Anna Turner: On the hunt | Canterbury Opinion | Local Voices from Canterbury, New Zealand

I don't ask for many things in life.

A meal on the table - ideally a big bowl of pesto pasta, teamed with a decent vino. Clothes on my back - ideally a brightly coloured sundress, teamed with some strappy heels.

And, most importantly, a roof over my head - specifically a reasonably priced, two-bedroom apartment, in a nice Christchurch suburb.

Who knew that last one would prove so elusive?

I'm on the flat-hunt, and the task seems more difficult than usual because of the huge demand for living space in the city at the moment.

Our requests don't seem that unreasonable. He wants a dishwasher. I want a bath tub. We both want a heat pump. I thought we'd be pretty ideal tenants. Young professional couple, no children (not even furry ones), non-smoking, pay rent on time.

But the competition is fierce, with flats being snapped up within hours of being put on the market. Other landlords, seeing an opportunity, are hiking up rents on barely liveable properties. The date of our current lease ending is getting ever closer and the neurotic part of me is imagining us living under a bridge, fighting off vagabonds with sticks.

Looking for places has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride so far. We find the perfect flat, picture ourselves living there in domestic bliss (me soaking in the tub, while he stacks dishes), only then to have our dreams dashed as someone gets there before us.

We went to one open home for a rental recently - arriving about 15 minutes early- and had a look around. It was a pretty good house, ticked most of the boxes, and we were feeling pretty good about it as we left. And then we walked around the corner into literally 100 other people arriving to view the same house.

However, I know from experience that if you hang in there miracles can happen. I've found my dream apartment once before.

In fact, I moved into it on the morning of February 21, 2011.

Situated two minutes walk from the central city, newly renovated and with polished wooden floors, it boasted pretty much everything I could wish for. Upon shifting in, I spent several hours meticulously arranging all of my belongings in the exact positions I liked them.

Afterwards, I sat down and felt lucky to have found such a place.

Of course, it was not to last, the next day at 12.51pm my love affair with the flat came to a horrible end- it was destroyed in the earthquake. The house has since been demolished, but my dreams of once again finding the perfect flat weren't crushed along with it.

Hopefully we'll find a place soon. But when we do, I might not unpack for at least a couple of days. Just in case.