A Busy Few Days

It's been a busy few days. On Thursday we went to Rythm Force at the Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall. It was 3 hours of Jazz, Rock, Big Band and other music showing how Army bandsman don't just walk up and down playing martial music!

On Saturday we went to a Steam Fair in Coxley Green near Watford - sorry, no photgraphs; I had the camera on the side to take and yet again forgot it! Basically, it's you standard fair but using all the old rides from the early 20th Century, which mean many of the rides are steam driven. It also show how times have changed, with a distinctly patriotic feel prevalent - so unfashionable these days with the Union Flag having been taken over by the far right. I loved the dodgems, but I always do! I was having a great time until my wife insisted on going on the Octopus. Now I love roller coasters etc, which my wife hates, but I just feel ill after Waltzers - and this was one that had the added complexity of spinning in the air! I felt distinctly average from about half way through.

As it was night the whole place was lit up and it looked great, and it was a nice warm evening too. My only regret is going on the Octopus ride - knocked me out for the rest of the night.

Some good news about our house sale, we should be exchanging today. I'm also contacting our relatives to see if they managed to get around the houses we wanted them to see over the weekend.

Fish

You know the phrase "There are always more fish in the pond"? Well, there are already another couple of potential houses. One of them is much bigger and is up for auction, but the guide price which I have just got from the agent is within our means, even taking into account the advice another agent gave us when we were in New Zealand last March; always add another NZ$75K to the guide price to avoid disappointment!

The other house is shortly to come on the market, but the agent who was handling the sale of the house which we lost, knowing we're serious buyers, has flagged it up to us. We're going to arrange for our relatives to visit it - it's not far away.

Meanwhile the saga of our own house sale trundles on - now they're concerned about subsidence and flooding which came up in the search report, neither of which are threats in our area at all.

Lost the bid

We have bow definitely lost the bid on the house we were after - basically we were too careful and didn't get our bid in early enough. We were backup bid until the 8th, but the primary bidder has now completed the purchase so they've got our dream home!

Some good has come out of the experience. We now know the kind of house we're after and the area we want to live in. We've also got a better idea of the NZ bid process, and also now have pre-approval on finance.

We'll keep a close eye now on the various NZ real estate sites such as Harcourts and Real Estate NZ for another house.

Our own house in the UK still hasn't exchanged. Apparently they're awaiting the results of 'searches' which is taking longer than expected. I'm getting nervous.

Some photos from Spain and Gibraltar

Some photographs from our holiday in Spain last week. They aren't good as I forgot our normal digital camera and had to use my phone.

The view outside our appartment, near Gaucin. I have yet to climb that rock!


The patio of the apartment we stayed in, part of a complex which my parents-in-law run.


We also visited the Selwo Adventure Park near Estapona. While the lions and tigers were great, for me the highlight was the vast aviary - basically they've netted over an entire valley.


And finally the Barbary Apes on the Rock of Gibraltar - should they ever leave then the Rock will cease to be British!

The Frustrations of Selling

Our house still hasn't completed, despite the buyer wanting to be in by 1 September. Now the date has slipped right by 7 days while their solicitor asks more questions, some of which I've already answered in the original questionnaire. I suspect they're employing delaying tactics. They also spelt our surname incorrectly which really makes me angry! I'm getting our solicitor to fax me documents now and going down at lunch time to drop signed and original documents off to try and speed things up.

I think all the stress from selling originates from solicitors and estate agents not doing the job we pay them for. I seem to be the only one driving the process - they never seem to volunteer any information to me.

Back from Gib

A week visitng relatives in Spain and attending an old firends wedding in Gibraltar has really charged our batteris. This was despite having to liaise with the agent in NZ and fax back a revised contract for our bid, despite it only being the backup! Luckily our relatives knew somewhere we could fax from (a smalls tore in the local village) otherwise we would have been lost. If the primary bid haven't sorted their details out by 8 September then we've got the house.

Spain and Gibraltar we very hot and sunny, though it wasn't particularly pleasant wearing a suit for the wedding in 30+ degree heat. Luckily the reception was at the Caleta Hotel in Catalin Bay on the East side of the rock and therefore in the shade in the late afternoon.