Heaps new.

So we moved yesterday. I worked at the shop from 11-7pm, and when I walked out the door Tyson called my name from the window of a car I did not recognize. Sure enough our new roommate, Dave, was lovely enough to help us move and zip us around in his set of wheels. A Subaru, for which they pronounce SooBAHroo here.

Here is a view from the 12'x6' window in our living room and the scene of which I'm looking at now as I type. Our new neighborhood, Fernhill, is just outside the town center and about a 20 minutes walk. As we climbed the hill en route to our new house, I couldn't help but feel a pang of dejavu from my daily walk home up Capitol Hill in Seattle. Having the town so tangible I already felt a sense of independence and excitement for this next stage in our experience here. We have two roommates - Dave and Neil - both of which are absolutely lovely and warm.

We settled in and unpacked. I absolutely loath packing and unpacking and its been nice to have twice unpacked, each only requiring maybe twenty minutes of my time. Somewhat inspiring me to clean out my home in Seattle this summer.

Then we headed into town - on foot! - for some dinner and a celebratory drink. No joke, the entire walk down the hill is magnificent. The view! Mountains and Lake Wakatipu in sight each step of the way. Hard even to put into words the spectacular scenery of this place.


Today neither Tyson or I had to work and therefore we marked it as the day we would finally stock up on groceries. A bus connects our new home and the largest grocery store in the area. Worth the $10 fare for the much wider selection and lower prices than the grocery store in town. As we paced the isles I battled with whether or not to stock up on items like flour and vanilla having only two months left here. But after living with Caitlin and her amazing cookies, we bit the bullet. Two months or ten months, we're making cookies here in En Zed. And you forget what its like to start from scratch, having to buy everything from olive oil, salt, pepper to sugar and baking powder. Here is our bounty riding around on the bus packed away in two backpacks, a box and of course, a 12-pack of Speights Beer.

We even put down some roots and planted an herb garden. I guess the more times we make decisions like these, the more it feels like home here and not just a small step before we get to the next stage. Slows things down, maybe.

We are in week four and it really has been a turning point. We're both working, we've got a stocked pantry and we're settled in to a new home. Feels really good.