A bit more progress

The council have approved the sub-division, subject to a few standard conditions. Horay! The contract has also now been signed by all the appropriate peeps involved, so it's all systems go. The last piece of the jigsaw for us is getting a geo-tech survey done to make sure the land isn't likely to slip or otherwise fall apart during an earthquake or flood event. This can take a while to sort out, so it'll be the end of September before we're completely sorted. After that it's just the time it takes to sort the final conditions and for the consent and title to be issued. Looking good for the end of December then!

Now we just have to decorate our house and sell it. :(

That's proving to be a bit of a pain in the bum. Having gone through that particular painful process just before we emigrated, it's a bit difficult to get motivated again. We'll get there by mid-September I hope - it'll be good to get the house on the market in early Spring.

The next big decision to be made is the house. Do we go for the bigger house/fat mortgage option, or opt for the simple rural 'cabin' style thing, with a tiddly mortgage and more scope to go down the self sufficiency route?

This week the latter option is favourite, as the other option entails selling my soul to the bank for the next 10 years and is bit too mainstream for my liking! However every time I look at a house magazine or brochure I get tempted by all the posh kitchens, designer tapware and the latest in Italian marble toilet seats. I must be brave and resist. All that designer stuff is soooo last year, I reckon the next big thing will be long drop toilets & en-suite goat sheds. In which case I shall be at the cutting edge of architectural thinking.


An early concept model of the new Whittaker residence