Here we are ...
We have arrived to Atamai, our new home in an eco-village. Alas, what a journey it has been. I did say I would start blogging about it, and here it is. I must say that I've never really blogged before - so this is likely to be a learning experience for me.
Where do I start? hmm ...
Well firstly, if you don't know much about Atamai, look here ... www.atamai.co.nz. The picture below (same as the background) is pretty much the centre of the village (Stage 1) as it was as of December 2011.
We are now living in a rental house on the middle left of the picture where it appears to be bare land with some trees - yes quite a lot can happen in a short space of time. The house we are living in is a relocated 60s house, it looks like this.
It's comfortable enough for our needs despite having basically no insulation, and currently a non-functioning heat pump. It matters little however as most days here are relatively warm with a sun much more intense than we are used to in Christchurch, some nights and mornings have been rather cold however.
There has been a flurry of activity on the house as we arrived before it was fully completed. There have been workmen doing all sorts of things like doing up the boards to cover the stilts, plumbing and electricity hooking up, telecoms, guttering, water trucks ... phew! and various other builder related things.
Everybody is really friendly however - both Atamai villagers as well as Motuekans in general. We felt very welcomed to the village. We even got a dinner invitation on the first night, as well as home baking, home made jam, bag of organic apples from one of the workers, and a lot of helpers to help us unload our container. These helpers managed to move as many things in 1 hour as it took me 2 days to pack!
We moved from a 4 bedroom house in Christchurch however, and this is now a 2+1 bedroom rental - we certainly can't fit it all in. About half our stuff is still stored in the container. You sure don't realise how much you have until you have to carry it on your back!! I moved the equivalent of 6 tonnes of stuff over the period of 3 weeks, no wonder I was so tired.
Our days and nights following the arrival of the container have been filled with unpacking, resorting, and repacking for medium term storage and then stuffing it back into the container as we take more stuff out. It is a very tedious process and certainly a good way to teach us how to do with less.
The arrival of the container has a story of its own ... but I'll leave that for next time. Here's a preview shot however ... that's one mother of a crane (HIAB), and it was struggling with our 6 tonnes of stuff, 2 tonnes of container, overhead power lines, and soft muddy ground ... not the best mix of variables.
Where do I start? hmm ...
Well firstly, if you don't know much about Atamai, look here ... www.atamai.co.nz. The picture below (same as the background) is pretty much the centre of the village (Stage 1) as it was as of December 2011.
 |
| Atamai Eco Village |
We are now living in a rental house on the middle left of the picture where it appears to be bare land with some trees - yes quite a lot can happen in a short space of time. The house we are living in is a relocated 60s house, it looks like this.
 | ||
| Our rental accomodation in Atamai |
There has been a flurry of activity on the house as we arrived before it was fully completed. There have been workmen doing all sorts of things like doing up the boards to cover the stilts, plumbing and electricity hooking up, telecoms, guttering, water trucks ... phew! and various other builder related things.
Everybody is really friendly however - both Atamai villagers as well as Motuekans in general. We felt very welcomed to the village. We even got a dinner invitation on the first night, as well as home baking, home made jam, bag of organic apples from one of the workers, and a lot of helpers to help us unload our container. These helpers managed to move as many things in 1 hour as it took me 2 days to pack!
We moved from a 4 bedroom house in Christchurch however, and this is now a 2+1 bedroom rental - we certainly can't fit it all in. About half our stuff is still stored in the container. You sure don't realise how much you have until you have to carry it on your back!! I moved the equivalent of 6 tonnes of stuff over the period of 3 weeks, no wonder I was so tired.
Our days and nights following the arrival of the container have been filled with unpacking, resorting, and repacking for medium term storage and then stuffing it back into the container as we take more stuff out. It is a very tedious process and certainly a good way to teach us how to do with less.
The arrival of the container has a story of its own ... but I'll leave that for next time. Here's a preview shot however ... that's one mother of a crane (HIAB), and it was struggling with our 6 tonnes of stuff, 2 tonnes of container, overhead power lines, and soft muddy ground ... not the best mix of variables.
Looking forward to following your adventure!
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