We have been Looking for a cheaper rental place since we got here and finally found one. Its on Tompsons Track which is just south of town. Its in a garage that was converted to an apartment and its better than it sounds. The place is fully insulated and has electricity, internet, and water included in the rental price. Its not typical but one month’s electricity bill here at Beach road was $435! That was before we started heating primarily with the wood stove. We were using the electric floor heat a lot which uses a lot of KW hrs since the place was also uninsulated at the time.
We did finally get the whole attic insulated, I did the parts over the rooms we use first and left the unused rooms till last. Putting fiberglass batts in an attic here is a chore. It’s like Dante’s version of Yoga. The attic is so low that you can just barely sit up straight in the center only. For the rest of it you are sliding around on your stomach across the 2×4 joists, and its so low at the edges that you have to wedge your body between the roof and ceiling and use a reachin’ stick to shove the batts out to the edge of the living space. It also is inhabited by cockroaches and spiders, and its hot work since you have to be bundled up head to toe to avoid the fiberglass. So a fun time was had by all, but its done now.
I also went on a guided bush walk with the Aongatete Forest Project group. It was led by Basil Graeme who is an environmental advocate and botanist who has been working in New Zealand forests for most of his life and he is in his 60’s or 70’s now. He pointed out the native vegetation and explained the history of the efforts to reduce the pest species so that the forest can grow back and the birds can return. Apparently it was so bad 15-20 years ago that you could sit in the forest for 5-10 minutes and not hear a single bird.
