Tuesday 18th January

It’s finally all coming together, my final offer on the house has been accepted, all the compliance certificates are signed off, the building permits etc have all been found, and I’ve sent off the 10% deposit. Settlement is now the 28th February, due to the 4 weeks we lost over Christmas and while they were trying to find all the Building Permits.

Damian Tarsha and family are home, I had dinner there Saturday night, with a few fireworks let off to celebrate Damians birthday, a few weeks late, but better than never. The rest we have kept for a date in May, I can’t say for why yet, as there are still some family members to tell, but it’s something we’ve been waiting to happen for a long time.

We’ve got the remains of a tropical cyclone hitting Auckland today, 60 – 70 knot winds at the moment, with gusts expected up to 120 knots. The kite surfers are out on St Heliers Beach at the moment, having a great time by the look of it.

I’m slowly getting everything collected from storage, and sorted out and repacked, I’ll need a removal firm for a fair bit though, Rose is giving me the old rose wood and cane 3 seater couch from Otahuhu, the 2 seater that has been around for 30 years so far, my brass bedstead and frame, bookshelves, plus all the cartons of stuff I’ve accumulated that won’t fit into the Pajero. I’ll take what I need to cope with in the Pajero, till it arrives whenever.

I heard from Steve finally, he chased up where my stuff was in Honiara, it hadn’t left until yesterday, after 3 months. I know that sounds like a long time to get things sorted, but after living there, I’m more surprised it was still there and hadn’t been stolen. Anyway, it is meant to be here today, and I should be able to collect it all maybe Friday after customs have cleared it.