Our house

We're back!

Yes, the internet was elusive, but now we are in our new house, and feeling settled, as we have the ability to use the internet without using a cell phone network. I'll try to post a few quick things, so as to catch up a bit.

 Our new place is closer to the school and has an amazing view.

This is our street. It's a cul de sac. I recently learned that the psychiatrist in town, from Germany, lives across the street from us. I also got the skinny on the elderly woman who lives next door. My friend knows her daughter and our realtor is related to her somehow. Taupo is a small town.

Here's the house with our new car (we had to return the rental car.) I've been calling the car "Erkel." (see the license plate?) Nobody else in the family seems to have noticed how funny that is. I expect they'll catch on very soon.

Here's a little deck that will be so awesome if we ever get any outdoor furniture. And a grill. Tom's coworker has offered us a gas grill, but he warned us that it was "a bit dodgy." We might just do without a grill.

This is me, trying to clean the kitchen - note the large gap in the wall where there should be a refrigerator. This needed rectifying before we felt "settled." Luckily, we found a man in Taupo who raises hens and taught me that hens don't actually lay in the winter unless they are subjected to artificial light sources. He also repairs and sells used appliances. We took a fridge, washer and dryer off his hands - because our rental house doesn't include any of those things! I wish I had taken a photo of his hens. They had feathers down their legs. I couldn't take a photo of their eggs because there weren't any.

Here's Tom with our view of the big city lights of Taupo. Actually I kind of love our view. Here's one from the waning daylight hours: