home is where you are.

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It's official, we have a home! Er, well, we will have one come next Wednesday. Alice, the woman in charge of helping new arrivals find a home, found us the perfect place on her first try. Our new flat is so close to work that Seth can easily walk home for lunch if he'd like. If you head in the opposite direction from the Record Pres, you will quickly reach the library, cinema, and grocery store. The flat is the biggest either of us have ever had, it has two bedrooms, an office, a bathroom, complete with shower, tub, sink, and washer, and a toilet room, complete with a toilet and sink.

What really sweetens the deal though is the patio and the garden. Not only will we have green space, there is both a lemon and apple tree on premises. If this isn't paradise, I don't know what is.

Some interesting items of note:
  • Unlike in the States where you pay a security deposit which your landlord is then free to spend and dispute once you vacate the premises, here in New Zealand you provide a bond. The bond is sent to the Department of Building and Housing and when it comes time to move the money will come back to you as long as you have left the property without damage or it can be transferred to your new place. In the event you have a dispute with your landlord over any damages you are being blamed for, you can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal who will provide a mediator to help you sort it out.
  • There is also a Residential Tenancies Act which protects both the landlord and the tenant. Much of what is usually covered in a rental agreement isn't even mentioned here because it is simply the law. We were given a book on the Residential Tenancies Act and we filled out a one page paper with our details, our landlord details, the cost of rent, and the date our lease begins and ends. That's it!
  • New Zealand is a pioneer.  We have been told that they haven't had checks here for years and have been using online banking for even longer. If you want to exchange money with someone that doesn't have an EFTPOS machine, you simply transfer the money directly into their bank account. If you share the same bank it will happen that day, if your banks differ it could take up to two days.
  • Rent is payable every week. I don't know exactly why it's like this, but pay is also every week so it's hardly an issue.
  • This city is incredibly green! Everywhere we go, businesses, restaurants, houses, have the newer toilets that allow you to select between water-waste and solid-waste in order to save water. The hotel has two bins, one for rubbish and the other for recyclable materials, and our flat has a clothesline and a compost heap. After living here for a year the US is going to seem downright archaic.


Did you know? Eggs don't have to be kept in the fridge. They don't even keep them in a cooler in the grocery store here.

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