Tag Archives: changes

Escape from Auckland!

We finally managed to complete the move out last weekend! I don’t know how we managed to collect so much stuff in just 11 months, but we managed to fill my Starlet and an entire van with all Lisa’s stuff…

Broken down the office, next few weeks is living on the laptop only.

When boxing up all my stuff I realized that most of this is going into storage or being sold, very little that I’ll actually be taking with me to AU.

Most important part of the flat ;-) Sadly this will be staying in NZ rather than coming with us due to the size of it :-(

Books add so much weight. :-( There’s not a lot that I want to take – going to look at getting something like a Kindle for future books, but at the same time, there are things like code references or coffee tables books I really want to take. :-(

Sitting inside on outdoor furniture is all class. ;-)

It’s Mac World! They managed to escape my presence without getting Linux installed on them…. this time. ;-)

This is about half the stuff loaded into the van…

Had a pretty good drive down to Wellington, but of course it now means that I have to go through all my stuff and finish selling off things on Trademe, I don’t really want to end up storing lots of stuff at my parents place, particularly since any computer equipment would be obsoleted within a few years.

Also selling off my trusty Toyota Starlet and pretty much anything computer related that isn’t my laptop or my server, so keep watching my TradeMe listings over the next couple of weeks.

Next stop: Melbourne! I’m flying over on the 15th of September with the aim of lining up some work, with Lisa following me over as soon as I get something signed and a flat sorted.

OMG Auckland

5 Replies

Goodbye Wellington (pic of my plane by @scottjpalmer at Wellington Airport)

So I’m now offically an Aucklander, after my trip down to Kiwicon, I can’t deny it any more – I’ve moved in, my server is back online and I’m slowly setting into regular patterns of work/social life with Lisa.

It’s been pretty weird so far, having days that are up (yay, omg new city, new exploring, new friends) and days that are down where I miss some of my great Wellington friends, family and reminiscing on past experiences.

I grew up in Wellington and whilst somewhat well traveled (in the AU/NZ region anyway) this is the first time I’ve actually truly lived away from home and it’s a big change – from living in the city where I know every other street, had visited friends/hookups in every other suburb, started a business, met some amazing people, obtained nemisies, to living in a strange city which I’m unsure about whether or not I’ll like.

To be fair to Auckland, most of my past experiences have been as a visitor here for business, so trips have basicly involved Airport – Traffic – Office – Traffic – Airport which isn’t really giving the city fair trial, so I’m prepared to go into this with an open mind, to look at what’s good in Auckland rather than focusing on the bad and to get out there to meet new people and do new things.

I’ll be in Auckland for certain until late June 2012, when Lisa and I will then be re-evaluating what we want to do – I’m still very strong on doing a number of years overseas, it’s more a case of deciding when the best time to do it is. And I expect to return to NZ eventually, particularly if I do decide to raise a family long term, I think I’d want to do that in Wellington.

Going to miss my family in particular – not being able to pop over whenever I feel like to chat and hang with my brother is certainly a downside to the move.

And I’ll also miss my very good friend Tom, who has been my long suffering flatmate, for a while employee and most importantly friend. Considering we’ve probably been flatting together for the past 4+ years, it’s kind of like leaving a partner or brother. :-/

It’s also a time of great change as I close a chapter on my single years – I now have a flat with just Lisa and I – no longer firing objects or having sword fights in a kitchen with rackmount servers all over the floor with my friends; dragging some random people home; heading to strange addresses late at night to meet snuggle buddies; collecting blade servers from weird places to setup in my startup company office and heaving it through the office alone or boozy twitter sessions in Wellington’s great bars.

Wellington is both full of great and bad memories… I love it more than anything and will be back, but in a way, it’s nice having this chapter away from it for a while.

Right now, starting a new chapter in life with Lisa <3 And it’s scary, but it’s good. :-)

Pretty Wellington (from #geekflat apartment I lived in for the past ~3 years)

Packing Nightmare.... I found I have 3 car loads of stuff and only had one car :-/

Found my first Linux whilst tidying up :-D

Squeezing everything into the boot of my car before driving up to Auckland. Managed to fit my big server in underneath everything and used clothes in all the odd gaps... even stuff under passenger seat. I need a bigger car. :-/

Goodbye curry with @thatjohn (John) and @macropiper (long suffering Tom)

Final night in Wellington, the fireworks farewell was a nice touch ;-)

Server online at new apartment. Pretty much #1 priority. Far cry from the days of the twin 42U racks tho!

Slowly morphing into an Aucklander

2 Replies

October is shaping up to be a pretty insanely busy month, I haven’t even had the time to update my blog for a while or finish some of the project I’ve been hacking away at. :-(

This month is pretty much non-stop travel around both NZ and AU – I have 5 days over in AU in Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as a number of flights to and from Auckland for work projects as well as the impending move up to be with Lisa.

Infact, based on hours spent in different cities this month, I’m going to be around 30% Wellingtonian, 20% Australian and 50% Aucklander…. before becoming an official Aucklander from the 30th of October.

Whilst it’s pretty hectic, it is somewhat good timing. Work is flying me to Auckland a bit for an important project that’s underway, so far I’ve already spent an entire week in Auckland, and likely to spend another week or maybe more up there whilst Lisa and I hunt for a flat – plus it means Lisa and I don’t have too many huge gaps without seeing each other.

(I’ve literally just landed in Wellington and expect to spend (at most) two nights in my own bed before flying back out).

We haven’t confirmed a flat yet – really not a fan of flat hunting, always so many different flats to sort through until you find something that isn’t entirely disappointing, and then there’s all the fun of working with agents and owners to actually get an application in and approved.

The fact that NZ rental stock is utterly crap also doesn’t help towards this goal – far too many hours lack any insulation, have kitchens or bathrooms last renovated in the 70s, are way over priced and have horrendous terms like 12 months fixed term, renewing in blocks of 12 only.

We’ve submitted an application for one place, which the agents appear happy with, but haven’t had final confirmation yet, so there’s a bit of limbo currently – hopefully we get it, as it does look like an ideal place for us and they can do an 8month contract with flexible renewal.

I think Lisa and I have pretty much settled on the shore now, looking at places around Takapuna – there’s a good selection of food and other shops, good transport to town if needed, and we can actually afford enough space to live out there, unlike in the city with tiny apartments.

I’ll be back up next week, so I’m sure further updates will follow by the end of that week. :-)