Nelson -Tosswill Road Rental Renovations and Covid 19 - Level 3 - 16 Days

Another stunning day in Nelson

Bill's new toy - a gib lifter

 First day at Level 3 was full on for the Tylers - Bill trying to log in online desperate for building materials to Mitre 10 and Bunnings. Both web sites not use to such heavy traffic of course and trying to come up to speed with "Click and Collect" - they weren't quite ready for the rush obviously. Poor Bill was pulling his hair out by the end of the day!
Thankfully the whole day wasn't wasted, he did manage to get a load of green waste away and picked his mum(Joan) up and bring her back for lunch. Bill's family had decided we were the best option to extend our Bubble with her (they were all heading back to work, therefore coming in contact with more people than Bill & I would) now with the lowering of the level. To give her a change of scenery she was to come to us once a week for a meal and we would go out to her for "happy hour" on a Friday.
The next day was just as frustrating for Bill. still trying to log into the building supply companies. He did manage to get an account set up with Mitre 10, thankfully the person in Accounts was a friend so it made it a bit easier (great to be in a small town).

The trusty Ute laden with bathroom goodies 👍

Finally day 3 of Level 3 things started to come together, where Bill got an order into Bunnings for a "click and collect" in two days time, and a truck load of materials from Mitre 10 in a weeks time. Phew! Time to start building.
It was easy to click and collect at some other suppliers ( I think Bunnings/Mitre 10 were behind the 8 ball with their web sites. Should have been operating better after over a month at Level 4) so Bill managed to get a new toy from the Tool Shed - a Gib Lifter. Takes the pressure off returning the one we may have had a slim chance of getting from Mitre 10 - and with replacing all the ceilings and a few walls, I'm sure it will be worth the investment.
Queues at supermarkets are still pretty long but do operate efficiently where I go, so it's not too much of an issue once a week. The shelves have pretty much returned to normal. Except pepper corns! Who knew they mainly came from India!! With so much home cooking, the shelves were cleared of them. Hopefully next week.

The Tyler Fleet on the Street 😆

So with sidekick Tyler (ex neighbours son who unfortunately is no longer working for Air NZ) - is available for odd jobs and has the build to help with all the lifting of supplies, which is a great help. Not sure what he thinks of the "Life's" lectures Bill likes to share with him, but he keeps returning so they can't be too bad. or perhaps he's just desperate for the money 😉.
A pallet load of bathroom materials arrived in Nelson from the Trade Depot in Christchurch, so we were finally able to pick them up - Bill with his trusty Ute went and picked up the pellet load. It was like Christmas - new shower, heated towel rails, vanities and tops. Exciting 👏
And then we got a surprise package from Shannon - a box of avocados from Tauranga - her way of supporting small business in these trying times. They were delicious😋and a lovely surprise.

Exciting times with  the hiab delivery 🎄 

Hiab saving a lot of lifting for Bill & Tyler

 Then we supported Briscoes (not really small business but local!) with "click and collect" and for a $5 delivery, had another package arrive. A small, very efficient bench top oven. Watch out Bill - be ready for some amazing meals now. I always knew it was the oven's fault! But I won't feed you too much - you still have to be able to fit under the floor! 😉
It was also around this time we were struggling with the amount of data we were getting through daily now we were based in one location and sorting so much with the renovations that it was finally time to give in to getting a modem and broadband. So we feel like we are in the real world once again. No longer trying to eke out 1GB each on our phone plans for the month. Ahhhh the pressure. Once again, click and deliver this time. The Courier Drivers are amazing, and even more so in these strange times.
Then the hiab truck loaded with materials arrived after a bit of a mission getting up our driveway. The drive has quite a steep approach from the road, we had fun the first time up with the Bus. We had taken the Bus out the day before to keep it clear for the delivery truck. It was a good chance to empty our tanks too out in Richmond. We decided to do our daily walk out there instead of locally here, nice for a change and another stunning day. Getting cooler but with no wind, the days are beautiful crisp autumn ones.

First bedroom ceiling replaced 

Job complete! Watched the progress of this Guy's project

At this point we decided it was time to move completely into the house - we had been only using the kitchen/dining and bathroom, but still sleeping in the Bus. With the cooler nights, it was time to make up the spare bed we had brought up from the sleepout. Quite cosy.
So the ramps Bill had made to help get the Bus in and out of the driveway were now used for the hiab truck after he came to a grinding halt and blocked the road. Thankfully they worked and took the weight. The hiab truck was needed to get all the materials off the truck and up to the second level of the house rather than Bill & Tyler lugging it all up around the house. Completed effortlessly.
So life was starting to return to some normality (well as normal as can be with a pandemic! and living in the midst of renovations) and Bill a happy chappy once again. With the dumping of 4 loads of green waste and one of rubbish, materials arriving, it felt like things were finally moving ahead.
Day 13 of Level 3 was Mothers Day and we managed another Zoom session with the kids. Bill brought Joan around for dinner and to join in. I think she was a little overwhelmed by it all but enjoyed seeing the Grandchildren and Partners. I loved it of course. And finally after 6 weeks, the

Another challenge for Bill 😟

Aussies got their Easter Eggs! And toilet paper!! At the time I posted their Easter parcels, just before lock down, Australia had a toilet paper shortage so I sent some with their Easter Eggs. Well 6 weeks later and toilet paper no longer in short supply, the joke was a bit wasted! And now with Em enjoying eating chocolate ( she is Vegan) Nick had to share his small supply of Easter eggs as I sent her a little book! ha ha. These are weird times we live in!

 New Zealand's Dynamic Duo
(By our neighbourhood knitter)

We're continuing our morning walks first thing, it's a bit cool to start work so our walks warm us up.With getting rid of waste from around the property, we can see what we can do with the garden, except I have to wait till Level 2 to get out to the Nursery's. But there is still plenty to chop back to keep me out of trouble. Plus the stripping of walls of course, but Bill has already removed most of the painted wallpaper thankfully. I have the better job of washing walls and removing the remaining paper. But while the weather is great, I prefer staying outside except to come in to cook meals.
Roll on Level 2 so the Plumber, Electrician and Double Glazing Guys can come and see us. And I can get out and get some plants to fill in all the open spaces and give the neighbours some privacy back.

Bill making progress with the Toitoi

Delicious pizza from the new oven

Nelson -Tosswill Road Rental Renovations and Covid 19 - Level 4 -Weeks 3 to 5

High tides and very calm days, looking across to the Western Ranges

Bill having fun lifting carpet full of staples

 Easter this year was a bit different with the Corona 19 Virus Level 4 Lockdown – pretty quiet. The weather is certainly starting to cool down, but with no wind and the autumn tints in the trees, Nelson looks stunning. We have certainly noticed the lack of traffic noise while we’ve been in lockdown which has been a wonderful plus.

Looks fun! Removing walls to make a cupboard.

Piles of wood and green waste around the back.

 We thought we’d do a bike ride out to Joan’s (Bill’s Mum) and catch up with her – from the safety of 2 meters outside her door of course. She is enjoying her walks around her neighbourhood but getting sick of her daily routine – misses even getting out to the supermarket!  Every day is feeling like a Sunday to her!

Nelson's Air New Zealand Fleet parked up 😟

Interesting projects people have taken on to do in lockdown.

 With the lack of traffic on the streets, it was a very pleasant ride. Passing Nelson Airport was a bit sad seeing all the planes parked up. I think Nelson currently has only three flights a day and less at the weekends. So quiet considering we were the 4^th busiest airport around the country – I think it will be a long time before we return to those days.

A neighbour keeps busy knitting - Easter Bunny has arrived 

We had our first Zoom Meeting experience over Easter with our three children and even their partners. It was a great catch up, such an easy App to use and see everyone. I can see why so many people  have taken to it so quickly. We are so fortunate to be living in these times technology wise.

Stairwell giving challenges

 We have continued clearing the section, now having several huge piles of green waste to get rid of as soon as we are allowed. Bill’s been cutting up firewood from the many branches we have been trimming and much of it will be suitable for the fire that may be needed soon.  We had our first coating of snow on the surrounding mountains – beautiful days followed. Although evenings are cooling especially with Bill ripping down some walls. But we are keeping the kitchen/dining room enclosed for now as it doesn’t take much heating and suits us for cooking and using the computers.
 The bathroom is a bit chilly with holes in the ceiling, missing walls and no door! Roll on level three so Bill will be able to order some materials.

Bill dealing to the Cacti

Quince are actually quite an attractive fruit
(to look at not to eat!)

Beautiful Quince Jelly 😍

Bit more snow today - Rabbit Island with no one on it 😟

Trimming the Toitoi

We have managed to order most of the bathroom items for the two bathrooms from Trade Depot online, who we have used before when we did our Christchurch rental renovations  5 years ago. But when they will actually turn up, who knows!

Nick celebrated his 30^th on the 17^th April – a pretty quiet affair with lockdown over in Western Australia too. But they do have Takeaway’s still operating and Em knowing him well – planned a couple of visits over the day to some of Nick’s favourites. Plus her parents spoiled him – it was only his NZ family that let him down.😕 Nick your Easter package still hasn’t arrived – how could a birthday package get through any quicker?? Anyway, you were the one that decided to celebrate next year – so you will always be a year younger from now on.👍

Bill’s lifted the carpet in two of the three bedrooms and stripped the painted wallpaper walls. Now I need to strip the remaining paper off them. We’ve worked on the stairwell which wasn't the easiest of rooms with its height - I stripped from the ground up to just above my head and left the rest for Bill who used his tallest ladder! I couldn’t watch. Thankfully heights don’t bother him.😵

Continuing in the garden, we now have more huge loads of green waste, plus one load on the Ute ready to go once lockdown level 4 drops to level 3. Along with most of Nelson. So many gardens have been trimmed back. The traffic noise may have dropped dramatically but there have been plenty of chainsaws operating. The cluster of cacti are down. And it didn’t take long for two of our neighbours to get in touch saying they would like some of them. They can have the lot!! And the Toitoi has had a bit of a trim to see if the hedge trimmer is going to be the best way to reduce it before getting into it with the chainsaw. It worked. But we will have to wait now till we can get rid of the waste.

One of those neighbours gave us some Quinces even though I told her I had no idea what to do with them. But you can’t use that as an excuse these days with Google. And I’m pleased she made me make it as it turned out beautiful – an amazing colour. Bill is enjoying it on his toast in the mornings.

Anzac Day was a bit different for New Zealand and Australia with the ban of gatherings due to Covid 19, but many adapted to the change and we heard some lovely stories from around the country. And Aussie - well done Rocky & Daniel.

Monday was the public holiday for Anzac Day, and being our last day at Level 4 (hopefully 🙏) we decided to do a bike ride into Nelson City where we haven’t been since January, so it was good to have a look around a very quiet city. It looked slightly shabby with the parks and road verges not having been mowed but I’m sure it won’t take long to bring it all back to its former beauty.

Roll on Level 3 where hopefully Bill can get some building materials, get rid of our green waste and rubbish and for me to buy some trees.

Nelson -Tosswill Road Rental Renovations and Covid 19 Level 4 - Week 2

A very quiet morning on Tahunanui Beach - oh for a coffee!

Hopefully he knows how to

put it all back together again!!😕

Week Two of our renovations and Covid 19 Lockdown has gone as quick as week one. There is still plenty of work on the list to keep us both busy.

Bill waiting on the Train!🚆

Bill has been working on creating a room for a second bathroom- on the opposite side of the house to the original bathroom which we will be turning into an en-suite. Teeing up plumbers and electricians for as soon as the Lockdown level 4 is reduced has been organised but with an unknown date of course.

Bread and baking keeping Bill

going.

The lovely Girls next door keeping an eye on us.

Opening up the entrance after years of growth

Love seeing all the ideas people have in Lockdown

The New Bathroom 😉

Trimming back to the boundary which is above Bill's head.

We are still enjoying our morning walks, having a lot of options in the area. We either head up the hill and look out over Tasman Bay and around to the South, Richmond. Or down to the beach and Rocks Road. Totally different vistas but just as enjoyable. And once a week a bike ride just to put a bit of variety into our days in lockdown. We have been enjoying the different Teddies around the area and peoples sense of humour. Children should be enjoying spotting the different bears around the neighbourhood.
Although the mornings have got cooler, they are lovely and still. Been perfect for working in the garden - our piles of waste growing. Thankfully we have enough room to spread out. When I'm not dragging Bill outside to use the chainsaw, he's still demolishing and reusing building materials where he can. It's been good living on site (although still sleeping in the Bus) and giving us the opportunity to create a better layout inside. rearranging cupboards / wardrobes.
Only venturing out in the car once a week to get groceries and topping Bill's Mum Joan up with groceries too to prevent her having to go out. She feels everyday is like a Sunday, but she's lucky she has a nice sunny home and nice flat streets for walks around the block.
Roll on week 3 & Easter........

Still enjoying lovely sunsets

Nelson -Tosswill Road Rental Renovations and Covid 19 Level 4 (They don't go well together) - Week 1

Lovely sunset looking out to the Tasman Bay

The front of the house looking out to Tasman Bay

Thankfully our plans to renovate our rental had been brought forward by our tenant vacating 3 weeks early. New Zealand was to change dramatically from the 26th March 2020, two days after we moved into our Rental.

From the back of the section

 Our Tenant had been in residence for the past 15 years, we had owned the property 3 years prior to that. Angie was a very undemanding Tenant so after all this time, the property was in need of a make over. Which we had thought we may do eventually 18 years ago when we brought the property. So the timing now was perfect. Almost! Except for a nasty virus that was changing the planet - Coronavirus.

Bit of a tight squeeze - Bus. Ute and Car

Original Kitchen almost - except for the stove

that was replaced 7 years ago

Bill & Tyler (the neighbours son) moved a few things up from our Sleepout - important items like fridge/freezer, washing machine, table and a few chairs. And a spare bed in case we eventually have visitors 😊

Moving in 2 days prior to New Zealand going into lock down, it was a bit of a scramble to buy materials we thought we may need to start renovations on the property. Not easy when we weren't really sure what we were going to do.

We weren't panicking too much as we knew we had at least a months worth of stripping walls and lifting carpets and getting the garden sorted after 20 odd years of neglect. ( They weren't in that great a shape when we took over all those years ago).

The initial job was for Bill to cut back the overgrowth enough to allow the Bus up as we planned to continue living in it while on the site. Getting the bus up the steepish driveway from the road was a bit of a challenge but Bill was up for that. And then to squeeze the Ute up the side too was daunting to me but thankfully not to Bill. Pretty close though! Aye Bill 😉

Bill happy in his basement workshop.

We have just completed our first week up at the Rental and completed our first week in lock down! We have enough supplies at present that we are coping. Have started a ritual of going for a walk first thing before breakfast. And then getting into work. Bill has set up the basement into a great workshop (even room for a kayak etc).

There is a bit of trimming to do.

 The grounds are rather overgrown, so we have been cutting back huge rose bushes and dead trees and revealing a stunning view. Even the neighbours are benefiting from the extra daylight. 

Lifting carpet/underlay in the lounge

As we are currently in lock down we can't visit the Green Waste - so we are building up large piles of waste that we will get rid of once lock down is lifted. But at least 
we can do the hard work of clearing the section in the mean time.
The house had a rather unpleasant dog smell throughout, so Bill was pretty quick in lifting the lounge carpet where we thought the smell was worst. And what a difference. Smells so much better. Again, we've had to cut it up and store it downstairs till we can take it to the Transfer Station and get rid of it.

Not sure where to start!😮

A beautiful morning looking along Tahunanui Beach

on an early morning walk

Looking out to Haulashore on a morning walk

We have met our new neighbours on one side and caught up with our front neighbours once again. Not socially or any closer than 2 metre's of course. But nice to catch up over the fence.

The views from here are quite different to our home further along the hillside, so we are enjoying a different vista and lovely sunsets. The weather has been very settled since we've returned to Nelson but cooling down and certainly a lot darker in the mornings. Daylight saving ends next weekend.

Enjoying all the Bears and peoples ideas during

 Covid 19 Lockdown

Keeping these Bears dry and out of the sun 🌞

We've had a good start - for week 1. Fingers crossed the country is doing well too after it's first week in lock down.

Our return to Nelson (For now)

Stunning Kaikoura Coast

We had planned a couple of leisurely weeks to return to Nelson, taking our time up the East Coast. The weather was looking great to have a look around, and doing a few walks. Get back to Nelson, have a week in Golden Bay and then a week at our neighbour Kathryn’s to help her with a project and by then getting close to moving into our rental in Tosswill Road, with our Tenant moving out at Easter.

Our new (1996) Ford Courier Ute

But one text changed all that! Our Tenant was checking we had got her earlier text (No!) that she was moving out in two weeks. What!! Panic!!

Thankfully Bill had been keeping an eye on

Bill and Kathryn sorting who was Team Leader

( I was of course as I took the photo)

Utes around the South Island as we were going to need one up at the Rental (not a lot of room for a trailer, plus a steepish driveway), so a day later we had another vehicle – a Ford Courier Ute from Temuka. This was to be my vehicle for the next week as we returned to Nelson. Bill was driving the Bus towing the Suzuki. Three vehicles once again!

Tyler's taken over the neighbours property 👍

I felt a bit of a Bogan and needed a cushion to see over the steering wheel (it’s not that I’m short but the springs had gone in the seat). The radio didn’t work but thankfully the CD player did and we still happened to have a few CD’s with us.

Bill and Kathryn making a plan 😆

We drove around the outskirts of Christchurch as we headed north, only coming off highway 1 as we reached Hornby to visit Bill’s favourite shop (other than AliExpress) Trade Depot. We checked out a few ideas for the Rental and picked up a few basics. It was considerably depleted since our last visit and the impact of Covid 19 on China was starting to have on us with a shortage of items. Little did we know at that point how different life really was going to become!

Marfells Beach

Tyler's new fleet

We arrived at southern Kaikoura where the weather had cleared to a stunning day, so we decided to walk around the headland/peninsular that we hadn’t done for a few years. The views were stunning. The landscape had changed so much after the 2016 earthquake. Lots of visitors walking along the trail, all hoping to spot seals of course. They weren’t disappointed. It is still a stunning coastline.

We moved on to stay at the new NZMCA Camp once again. We did a 16km walk the next day from the camp up to town and then out to the Pier Hotel for lunch and a wine/beer or two. Very pleasant in the sun. Lovely relaxed day, Kaikoura was nice and busy with tourists once again.

We had our last night before returning to Nelson at the Doc camp at Marfells Beach in Marlborough.  Five and half years ago we first left Nelson back at the end of August 2014 when we began this adventure, we had our first night here. With 3 vehicles. Bill’s work van, Big Yella and a trailer. And here we are again with 3 vehicles before arriving back in Nelson. Funny how life goes sometimes.

We arrived at neighbour Kathryn’s for a week to sort a few things from our container and shed before moving up to our Rental.

Kathryn was ready to go with her ceiling upgrade – gib over the Michael Angelo Tiles come the weekend. As she works as a theatre nurse during the week, the plan was to spend the weekend putting up the gib that arrived just before the weekend. I was happy to keep them fed and have a wine ready at the end of the day of course. Great job Guys. Just waiting on the plasterer to come now.

And we were ready to move up to our Rental and begin the renovations.

Bill found a new bit of driftwood he wanted
to bring back to Nelson 😎

Not sure whether it was coming or going!