House #17......

We rolled farther up the hill and came to #17 complete with jaw dropping views of the homes going down the hill and the huge expanse of ocean just across the highway at the bottom of the incline. With mouths agape we climbed out of the cars and stood speechless taking in the view. Now we had seen photos of the house and some of the views but we didn't realize it was going to be 100% more amazing! 

Trying to shake off the surprise I jokingly said, "So here you go, you ordered the super high roller package, right?". After snapping a few photos we unlocked the front door and went in to explore the interior of the house. 

We were greeted with a huge open floor plan kitchen that transitioned into a dining area and then the living room. One entire wall along this great room area was comprised of huge sliding glass doors that looked out on the backyard but more to the point it provided stunning hill tops views of the ocean. With this option we kept that side of the house open to the balmy summer air during the day. Heaven.

After looking at the four bedrooms we decided who would sleep where and lugged our suitcases to said rooms. 

Everyone set to unpacking or standing outside behind the house gaping at the view of the ocean. I know I keep mentioning this but it was truly STUNNING.

Next we set to the business of compiling a shopping list and decided that we would go into town, pick up some groceries to get us started and then we would pick up pizzas on the way back. Tim, Paul and I left the others at the house and headed into town. We quickly filled a shopping cart to overflowing with goodies for a few meals as well as snacks and all kinds of things to drink. :) This was so much fun for us because we only ever shop for a few days at a time because that's as much as you can carry home. I never thought that putting groceries into a car and driving home would be such a luxury. Just one of the many things we've learned since being in NZ. So with a trunk full of groceries we stopped by Dominoes and put in our order. Soon it was ready and we were trotting out to the car with a pile of pizza boxes. After zipping down the highway we found our turn and started climbing the hill to our house set in the clouds. :) We lugged in the groceries and set to putting them away while simultaneously setting up the pizza and some salads for dinner. Happily situated in our new house we settled around the big dining room table to set to munching. It was big day taking the ferry, wrangling and packing the rental cars and driving to Nelson but we couldn't have been more excited to stay in such a beautiful house just off the ocean. :)