Island Bay

Wellington is a great place to be.The pace is slower than London. A lot slower !
The air is cleaner. I'm sure on my return to London that will be one thing that i really notice.
Its a clean city and has a North American feel to the place with the cars , road signs and $$'s. The people are friendly and welcoming. When you walk into a shop , bar or restaurant its all really friendly.
The banks are the most friendly.! I'm sure the magic "Weta" word brings out extra helping hands but whatever it is its re-freshing.
Having the sea close by is great.It just makes you feel alive each morning to drive round three or four bays to work with the sun out, the winds blowing and no traffic. !! Yes that's right ... a drive that takes ten minutes ALWAYS takes ten minutes! Whether in rush hour or in the middle of the day its the same. I love that about this place.!



Do i miss the tube and the chaos of getting to Soho?
not a bit !

The city is surrounded by mountains. Not snow capped ones but mountains none-the-less. There are allot of steep hills that's for sure but the architecture is so varied. No two houses are the same and it creates a feeling of individuality. Some are on the beach. Some up on the cliffs, balanced on the edge with their own private cable car that takes the owners to their front door!
Some are in the lower lying areas. Out of the wind and having all day sun(when its not raining!!)

There are so many lovely areas of Wellington it took a while for me to work out where i wanted to live aswell as where i could afford. Jopsy (my friend from London who has also been here before) lived at a Place called Karaka Bay. Lovely place but well out of my price range !! Pete if you are reading this you really should have bought that pad mate ! then i wouldn't have to have gone through all this house hunting crap!!

After looking at several areas i decided that Island bay was the winner for me. Its out of town, on the beach, good shops nearby and a nice little community. Its quiet which is good for the cat (as well as me!) and the drive to work is all along the sea front! Perfect!
Renting here is not cheap. There are no one bed flats. Everything out of town is a house. A three or four bedroom house. After viewing loads of properties with various degrees of living standards i found a gem of a place just up from the sea that was fully furnished.
I went and viewed it and took it there and then. The views are to die for and the house itself is very well decorated. There is also a garage which strangely enough might just fit a VW beetle in it !!