Journal:  We are now in Hamilton.
After 43 years in our home at Dudley Ave., Huntly we had a large accumulation of bits and pieces.There was quite a long process sorting out what we needed in a much smaller house. Packing was a slow process, too. Towards the end Gillian came across to help us and Anthony with Craig, too. They worked packing; much faster than us, over longer hours and soon had everything packed and ready to go. Paul came over the weekend and with a trailer moved the heavy unwanted items to the tip. There they have a second hand shop and the useful stuff went into the shop and the $30.00 tip fee was waived.

The removal truck had been booked the previous week for the following Thursday. The previous day they rang us up to tell us that unfortunately they could not fit us in. The Auckland office had not forwarded our details  to Hamilton branch in time. In fact the fellow who took the details was now in the UK on his big OE and had left the papers on his desk completed and no one had noticed them. By luck there was a vacancy next day, Friday, would that be OK, we were asked. We breathed a sigh of relief.

We have now been here for 3 weeks and out most days to buy something we needed. Furniture was the main thing, drawers and the like. We didn't have any, I know it sounds funny but all our furniture was built in at Dudley Ave. The furniture we selected to fit in our unit were in "flat-packs", so we have been busy assembling them. The most awkward one was Pat's computer desk selected to fit in the dining room.

We have a small lounge with a large corner window, a separate dining area with kitchen attached. 2 good sized bedrooms, bathroom with separate shower, separate large toilet. The laundry area has a sink unit with appropriate holes and taps to fit our washing machine and space for our drier. The hot water is supplied from an instant gas unit. The garage is built in and the door automatic just as Pat wanted it.