(UPBEAT MUSIC) Auckland ` Tamaki Makaurau ` the City of Sails, the Place Desired by Many. And you can see why ` the beaches,... Not bad! ...the shopping, the restaurants, the people. But there's the other stuff ` (DRAMATIC MUSIC) the traffic,... Come on! ...the house prices,... Whoa! (SIREN WAILS) ...the noise, the people! Aucklanders are packing up and moving out every day. And this show is about that. I did it, and I never looked back. Come with us as we follow escapees swapping the pavement for the paddocks. For richer, for poorer; for better or worse, we are moving out. We're just winging it, really. We probably made a big mistake. We're not keeping a door open in Auckland, and there's no fallback option. Copyright Able 2017 Howick, East Auckland. Some streets around here go back more than 100 years; some less than five. The couple in this house have seen some pretty big changes over the years, but they're about to make some pretty big changes themselves. We've been married for 25 years, together 28, and we met in a pub in Ballarat in Victoria. I was there with a few of my mates, and we saw Carol and her mates standing at the bar. I did make a comment on her looks at the time, and one of my mates walked up, grabbed her by the hand. And what did he say to you? He said, 'I'm taking you to meet the nicest man in the world,' and literally dragged me across the pub to meet Bill. (LAUGHS) Yeah, and we` That's how we met. Been together ever since. Na taua tuponotanga i te kainga tipu o Bill, i Ballarat, Ahitereiria, i whanau mai ai nga tamariki tokorua, me nga piki, me nga heke ano. After we got married, we decided to come to New Zealand, and Carol was ecstatic about that. We moved in December 2003, which was good timing, cos the kids had finished that level of school and they could start the new school. Ara noa atu, nga huarahi rereke e whai ana e Carol raua ko Bill ` he ahuatanga motuhake o tenei marena angitu. I'll practise golf. I'm pretty keen. If I walk to golf, it's 50 seconds to a minute if I get the light. (PEDESTRIAN SIGNAL BEEPS) It's actually faster than driving anywhere. I used to sing a lot. I used to be a member of the Greater Auckland Chorus ` a woman's barbershop chorus. She actually represented New Zealand` or Auckland overseas in America. Our interests are quite good ` they're very different ` but also probably why we lasted so long as well. (CLINK!) You want a cuppa? Yeah, I'd love one, babe. Ko te papa hahau poro, ko te whare kia raua ano, he pai te putea, he motuhake nga turanga mahi,... OK, she's tied for 65th. ...e ao te mea, ne? Au warea ke. We really love the house. We've been renting here for seven years, and it's just brilliant. The house is four bedrooms; it's got a beautiful outside yard ` paved; not much lawn, so not a lot of upkeep and that. But we're on a main road. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) So from 7 o'clock in the morning, to get out of our driveway is a mission. (TENSE MUSIC) Come on. Come on. Someone let me in. (SIGHS) Come on. (HORN BLARES) Bit of road rage. Is no one gonna let me in this morning? Yes? No? Of course not. Oh, thanks, mate. (HORN BLARES) (LAUGHS) You got traffic the other way. Bit awkward, but thanks, mate. Thank you! (BLEEP)! Great (!) Damn. Come on, lights. There's just been so much building. There's always construction somewhere. There's always roads getting fixed somewhere. And when you're in an area where the roads... You know, it's almost a one-way-in, one-way-out situation, and I'm literally 10 minutes from work, and it can take me over an hour to get there some days, just because of traffic. Kaore e kite ana te mutunga o nga whakatu waka i Tamaki. Ka tere mau te tangata i te nui o nga waka. Well, I'm in sales, and I know, for myself, I have people that I have to make appointments to see. On an average day, I'd struggle to make five appointments. And I've had to change some purely cos I couldn't get through the traffic. (RINGBACK BURRS) Good morning. It's Bill McClendon here. I had a meeting with Peter Hutchinson today at 9.30. Obviously I'm late. Sure, I'll let Mr Hutchinson know. We've done a review at work with our GPS systems in vehicles. In the last six months, I averaged between four and a half hours and five hours a day, non-productive work, in traffic. (SOFT, REFLECTIVE MUSIC) You look at the cost of living in Auckland. We look at our children and what they're gonna have to earn to buy a property in the Auckland area. They would never earn enough money in the wages here to pay a mortgage. It's just out of their reach. So they'll never settle down here, and I think that most young people won't be able to. The house we're in now, we've rented this for the last seven years, and when we look at the money we've spent renting this, to what we could've purchased out of the Auckland area, we sort of kick ourselves. Because it was close for our kids to do their university. Now they're both settled and done, we can go back to the country, where we like to be. Mehemea kua whakarerea a Tamaki Makaurau e nga tamariki pakeke a Bill raua ko Carol, kaore he take mo raua ki konei. We've decided that we're out of Auckland. We've been looking in different areas. I have family in Wairarapa, and I really love the Wairarapa. So we've decided that we'll look there. (LIVELY MUSIC) Look at that. We started googling, like everyone does, specifically in the Wairarapa. Have a look at this. The Wairarapa is a beautiful area. Initially we were looking in Masterton. The reason is because Carol's dad lives across the road from the golf course, and I kinda like a little bit of golf. Carol gets rid of me for a couple of hours. After we went down for Christmas holidays and stayed at my dad's in Masterton and we actually drove around and had a look at different areas, we decided that we actually liked Carterton. Ina te nui o nga whare kei Carterton, e tirohia ana e Bill raua ko Carol. Carterton's great. It's 14Ks from Masterton, so where here dad's concerned, we're no living in their back pocket. It's a lovely little town. For us, it's sort of a main street, and then you've got a bit of housing either side, which is quite good. Close to all amenities. Going back to the country, she's even happier. I think it's just a bit more of a relaxing lifestyle. So if we're gonna drive somewhere, we can be there within reasonable time; we're not stressed out. And it'll be good to get into our own home rather than paying someone else's mortgage. (WARBLING, SQUEAKING) (ETHEREAL MUSIC) In a moment of clarity, Louisa saw that while power companies offered her all sorts of free months, cash bonuses and ultra-saver wingdings, she'd save more paying the actual wholesale price of her power. (MUSIC SWELLS) * You want a cuppa? Yeah, I'd love one, babe. Kua whakarerea te kainga e o raua tamariki tokorua, a, e kore hoki raua e whai kainga i Tamaki, kua puta i a Carol raua ko Bill ka wehe raua i Tamaki Makaurau. In the last six months, I averaged between four and a half hours and five hours a day, non-productive work, in traffic. Come on, lights. Me nga utu nui, paorooro nui ano hoki. There's always construction somewhere. There's always roads getting fixed somewhere. E ata tirohia ana te ataahua o te o te Wairarapa. With the climate, it reminds me of home, because the nights are cold but you get beautiful days. For me it's close to fishing, if you wanna go fishing. It's not too far from the snow. Only a couple of hours if you wanna go there. I reckon sitting outside and not hearing a siren every 15 or 20 minutes, whether it's a police car or a fire truck or an ambulance. I mean, not having a car come through our front gate from an accident at the corner here. Now, there's all those type of things. (UPBEAT GUITAR MUSIC) Kua piki waka rererangi ahau ki te kitea ano i a Carol raua ko Bill i Carterton kia rongo hoki au e ahu pehea ana raua. So, Carol, he aha te hiranga o te taone nei, otira, o te rohe o Te Wairarapa ki a koe? What are the things that you love most about this region? Well, I grew up here as a young child; I started school here; my father taught here. It has a lot of really warm, fuzzy memories. Well, that's positive. But where's Bill? Well, Bill's actually in a job interview right now for these people ` Property Brokers. Ah. How you going? Bill, is it? It is. Guy. Hi. How are you? Nice to meet you. I'm good. Come on through. Let's have a chat. Tell us about yourself. OK, well, I'm married, with two kids. Sorry to hear that (!) Right! So, job on the horizon. Sounds like you're not just kind of thinking about the idea; it sounds like you've taken the next step. Yes. Carterton is it. Carterton is it? We are moving to Carterton. All right! What are you looking for? Something smaller. Downsizing. A smaller house with a bit of land so we can make our own mark, do a bit of rural stuff, like have some chickens and a veggie garden. Yeah, we don't need a lot of space in the house. Two bedrooms is really what we want. Yeah. But with a bit of land so we can make our mark. Yup. There's, like really small places like this, which is two bedrooms but good price ` 315. Yeah. And then down here you've got another two-bedroomer. That's 229. What do you think when you look at those prices, compared to the Auckland prices that you've just come from? Well, I think there's a possibility that we'll actually own our own home. (LAUGHS) Oh! The moment is here! Yeah! Well, he hiahia ranei nou kia whakaaturia tetahi putu motuhake o te taone nei? Is there somewhere in particular that you would like to show me in this beautiful town? Absolutely. Come this way. OK. (RELAXED MUSIC) All right, so where have you brought me? To Carterton School. This is where I started school. Ah. This is my old stomping ground. Right. I get it. He aha ou maharatanga o te kura nei? What are your fondest memories from here? Probably the fact that we could run across the park to school ` it was quite cool ` and trying to avoid the magpies from the pine trees. And what about the teachers? Good teachers? Good teachers, yeah. My dad was one of them, so it's always great. (BOTH LAUGH) And he was a good teacher, of course? Oh, always. (PHONE CHIMES) Sorry. (RINGBACK BURRS) Hi, Bill. How's the job interview going? Yeah, it went good. It went really good. Kia ora, Bill. How are you? Oh, I'm really good, Tamati. And yourself? Good. Good, good. Hey, so, it sounds like you might be moving to Carterton. Yeah, the job interview went really really well. I felt very confident about it. Hey, well, that sounds really positive, mate. Good luck with the rest of the interview. I hope it all goes well. OK, mate. Bye-bye. CAROL AND BILL: Bye. Wow. So, that sounds positive. It does, doesn't it? It will be so exciting. Yeah, yeah. Yes. Well, kia pai te rapu whare hou mo korua. Good luck to both of you in finding a house, and ka kite ano au i a korua i to whare hou. I look forward to seeing you both in your new house. That'd be great. (LAUGHS) All right. See you later. Thanks. Good luck. Thank you! OK. Bye! No reira, ko Carterton tonu te wahi ma Bill raua ko Carol me te tika hoki. Haere noa te wa kei Tamaki Makaurau he whanaketanga nui kua puta mai. Well, since we last saw you, we've got some exciting news. We've bought a house in Carterton. Yeah, it's a great little place, and to give you a bit of an idea about it, it's only two bedrooms. A little bit smaller than what we've got here, but it's on a 1000m2 section. And to be fair, the price we'd paid for it, we couldn't buy a 500m2 section in Auckland, without the house on it. So it's been fantastic. And the house, it's gonna suit us down to the ground. Because it's been moved, it's had all the expensive things like roof, rewiring, painting, insulation all done. And it's a blank canvas, because all that's there is the house, a double garage and a tree. Me te aha, he heihei hoki kei konei hei hua ma te whanau. A, nona tata nei, i rangatira ai nga whakatau a Bill raua ko Carol he hapori rangatira hoki tenei. While we were in Carterton, we were sitting in the cafe, looking at the Property Press, trying to valuate what homes we'd go and look at, and the lady that was serving us noticed that we were looking for a house. Are you moving here? Yeah, we are. We are. Oh cool! Exciting. And she actually gave us a big spiel about why we should move there. 'It's a great place,' and, 'We'd love new people to come and live here,' and, 'Look at the views,' and it was just really wonderful, because she didn't know us from Adam, and she was welcoming us into the town already, and it was just great. It just feels so... It was very inviting. And it was nice to have, with that country feel, that you're a person. Hei aha te awangawanga o te akihana, me tuku noa a Bill raua ko Carol i te tono ki te rangatira o te whare o mohoa no nei, a, ka whakarite i a raua kia puta ke i te rua. As you can see, in the lounge room, it's an absolute bombshell. We have got boxes for Africa. I must say it's a mundane task packing boxes; not my choice. But to be fair, the excitement moving to a new home is fantastic. Kei konei ke te tira mahi o NZ Van Lines, a, hei te toru haora anake kua whakarite a nga raua katoa a Bill raua ko Carol, a, e haerenga waru haora te roa kei te haere. Yeah, it just feels like a weight's lifted, actually, and that, you know, 'Ready to go,' and, you know, we're actually, you know, 'The date's coming up,' and it's quite exciting. Very exciting. Just last night, on the way home from work, we were just comparing notes on how much longer we'll have before we won't have traffic jams any more. It always makes me smile because it's counting down to when this won't happen any more. Next stop, Christchurch (!) (LAUGHTER, CHUCKLING) Kua peke a Bill raua ko Carol i te peke nui ` kua hoko whare motuhake raua i tetahi whare ahuwhenua i mua i te whiwhinga turanga mahi motuhake. Pai tu, pai hinga mo raua. Koira te korero mo era e hunuku ana ki wahi ke. I just hope that it all works out. (UPBEAT MUSIC) (ENERGETIC MUSIC) Kua puta i a Bill raua ko Carol tetahi whakatau nui. Kei te wehe i o raua mahi nui kia whai oranga ano i tetahi hapori ahuwhenua. You look at do-ups around here ` $600,000. Kua hokona tetahi whare rua-ruma-moe te nui i Carterton ma raua te oranga e wawatahia nei e te tini, e te mano. So here's a little kitchen. Mm-hm. Engari kaore ano raua kia whiwhi mahi. And here we are in Carterton. It's beautiful weather. We've settled in pretty well. Still got a few boxes to unpack, but the cat, he's settled in real well, sitting around, not fussed about anything. The move went really well. NZ Van Lines were great. It just feels like home. We turned up; the people here are fantastic. Just random acts of kindness. Like, we were at the local cafe Wild Oats the other day, and the woman there, when she realised we were new, she brought us a loaf of bread and some salt cos it's good luck to have a loaf of bread and salt in your new house. You know, she'd never met us before. Great news for me is that I got the job at Property Brokers. Takes a bit of pressure off too, which is good. Bought the house off Julanne, which was fantastic. She told me to give you a call. The plan is that Carol, she may be able to continue her current role remotely, which would be great for us ` stay on the Auckland salary, which will be even better. Otherwise, she has applied for a couple of administrative jobs, and we'll just see. Kaore ano a Carol kia whiwhi turanga mahi, engari ma ana pukenga whakahaere kamupene, e tutuki ai tera aputa ` he tata tonu Te Whanganui-a-Tara hoki. Carterton's one of several towns in the Wairarapa along the main trunk line, I guess. Starting back from Masterton, they run commuter trains from Masterton. So Masterton, Carterton, Greytown, Featherston ` they're all on the line that you can commute to work. I've actually also joined the golf club. Carterton is a country course, but a great feel about it. With the handicap that I currently play off, it's actually gonna make me the second-best player in the golf club, handicap-wise. Playing representative golf for a new club is going to allow me to meet a lot of new people. So that's going to help with our personal life, as well as our business. No Bill e whakaharatau ana i tana karawhiu rakau hahau poro, kei Carterton ano au e tirohia ana te hunukutanga mai. Ahakoa te ngenge, e pai tonu ana a Carol kia whakatu mai te whare hou. The new house! Yes! Come in! How long have you been in here now? One night. (GASPS) So it's still fresh. Still cardboard boxes around the place. Definitely. Excuse the mess. (LAUGHS) It's OK. That's OK. It's a nice, wee home. Show me around. No worries. Well, this is the lounge. I got that. I got that. (LAUGHS) And down here is our exceedingly messy bedroom. Been hanging clothes. Our spare bedroom. OK. Tight. Tight. Tight. (BOTH LAUGH) LAUGHS: Into the kitchen! Which is probably the messiest, because it's a work in progress. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, there's no big expectations. You've been in here for a night, OK? So don't be hard on yourself. This is what every other newly-moved in house looks like. Oh, I'm sure they are. In terms of the section, it's quite a big section, though, isn't it? It is. It's 1200m2. Right. But all that's here is the garage, the house and a single tree. The Kiwi quarter-acre dream is still there if you want it; you just have to go look for it. And we found it here in Carterton. (CHICKENS CLUCK) You'd come from quite a big house to a tighter, smaller` Yes, much smaller. He aha nga painga o tenei whare? What are the good things that you've identified about this particular house? Well, it's a very warm house, so that's quite nice. It's very solid. There was a lot of wind last night, and it didn't rock or roll at all. But it's like coming home. It feels like home already, and we've only been here one night. And it's really, you know, the warm fuzzies. Yeah. It's really cool. (LAUGHS) Yeah. Pehea te rahi o te whenua nei? What about the size of the actual land? Cos there's quite a bit of land here. Yeah, there's 1200m2. That was one of the things we liked about ` it was that it was a big block. The neighbours are lovely. We've already met the neighbours. So that was really really nice. It feels good; you're feeling good about the move. Everything feels quite positive at the moment, and you've got a blank canvas to work on. So the best of luck to you. Thank you. To you both. To you both. To you all, including your chickens. Including the chickens. (LAUGHS HEARTILY) He tika tonu te hunukutanga mai a Bill raua ko Carol ki Taratahi nei. Ko te mahi tika; i te wa tika. Kaore i tua atu. Kua kitea te ao pai ` ki konei, ki Taratahi. Captions by Glenna Casalme www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 He mea tautoko na Te Mangai Paho.