Wellington: Our New Home

We’ve been in Wellington for two months now, and it’s starting to feel like home. After three weeks in Tawa, we moved to an Airbnb in Petone. It was good to see another suburb, and good to have a break from Tawa’s hills! The day after we moved to Petone, I attended a job interview in the city. It went pretty well, and although a couple of nervous weeks passed before I knew the outcome, I’ve since accepted a job offer there. 

While I was looking for a job, Fionnuala turned her attention to flat hunting. The second viewing I attended was an upstairs flat in Oriental Parade. The location was perfect, the price was within budget and the flat itself was… utterly bizarre. Every room had been whitewashed in a haphazard manner, and the kitchen looked much like the dish-washing area of a poorly equipped campsite. The property included a doorway without a door plus a door with no handle, painted shut, and not to be used as a door at all. I seem to have removed the bathroom from my memory, and probably for a good reason. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t apply to rent the flat in Oriental Parade.

The first flat viewing I attended was an upstairs flat in Brooklyn. It looked good from the outside, and after about five minutes inside, I could see myself living there. Fionnuala didn’t have to say anything for me to know she felt the same way. The letting agent informed us that there had been around thirty tenancy applications, but all had been rejected due to the prospective tenants being too young, likely to party and make excessive noise. He also told us that, should we apply, our application would definitely be accepted. I felt old, but happy. Our application was accepted, and we’ve been living here for about a month.

After a couple of weeks living in Brooklyn, Fionnuala’s work visa was granted. Her first day was a Monday, and went really well. We ate dinner at a restaurant in town that night, and Fionnuala looked as if she would fall asleep in her food. Thankfully, she didn’t. Fionnuala has worked quite a bit since then, and I’ve spent much of my time thinking “what if my work visa is never granted?”, “what if my job offer is retracted?” and “what if I’m a criminal but nobody told me?”. But after three weeks of mentally torturing myself, this week, my work visa was granted and I start work next Tuesday.

One of my favourite things about Brooklyn is its close proximity to a number of running trails. Just a mile behind our flat is the Brooklyn Wind Turbine, which is on a path leading up to Hawkins Hill Radar Station. From there, there are loads of trails heading out to the sea and over many many hills. The views are spectacular and it’s hard to believe it’s just a few miles from the centre of the city. Fionnuala’s favourite nearby ‘attraction’ seems to be Woofington’s Luxury Dog Stay, a mock castle with a cannon outside, used as a dog kennel. Located on a hill not far from the radar station, there are no neighbours around to complain about the noise.

The last seven months have been incredible. We’ve seen so much on our journey that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. Moving to Wellington, though, was the objective of our trip, and now is just the beginning. We have a lot to do in the coming weeks and months, including buying furniture and a car, settling into our jobs and getting to know our colleagues, as well as creating new social lives. We don’t plan to blog about our daily lives here in Wellington, but we will share a few words from time to time about our future adventures. 

Thanks a lot for all the ‘likes’ and comments over the last few months. We’ve really enjoyed sharing our adventure.

G & F