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Monday 2nd November 2009
Our belongings have arrived after their 6 week trip across the high seas! The 20 boxes arrived a week earlier than the estimate, and did not take the forecast 2 weeks to negotiate customs. Better than that: we did not get charged for the items we declared as new, and no boxes were opened by customs either!
A couple of kitchen things were broken, but all the important stuff arrived safe and sound. The Wii worked first time! (No we did not have to plug it in upside down...)
So... after another Ikea trip we have shelves and storage for our belongings... got a few pictures on the wall and it feels like home now.
Next mission: concentrate seriously on job hunting.
October 2009
Well it has been a very busy few weeks - settle down for a long story...
Flights
All went well, we arrived at Heathrow nice and early so no last minute panics! After our checking and weighing of bags, and our eventual decision that we did not care if we were charged excess baggage, we checked in 7kg too much with not a glance at check in. Malaysian Airlines were great - the legroom was excellent, the in-seat entertainment fantastic and the food also good. 12 hours to Kuala Lumpur, got a bit of sleep. Had a few hours at KL, so wandered around there, logged onto free wireless internet and sent messages/spoke to some people. How cool is that?! Second leg (8 hours to Adelaide) also went well - special mention for the dessert of 3 ferrero rochers and a mini magnum!
Arrival
Straight through customs, immigration, no questions asked. Out of the airport within about 20 minutes of touching down. We were met by Tony of Meet'n'Greet who took us to the Apartment. A bit earlier than we thought so we had a coffee while he gave us all the info and the life-saving map book of the city!
First few days
Organised all the important stuff like tax, medical cover, get bank cards. Also got wireless internet and mobile phones. Special mention to Vodafone for the time spent trying to figure out why we can get every website in the world apart from Vodafone Australia on our laptop...still waiting for the call back from Technical team... Also started looking for somewhere to live, walked the suburbs and viewed a few houses/apartments. Also had a couple of meetings - employment agencies, the new arrival meeting and a potential employer.
Last two weeks
Having been offered the only two houses we applied for, we accepted the first (loads better) and started buying furniture etc for it. Customer Service is great whoever you call - we've been amazed by no problem next day delivery, phones get answered by a real person who knows what they are talking about... Special mention to Ikea who remained calm and helpful while THREE of our cards were declined... a quick return trip into the bank to get a cheque sorted and all was OK. Having collected the keys to the house we have just got all our things in, had the basics delivered and are getting it straight. This morning was phone/internet - modem delivered, engineer been, all up and working by 9am! Had a hire car to help in moving, another special mention to Avis who had a replacement car with us in 30 minutes when the hire car did not start.
Now...
The house is up and running so we can concentrate on the job hunt. Alison has done a couple of on-line courses to get up to speed with Ozzie requirements so that is a good start. Alan has had a few calls from agencies and a few different companies have been mentioned, also a good sign! We have leads and contacts so hopefully in the next few weeks we'll have better news.
September 29th 2009
Thanks very much to all the friends and family who we saw in Ross on Sunday. We had a really good time, and it was great to see everyone. And the weather held out - perfect for the barbie!
We are now in final packing mode - all sorted, just waiting for the off. Checked in early on this morning, just to make sure we were definitely on the plane, and had the date right...how funny it would be if we'd got the day wrong and had another week in the UK...
See you all on the other side... (well, you'll be seeing us, we won't see you unless you've got Skype!)
September 2009
Well we are now officially homeless, although thanks to the kindness of friends we are being very well looked after, staying in their spare room!
Progess over the last month:
House sold and moved out. The new owners are in. We walk past every so often and no major changes yet!
20 boxes of belongings are on their way to Adelaide. They are on the Container Ship Ever Salute - we are tracking progress via the internet. If I spy any pirates I am going to let them know.
All remaining furniture or belongings (apart from our 3 suitcases) is either: with needy friends and colleagues, or waiting to be in a car boot sale in aid of the NSPCC.
Accounts closed, monies refunded (mostly) or paid up (fully) where due.
Adelaide accommodation and bank accounts sorted (well for the first month). did you know the UK pound is currently at a 13-year low against the Aussie Dollar? Well we did because that is exactly at the time we exchanged some money into our Aussie bank account.
Last day of work = September 25th. Will be very strange, but very exciting.
August 2009
Everything is a lot closer now. We have Exchanged on the house and are moving out at the end of August. We are then flying out to Australia at the end of September - arriving in Adelaide on 1st October (so June's estimate was looking good). We have some nice accommodation in central Adelaide for a few weeks to get us started.
All we have to do now is finish packing!!
All looking good. Hopefully more news and pictures in October!
June 2009
After putting our house on the market at Easter, we received and accepted an offer on the house, with completion in September. We are currently awaiting the date for completion, which should be mid-september, so that we can then organise flights, hand in notice to work etc for arounf the same time.
So all being well we should be in Australia for the begining of October.
April 2009
The most exciting news of all we have got our visas for residency in Australia! After starting the Visa application process in August 2007 (following a 5 week trip Down Under earlier in the year) we have finally got our visas to allow us to live and work in Australia.
We are now getting the ball moving by putting our home on the market, sorting out CVs and Qualifications and organising a checklist.
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