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

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

Long time no blog…..

I have been surprised about the amount of people who have asked me when I am going to update this blog again. Well the truth is that first off, there really wasn’t anything to update it with and secondly, I did not want to tempt fate.

Today, well this afternoon, at around 4.45pm, we got a call from the solicitors, with the news that all parties are ready to exchange contracts!

Talk about short notice…Its not like we are just moving to the next town is it!

Unfortunately, the buyers solicitors decided to go home early today, so we will have to wait until Monday to get it all confirmed, but our solicitors are still going to push for a moving date of Friday 31st October.

So, until now and then, I have to sort out the removal men to come and pack, and put our possessions on a boat and then we need to arrange for the cats transport to Australia and our own. So many things to do in such a short space of time!

More news to follow, after the weekend…..!

A Trip to the Post Office...

Not necessarily the most interesting of trips, but on this occasion, it was to pick up our passports. We now hold the required visa to let us into Australia!!

Now, who wants to buy a house..???

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-18976129.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

Back to Square 1

This house market in the UK is bad. Plenty of people came to view the house, but with it being a buyers market, they have plenty of choice.

Our prospective buyer pulled out of buying the house. I’m not surprised as it had all gone quiet from the estate agent. After an agreement with the current estate agent, we have now joined up with another one.

Apart from that, on a happier note, Clare and Harry have just returned from Euro Disney, so the passports can be sent off to Australia House in the morning, so that all important visa can be stamped into them.

Although still without work from my redundancy from Orange, I am enjoying some time off. I know that I have been promised some part time work to do, but in the mean time, I’ll carry on claiming my £60 per week in job seekers allowance.

It’s been busy times these last few weeks. First, there was the 20/20 cup final; where I watch my Kent team narrowly lose the final to Middlesex. Then I spent most of the day on Saturday watching the rain, when I should have been watching day 3 of the test match, but drink beer with Simon, Sarah, Tim, Alex, Matt, Keith and Scott (Not all at the same time!). Still we saw 17 over’s bowled and a wicket. The most important weekend is still to come, when Kent play Essex in the Friends Provident Trophy final at Lords on the 16th. Keep your eye for me, as I am sitting in row 1 of the Compton Stand and the game is being covered live on Sky.

That’s about all for now – not one mention of Millwall and the football season started yesterday!

Just like buses

You wait ages for an update, then 3 come in one month!

Today, at 7.40am, we received an email from the Australian Government, department of immigration and citizenship. What this letter said was that we have been granted our visa's and have to be in Australia by the 7th March 2009!

So, as soon as we sell the house, the flights will be booked and off we go!

I'll post more when the news actually sinks in!

Last day at work..Its like the last day of Secondary School!

I have only had this feeling a couple of times. I left secondary school in July 1988 with all those promises to keep in touch etc etc, followed by leaving my previous job, where I left in December 1996, with again the same promises.

However, the difference between then and today is the internet. In 1988, I had never heard of it and the mobile phone was the size of a small house and then in 1996, the internet was only used by a minority of people and the mobile phone explosion hadn't started, although I did have one then!

So that brings me around to today - 25th July 2008. It is my last day working for Orange and after 11 years, 6 months and 19 days, I have handed my security pass in, given the car back and nearly finished with the laptop.

I just want to take this oppotunity to thank the vast majority of people who I have worked with all the best and that when we get to Australia, there will be a cold beer in the fridge waiting for you!

And if you really have the urge to keep in ouch, then your comments on here will always be welcome!