Friday, March 18, 2011

Dr Quake’s Chronicle, Volume 7, Issue 5

Greetings from Wellington.

Earthquakes seem to have dominated life here since 22 February. Poor old Christchurch is devastated. Apart from the significant loss of life, the city is now on its knees in an economic sense. And with it the nation I’d say.

At Chilton we are hosting 7 or 8 girls, refugees from a range of Canterbury schools. We have had an extraordinary mufti day – red and black theme (the Canterbury colours) universally adopted. The school looked fantastic I’d have to say. And last Thursday we had a K to 13, House based sponsored walk to raise money. The sun shone and tit was a fabulous event. With any luck a lot of money will have been raised as well. Members of the public were stopping their cars and pressing notes onto the girls as they walked.

Of course the two quite big quakes we had in Wellington last week plus the big quake in China and the monster quake in Japan on Friday have fuelled a level of anxiety which is threatening to steamroll the Chilton OSH Committee. I have new insights into how runs on banks work. Sales of gas cooking units and big plastic containers for storing water are walking out of places like Bunnings.

After a whirlwind of open homes we accepted an offer on Poto Road a week or so ago. It is like playing poker I’ve decided. Turns out their financing was partly dependent on mortgaging a property in, you guessed it, Christchurch. We now don’t know what the state of play is at all. Suffice to say we live in an agony of tidiness and depart every Sunday afternoon to keep the way clear. Wearing thin I’d have to say.

We are about to lock in to a removal company. After no hassles entering NZ, we are appalled to learn that we will have to pay duty on all wine and spirits we seek to land in Oz unaccompanied. Bloody cheek I’d say. Not as though we have either in commercial quantities. We have put in place a cunning plan to ensure the Australian government makes no profit from our return. But we will have to maintain a cracking pace of consumption. Oh well – someone has to do it.

The quiet and bitter battle over the cats has been waged and ended. I opted for a Socratic approach. While we are both well aware the two cats will limit the range of accommodation options available for rent in Melbourne, adopting out a cranky old bastard like James Bond was never really an option. Moneypenny is relishing having become an outdoor cat and is a rotten stay out. We see little of her these days.

We are grappling with the logistics of the shift at present. The plan is to downsize and rent – issue is what to do with all our excess stuff – of which there I heaps. Sell it here or back in Melbourne. Et etc etc Now I the time for a magic wand really.

Crumble has applied for a job in Melbourne this weekend – immediate start. The odds are he’ll get it I reckon. That would be poetic justice, making me Office In Charge Of Re-settling! Yippee – that way I’d get to choose the cars. Yes, there is a god.

Ah. We have a definite shift date. We fly our of Wellington on 13 April, just one month from today.

That’s all for now from

Dr Quake & Dr Crumble