Darin and I are house shopping. We've given up on finding any land within commute distance of Auckland downtown- it is just too much money. We are looking for something with a yard, with some privacy, and a kitchen we can work in. Most of the houses here have little insulation, no central air/heating, no screens on the windows, tiny sinks, and tiny yards. So, we've been looking out west, near Barb and Eric's home (where we are currently living), where it's quiet. There are plenty of bush (forest) walks nearby, and great views from the hills. The west coast/Tasman sea beaches are about 30 min away, along twisty forest roads. We went to Piha (photo) on Sunday, and it reminded me quite a lot of Oregon. This is a good thing. To get to the west coast beaches there is no highway along the coast. It is a destination, not a throughfare.
So we'll have to put off our desire to have land for a while longer. With a house out west of Auckland, in the Waitakeres, we can keep chickens at least. And if we are careful with our money, we'll save up to buy land to move to later, or build a "bach" (pronounced "batch", a small vacation home). A second property is tax-decuctable, so in our interest to buy. The commute into the city will be about an hour, but there's a train nearby. Plus, if we buy something near Barb and Eric, we can still carpool into the city.
This past weekend Guy Faukes day was celebrated with fireworks displays. It's like 4th of July only the weather was quite cool. It was a really good show. You could buy fireworks for home displays but only the week prior to the day, but the government is changing it due to the high number of accidents/stupidity with fireworks.
By the way- least corrupt government in the world is New Zealand and Iceland. Yay!
