scoville scale than today's tester. There is a Scotch Bonnet on the horizon with a SHU of 100,000 to 350,000. Not for the faint hearted.  The below little tasty 30gram monster is called a Manzano pepper.  Only 30,000 on the scoville scale, so really a nice chili for a popper, stuffed with cheese.  However, we need to test it for heat and taste without adding any lush cheese in the mix.  (PS I did not! I am not that stupid!)

Once you taste this little one, your face cannot remain in a normal expression, as the photo below indicates. (Notice the yummy pizza in the oven, thanks Ruben)

Here are some of the chilies still not quite ready to be tasted! Soon though. Below is the black pearl.  So named due to its appearance, but not its gentleness.  Only a 30,000 scoville HU.  Therefore much like the chili above. I think they are just really pretty!

This little fella still needs some rosy cheeks, in fact needs to be red to be ready!  Much more gentle at 5,000 - 30,000 units on scoville.  I could try one of these perhaps when they are ready.  Apparently, quite fruity in taste!!!

Enough of the potential produce that will be planted on the farm. With the love and care that Mitch shows these plants, I am sure we will be able to produce bumper crops in time to come.

Quick update!

So far the packing is going really well!  Just about 85% packed up with only the essentials and a few other things to make its way down to the garage. 

One thing I have realised, the more I pack up the more spacious the house appears!  Lesson learnt here, do no clutter and we don't need much more than the basics. I certainly have been every retailers dream as we need, not want, the totally unnecessary in life. 

It is certainly going to be an experience to unpack the boxes, some of which have been packed up since the start of November when the house went on the market. Cannot remember what they contain and if I cannot remember nor miss anything, what is going to be in there??? Certainly not anything that we need.

So far I have pre cancelled the house insurance and will shortly have to start working on insurance for our piece of rural bliss as well as having power on, broadband etc by the time we get there.  Still too much Auckland in the psyche to live without broadband for a day!! I does look like SKY is not going to be an option, cannot live without the rugby!

Starting to say goodbye?

Had lunch with these lovelies yesterday!  Margaret Marshall, other than Melita i have known you the longest here in Auckland.  HPDays with sushi lunch at the fish market and my first introduction to yum char!! Just one of the nicest people I know. A tad special you are!!

V furiosly typing away on a voda app and made me a very happy camper later in the afternoon.  Vodafone rocks! 

This is starting to make things real. Just had my second last hair appointment with the best hairdresser in Auckland.  Sar @ Crosscut in Rosedale!! Hint hint!! (Everyone should go to her.)

Was wondering what is going to happen to the hair, perhaps au natural with a hint of grey? 

Back to what I was doing before, packing! 

Prep

I noticed my loooog post about BOONIES did not publish. Well timefor the shorter version.

Best ever gumboots, suitable for riding. This is like the Loubouton of farm shoes! Ready for the mud! 

I could not disturb everyone with the blisters and scuff marks from the red bands.

Our new home! Meet you soon.

Been a while since our last update!! The happy news is that we are now the proud owners of our own little block of land! http://gisborne.ljhooker.co.nz/JWQ6GDZ/1341-tiniroto-road-waerengaokuri Hoping the link still works for a while.  Settlement date is 4 April and our truck arrives 5 April in Gisborne with all our stuff.  And what a lot of stuff we have accumulated in the 6 years we have lived in New Zealand! I am sure the house breathes a sigh of relief every time we remove more stuff.  She must be feeling lighter.

We are still counting the weeks and will shortly move to counting the days!

Made it home!!!

What a drive. Left Gisborne yesterday a 9.30 and got home at 4.15. We only stopped twice along the road.  Once for the usual and an icecream and the other for a pie. The gorge was a treat although at times it seems to just go on and on. It is scenery that cannot be captured by a photo and truly represent the beauty. For a fair distance from before Whakatane to Tauranga, the road hugs the coast and you drive along a stunning beach. That is when one wished for all the time is the world to stop  and take it all in. 

Had a sudden spurt of energy and cooked supper for Monday night and did all the washing. Perhaps I knew that I will have to clean my car from top to bottom. Pie crumbs be gone. 🍴

Gisborne Recce

What a day of property hunting!! Saw less desirable to something rather lovely! Lovely is currently  under offer BY US!!!! We will know by Tuesday afternoon if we got lucky! Lovely place with well maintained paddocks! Could see a few beefies and perhaps a pig or 10?

Tomorrow the long trek back to Auckland and not looking forward to 8 hours of driving😩

Home recce cont ....

What a long day! Exhausted from the 4.5 hour drive from Auckland to Whakatane.  Traffic was starting to build up at 1.30 out of Auckland and the rain did not help with the stress levels. 

Whakatane is cute and the main road is quite picturesque. We had dinner at a lovely Indian restaurant which was hot hot and tasty. Ate way to much on the road trip 😩.

Now it is off to sleep with an early start to Saturday!!

Home recce

Made it to Whakatane in one go this afternoon. The Kaimais did surprise with heavy rain and limited visibility. We are staying at the Alfresco B&B tonight and our host Sue Schroder mkes the best chocolate brownies!!! As this is blue berry country, it had a blue berry filling!! Truely yummy!!

Really catching up on work emails? 

The mission to the move!!

What is the spade doing inside ??

All part of getting ready to move. Mitch was looking for the printer paper tonight, but it is packed, in a box, somewhere in the garage !! Oops but too eager.

Day 1 of blogging our journey and our dream!

Hello All,

So starts our dream!  It really started in 2008 when we met. I will never forget the day as it started my dream journey!

First was our journey to emigrate from South Africa and settle in New Zealand. What a journey that was!!! No work permit and no place to stay and absolutely nothing to go back to. 5 years later and we got our Citizenship and have truly immersed ourselves in the Kiwi way of living.

This now brings me back to the reason for starting the blog. We have yet another phase of our journey to tackle and have decided to use a blog to document our every step of the way and share our moments where we know what we are doing and those where we are absolutely completely lost and reach out to our friend Google!!!!

22 January 2016 is the day our funding came through!

We are heading out of Auckland!!!!

Up until today, we have started the packing and will be posting photos of the absolute mess we have created in the house.  Only the beginning of February, but we are almost ready to move, even though our actual moving date is the 4th of April.  Two months to go, but we will be ready well ahead of time.

We have an interesting weekend coming up!! But more on that soon.