Not So Grand Adventure from Wellington to Auckland
Wellington is one of the biggest cities in New Zealand with a lot to offer. From the city centre you can explore different neighbourhoods, each with their own unique atmosphere. There’s also a lot of green space to enjoy, like the Botanic Gardens and Wellington Zoo. If you’re feeling active, you can go for a hike or bike ride in one of the many parks. The city has a lot of history with different museums and landmarks to explore.
On the other hand, Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand and is also one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There’s more to do if you are young and looking for some adventure, from exploring the diverse food culture to attempting the sky jump from the Sky Tower. If you’re after something more relaxed, you can stroll around one of the many markets or take a hike at Waitakere Ranges or other rainforests within close proximity to Auckland.
I recently had the opportunity to move from Wellington to Auckland and it was quite the adventure. Having settled in Wellington for initially and having explored most of what the city had to offer, I decided it was time to move on up to Auckland. As my lease was ending soon, I thought the time was right to plan my relocation to the big city. I thought moving all my belongings out of a one bedroom unit wasn’t that hard but was I wrong about that!
Reflecting upon it now, it seems to have all gone pear shaped when I paid a deposit to the furniture movers that I found on FB. The movers seemed very responsive, answered all my questions and understood my concerns. They had my dates available and assured me that the move was ‘no problems’ and they’ll handle it all. I was convinced, I was only moving a small amount of furniture which shouldn’t take very long for professionals and the date lined up beautifully with the day I was to hand back the keys and catch my flight to Auckland. Having booked in the movers a week in advance and confirmed everything was in order 3 days before moving date, all seemed to be going well and everything was in order. I had given away what I didn’t need, disassembled all the furniture and packed all the boxes so there was nothing left to do but to load it on the truck.
Moving day arrives and I woke up hours earlier, excited about the new adventure that is ahead. I’ve got the movers coming at 9am, cleaners booked in at 11am, flights at 2pm. Should be a breeze right! Unfortunately not so. 9 o’clock and there’s no signs of the movers, I understand that there may be Wellington traffic congestion in the early hours so let’s cut them some slack. 9.30am rolls around and still no sight, I try to call the mover buy it goes straight to voicemail so I leave a message to call me back. Fifteen minutes past and I try calling the number but again, it goes to voicemail, I’m starting to wonder what’s going on, the very least they could do is call and tell me they’ll be late! 10am comes and goes and still nothing, I’m starting to get worried now, I’ve got the cleaners coming in an hour and the furniture is still in the middle of the house. I’ve called and called dozens of times more to get in touch with the mover but I don’t get an answer, at this point I’m really upset, I’ve paid a deposit and I’ve got a no show. The cleaners have arrived and are now being held up, they are unable to start the clean. They do what they can while we wait for the movers to arrive, 30 minutes go by and the cleaners need to leave for the next job. I feel like the day is crumbling and the plan is out the window. My flights in 2.5 hours and I have to vacate the property, my stress levels at this point is unbearable and I’m really worried I’m going to miss my flight. I question if it’s even possible for any one running a business to be this late.
It was now midday and after all the stress, anxiety and anger I was felt in the last few hours I’ve come to the realization that the movers was not going to turn up, I’m going to miss my flight and I’m going to be homeless very soon. I called my real estate agent who were able to accommodate me for another week after hearing my situation, it would just cost me rent for the week. I had to organize some new movers and this time did my research and compared different Wellington movers, I was able to find a reliable furniture mover who was heading up to Auckland in the next couple days, this eventually cost me $300 more than my original moving quote. Flights were re-booked for the end of the week which cost me $150 more and my real estate agent arranged for end of lease cleaning and deducted the total from my bond payment which worked out to be significantly more expensive. All up, the incident cost me an extra $1000 on top of what I had originally planned for.
So, this was my not so grand adventure from Wellington to Auckland, it did cost me dearly along with unnecessary anger, stress and anxiety. It is a lesson learnt and I’ll know how to avoid this mistake going forward. My advice to anyone looking at moving house is to give yourself more of a buffer, don’t squeeze everything into a tight timeline and don’t be too hard on yourself because things can sometimes be out of your control and eventually things will work out, somehow they always do!