{"id":4108,"date":"2022-07-26T06:07:35","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T06:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/notsotinyliving.com\/?p=4108"},"modified":"2026-07-26T06:57:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T06:57:38","slug":"land-ahoy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/notsotinyliving.com\/?p=4108","title":{"rendered":"Land Ahoy!"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been a long time since I have updated this blog. Not out of busy-ness, simply because I just didn’t have a lot to share. I’m not typically one to talk about my daily life.<\/p>\n

It has been nearly a year since we moved onto our rented land. And boy has it been great. Our bills are so low that we are saving 60% of our salary each month (even after my splurging). It has enabled us to do something we thought would take another 1-2 years: Buy land.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We were looking for 7 months before we found the “right” property. Because we are not buying land to invest. We are buying land to settle permanently. The land we found is perfect for ‘us’. It isn’t perfect for everyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It has:<\/p>\n

No electricity connected to the property,\u00a0
No sewerage tank or town connection on the property
No water connection to the property.\u00a0
It does however have a telephone pole on the property with access to internet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is 30 minutes south of the city. However, it has a lake view on one side, and a beach on the other. We are actually the only property on the peninsular between them. The beach is a very popular gemstone beach, and the lake has a lot of cultural significance and history when it comes to fishing and eeling for the native New Zealand Maori.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It does have council restrictions on buildings and structures on the land, because of it’ “high natural beauty”.
Half of the land is also flood prone to a depth of about 40cm. Which is something I will take into consideration when choosing a spot for the Tiny House and other things we will be building.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All of these points mean the land is useless to anyone except us. Which also made the price point very attractive.<\/p>\n

As of June 2022, We own the land. It is ours. We spent about a month out at the land preparing it for the Tiny House. This included multiple cement slabs, a shed and putting up a crude wire fence around the property just to let the locals know where the boundary was. Lastly we dug a well, (as we are very close to the waterline) and installed a water tank and water pumps (I hate water pumps). Again, thanks to my cousin for all his help here. Its amazing what a man will do for a free dinner.<\/p>\n

Moving the Tiny House was next. This was far more difficult compared to the last time we moved it. Last time was a straight run on a non-busy, multi-lane highway for 25km. This time, the distance from the 25km north of the city, to 50km south of the city was now 75km (nearly 50 miles) and most of it was long, winding country roads.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In preparation. We packed up all the contents inside the Tiny House and emptied it (except the bed and sofa). Thank you to my cousin again for letting us store items there for a week. The day before the move was cutting back trees along the driveway of the old property, and then pulling the Tiny House out onto the street. Which surprisingly was quite an easy process and we didn’t even lose any lights this time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As is tradition, we decided to move it late at night. Starting at midnight. We drove slowly….. very slowly… about 40km\/h (15 mph) constantly. We had to pull over several times to let traffic pass us. But we made it all the way out to the land at about 3:30am.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We had to drop down onto the beach which was loose gravel to get it into our driveway and towards the cement slab. But that was when things finally went wrong. Loose gravel and rocks tend to sink under heavy loads. And heavy loads we had. A small truck, pulling a multi-tonne Tiny House didn’t stand a chance. We were stuck! After about an hour of trying to dig the truck out of where it was. We gave up and went to sleep in the Tiny House.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The next morning, my previous landlord text me asking how the move went. After explaining the situation he drove straight out with his off-roading 4×4 to help. And you wouldn’t believe it, but those modified Toyota Hilux duel cab Utes are just amazing off-road vehicles. We disconnected the truck. Towed the truck out of the gravel. Then\u00a0 connected the Tiny House to the 4×4. Finally we jacked up the sides of the Tiny House to put long boards of wood under the wheels, and towed it up onto the cement slab.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The last step was the sketchiest. We had to turn the tiny house 45 degrees on the slab. And sadly, every part of the land around the slab was just loose gravel. We decided to use the winch on the 4×4 and drag it around on the spot. Which honestly wasn’t good for the front axle as it was carrying a bulk of the weight whilst being ripped sideways. Ill look into that later. But we did it.<\/p>\n

Writing this down, it really makes me think again how much help we have had on this journey. We absolutely could not have done this alone. People always step up to help. It reminds me that I should also offer more help to others.<\/p>\n

The weeks that followed were installing water pipes, adding some clay into the gravel in front of the house where the car sits, adding a grey water run off area, and teething issues regarding batteries and power management.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But it is done, we nailed it (or at least survived it).<\/p>\n

Next thing for us to look at is building out the land. I am thinking a deck, an outdoor kitchen, some garden beds. Who knows. the land is our oyster at this point.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I will have some better photos for you shortly. I just have to build the deck!<\/p>\n

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Look at that view\u00a0<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n