Moving to Mairangi

Last week I told you that I had a found a new home in Mairangi Bay, but I was too tired to show you around. Let me make that up to you, by giving you a tour of my new home. It's a large 6 bedroom house owned by Sin Yat from Singapore and shared with 5 others.

My room is behind the window on the very left, ground floor

During the day I am often in my room with my laptop. It is a lot more comfortable than the library, where I used to work. I have the privacy to speak on the phone or Skype and I enjoy a great view of the bay.

Just another sunny morning

When my fellow ground floor housemates come home from work I greet them as they walk past my window. I can also see if someone is on the deck and join them for a chat.

On the fence Sin Yat grows sweet, dark grapes

The deck is a great place for a barbecue and this weekend we did just that. Sin Yat invited his friends and all of us housemates to a great barbecue on the deck. We each contributed with a dish: Marie, our talkative French girl, made a potato salad and a clafoutis (French dessert), Ross, our resourceful shipping agent, brought a cheesecake, and I made a salad with Danish blue cheese. My upstairs housemates did the meat with Sin Yat and brought the wine.

My generous host Sin Yat (in pink) with his friend Kevin

Let's continue with the tour around the house. When you look down from the fence you see the back yard. The impossibly green grass is indeed fake, but that can be hard to tell from above.

The back yard is beautiful, but we don't use it much

You will also find a sauna and spa on the deck

To the left of the front door is the driveway that leads to the deck

This is the ground floor living room

Which is in the same room as the ground floor kitchen

Surf club

One of the best things about living in Mairangi Bay is that it's right next to the surf lifeguard club. In a 20 minute walk or a five minute drive I'm at the beach. Here I meet with the lifeguards every day to improve my board and surf ski skills. After one week of training I am still the slowest on the board and I can't even stay up on the ski, but I can feel the improvements every day.

After a board session we wash down the boards and go shower

On Saturdays practice is at 7.30 am