Finding Home: Part 2

We have gone from damp and chilly, to sunny and steaming hot today. Seeing the sun for the first time for six days was an absolute delight. And I was so excited to glimpse blue sky this morning that I took a photo (extra).

I thought I'd be weeding now, but it is actually too hot (26C) so I am about to relax with a cold non-alcoholic beer.


And here for those of you who are interested, is Finding Home: Part 2
(Part 1 is here.)


Having found a base in Kakanui from which to start searching for a forever home I didn’t actually do much at first. I wanted to learn what it was like to live here, as opposed to being a holiday-maker.
 
It was winter; which is perhaps the perfect time of year to live in a new area. You certainly experience some of the worst conditions you’re likely to encounter in a future life. I did plenty of exploring, I got to know the area and the people, the best cafes and the various amenities.
 
My dream, when I first arrived in North Otago was to find half an acre or so of land, with the potential for a small cottage, close to the sea where I could watch the ocean when I wasn’t in the garden. I also had a bit of a hankering to build my own house.
 
It didn’t take long for some of that to be re-shaped. Living next to the sea comes with a hefty price tag. And although I had enough money for something, it wasn’t enough for a sea view. Also living on the coast comes with a cool onshore breeze at all times of the year, laden with salt which isn’t conducive to the kind of extensive food production I was planning.
 
I also researched self-building extensively and realised that it was definitely not for me: too many decisions and too much responsibility for me alone. If my Pirate was here I’m quite sure we would have built somewhere, but it was no-go on my own.
 
Initially I was very relaxed about looking around the place for somewhere to buy. As spring arrived I started looking at properties and their locations. I viewed 15 to 20 places in total.
 
I put offers in on two: both were doer-uppers, in villages and on half an acre of land. Neither of them were perfect and I put in low offers to reflect how much work I would need to do. I wasn’t heartbroken when my offers were rejected.
 
But by the time summer arrived was starting to get anxious about my dwindling ‘rental fund’. Would I ever find a place which felt right? Was it all a pipe dream?
 
At this point brother and s-i-l #1 arrived for a visit. So I had a rest from house-hunting in favour of relaxing and enjoying their company.
 
On their last day with me s-i-l was browsing the local paper and pointed to a listing in the property pages, saying ‘What about this one? It looks right up your street! And it’s at the right price!’
 
It was an acre of land, mostly in paddocks and lawns, with an orchard, cabins, a big water tank, and three long raised beds. And it was in Ngapara.
 
I had rejected Ngapara a few months earlier on the recommendation of a friendly local policeman. There had been a serious theft and drug problem in the village thanks to a couple of criminal households. The police were out there every week for one reason or another.
 
However I was interested enough in this new property to chat with my policeman again. He told me that the two miscreant households had upped sticks to another settlement 60km away. And that the properties they had been living in had been bought by another villager and demolished. He hadn’t been called out to Ngapara since they had left.
 
I decided to take a look at the intriguing acre and arranged to meet the real estate agent at the gate a couple of days later.
 
As soon as I got out of the car I knew it was where I wanted to be. Tears flowed as I stood in the drive and looked about.
 
The bones of the property were in place and the potential was evident. I could achieve my dream here.
 
I phoned my FFL and like the man he is he came straight down from Christchurch to visit the property with me the next day. I needed reassurance. Could it really be true that I could achieve my long-held dream to cultivate all my fruit and veg, plant native trees, live a properly simple life?
 
We talked and talked. And …
 
… long story short: I bought the place.
 
Then the hard work began.