We both managed to sleep through until 6am. Result. That might seem a little early to get up but Luca is an early riser too, so Heidi was up too. We helped ourselves to some coffee whilst Heidi was going through her usual morning routine; feeding and dressing Luca while trying to get herself ready for work.

After Daniel dropped Luca off at day care, we sat down to a nice breakfast of fresh, crusty bread with meats, cheese and cucumber. Along with more coffee, it was just like we'd never left Finland.

David wasn’t keen on selling his beloved truck before we left for our year away and instead arranged for a work colleague, Terry, to look after it. Terry had space at his house and said he’d take it out weekly to keep the engine turning over. More than that, he’d also made sure that it was taken for the regular servicing, Warrant of Fitness certifications etc.

David had arranged to pick the vehicle up from his work, or at least where he used to work. This worked well because he wanted to go into the workplace and show his face to prove that he’d met his contractual commitment to be back in the country and available for work by the 25th of January.

Daniel drove David up to Albany after the rush hour had eased and as before everything looked pretty much the same as one year ago. The only exception was the major road works on the southern approach into Albany. The roundabout on the dual carriageway was replaced with traffic lights and the entire road widened from 4 lanes to 7 lanes.

It was only supposed to be a fleeting visit to show face but it took David ages to get back out of the building. Everyone was keen to chat and it was hard to walk more than 5 metres without another conversation being started.

David did manage to speak with Dan from HR who he’d been speaking with and emailing while we were in Kemi, Finland. Hopefully this meeting will help with re-employment. It’s an interesting contracting that was signed, David remains a non-paid member of staff even though he resigned from his position and will be considered for any vacancy that arises, including internally only advertised roles.

After 2 hours, David finally managed to leave with the keys to his truck in hand. The sun was shining and the electric blue Hilux was sparkling. There was a comforting feeling getting back behind the wheel and a smile spread across David’s face as the diesel engine burst into life. Some people get intimated about driving a Hilux because it seems so big but in fact it’s the same length and width as a Holden Commodore.

Back in Grey Lynn, we had a pasta lunch before starting the hunt for accommodation. We had decided, while we were away, that we should look for apartment living in the city until we were sure of where we would be working. No point living on the shore and battling with the traffic to get over the bridge if we were working city side.

There wasn’t much in the way of the long term rentals and we focussed on short term rentals while we continued our search. Surprisingly the short term rentals were sparse despite costing in the region of $130 to $150 per DAY! Signing up for a few weeks or a month would put a real dent in our savings if we didn’t get work soon.

The entire afternoon was spent trawling the internet, virtual viewings and emailing various options. Rental prices have also increased dramatically in the year we have been away. Runaway house prices and a rapidly increasing population in Auckland are making homes scarce and hence prices are rising. Signing up to a long term rental might prove problematic if we don’t have jobs. We’ll see.

It was dinner time and tonight Heidi was treating us to homemade pizza washed down with beer and wine. Yum!!