Oh well, I seem to have done it again and missed out a Sunday post, sorry about that but then again I am not sure how many of you read this at the weekend. In fact I have now added some web tracking stuff to this site, so I should be able to see who reads it and how long they take. Daf's suggestion about the summary headlines has been implemented, so you will now find a quick glance Kiwi Kev update on the right hand section at the bottom.
So, what did I do on Sunday, and so far today on Monday? Read on if you are interested, but I can tell you now that no job offers have come up just yet, mmm, taken the wind out of that sail a little I guess!
Sunday, I awoke with a throat! Now, I am sure you will understand that I went to bed with one too, however the one I awoke with was different in many ways. Hot and burning would be a good description, so I will stick with that. Where has this come from? I have no idea, but I think I have been entertaining the virus since early last week, with recent events on the job front (or should that be non-events) causing the battle to tip in its favour, allowing some significant gains to be made in the tonsil area.
Sunday morning was also the time I had agreed to sign off the lease of the apartment, however the sands of time for the morning were now slipping away and I had still to get dressed. OK, 1200 was the meeting and it is now 1145 - I could not walk from here to there in 15 mins, in fact I am not sure anyone could run it in that time, maybe to the foot of the 1 in 1 incline from the parade up to the building, but definitely not up it!
So with 5 mins to spare I wandered into the lobby area of James Cook Hotel, this is a rather plush hotel opposite my apartment building. I have stayed there in the past and therefore knew about another feature of the hotel, namely a lift which takes you from up here to down onto Lambton Quay - the alternative being a set of steps a good 600 yards further away - so believe me I have been a regular visitor to James Cook recently! I guess with all the fuss over BMIs I should be using the steps, but I am still not eating properly anyway and therefore loosing weight in a more effortless way already.
However, today I just jumped into a taxi and requested he take me to Telford Terrace. It was a few minutes into this journey that I was reminded it was November. For you see I was squinting in the bright sunlight and admiring the relaxed dress style of the locals, when I saw a sign which said 'Road closed for Santa Parade' - yes today was the annual Christmas parade through Wellington and yes, my taxi ride cost an extra NZ$8 due to the detours set up! Bloody Christmas costing me money already I guess!
I arrived at the apartment a couple of minutes late and was greeted by Cate who was the agent letting the property. Cate is a lovely lady who I could best describe as a posh accented Kiwi...in other words she has the Kiwi propensity to reduce the length of vowels , however there is an English middle class tone there too. An interesting mix and one which matches her personality. I have never had a landlady before (other than my Mum) and therefore I am not sure what to expect, but so far so good.
We made our way into the building, through the various security features and into the lift. The apartment itself is a top floor penthouse style with a grand vista of Oriental Parade beaches, the marina beyond, and then the city and harbour area in the middle distance. Behind the city are the green rolling hills of the Rimutaka ranges - which I understand from Charlotte are great to walk over but also a bit of a bastard!
Looking around the apartment again I was a bit worried that the sun was only coming in through the sky lights - however Cate reassured me that come about 2pm the afternoon sun would stream through the wall of window on the west side, and the blinds and wooden shutters there suggested this as the case. I know that Caroline is keen to have an outside area for relaxing in, which this apartment offers with its balcony patio area, complete with gas BBQ and furniture.
In fact the whole apartment has all the furniture and fittings I could think of, including towels and bed clothes for the 3 beds, cutlery, tea pots and electronic entertainment such as DVD and TV's. I did not see an xbox there, but I would not be surprised if one was in a drawer somewhere.
Of course having so much furniture does give a problem with shipping our own stuff out from the UK, as in there will be no where to store or use it. However this has been resolved by a delay in the UK shipping due to needing to have residency prior to departure of the goods, otherwise a heavy GST (VAT) bill will be imposed. So this combined with the short lease period of 4 months, means I shall be without my DVDs for a bit longer yet.
I know my parents have been working like slaves to clear out my Coggeshall home, and apart from the attic and understairs cupboard, they have boxed everything for me already. They do like to call me on a Sunday (when it is cheaper) and go through 'the list', which is basically a series of questions along the lines of 'do you want such and such boxed?', or, 'did you want to keep x?' - the later is normally replied to be me with 'yes' and so far their answer has normally been 'oh well, we took it to Braintree tip earlier today' - You can see I enjoy these conversations, and in fact this Sunday's was overheard at my end by Charlotte, who afterwards pointed out there was maybe a lack of 'how are you' coming from me, and a bit too much of 'No! That is worth x' and 'What, why would I want that out here?'....mmm, so I sent a text a few hours later thanking them.
Getting back to the apartment and signing the lease, this all went well with no particular clause giving me concern. I was a bit worried that I could not knock down walls or drill holes in them, especially if we get re-runs of Location, Location, Location here and Caroline has a drop too much Lindaur...but I guess I can live with this until I get my own place.
I also noticed that Charlotte's place is just over the valley from here, and upon leaving I popped over to hers via a lovely wooded walkway. She was studying for an interview on Monday and I liked to think I helped with this....of course my throat had now become a bit of a cough and runny nose, so in reality I may have been more of a distraction. Still we both wandered back to my place afterwards to watch a film and have pizza - a lovely comforting thing to do when you are a bit under the weather, however the choice of film being 'Once were warriors' added a slightly different atmosphere in places. I am not sure if you have seen this film, or any of the other NZ based films around, so the next voting thing will be along film NZ lines.
Well that brings me to today, Monday, and my latest ever getting up...but I blame the cold. I have done a few domestic things today, such as sorting out electricity and phone contracts for the apartment, and booking a rental car to transfer my stuff between the two and collect Caroline (far cheaper than taxis and more flexible).
I have also taken a call from one of the ministries who is still awaiting references from Essex Probation (come on guys, it is not like my future happiness is in the balance here! ;) - but after pointing out my other interested parties, they were keen enough to offer me another informal meeting with the present post holder - so pending any increase in my cold - this will be tomorrow morning. Right, I think the maids are about to arrive, so I will close for today.