As I mentioned in my previous post, we have moved into a new house. We are very thankful to have found it, as it is very hard in Karori (and Wellington, and the whole country, really) to find warm, well-insulated houses. The climate here is much more mild than many places, but it gets plenty cold enough in winter to want good insulation and adequate heating systems. Unfortunately, the designs of many of the houses, especially rentals, do not reflect this, and we have spent a lot of time being cold in winter, even inside our own house. Uncomfortable as this is, the bigger problem is that uninsulated, cold houses are usually also damp houses, and this results in mould. Lots of it. As you can imagine, breathing cold, damp, mouldy air in your home does not support good health. It is a major public health concern in NZ, and something Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her government are working to improve. In fact, new regulations for insulation in rental properties will come into effect in 2019, which will be great. In the meantime (and knowing that even with improved insulation our old house would have problems), we have found a warm, insulated house with central heating (a rarity in NZ), and we are very happy with it. We moved in just in time for warm spring weather, so it was hard to notice the difference at first, but the last couple days have brought a cold snap, and we were delighted to discover that we noticed it was cold when we went outside, not when we got out from under the covers. Joy of joys!
Anyway, the house is better in many ways, and I'll show them to you.
This is the house from the driveway. I have always liked brick houses.
This is the view from just outside the front door. The mountains in the distance are actually on the other side of Wellington Harbour, and are called the Rimutaka Range. Of course it's hard to tell in the picture, but they're striking in person.
Also, notice that across the street is a green hill, which is very nice and makes you feel less like you're in a city.
This is that same view the other morning at sunrise. You can only get this view from the spare room inside, which is a pity, but it is pretty amazing.
This is a panorama of the back yard. It makes the deck look funny, but it captures the layout well. Our old backyard was pretty, but too steep to be very functional, so this will be greatly appreciated. I'll miss the stunning views from the deck, but the upside is that if I keep moving my chairs around, I can sit in the sun almost all day (this picture was taken in late afternoon). And the Guinea pigs will have lots of places for good grass to eat.
Just for contrast, this is earlier in the afternoon - I love the sun!
That's our garage in the corner. It is nice to have the car out of the elements, and have a easy place to store my bicycle.
This is around the other side of the house - good clothesline and a random little shed that I'm sure we can turn into something fun.
Moving inside, this is the spare bedroom. We haven't had an official spare bedroom in a long time, and never one this nice, so I'm excited.
If you come to visit, you can enjoy the beautiful views out your window. We do have a double blow-up mattress in addition to the single bed.
We now have a much larger, nicer bathroom. Also, a warmer bathroom is perhaps the best part of all, as I hated taking showers in a freezing cold room!
This is our bedroom. I am not a fan of the pink walls, but otherwise it is nice, and it's got two large closets, which is great. There is actually wonderful storage throughout the house.
This is one side of the lounge...
... and this is the other. I love the walls of windows and the glorious amount of sun that comes through! We've left that sunniest spot clear and it's where J and I do our exercises.
This is the kitchen...
... and the dining nook. It will be a tight fit when we have dinner guests, but it's comfortable for J and I, and we'll make do.
Behind those white doors are the washer and dryer and a laundry sink.
We also have a nice office room for J, but it's not set up yet (as his timeline for such things is different than mine) so if I think of it, I'll post a picture when he's arranged it how he likes it. So that's the house. We are thrilled with it. There is a downside, however, and that's the location. Well, downside might be an overstatement. There are positives and negatives. It is a 30 second walk from a bus stop, but that bus only runs limited times, and if you miss it, it's a 20 minute walk to the next closest stop (and very much uphill on the way home). It is technically closer to my work on my bike than our last house, but at a higher elevation, so more hills (remembering that my entire bike ride home is up serious hills). It's a similar drive to the grocery store, work, etc. So definite pros and cons.
Okay, so here's the real issue. The first time I rode home, I saw the the reason it was 5.9km (3.7mi) to bike instead of 6.7km (4.2mi) to drive is because there was a shortcut. How fun! Well... maybe not.
Here is what happens about halfway through the shortcut. Oops. Maybe I can push my bike up the side. No, too steep. Okay, I'll carry it - it's not that many stairs.
Oh, there are more stairs around the corner, and then a switchback of more stairs. Well, I've come this far.
Oh joy, more stairs! But I can make it, I'm almost there.
No, still one more set. But look at the heavenly light at the top!
Just to be clear, that was a total of 72 stairs. Big ones. With my bike and all my work stuff on it. Fortunately, I am a beast, and I did it. And have done it almost every day since, in both directions, because I am NOT biking a kilometer extra just to avoid some stairs. I have to carry my bike exclusively with my right arm, because my left rotator cuff is still very upset, but that just makes it all the more exhilarating when I get to the top. At least that's the theory. Sometimes the exhilaration feels more like fury and/or desperation, but I make it, and I'm going to be stronger for it.
One day more recently, I was at my friends' house who live on the other side of us in Karori, so I approached the hills from the other direction. Again, I was happy to find a shortcut, and again, it turned out to be stairs. I had actually walked up them once before, and thought they wouldn't be a problem, as I was now used to the 72 on the other side. Little did I know, there were ONE HUNDRED AND TWO of them! But I made it, and felt like a hero (albeit an exhausted, sweaty one) at the top.
So while I am being fairly successful at considering this a fitness challenge, I will admit that a house that is closer to work and/or in a flatter area would not have been unwelcome.
To end on a positive note, however, our friend Christophe showed me that right behind the charming little playground that is only three houses down from us (and is a nice perk itself) there is an entrance to a beautiful hilltop walking/biking trail. J and I explored a bit of it the other evening, and it is stunning.
I associate these colours with autumn, but these are spring blooms.
This is a different angle of the same views we could see when we went walking up in Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park next to our old house. I don't think this path is actually part of that park, but it's all connected.
It's less impressive in the picture, of course, but the pinkish hills you can see behind the dark ones are actually the South Island! I think that's pretty neat.
So that's the scoop on our new house. Nothing is perfect, of course, but we feel privileged to live here, and are delighting each day in the comforts of a warm, cozy, beautiful home.
