On The Road Again
Statistics show that New Zealanders are one of the more transient populations on earth. We travel overseas a lot, and we move within our beautiful country quite a bit too.
With a young family however, it can be quite an upheaval. Steve Wallace writes about the decision to move (even further) south.
Our family lived in Christchurch five and a half years ago, then moved to Queenstown for employment opportunities.
Then we found our way back to Christchurch in January 2004, and once again we are looking at moving back to Queenstown for various reasons. So the decision was made (on Wednesday 25 May 2005), and the moving date was scheduled for approximately six weeks after that.
The arguments for and against were battled out quite peacefully. It was a relatively non-bruising encounter and the absolute final decision was made.
We’re moving the family back to Queenstown, the tourist playground in the south.
My wife and I came to our decision very quickly, but what was it that drove us to the decision to move further south in the middle of winter? Was it the extended time my wife had off work; that time to reflect?
Maybe it was the comment my mother made as we were passing through on holiday.
“We haven’t seen the grandchildren for over a year” (our youngest, Phoebe, will be two soon, and our eldest, Sydney, turned seven at the beginning of the year). We gave ourselves six weeks for the transfer to ease Sydney back to school for the new term.
Looking around our rental house in Christchurch, the first thought was “let’s tidy up the grounds”. So on the first fine day, out came the lawnmower. It didn’t matter that the lawns were still slightly damp, they needed cutting! That job done (for another six weeks), it was time to tackle those weeds that had been disturbing the garden.
Another job down, and a quick tidy up of the compost, and hopefully that will do. Don’t you accumulate a lot of “stuff” in 18 months? The time had come though, and we had decided that materialism was not going to be an issue, so we were quite ruthless. So out came the “buy and sell”. I looked at what we were getting rid of, then scanned the paper to see what items were selling for. I then started to create some advertisements using terms like “got to go” and “reluctant sale”.
Hopefully it will prompt the minds of bargain hunters. After all, everything has a price. The phone was still quiet late on Friday afternoon, but after all, it was only the first day of the first week.
Tuesday 31stMay 2005
A week has gone by now and everyone now knows that we are going. Since we last communicated I have been busy organising quotes to move our possessions down to Queenstown, and told the teachers at school to find out what needs to be done there.
I have told the people at work and have been busy on the phone and email arranging jobs for Queenstown and somewhere to live. The tidy up has started in earnest.
Wednesday 1st June 2005
It’s now been a month since we last communicated and a lot has happened. Let’s start with finding a job suitable for a family. There are loads of jobs in Queenstown, but if you are going to raise a family with a bit of money to spare, you need respectable employment.
After applying for “respectable” jobs I had bad news twice within a half hour yesterday. The two jobs I had applied for, I was unsuccessful in both. But let’s not dwell too much on that. I’ve heard it said that as soon as you get down to Queenstown you will find a good job within days.
I still have my name out and about with every human resource manager in every Queenstown hotel, so something will come up.
Now to the issue of housing.
To find suitable housing in Queenstown you have to follow this procedure –
Find a suitable home at one of the property rental viewing board (or website) View the house from the outside
Arrange an internal viewing
Fill out an application form (with references)
Wait for a reply (usually within 24 hours)
That’s all very well if you are already in Queenstown, but obviously we are not.
With the quotes for moving our furniture down to Queenstown ranging from $1500.00 to $2400.00, I decided to hire a truck and do it myself.
This actually saved me $700.00 from the cheapest quote. So a heavy traffic license, and a bit of hard work (and a good mate), we went down to Queenstown on the Saturday and drove back on the Sunday. I had arranged furniture to go into storage, as we still did not have any accommodation.
We received a phone call today from a friend in Queenstown, offering me a job “to get me started till something better comes along” if I wanted it. It was labouring for a building firm, so thinking the job would be a good start I said ‘yes’. After 18 years in hotels, stepping outside to do physical work would be totally different. Labouring in Queenstown in the middle of winter… well ask yourself!
Sunday 3rd July 2005
The day before moving day, a lot has happened. I have returned from Queenstown, where the furniture went into storage. The dog has been in the kennels for the weekend while we packed, and we have had to arrange Sydney (our oldest) to stay at a friends house, so she can finish the last week of the term.
We also arranged Phoebe (our youngest) to go to her Nana’s in Invercargill (along with the dog) until we find somewhere to live. We had the use of a friend’s house while they were on holiday, which was a blessing, as we were still looking for accomodation. For our final night in Christchurch, we are staying at the hotel where Marama works. Tomorrow is an early start.
Monday 4th July
It’s an unbelievable 3-30am Monday morning. I had arranged to pick up the dog at 4-15am as the person looking after the kennels started work at 5am. Sydney is at our friend’s house and Phoebe is being woken up and dressed.
I am busy packing up the truck as it is nearing 4am. I’m getting ready to go. With the long drive ahead, we are finally on our way. Did I tell you that I start work at 8am tomorrow?! With the dog and child safely on board, we head to Queenstown via Invercargill!
Well what a day 7pm we finally arrive in Queenstown. We head to our friends house to get a brief of where I am suppose to be at 8am tomorrow. We have a bit to eat and head off to find our temporary home.
Tuesday 5th July 2005
With Marama not having employment yet, she is going to be busy finding somewhere permanent to live. I make my lunch (something I have not done for 18 years!), and head off to work. After a hard days work I head home to relax.
It’s “Mardi Gras” night in town, so with no children, we head out for the street entertainment. After the last few frantic weeks, we have decided to relax for a couple of days, to catch our breath and take in festival week.
After a few days off we get back into it and start looking for somewhere to live. Marama has looked at a few houses.
A couple of them only took a minute to see, as they were not very habitable for a family.
Finally after about 10 days or so, we found one place comfortable enough, and able to have the dog, so we decide to take it. We went into the accommodation centre on the Friday lunchtime, and hand over just a little over $200.00 in bond, rent and fees, and pick up the keys.
3pm Friday 22nd July 2005
I finish work early, as we now have the keys, so I can start moving in boxes (about 40 odd banana boxes to be precise). The front room fills quickly and, as it’s nearing 7pm, it’s time to rest for the day.
Saturday 23rd July 2005
It is going to be a busy day today. We finish unpacking, then head to Invercargill to pick up children and the dog (late last week Sydney flew to Invercargill to join her sister). I think they will be keen to see us. At about 4pm we thought we’d better get going, as I did say I would be there at 5pm.
A two-hour trip cannot be done in one can it?
Monday 25th July 2005
It’s the first day of a new term, and Sydney is keen to see here old friends again. I have settled into my work routine well, and I am enjoying it. Marama is also working, part-time during school hours, so she is now the one taking care of the children, and I am working fulltime.
This is certainly a change from previous years.
So there it is. From our first decision to move (25th May 2005), to the day we finally got settled in (25th July 2005), it has been a very hectic two months. Next time (if there is one), I think I will take more time to think about it all, before we move the family around the countryside.
