Moving house.

To explain the internet outage:  we moved and had to set up new utilities.

We decided that we couldn't live at our first apartment any longer.  It was cramped, dull, and dreary, and in probably the only drab corner of this beautiful city.  The building was at such an angle that the wind whipped around it at high speed, making the balcony into an unusable wind tunnel and creating a mournful whistling against the windows that brought a blizzard to mind. 

Worst, though, was the lack of heat and the pervasive sense of dampness.  I doubt that the apartment was to blame for us getting sick, but it certainly didn't help us to recover any faster.  We spent several days working with the staff to try to find a solution that would make our place comfortable.  Eventually they grudgingly gave us one extra blanket and a portable oil-filled radiator.  But it wasn't good enough.  For one thing, it didn't actually heat the room up; it only teased us with a small pocket of heat that you could warm your hands on.  Secondly, a hot radiator is more of a liability than anything in a small space containing a toddler and a crawler. 

We ultimately decided that the only thing to do was to move out.  We worried a bit about this, since we'd signed a lease and already paid up front for three months.  Would they refund us the amount we overpaid?  But hey, the website said 'heating included', and we were fairly confident that we could successfully argue to the Tenancy Board (if it came to that) that 'heating' is not the same thing as, 'OK, fiiiiine, you can borrow an inadequate space heater.'

We selected several vacant apartments online and made an appointment to view our favorite.  We walked in and knew immediately that we were home.  The paperwork was done in a flash--no credit checks or rental applications here.  We had to dash around to sort out rent payments and to hire a van to drive us over, but we moved in that very night.

For just slightly more than we were paying to rent that depression-maker at St. Martin's, we are now in a lovely apartment on the Viaduct Harbor.  It has two spacious bedrooms, two bathrooms, a proper washer and separate dryer, a nice big (by NZ standards) kitchen, a separate dining room that we've turned into an office, and a nice living room.  There are floor-to-ceiling windows in the bedrooms, and in the living room, we can open the sliding doors all the way to extend our living space onto the balcony.  This will be lovely in the summer.  It's furnished very nicely, and we're not lacking a thing.   It's even closer to the grocery store (important since we're doing all our errands on foot), and is perfect for nice walks to look at the boats.  Plus, it has a great view of the Sky Tower.

Our first night here, we sat on our balcony on the nice furniture, and enjoyed the calm night air.  We said how wonderful it was to know we wouldn't have to move again any time soon.

And then, the first morning, we turned on the HEAT!  And it warmed up!  It was pleasant indoors!  There are even electric blankets to keep us extra cozy.

It takes about a week for utilities to be set up.  We have electric and water, of course (they just change the name on the account), but we're still waiting for phone and internet.  We can buy by-the-day wi-fi, though, as a stop-gap and that's getting us through for now. 

Oh, and by the way, thanks to Adnan's good negotiation skills, we're getting our money refunded on the first place.