A little piece of Auckland

It's been a while, and not without incident. Andrew's been back a week and a half. We now don't have any claim to eh10 at all - the mortgage's been discharged, our stuff's being shipped - it really is about time for a new blog. But bear with me here just a little bit longer...

So, in the last wee while...

• The Auckland summer has just kept on giving - yesterday we saw the first sign of rain in 10 days or more. Logically, we should have been soaking up the sun on Waiheke, but too many things going on cityside...
• The small matter of transport was resolved last week at Turners' Car Auctions. A few test drives to rule out other possibilities, and we were ready to bid for one of NZ's most popular cars - the Toyota Corolla. They've even put it on a stamp. White (do they come in any other colour?) and with one government owner, it seems - so far - like a good buy.
• We bought a house! A 4-bed, slightly rumpty (which I think is Akl real-estate-speak for in need of a bit of work!) bungalow in Balmoral (or Mt Eden, the biggest suburb in the world, if you're a real estate agent ). Here she is (1/5/07 - sorry, doesn't work any more). Cabbage tree at the front, a flat sunny backyard with veges and even some fruit trees, Zap2, Videon and buses to town at the end of the street, 4 bedrooms, what more could you want? We move in in a month, before the baby arrives (just). It's a big relief not to be househunting any more, and to be able to make more definite plans.
  

Good things

We've been busy in the kitchen (mum & I). This sticky looking mess is fig jam, made from the last of the season's figs. There might have been more, if it hadn't been for the crazy rain last week.

Thunderstorms are threatening today, although may not eventuate. Our neighbour sent us on a wild tsunami chase last week - it turned out that, despite coastguard alerts suggesting otherwise, the Solomons' tsunami didn't make it all the way to Waiheke. I'm not sure what we would have done if it had!

In other news, my baby's had a growth spurt, meaning my belly's bigger than ever. Glad I'm not contemplating that long flight now. Haven't found the perfect house yet, but there are some possibilities out there...