Tuesday 25 November 2008

G’Day from down under!

Well, the first week is over, where do I begin?

We left Heathrow airport at 11am on Tuesday 18th November, and travelled to Perth, via Singapore, on the new airbus plane that Singapore airlines use, and even had the luxury of travelling business class! (Well it was a one way trip and we won’t do it again!). The seats were amazing, and both Clare and me managed to sit comfy on one seat! Anyway, 19 hours later and a change of plane we arrived in a sunny, warm, no hot Perth.

We were met at the airport by Kendra, Hayden and Oskar who welcomed us to Australia. Then John turned up, who gave us a lift from the airport to our new house which we are staying in for the next couple of months. It’s a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house and only a 10 minute drive to a white sandy beach.

Jet lag then kicked in and before we knew it, it was 9pm and we were all asleep for a nice long night…..

BUT THEN…

At 1am, we were all woken up, by what we later found out, to be one of Perth’s greatest electrical storms for a long time. It seemed to go on for ages and by the time it had stopped we were all wide awake. The house we are staying in has a table tennis table and Harry and I were playing at 4.30 am! We had a chill out day for that day, trying to stay awake for the next night.

Moving onwards, we have been house hunting. We have looked at three houses so far. One was to buy, but until one of us gets work, we won’t be able to get a mortgage. The other two were for long term rent. The first was in a nice area, but inside was just dark. The second house was really nice and we both thought this was it, but then we found out that it had no air conditioner unit and that’s something that will be needed when it gets really hot. The looking goes on tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day….

Talking of the weather, it has rained every day so far. Temperatures have been in the low to mid 20’s so its been quite nice. By Christmas, the temperature will reach the high 30’s to low 40’s…hence the reason why the air con is needed.

We have just put a deposit down on a new car. It is a Nissan Tiida. Hopefully we can have it by the weekend, providing the funds clear the bank. We also have new mobile numbers, so don’t bother with our UK mobile numbers any more. If you want our number, then just contact one of us.

No luck on the job front yet, although I have only started to look for work. It will be difficult to start with, as the temptation of the beach rather than sit in the office is there!
There is probably loads more to put down, but that will do for now. I’ll do another update soon

Tuesday 4 November 2008

We’re leaving, on a jet plane……

Or for another song title..”What a difference a day makes..”

Who said a week is a long time in politics? Well a week is a short time when making the move to the other side of the world.

Ok, the last update was on Friday 24th October, since then, we have packed, put our stuff on a boat, sold the house, moved out the house, booked the flights, booked the first 9 weeks accommodation and arranged a leaving drink for close friends and family.

So we leave Heathrow airport on the 18th November, and arrive in Perth around tea time on the 19th. We are flying with Singapore Airlines on the new A380 double decker plane, so that will be a new experience!

More updates to follow