The blog you’ve been waiting for!

Where did January go? - No really…where?

The last few weeks have been fun. Filled with a crazy mixture of activities and wrangling life. 

But alas! We can now say that we have purchased a house!!! 

We do not yet have a firm closing date but it looks like sometime between March 4th and 15th. 

The house was originally built in 1928 but has had several renovations over the years including the second story added in 1987.  It is in Seatoun/ Miramar very close to where we had lived before. It is west facing so we will get afternoon Sun and beautiful sunsets. 

Just a few photos…we will share more as we move in and transform it into our home.

And…

I have accepted a job offer from PikPok. This is the video game company I worked for back in 2010-2011. I am excited to be working with some of the same great people that are still there. And will be working only 4 days a week😁 

I don’t start until the middle of March so we get to enjoy the next 5-6 weeks playing and taking advantage of summertime here. 

Eric continues to look for work and has applied to a few jobs. Still waiting to hear. It may also workout that he spends March - June painting the interior of the house. Financially it may be the better plan. lol. 

So in between the many phone calls, emails, forms, and documentation, we have been up to Auckland where we visited with friends, got to see the Weta Unleashed exhibit, and explored the first New Zealand Costco. 

 

This is only a small portion of what is the second largest mural in the country. Created by Weta artist and friend Greg Broadmore. (Feel free to google the largest mural. It is on Huia House in Grafton Auckland)

There is so much to see, with things tucked in every corner for you to discover.

Loved seeing our amazing Smaug construct. This is the actual piece Weta created and brought to San Diego Comic Con. Eric, Cassie, Chris and several other Weta artisans and techs assembled this multiple times at various conventions during the promotion of the Hobbit films.

And lots of interactive stuff and props that you can touch and handle.

This is our dear friend Cassie who also works at Weta and helped with the creating of this exhibit. She is a Jewelry maker, costumer and multi talented artist. Behind us is a great photo of another dear friend Chris Menges (sword smith) he can be seen throughout many of exhibits.

The entrance to Costco is unique whereby you collect your cart (trolly) and proceed down escalators to the entrance. 

The food was only slightly more expensive but still quite cheap, especially by  NZ standards. And as you can see quite busy. Yes we indulged in hotdogs. 

  

While the packaging is not the same, the product is identical to what we had in the states! We bought two bags! We also picked up a few other items, filling a suitcase to bring back to Wellington. This first Costco is a 9 hour drive away or a one hour flight. They are planning to open another location in Christchurch on the south island and another in Wellington... eventually, we hope in the next year or two. I was sad that they are not carrying Triscuits! We will have to source them from another US store at a premium price. About $7.50 per box - ouch!

Back in Wellington, we also checked out the Marvel “Earth’s Mightiest Exhibition” at the new convention center - Takina, took advantage of the last of the end of year/new year sales and bought a refrigerator and washer and dryer (being held until they can be delivered) and still managed to continue to take more amazing walks along the water.

 

Our friends at Scale Studio created the giant Mjolnir hammer down by the waterfront. The hammer also lights up at night. We are looking forward to going back at night to get some more fun photos.

It was a fun exhibit but not quite structured for young kids as there was lots of reading and focused on a lot of history about the of comic book industry. Could have used more interactive activities for the kids.

We will leave you with all that good news and follow up with more in a few weeks. We are taking a breather…😁