Waiting... Waiting...

The latest news is that our fifth wheeler will not be available until 5^th May, but whenever the guys we’re buying it from tell us this, they appear to be holding their breath. We appear to be at the mercy of the Australian company that is building it. Let’s hope no further delays.

As we see photos of the flooding the eastern Bay of Plenty is experiencing, we reflect on the fact that if everything had gone to plan and the fifth wheeler had arrived end of March, it’s highly likely this is where we would have been. We are reminded that God’s timing is perfect.

We moved out of our house last week—a VERY long, busy day, with several trips back and forth to the container on the farm (just over an hour away). The removal guys were amazing: Rocky & Doug from Waikato Movers knew their stuff well and even rearranged the boxes already packed in our container so that they could fit the rest of our stuff in. Our final trip to the farm saw us arrive at our new temporary home at 11pm. We were determined to get it all done that day!

So we’re now living with my brother and sister-in-law (Grant and Pam) in a small farming district near Arapuni, called Arohena. I’ve set up my “office” on the end of their dining room table and Lucy is happily curled up on her bed near my feet. She has been introduced to Kitty, a mischievous cute little cat who easily steals anyone’s heart. She thinks Lucy’s fair game, and both need close watching as their games of chase threaten to get out of hand. Kitty teases Lucy mercilessly, knowing she’s relatively safe with four pairs of adults’ eyes keeping tabs on things. 

With no fencing around the house, we cannot leave Lucy behind at “home”. This is a new challenge as we work around how to best manage having her come with us everywhere. She seems to be adapting quickly and now sleeps on the back seat when travelling, whereas she used to pace around excitedly, whine and look out the car windows all the time. 

Just before we left Hamilton, Dave achieved his Heavy Traffic (HT) Class 2 licence! Well done, Dave—who hates exams/tests of any kind but is now the proud holder of another number on his driving licence. He recommends PassRite as excellent trainers.

He doesn’t need this to tow our rig but was hoping to become more employable by adding another skill to his list of talents. Maybe a job in the fruit industry, or wherever—I don’t expect he will be too fussy. 

We have bought a couple of mountain bikes—that’s right, no engines this time—pure pedal power. Before we left Hamilton, we had several rides around the block just to check the required muscles were still functioning. And they were… they complained loudly about the new unaccustomed usage, so I’m giving them a reprieve while we’re at the farm. Actually, riding on country roads could be hazardous to our health, and the weather has been terrible as well.

 Dave had to get the bikes out to the farm prior to the shift, so following instructions (yes, truly!) he secured them to the back of the truck. He did an amazing job—they would not move at all. Not even the wheels. Not even a fraction of an inch. And it took him all of 45 minutes. I’m suitable impressed with his patience and stamina… it was all very quiet in the garage while he accomplished this feat.

We plan to move down to Inglewood, Taranaki on Easter Monday and stay with our daughter and her family for a couple of weeks. Can’t plan too far ahead at this stage, but who knows… we might even get those bikes out again! Dave has plans of doing some of the rail trails, and as for me, the mind is willing….

Homeless

Sold! Our house sold last week and we have until the end of the month to vacate. The auction went well with about six buyers in the room, although not all of them were bidding. We were happy with the outcome.

Someone decided to vandalise the “sold” sign—since taking this photo it was destroyed. Or perhaps it was the wild weather we had over the weekend.

Just prior to the auction we went across to Tauranga to have a look at a fifth wheeler that had come in from Australia and was very like ours.

 

 Not alike enough to show you any inside photos, but similar to this one.

Sadly, ours will not be available now until about mid-April, so we need to find somewhere to stay for two to three weeks. Favourite EX-favourite son suggested a dishwasher box under a bridge… He is fortunate to be living on the other side of the world or we could be arriving on his doorstep. At that distance I expect he feels safe. Neither of us slept much the night of the auction thinking about where we might end up, and I’m also thinking about the fact that I need to have internet access and ability to work! Our sister-in-law came to the rescue once again. Bless her. Says we are welcome to stay with them, so unless the place where we’re buying the fifth wheeler pulls a rabbit out of the hat, come first April, that’s where we’ll be for a little while. 

Last Friday Dave brought home our new Ranger. Barely fits in the garage – it seems HUGE! But we need something big to tow our new home, and this one ticked the boxes. It’s a 4-wheel drive so should be able to pull us out of any sticky situation. It’s also automatic, which makes things easier. We are adding tinted windows and a few other useful bits and pieces. It was going back into the shop this week for these extras to be added, but the air con in my Citroen has been playing up, so things are a bit delayed while we sort that one out. After both vehicles are all done, it'll be off to Tauranga to get the hitch fitted.  

Step by step, it will happen.

Selling Up

Currently, we're in the midst of the Open Home Phase of our journey towards living on the road.

It’s been a busy time as we've searched for and ordered our new home—a Sunliner 5th wheeler—and arranged to put our current home on the market. If you’re wondering what on earth a 5th wheeler is, it’s a little bit like a caravan, except you don’t tow it from a tow bar. It connects to a hitch on the tray of a Ute. I’ll post some photos as soon as it I can—after it arrives in New Zealand around the end of March.

Decision-making was a bigger challenge than expected. Deciding what to store, what to sell, what to take, and what to toss. We purchased a container from Royal Wolf to use for our storage and had that delivered to my brother’s farm. Thanks, Grant and Pam! xx.

The next few weeks we packed, cleaned, ferried boxes to the container, planned a garage sale and easily filled a skip bin.

Our garage sale was an interesting experience. We were forewarned not to put the street number in the advert, or people would be knocking on your door before you even got out of bed! So we advertised an 8.00am start and got up at 6.00am. Dave put the signs out at 6.30am and the first person arrived ten minutes later. Twenty minutes before our advertised start time we had around 20 people sifting through sale items in our garage. Thanks to our good friends Wally and Denise who turned up really early to help out. I don’t know where we would have been without them. And Fiona, who arrived with Starbucks coffees for all at 9.30am. We have the BEST friends! By late morning it was all over and I was ready to go back to bed.

So now the house is on the market, and we are a wee bit exhausted. Grounds and house are looking better than they ever have. As we look around at the clipped hedges, manicured lawns (albeit veerrry dry), pristine pool and well-weeded gardens, Dave comments to me, “what are we going do with ourselves when we don’t have a section to look after?” Big smiles!

Open Homes on Saturday and Sunday for three weeks—such is the plan. What you forget to think about too much is that your home is open non-stop for the next three weeks. It must be kept immaculate at all times. Yes, the agent calls you to warn you someone would like to come through at a particular time, but it pays to be permanently ready. People need to see the property at a time that suits them. And we want to sell. So, one must be prepared. That is, bathroom towels folded just so and looking unused, everything dust-free, nothing unnecessary on any surfaces, carpet spotless, kitchen benches empty.

Auction date is 9 March. Thirteen sleeps….