Life is Wellington is great.  The only tough times are when Steve goes to work and I'm stuck with a (nearly) one year old and a three year old.  I've taken them out for a drive though, we moved the dog to another kennels because we weren't happy with the one she was in.  We took her out for the weekend to walk her, we had a wonderful time, over near where our house is.  A beautiful park with the sea, Moons ran in out of the sea, happy as larry.  The dog on the other hand was clingy, over fed and miserable.  It was quite sad.  So the following week I called around to find a better place.  I drove her over the mountains to a new holiday home and enjoyed the drive very much.  There is so much rugged beauty here.  We've taken a day trip to Martinborough and have been overwhelmed by how many beautiful towns there are near us, and the people are just so warm and friendly.  Generally people seem more relaxed here and therefore are friendly and open.  Feeling so much more relaxed I have embarked on an alcohol detox week.  That's a WHOLE week without a drink!  Its day three now and although I miss having a nice glass of red in the bath or curled up in front of the fire, I'm doing very well, phew!  I'm not an alcoholic afterall! 

We received our final bill from Genesis - $823.33 - thats for ONE month!!  It was time for the real estate agency to pay up our compensation, funnily enough a 'problem' came up and then they starting changing the figures.  Janeane REFUSED to talk to us directly so it all went through Tangi at the Dept of building and housing.  Suddenly, they discovered were in arrears.  The MOST frustrating thing is that we KNEW this would happen.  In our first week in the house, we were discounted for a week because we had no hot water for the week.  A few weeks later, Harcourts contacted us to say we were in arrears, Steve called and explained that we'd been discounted.  They agreed it was their error - Steve asked them to email this to us because he was concerned that at the end of the tenancy they would forget.  Good thinking!  We explained all of this to Tangi, but he was also becoming increasingly more difficult to get hold of and when we did, he simply repeated what Janeane had said.  We were getting no where, and it was starting to feel very stressful again.  Especially as Genesis want their money and we've got thousands in outgoings (moving, bond for this rental, bond for new rental, rents in advance for both places, letting fees for other agency, etc).  Being as numbers is Steve's job, he took on the role to resolve this new issue.  We initially told Tangi to make a court date and we'd see Janeane there, we also warned that we'd be seeking more money from them.  Steve took over the reigns because numbers really aren't my strong point.  He ended up in a telephone conference this morning with Janeane and Tangi and a telephone argument ensued.  Unlike me, who in a mist of anger told Steve I wanted to set fire to him for giving me the wrong set of directions, Steve is calm and calculated.  I've rarely seen him get angry and often tell him he's so laid back I sometimes worry he's died.  Although to be honet, I think he's changed a lot since we've been together.  Before when he wasn't happy with something, he wouldn't worry about (in the true Kiwi style), now I've heard him asking to speak to Managers and expressing his complaints about things.  He still doesn't get angry though.  This morning I could hear his voice rising, and that manic laugh people give when they're beyond frustrated and think you're completely insane (yes, I might have been on the receiving end once or twice!).  I crept upstairs and listened behind the door.  The amount that Harcourts were claiming was the amount from the discount, their computer system could only allow the discount by them changing the start date AND end date of our tenancy, so Steve was arguing that they OWED us a day's rent, she was arguing that we owed them a day's rent!!  In the end, Steve said he was prepared to drop the issue if they were.  A compromised was reached.  So began the argument about relocation costs and backdated rent. The end result was that we'll receive EVERYTHING that we were going to in the first place.  Janeane only managed to delay the inevitable, but we're frustrated because this money is owed to us and the issues were resolved before.  This agreement is legally binding, but it'll be the home owners that reimburse us the bills and relocation costs.  If they dispute this then we'll be back in court in Wellington on October 10 to start the process again.  We just want this bloody nightmare over with. 

So, apart from what we left in Auckland, life is great in Wellington.  Its been very cold and miserable this week so far, but it amazes me how it still looks so beautiful.  Can't wait for summer though!!  Having a BBQ in the new house looking across at the ocean is going to be awesome.  Hurry up October!