Day Two

The view we get from our rental house of the Otago peninsula.

The playhouse in the backyard.

One of the steep streets we walked on.

Rugby Boy

The Railway Station

After a full night's sleep (so nice not to sleep in a small plane seat!), I awoke to see the sun rising over the Otago Peninsula. Ah... that is why we are here, I thought.

We had a day of house-hunting. The children were forewarned about this weeks ago that they would have to be patient with us, and that they will have to help us choose a good house, a good car, etc etc.

"That sounds like fun!" declared Claire-Bear.

Not so sure how fun it was for her to walk up and down some rather steep hills around here. We all had important things that the perfect house requires in our minds. Ideally, it needs to be close to their new school, and biking-distance to the university where Jim will work. I also would like some gardening space, a yard for the kids to play in, and a nice kitchen to cook in. After three houses, I think we actually found it! More on that when we are 100% sure that we will get to live there.

In between houses, we managed to get to the farmer's market at the railway station. By this time, the weather had turned from a warm sunny morning, to a windy, cold, overcast day. Very typical of Dunedin, we are told.

We also checked out Moana Pool, which turned out to be much more than a pool! Imagine a huge indoor water heaven: kids' pools, slides, lap-swim, spa pool, cafe, a work-out gym...all under one (large) roof! We are planning to spend our morning there tomorrow!

There was of course play time. There is an endless number of playgrounds and parks and green spaces here. Momo was treated to a new rugby ball today, and the boy is already a natural Rugby player. Should I be scared?

(As an aside, I have to say that I have been very thankful and proud of my husband's ability to maneuver the little car that came with our rental house. It's a manual, and of course, the wheel is on the other side. And he has to drive on the other side of the street. I sit next to him as the navigator who has never been here either. So far, we have made some mistakes, but we have managed pretty well).

We have been here less than 24 hours, and slowly, it is feeling like home... We are already bumping into people we met yesterday (yesterday!!! Did we really just get here yesterday?). And they actually remembered our names!