Normality

Leaving Te Puke with our middle fingers high in the air we set off back down South to Wellington to follow our initial plan (remind us - we should always stick to our plans). 

Arriving, we set up camp in a place called Porirua, about 26kms North of the city and this is where, despite continuing to live in the back of the van, often in the wind and rain, on a wet field, next to a donkey and two shetland ponies, life started to become normal again. 

We set to work looking for jobs and within a few days Chad was shrink wrapping buildings (yes, this is a real thing) and practically leading his own team and I had secured a job working in a shop selling all sorts of things for the kitchen - pots, pans, bean slicers, you know, the usual. 

As regulars on the site, and in the camp kitchen, we started to make some friends; the two German Daniels both perfectly blonde and blue eyed, both unemployed and both living in their tents with a rifle and plans to hunt Possum; Silke another German travelling alone, eager to chat to everyone and make new friends; Donald the token mad-haired permanent camp resident who was almost always situated in the communal kitchen, parked in front of the TV, silent in concentration with the remote in his pocket; David, the suspected compulsive liar who claimed that at one time in his life he had worked at every job possible, airline pilot, sailor, health assistant, chemist. He'd also lived in every country under the sun for years at a time, despite the fact he was not a vampire and cannot possibly have lived long enough. He would drink a lot of red wine and say "fuck man" a lot. It was his standard reaction to anything. "I just bought a load of bread" "FUCK MAN" - that kind of thing; And finally, some normal folk, the two red headed beauties, Graham and Rachael. It was a relief to hear their British accents and we started chatting straight away. 

They were from the UK, mid-adventure, travelling here, there and everywhere, planning to stay in Wellington for a couple of months. They'd been WWOOFING, camping and now were hoping for a bit of house-sitting to tide them over. I wasn't aware that this was a done thing but apparently you sign up online, create yourself an appealing profile and if someone is going away for a while and doesn't like the thought of leaving their home empty, or have pets in need of looking after, they'll have a nose through the site and pick out someone to stay in their home FOR FREE! 

Now what happened next was either a very strange coincidence or a crazy synchronicity but either way, mid conversation Graham received a telephone call from a lady who'd stumbled upon their house sitting profile and wondered if they could help. 

Sue was recently separated from her unfaithful husband, raw and exhausted, she hoped to go away and spend a good few months in India and hopefully join a yoga retreat. She needed house sitters to care for her two dogs and two guinea pigs and hoped that Graham and Rachael would be the ones for the job. 

Unfortunately, they'd already booked their ferry to the South Island and would be leaving on the 2nd January - Sue needed folks until mid February at least. Thinking on his feet, Graham quickly suggested that Chad and I get in on the action and proposed that the four of us move in until they moved on, at which time Chad and I would take over alone for the remaining few weeks. 

In all honesty, we weren't expecting a positive response, who in their right mind would allow a group of (relatively) young travellers to move into their home without any supervision?! However, lucky for us, Sue wasn't in her right mind having been the recent victim of being ditched for a younger woman, and so she thought it was a great idea!

A few days later, off we trotted to meet Sue and perhaps see the place we would be moving to. 

The house was amazing, beautifully decorated, classic wooden floor, open fire places, vintage furniture, eccentric artwork, an almost library and two adorable dogs, albeit with questionable names, Pumpkin and Puppy. It was literally across the road from Wellington Zoo and you could apparently hear the monkeys wake each morning.

Sue herself seemed lovely, scatty and mad as a box of frogs, but clearly kind and warm and heart broken. She'd never had housesitters before but seemed keen to have us there and promised to follow up on the references we provided and let us know her confirmed plans asap. 

However, days and long nights in the van passed and we heard nothing. The day Sue was due to leave for India was fast approaching but we'd no confirmation or even word from her that she'd changed her mind. Eventually, tired of living in vans, Graham picked up the phone. His call went unanswered and was never returned. Instead, later that same evening, we were emailed with a, you guessed it, "I'm really sorry but..."

Sue had apparently cancelled her trip due to family reasons (the reason probably being her family thought she'd lost the plot entirely and had checked her into the local asylum) and so she no longer required our services. 

Bummer. 

We'd made no attempt to look for an alternative and life in the van was becoming more and more difficult as Chad needed our home for work transportation.

So there we were again, trawling through the internet, for only an hour at a time, at the local library, this time looking for a place to live. 

Thankfully, it didn't take long and we now have a roof over our head. Rachael and Graham survived to and are continuing their journey on the South Island. 

And so here we are, it's a new year and we're living and working in Wellington, with our clothes unpacked and a fridge full of food. Life is very much back to normal. 

Which leaves me with only one problem... what can I write about now?