The new ute (well, old, really - in fact, more like vintage) bought off Trade Me in 10 mins flat in the dark for under $2K, was duly loaded with all necessities including the brazier and firewood and we set off over the hill in miserable weather. A brief stop in Greytown where we loaded on six outdoors chairs and table kindly donated by Wendy (who has a beautiful B&B cottage in Greytown called 'Mole End').
Things didn't improve once over the hill and on the property, compounded by the fact that all three doors were firmly locked or nailed secure. Oh dear. We packed everything but a tent. I discovered that the two pink glass strips each side of the front door were missing, but was able to get us inside by reaching around and unlocking the door. At least we had an entry and enough large bits of wood to make a step up. We realised final work and tying-down on the piles had not been completed as we found a compressor in a wardrobe, part of the kitchen was shored up, and the place was filthy. And we had not thought to bring a broom ...
First things first. Cleared a space in the back bedroom and set up the bed. Put out the table and chairs. Unpacked the necessaries including the wine, and Denise started on getting all the other essentials to function.
First priority. Denise has just tuned in our $20 power/battery operated 5" TV off Trade Me, and has started to mess with the gas ring. Note all the mud on the floor.
Third accomplishment. The gas lantern works. Another wine to celebrate. I learned about a mantle. Note the back-up LED lantern - Denise is always organised and prepared.
The bedroom. Note the 2 duvets, hotties, extra blanket and flanelette sheets. Tansy all snug next to a couple of bags of concrete.
And I know you're all dying to know - here was the temporary bathroom. If your eyes aren't good - the bag says 'Cat Litter' and it's made from paper products. And yes, it was emptied and dug in 'somewhere out there' before we left.
After we got everything organised and finished the bottle of wine, we went for a walk around all the fencelines and the property. We found quite a few trees planted we didn't even know we had, and a lot of rubbish in one spot including barbed wire that I am a little cross about. Denise then came out with the sobering opinion that we shouldn't even be there in the house, as we hadn't yet fully paid for the it and it's delivery. (Well, we thought they would be well and truly finished by then, but we learned there had been weather hold-ups). That sort of put a dampener on things just for a little while, but no way was I going to pack up and head home, so we sampled a liqueur or two while we waited to see what the weather would do. Fortunately, the wind died right away, the rain stopped and all was good. We got the brazier fired up, salads made, and I grilled two of my best steaks ever over the brazier. A nice bottle of red, more liqueurs, watching telly all bundled up and warm (with plenty of lanterns and firewood) - what could be better?
Chilling out while camping out
Next morning, a breakfast fry-up on the new little gas ring, then we packed everything up late morning and headed home, leaving very little evidence of our visit.
Note : Work hadn't been completed on the house, but was done to satisfaction, and we paid in full by the end of the following week
