Staying with Stella

As part of our travels across New Zealand Phoebe came up with a fantastic idea: dog sitting for others when they go away on holiday! Not long after arriving in New Zealand we met our first furry friend in her beautiful home in one of the suburbs of outer Auckland. Staying with them would present us with an opportunity to better orientate ourselves to the country that we would be exploring for the foreseeable future. Our stay with Stella the dog was a lengthy 10 days, giving us ample time to organise ourselves, find a van, and settle into the life we had chosen!

Stella is a seven year old dog of unknown breed, a potential mix of grey-hound, staffordshire bull and/or border collie. We were told she was found wondering the south island at around 7 months old, before she was rescued by our hosts. Likely due to this, she appears to suffer with almost constant anxiety, and displayed frequent reactive behaviour - barking at anything and everything! Evidently, this required a great deal of training to get under control, and even now requires continuous training to maintain. Despite this, she is still an incredibly loving and affectionate dog. Stella loved a sofa snuggle, zoomies around the house, a run in the park, and even has a toddler as a best friend. We truly fell for her in our symbiotic relationship, we provided her reassurance, exercise and food, whilst she provided a roof over our heads and a little bit of chaos - but we both loved the cuddles!

We were introduced to Stella, and our temporary home, in the most wholesome and welcoming way possible: our hosts prepared a gorgeous meal, and we enjoyed this alongside their two year old daughter (who managed to get it up the walls😛). After they had packed their bags and left the next morning, our time for relaxation and organisation could begin.

We spent our days with Stella walking or running in the calm large local cemetary, an ideal place for Stella, and somewhere for reflection for me. I spent many hours, with or without Phoebe, wondering the graveyards and reflecting on the memorials to the war veterans of the past. Throughout our stay with Stella I finished listening to a powerful and moving audiobook, In Memoriam. Given its WW1 background, it often felt more than appropriate to be listening to this as I walked or ran with Stella around Waikumete Cemetary. The cemetary was often alive with birds, which Phoebe and I both enjoyed watching and photographing. This special place felt very much the opposite to a traditional spooky cemetary (apart from on halloween👻), and I have fond memories of my time with Stella and Phoebe there.

 

However, sometimes we did venture out without Stella, leaving her alone to guard the house from the local Puheko (a species of bird) that liked to wonder nearby. On one such occassion, Phoebe had encouraged us both to attend the local parkrun. So we did, and after assessing the route during our first, we attended again the following week to race it. Putting in our best efforts, I was able to come first and Phoebe managed a personal best in the 5km distance! However, a more significant trip out than these, was that which led to the purchase of our campervan!

 

The van we found was highly sought after, and several people had been to view it, or were planning to do so. Both Phoebe and I had a good feeling about the van, and it appeared in fantastic condition for its age. We decided to buy it as another keen customer called up to inquire after it, with the same intention! After closely sealing the deal, I approached my Mum to borrow some temporary funds to purchase it, without which we would not have our beloved new home. We are very thankful for her support, though I have now paid back all debts to her 😀. For several of the following days, after acquiring our van, we spent some time outfitting it with storage boxes and other handy items to make our upcoming life on the road more comfortable. Many of you who know Phoebe and I well will know that we name every car we drive, and this would be no different. We settled on the fact that our van would be female, and that her name is Geraldine, or Gerry for short!

 

 

 

A lot of our time was also spent indoors, as the weather in Auckland was frequently stormy and wet during our stay there. This meant we could make good use of having access to a TV to watch films together with Stella, as well as utilising the full size kitchen to cook some elaborate meals (though we did still order a below average pizza 🍕). We also made good use of the quiet time inside to organise our trip: purchasing car insurance, planning our route, and booking campsites or activities. However, we had quite an eventful couple of nights indoors with Stella during the fireworks, providing constant reassurance and turning the house into a disco in order to drown out the noise!

Phoebe and I both are very thankful for the time we had with Stella. After moving out of our home in Nottingham we had had little time to stop, reflect and properly relax, Stella's home provided that for us. It was special not only because of the connection we made with the lovable floof, but because without doing so we might not have found the beautiful Geraldine.