A Week in Brisbane

I thought it was time for a holiday, work gets busy late June and July, so thought  i would cut and run , for some sun. i have a brother and sister in law in Brisbane,  as well as 2 nephews. Alex  and Damian.  Being 7 and 5 they kept me busy. They got to go to their first fair. which is actually funnier than  H,  cause they are not quite sure if a ride is going to be fun or scary.  Alex lost tooth number 2

Kerrie is pretty cool as well , except when i take Photos of her and she is not sure what I am up to. She homes schools them. We had a great week,  we made some macadamia nut  biscuits, and some fresh strawberry  jam. cause i really like making jam but the idea is not to eat too much of it.

We got a day to go to the Budrim ginger factory,  and bought lots of ginger:  marmalade, spread , crystallized ginger , a hot ginger drink, chocolate covered ginger. (you know how long that lasted ) and a hot chili with ginger sauce.  customs kinda laughed at me when I came back home.

some of the bird life is Aus. is quite colourful  these are one of the more common ones called rainbow lorrakets, pretty colours  but they can't sing, its more of a swalk. On the day that \I was walking along the beach  they decided to stop still long enough for me to take some photos. Beaches are lovely over here .  Yes the weather was warm and pleasant, 23  for the last 4 days . almost hot  actually. OK so maybe i am not quite as acclimatized as  I thought.
 it was just a lovey relaxing holiday , thank you Richard and Kerrie.  but  for  now its back to work.

Views or not

 house hunting in NZ  part 2 

When going to an open home, its not the person whose listing house that is showing , its one of her co workers , looking to make friends with buyers.

 There is an assumption that if you make an offer on a house you will use the person who showed you the house,

 I have looked at 5 now  still refining what I want ,   so who you make friend with will change  depend on where you buy .  There are some hungry  agents around here.  A lady called me today to get some feed back  for one place i looked on Sunday and   she wants to show me some others on Wednesday .. a public holiday  ANZAC day.

 Lots of houses built in 50 's house that have been done up, but people  forget the wiring,  and the breakers boxes still look like  they are from the 1950 's  ( old and not to code ? )

 there are less power points in rooms here,  1 in each bedroom in older houses.  single Closits in the main bedroom ( this is not a house that i want to buy )   

 Lots of real wood floors  from the 1950 's . some are in good condition some aren't  some have had carpet over the top for 20 years   ( take the carpet out and a good coat of varnish )

 my favorite so far  is this  http://www.realestate.co.nz/1744600    is the favourite   built in the 80 's  but the land underneath is on a cross lease ,  ( someone had a really large section and  put 2 houses in the back yard)  and then sold the houses , so there is a 1/ 3 share in the land ..  

 the down falls- are  that if,  and i say if,  one of my parents needs to live with me sometime i need to have  minimum stairs   and the ones  here are quite steep to get inside . there is a school a the bottom of the driveway, which is also quite steep.   (  the view is stunning..  ) and the kitchen could do with  a little more storage space .. there is a large park just round the corner , where people play sports  every weekend  rugby fields etc. perhaps a bit close for my liking.   Floor space is 860 s feet  (80 s meters )  

 interest rates are from 5 5 to 6.5.

 I will keep looking.

 yes of course I am having fun

House hunting

Gosh have I really not posted anything since December?
Oops sorry about that. Life must have been somewhat boring. I have discovered I have some friends that don't hang out on Facebook, hopefully I can keep you a bit more up to date than before.
Last Wednesday, I went to the bank for something else and walked out the a letter of preapproval for house finance.... So the house hunting begins. House buying will be quite different here, for starters there is no such thing as title agencies. That's what lawyers are for. They do the title search.
Open homes are barely 1/2 hour ,40 minutes if you are lucky. Then there is the can I get yor phone number before you leave . I looked at 3 on Sunday all built in the 1950's. I have decided a garden is important( supprise)or at least space for one. And kitchen cupboard space.

I will have to be selective in my photos and links. Due to the power of other people's search engines. (Read other real estate agents)

Dancing Medals

Over the last 6 weeks i have put in some serious time and effort to say nothing of money in practicing my dancing. just so I can spend 10 minutes  in front of a dance judge

 I was way more nervous than I thought i was going to be. i was dancing with my instructor rather than the person that i usually dance with ..( she is short and he is tall )
 anyway I am here to tell you that i passed  quite happily, bronze level. (the beginning ) and the judge left some nice comments. it s like a school report card .. comments and a grade.  this was 6 dances; waltz, foxtrot and international tango. for the ballroom, then Samba, Rumba and Cha Cha.
 Yes I plan to do more , Silver level will be next about 6 months away. More work, more time and more money.

Sunsets

Sunsets are differnet in NZ, not quite sure if i can say why, but they are , they dont last as long, thre was barely a 5 minute spread over these photos , and it was gone.
the tree is a large one in my neightbours yead ,by the road
8 37 to 8 42.
Its warm out why does it get dark?

Work Conversation

  I guess I have been at work now long enough for people to start asking about live in Alaska, so I got bragging rights on the temps this week, ( thank guys for the cold weather ). and people are asking about the cultural differences between her and the states. apart from the language...
 what to say..
 American eat out way more frequently than they ought to, is this just a money thing.. ? no I think even those in NZ than can afford to don't .  once a week maybe.
American are germ a phobic, a few germs wont hurt you.. it is OK to go to work with a cold, take the tissues and drugs and go to work....
 Kiwis get 4 weeks vacation/ holiday a year.   so I am taking 2 weeks off at Christmas.due to all the public holidays  I only use 4 days of leave.
 liability law s in the states control what people do way more than Americans even realize. Every day in the train here 10 % of the people stand up before the train comes to a stop,  this would never happen in the states some one would tell you not to, cause you might fall over and hurt yourself and maybe sue the train company. here we have ACC . so our ability to sue is very limited. ( stand up in the train at your own risk...)
what do I miss about the Alaska .. ?
 The northern lights, why is it this year that the light are supposed to be rally good, . thank goodness for web cams.

new haircut

New haircut , it only been 4 months since I got a cut, that is pretty good for me. This haircut is one i actually like ... yeah... !!!
yes there is a little blow wave, but thats ok, and i even managed to get a decent photo. this came from' Glo 'just up the road... 110 Mana espalade. I will be going back ....