House Sitting In Huirangi

My current house sit sees me back in Taranaki’s Huirangi area, and on the lifestyle block that I looked after for a couple weeks in the middle of summer. It’s located about 10 minutes west of Waitara, and it’s a 20 minute or so drive to New Plymouth.

It’s my second sit here and it’s good to be back – I really like this place. I arrived on June 24th and I will be here until July 28th while the owners go on a road trip around the North Island to catch up with family and friends and indulge in a spot of tramping.

The place has changed a bit in the four months since I last saw it. It’s certainly a lot greener – last time I was here the district was in a pretty bad drought and there was not much in the way of grass for the stock on this place. Also, every drop of water for the house and the animals is rain water and so that had to be strictly managed in order to make sure the tanks didn’t run dry.

As for the creatures great and small, I have 13 chookies and a couple roosters, and a massive huge herd of 6 bovines, consisting of two in-calf cows, two heifers, and a pair of one-year-olds.

The section out the front of the house has changed a fair bit. The vegetable garden is looking a lot tidier and the owners have also sown a new area of lawn.

The property is semi-off grid with much of the power coming from solar panels.

The main living area of the house has no curtains and there is no wood burner or heat pump. I thought the house might be on the cold side this time of year but it’s actually surprisingly warm! All the main windows are double-glazed, plus they’re huge and they face the north and thus they let in heaps of sunlight during the winter months. Plus the marble-like material used for the concrete floor has been designed to absorb and hold the warmth generated from the sun.

In addition, because the sun is lower in the sky during the colder months, the overhang and slope of the house’s roof was designed to allow maximum sunlight into the house during winter. Even on overcast days, the living area of the home is nice and warm. We’ve had some good sun today – it’s now 8pm and the thermometer gives the temperature for the outside as 9 degrees C but the inside is a nice 24 degrees C. In addition, the hot water cylinder is heated via a wood-fueled range in the kitchen area so there is zero electricity being used for hot water.

There’re plenty of winter greens in the garden, citrus on the trees, and fresh ginger in the glass house and I’m looking forward to putting them to use while I’m here.