Hi everyone!

Greetings from Christchurch! Hope you are all keeping nice and warm. It has been incredibly cold and frosty up here, and something no one really talks about is how windy it gets in Christchurch. It sometimes feels like we are in Wellington!

Anyway, I email with some updates for everyone regarding our situation that has changed.

Just prior to the level 4 lockdown, I was offered a research scholarship in Sydney. This came about unexpectedly through my previous supervisor in Dunedin. With Covid-19 and the uncertainty we have all been through, I didn't think the scholarship would actually eventuate. However, now we are a few more weeks on, the research group have confirmed they would still like to have me and to start when they had originally planned --  in July -- if possible. 

Given the rare opportunity that found me, I have decided to accept it. Adelyn and I have put in our resignations here and spent the last 2 weeks trying to figure out another move. The main difficulty has been trying to navigate the travel restrictions, and we are preparing ourselves to be quarantined for 2 weeks if the trans-Tasman bubble has not merged by the time we travel.

With our move to Sydney, we won't be returning to Dunedin at the end of this year as planned. So we have also gone through the different options we have with our unit. Our preference is to rent our High St unit out when it is completed, and we will be planning for that. However, there is a chance that we might have to sell the unit if we are unable to find tenants keen on cohousing or are unable obtain finance to settle on the unit once it is completed. 

As the last thing we want to do is hold up everyone's settlement, we are likely to look at selling around October if rental and/or mortgage arrangements don't work out. I have checked and there are people on the waiting list keen for our D unit type, so there hopefully shouldn't be trouble there. To save on the hassle of paperwork for UCOL, we will also probably just hold on to our loan guarantees with Kiwibank until settlement where the new owner can come in. I guess we will have to work out the details as we go, but as mentioned, our preference would be to continue being part of the community with our unit rented out for now. 

Anyway, I will continue to keep everyone updated on how we go. At the moment, we are just trying to take things one step at a time. It would be nice if I didn't have to take up an advert in the newspaper to get in touch with Air NZ as well!

Warm regards,

Dennis