This week has been a very quiet week. Lauren is back at school after her winter holiday. I now have our PC setup so I create an e-mail account on our Aussie ISP for everyone. Lauren and Kayla e-mail their old school and nursery.
Lauren gets a reply from her class and is really excited. The problem is that they break up for the summer holidays on Thursday so she won't get much communication going. Kayla has yet to receive a reply.
Kerry sorts out a few more boxes and at last we can actually relax. The weather is very wet all week and is quite cold. Apparantly this is a very cold winter for Melbourne this year. Temperatures have actually gone into the single figures!!!
We get through the post a load of brouchers from the company building our house. We need to sort out our colour schemes etc. We had no idea we could have so much variety. We have to choose which type of bricks, roof tiles and colour, the cement colour and finish (yes, can you believe it), the tiles (floor and wall), the paint colours an so on. We go round the ones we can on Saturday and on Sunday we take the girls bowling. Sunday is a really nice day and everyone now says the cold weather is ending and it will be warming up now. The weather forcast backs this up as next week is sunny all week and temperatures are now 14-16 degrees.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Sat 14th and Sun 15th July
The weekend is mainly taken up with unpacking the boxes and making sure everything we need is in the right place etc.
Lauren and Kayla have been really well behaved and we decide on Saturday afternoon to get them out. We go to a place called playdays. A little like the fun factory in Wymondham. It is a soft play area. The girls have a great time and Kerry and I can actually sit down and relax.
On Sunday I manage to get our pc up and running and setup our new e-mail accounts on the pc. Hopefully now I'll be able to put up some piccies of Melbourne.....
Sunday night our bed has finally warmed up and we are able to sleep in it. Pure bliss :-)
Lauren and Kayla have been really well behaved and we decide on Saturday afternoon to get them out. We go to a place called playdays. A little like the fun factory in Wymondham. It is a soft play area. The girls have a great time and Kerry and I can actually sit down and relax.
On Sunday I manage to get our pc up and running and setup our new e-mail accounts on the pc. Hopefully now I'll be able to put up some piccies of Melbourne.....
Sunday night our bed has finally warmed up and we are able to sleep in it. Pure bliss :-)
Fri 13th July - Furnture arrives!!!
We are woken this morning by the sound of the rain. Typical. Any way i go off to work and leave Kerry and the girls to sort it out.
At work I receive an e-mail form the government. We have been approved by thr FIRB to purchase the land. Great, the quoted 30 day turnaround time for approval and I have it in 4!!!
At home the furniture arrives and chaos ensues. Lauren traps one of the guys in her room under instruction of finding all of her seven dwarfs. Kerry is getting a bit stressed, understandably, by the end of the day. I get home and start to assemble Kayla's bed then start ours. I eventually finish assembling ours around 9pm and then start to fill it with water while Kerry is out of the house. She needs a break from it all and goes and gets the shopping. As Kerry is not around I turn on the tap and sudenly hear a noise which isn't good. The hose has jumped out of the matress and has sprayed water all over the room....oops.
I sort the problem and clear up as best you can, then I get Kerry's side of the bed filled with water and the heater mains plug changed over. I then complete my side. Kerry comes home and unpacks the shopping. The house is looking a right mess but at least it is all here.
At work I receive an e-mail form the government. We have been approved by thr FIRB to purchase the land. Great, the quoted 30 day turnaround time for approval and I have it in 4!!!
At home the furniture arrives and chaos ensues. Lauren traps one of the guys in her room under instruction of finding all of her seven dwarfs. Kerry is getting a bit stressed, understandably, by the end of the day. I get home and start to assemble Kayla's bed then start ours. I eventually finish assembling ours around 9pm and then start to fill it with water while Kerry is out of the house. She needs a break from it all and goes and gets the shopping. As Kerry is not around I turn on the tap and sudenly hear a noise which isn't good. The hose has jumped out of the matress and has sprayed water all over the room....oops.
I sort the problem and clear up as best you can, then I get Kerry's side of the bed filled with water and the heater mains plug changed over. I then complete my side. Kerry comes home and unpacks the shopping. The house is looking a right mess but at least it is all here.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Thu 12th July - 1 Day to go
Our furniture is nearly here....Kerry gets a call from Pickfords to confirm that the removal lorry and container will arrive tomorrow between 8 and 9 am. The girls are really excited and Lauren is already planning where her 7 dwarfs are going (yes she has the set, they are about 2 ft tall).
We also get a call from the house builders to confirm an appointment for us to pick the fittings and colour etc. I won't be able to go due to work but Kerry arranges the 31st July to go there.
Tonight once the girls are in bed I go round Robs house to deliver back all the stuff he has lent us. Without the help of everyone and the things we have borrowed this would have been so much harder. When I get home we move the washing machine out into the garage and place it underneath the tumble dryer to make room for ours when it arrives. Hopefully it will have survived the trip ok. We talk about where everything is going to go as our house in the UK was much bigger than the house we are renting at the moment.
We go to bed, we will only have a couple more nights on the floor. (our bed will take a couple of days to put back together and fill with water. Then we have to wait about 36 hours before it has heated up, but at least it will be here!). Hopefully Sunday night we will be in our own bed :-)
We also get a call from the house builders to confirm an appointment for us to pick the fittings and colour etc. I won't be able to go due to work but Kerry arranges the 31st July to go there.
Tonight once the girls are in bed I go round Robs house to deliver back all the stuff he has lent us. Without the help of everyone and the things we have borrowed this would have been so much harder. When I get home we move the washing machine out into the garage and place it underneath the tumble dryer to make room for ours when it arrives. Hopefully it will have survived the trip ok. We talk about where everything is going to go as our house in the UK was much bigger than the house we are renting at the moment.
We go to bed, we will only have a couple more nights on the floor. (our bed will take a couple of days to put back together and fill with water. Then we have to wait about 36 hours before it has heated up, but at least it will be here!). Hopefully Sunday night we will be in our own bed :-)
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Wed 11th July
Today, the sun is shining and it is a really nice day. A bit chilly but temperatures around the 14 degrees. One thing I have really noticed here is that there seems to be a lot less cloud around than in the UK.
At work a few urgent requests coming in but nothing to really worry me. Work just seems to tick by which is nice.
Kerry is sorting out the details regarding the extras on the house and is now waiting on the appointment to go and choose the colour schemes, worktops, bricks, roof tiles, etc etc.
I get a call from one of the pool companies and he is sending details of what they can do for us.
I get home and the girls are very tired and are being very grouchy towards each other. I think the excitement is also playing a part. It has been very difficult for them without anything really of their own. Still 2 days it will all arrive yippee!!!
At work a few urgent requests coming in but nothing to really worry me. Work just seems to tick by which is nice.
Kerry is sorting out the details regarding the extras on the house and is now waiting on the appointment to go and choose the colour schemes, worktops, bricks, roof tiles, etc etc.
I get a call from one of the pool companies and he is sending details of what they can do for us.
I get home and the girls are very tired and are being very grouchy towards each other. I think the excitement is also playing a part. It has been very difficult for them without anything really of their own. Still 2 days it will all arrive yippee!!!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Tue 10th July
Today is a quiet day again, hopefully things are starting to calm down a bit. Once the house details and everything is arranged we should be able to sit back and just wait for it all to fall into place. Just the Swimming pool and the landscaping to sort out. There are quite a few regulations you have to stick to when building the house, like it must cost over 50% of the value the land, the house must be over 20 Squares, (a square is 10ftx10ft), the build must commence within 12 months of the land purchase, the house must be setback a minimum of 5.5 mtrs from the path, the landscaping (garden) must be complete within 6 months of completion, it must have at a minimum a double garage and the asthetics of the lanscaping must be in fitting with the area and must be approved prior to building. To be honest I can't argue against any of them and think they are all reasonable requests.
I send off an enquiry to 2 different pool builders and am awaiting to hear back from them. At night I go round the neighbours to inform them of the delivery of our furniture on Friday. We can't wait.
I send off an enquiry to 2 different pool builders and am awaiting to hear back from them. At night I go round the neighbours to inform them of the delivery of our furniture on Friday. We can't wait.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Mon 9th July
This morning I fax the forms to the FIRB and the solicitors. I then e-mail the bank with the details also. Things seem to be going quite smoothly at the moment. I am waiting for something to go wrong. Kerry goes to the showhome to drop off the contracts and get the ball rolling with the house. The land titles become available in October and the house is due to commence build in November. Although they will see if they can start in October. They will only start so many houses a month as they are legally bound to give you a completion date and they have to stick to it.
I am still full of cold but hopefully the worst is over. I have managed to get PMs to buy bacon and egg rolls by telling them just how good I am getting their projects moving. I receive one this morning and for a couple of dollars it is huge and very nice, 2 eggs and loads of bacon with no fat. Sorry guys you are really missing out here :-). The downside is that my stomach is growing. I think I have put on quite a bit of weight as the food is fantastic. I will find out when our stuff arrives Friday.
I am still full of cold but hopefully the worst is over. I have managed to get PMs to buy bacon and egg rolls by telling them just how good I am getting their projects moving. I receive one this morning and for a couple of dollars it is huge and very nice, 2 eggs and loads of bacon with no fat. Sorry guys you are really missing out here :-). The downside is that my stomach is growing. I think I have put on quite a bit of weight as the food is fantastic. I will find out when our stuff arrives Friday.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
6th / 7th and 8 July
On Friday I head into work and again it's a quiet day. The whole family has come down with a cold. I go over to Southbank (the building I used to be in on the 17th Floor) to get my timesheet signed. Whilst I'm there Deborah tells me that she and Bevan have put the paperwork together to get me moved over to be a permie. So good news.
I get a call later in the day regarding our furniture, Customs claim they require payment for the duty on the champagne. I mention that it has already been paid and Pickfords go off to check. I get a call later in the day to confirm that everything has been paid up and all is ok. All our furniture passes quaranteen ok as well with the exception of Kerry's old dog basket and blanket. This hasn't been used for over 13 years and I am told to pay $651 to get them gamma radiated. This will take a couple of weeks but we arrange for the deilvery of our stuff at last on the Friday of next week 13th July. At last after 10 weeks we will have a comfy sofa to sit on and a bed to sleep in, instead of camp chairs and a thin foam matress on the floor.
On Saturday, it's another boring day for the girls. We go to the showhome to sort out the "extras" for the house. We expected quite a bit on top due to our calculations given the form they provided for the extras but then we got hit with quite a bit more. about $50,000 more. The Air-com $10,000 (ok we put a third Garage on the house for $8000), to have the bedroom the size of the one in the show house instead of the balcony, $17,500, lighting $6,000, flooring $12,000 and the list went on. Even by spending the $50,000 extra we are still well with our budget. Just need to keep control of the finances. Then we went to the Land people where we sorted out the contracts and the FIRB form completed.
On they way back we try and find a Ten-pin bowling place for the girls. We got to where it was supposed to be but it wasn't there??? We called the number and got directed to a Leisure centre where it apparantly had moved to. We found it hidden away and walked in. The place was dissappointing to be kind to it. We were shown around but it was filthy and disgusting. Aqua arobics was being taught in the pool. the pool was tiny and the instructor was obese. We made our excuses and left. We looked up another bowling place near to where we would be moving to and booked a lane for Sunday. This one had 24 lanes so it should be ok.
Sunday morning we got up and took the girls bowling. The bowling alley was ok and had everything you needed. Not as organised in the UK but it was more than ok for what we wanted. Kayla thrashed us all with a score of 136 Lauren was second, Kerry third and me a very dismal last. We then went into the local shopping centre which looked quite small but when you got in there it just went on and on and on. We got some plugs to change our electricals over when our stuff arrives and a couple of adapters for the things we would be able to change like the transformers etc.
Lauren is now really down and looks thoroughly miserable. We hope that when her things arrive it will give her a boost as she has been without nearly everything for so long. She knows it's coming but it must feel like an eternity for her. Kayla on the other hand is happy and enjoying things. She still mentions her friends back home but not as much now. I try and talk to Lauren to cheer her up, she picks up a bit towards the evening but we will need to be very careful with her now. Once all the house stuff is sorted we can then start to get them out more doing things. It has been very difficult. Children don't understand and you can't expect them too. We keep telling them that they will have a nice house with the pool but for them it's not real....
I get a call later in the day regarding our furniture, Customs claim they require payment for the duty on the champagne. I mention that it has already been paid and Pickfords go off to check. I get a call later in the day to confirm that everything has been paid up and all is ok. All our furniture passes quaranteen ok as well with the exception of Kerry's old dog basket and blanket. This hasn't been used for over 13 years and I am told to pay $651 to get them gamma radiated. This will take a couple of weeks but we arrange for the deilvery of our stuff at last on the Friday of next week 13th July. At last after 10 weeks we will have a comfy sofa to sit on and a bed to sleep in, instead of camp chairs and a thin foam matress on the floor.
On Saturday, it's another boring day for the girls. We go to the showhome to sort out the "extras" for the house. We expected quite a bit on top due to our calculations given the form they provided for the extras but then we got hit with quite a bit more. about $50,000 more. The Air-com $10,000 (ok we put a third Garage on the house for $8000), to have the bedroom the size of the one in the show house instead of the balcony, $17,500, lighting $6,000, flooring $12,000 and the list went on. Even by spending the $50,000 extra we are still well with our budget. Just need to keep control of the finances. Then we went to the Land people where we sorted out the contracts and the FIRB form completed.
On they way back we try and find a Ten-pin bowling place for the girls. We got to where it was supposed to be but it wasn't there??? We called the number and got directed to a Leisure centre where it apparantly had moved to. We found it hidden away and walked in. The place was dissappointing to be kind to it. We were shown around but it was filthy and disgusting. Aqua arobics was being taught in the pool. the pool was tiny and the instructor was obese. We made our excuses and left. We looked up another bowling place near to where we would be moving to and booked a lane for Sunday. This one had 24 lanes so it should be ok.
Sunday morning we got up and took the girls bowling. The bowling alley was ok and had everything you needed. Not as organised in the UK but it was more than ok for what we wanted. Kayla thrashed us all with a score of 136 Lauren was second, Kerry third and me a very dismal last. We then went into the local shopping centre which looked quite small but when you got in there it just went on and on and on. We got some plugs to change our electricals over when our stuff arrives and a couple of adapters for the things we would be able to change like the transformers etc.
Lauren is now really down and looks thoroughly miserable. We hope that when her things arrive it will give her a boost as she has been without nearly everything for so long. She knows it's coming but it must feel like an eternity for her. Kayla on the other hand is happy and enjoying things. She still mentions her friends back home but not as much now. I try and talk to Lauren to cheer her up, she picks up a bit towards the evening but we will need to be very careful with her now. Once all the house stuff is sorted we can then start to get them out more doing things. It has been very difficult. Children don't understand and you can't expect them too. We keep telling them that they will have a nice house with the pool but for them it's not real....
3rd/4th and 5th July
Today Lauren has a trip to the hairdressers to sort out her hair. Luckily they only take around 5 inches of her length. When her hair is tied up it doesn't notice so much but you can still see what has happened when she has her hair down. Lauren is now quite subdued.
I call the company selling the land and let them know Kerry won't be coming down today and I pay the $1000 holding fee for the land.
The weather now has turned very wet and is has been raining quite a bit. I have have to stay a bit late to get the outstanding actions on a secutiry audit completed.
Wednesday and Thursday are quiet days although I did chase Pickford to find out about the Customs and Quaranteen. Quaranteen wanted to come back on Friday (they only do inspections on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays) to open 2 more items. Hopefully it won't be long now...
I call the company selling the land and let them know Kerry won't be coming down today and I pay the $1000 holding fee for the land.
The weather now has turned very wet and is has been raining quite a bit. I have have to stay a bit late to get the outstanding actions on a secutiry audit completed.
Wednesday and Thursday are quiet days although I did chase Pickford to find out about the Customs and Quaranteen. Quaranteen wanted to come back on Friday (they only do inspections on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays) to open 2 more items. Hopefully it won't be long now...
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Monday 2nd July
Today I head into work, the weather now is very changable and the rain can be quite heavy at times. To be fair it mainly rains overnight. The temperatures during the day are around 14 to 16 degrees. When the sun is out it is really nice.
I go to HSBC to sort out the mortgage, or basically can I get one. The meeting goes really well and all seems very positive. I am given the application form to fill out and he cannot see any reason why we won't be accepted.
Kerry was planning to go to Pakenham tomorrow to pay the $1000 holding fee which will secure the land until the contracts are exchanged. We also need to get them to complete their part of the FIRB application form (Foreign Investment Review Board, this is the form to ask for permission to buy property). I need a clause entered into the contract which I have to send with the form stating that this is subject to FIRB approval. The approval takes approx 30 days.
I call Kerry with the news and find out that Lauren (she is on school holiday now) has been round a friends house and have been upstairs playing hairdressers. You guessed it Laurens hair has been cut about quite badly. Kerry sounds really angry. I leave early to get home, I don't blame Lauren, this is what kids do. Lauren is very quiet in the car back from the train station and I could see Kerry was still very angry. Kayla however was only to happy to let me know about Laurens hair. I said I knew and Kayla asked if I was angry with Lauren. I said I was angry that it had happened but not angry with Lauren. When we got home I took Lauren aside and gave her a hug. She was really upset as she loved her long hair.
Kerry had booked her into the hairdressers for tomorrow but a lot will need to come off. Maybe as much as 8 inches. I have a word with Kerry and tell her to back off of Lauren as she is only a child and really didn't understand the consequences of what was happenening at the time.
Kerry cancels her trip to Pakenham tomorrow for Laurens hair.
I go to HSBC to sort out the mortgage, or basically can I get one. The meeting goes really well and all seems very positive. I am given the application form to fill out and he cannot see any reason why we won't be accepted.
Kerry was planning to go to Pakenham tomorrow to pay the $1000 holding fee which will secure the land until the contracts are exchanged. We also need to get them to complete their part of the FIRB application form (Foreign Investment Review Board, this is the form to ask for permission to buy property). I need a clause entered into the contract which I have to send with the form stating that this is subject to FIRB approval. The approval takes approx 30 days.
I call Kerry with the news and find out that Lauren (she is on school holiday now) has been round a friends house and have been upstairs playing hairdressers. You guessed it Laurens hair has been cut about quite badly. Kerry sounds really angry. I leave early to get home, I don't blame Lauren, this is what kids do. Lauren is very quiet in the car back from the train station and I could see Kerry was still very angry. Kayla however was only to happy to let me know about Laurens hair. I said I knew and Kayla asked if I was angry with Lauren. I said I was angry that it had happened but not angry with Lauren. When we got home I took Lauren aside and gave her a hug. She was really upset as she loved her long hair.
Kerry had booked her into the hairdressers for tomorrow but a lot will need to come off. Maybe as much as 8 inches. I have a word with Kerry and tell her to back off of Lauren as she is only a child and really didn't understand the consequences of what was happenening at the time.
Kerry cancels her trip to Pakenham tomorrow for Laurens hair.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Week Beginning 25th June
This week has been a really busy week.
At work I have been asked if would be interested in the Team Leaders role. This would be a permanent role and would therefore mean IBM sponsoring me for permanent residency. On course I said yes and Deborah said she was glad as she had already spoken to the Line 2 manager Bevan about it. I have been told to expect Bevan to speak to me about it... we wait and see.
On Tuesday night I decided to transfer the money from the sale of the house and the remains of the redundancy and share sale over from our UK HSBC account to our Australian HSBC account. We setup these accounts so transferring the money would be easier and cheaper. We would also get a preferential exchange rate as were transferring a large amount of money. Oh boy what a pain in the you know what this turned out to be.
I called the phone banking on our uk account as you must initiate the transfer from the uk account. I got through to the Indian call centre. I told the lady what i wanted to do. Sorry sir you can only transfer a maximum of 10K. You must go into your branch to do this. I explained that I was in Australia and my branch was in the uk so this wasn't really practible. Could I be transferred to the branch please so I could sort it out. She was unable to connect me. So I then looked up the branch on the net to see if I could get a number. I called the number for the branch and got the call centre again. I explained to the man that I wanted to speak to my branch as he couldn't do the transaction I required as it involved a large amount of money. I was then told to pop into my branch. I explained again about being in Oz and the branch was in the uk. Well why don't you call every day and transfer 10K at a time he suggested. I was staggered to say the least. This would take a long time and cost me a fortune. I then was starting to lose my patience as we kept going round and round in circles. I eventually got his supervisor who suggested I pop into my branch and do the ransaction as they can only do 10K at a time. I exploded and demanded to be put through to the branch immediately. She did and within 5 minutes the whole transaction completed.
The money appeared in my Australian account the next day. We looked at houses to build (you can buy a plot of land and then tell the builder which type of house you want put on it here) and searched for land again.
We then had a call from Pickfords, the ship with our container has docked in Melbourne and all the paper work lodged with customs. I paid the duty on the 4 bottles of Champagne we brought over. Hopefully it should clear customs by the weekend ready for the quaranteen inspection next week. Hopefully the week after we may get our stuff. This lifted our spirits even more. Things again seemed to be falling into place.
HSBC in Australia called me...Hello sir we have noticed a large amount of money enetering your account today... I siezed the moment and asked them about a mortgage. Meeting booked for Monday :-). They didn't show much interest before when I enquired....funny that.
Anyway the weekend arrived and we had kept going back to the same house design so we decided to have a look at the show home of it. We decide that this is the type of house we wanted. We went round several devolpements in the area and settled on a plot of land in a place called Pakenham. The plot is 872 square meters and is on sale for $165,000 (around 70,000 pounds). We sort the details out and put a verbal hold on it until I speak to HSBC about the mortgage. I also have to go to the government to get permission to buy the land also as I am not a permanent resident yet. This is a process and should just go through. We add up the costs that night. Land $165,000, House to build $237,000 + extras and the swimming pool esimated at $35,000. All in all we will get a 4,300 Square feet of living area house with a large swimming pool and still have a garden for around $500,000 (200,000 pounds roughly). If all goes to plan this will almost half what our mortgage was in the uk.
We end the week pretty happy.....
At work I have been asked if would be interested in the Team Leaders role. This would be a permanent role and would therefore mean IBM sponsoring me for permanent residency. On course I said yes and Deborah said she was glad as she had already spoken to the Line 2 manager Bevan about it. I have been told to expect Bevan to speak to me about it... we wait and see.
On Tuesday night I decided to transfer the money from the sale of the house and the remains of the redundancy and share sale over from our UK HSBC account to our Australian HSBC account. We setup these accounts so transferring the money would be easier and cheaper. We would also get a preferential exchange rate as were transferring a large amount of money. Oh boy what a pain in the you know what this turned out to be.
I called the phone banking on our uk account as you must initiate the transfer from the uk account. I got through to the Indian call centre. I told the lady what i wanted to do. Sorry sir you can only transfer a maximum of 10K. You must go into your branch to do this. I explained that I was in Australia and my branch was in the uk so this wasn't really practible. Could I be transferred to the branch please so I could sort it out. She was unable to connect me. So I then looked up the branch on the net to see if I could get a number. I called the number for the branch and got the call centre again. I explained to the man that I wanted to speak to my branch as he couldn't do the transaction I required as it involved a large amount of money. I was then told to pop into my branch. I explained again about being in Oz and the branch was in the uk. Well why don't you call every day and transfer 10K at a time he suggested. I was staggered to say the least. This would take a long time and cost me a fortune. I then was starting to lose my patience as we kept going round and round in circles. I eventually got his supervisor who suggested I pop into my branch and do the ransaction as they can only do 10K at a time. I exploded and demanded to be put through to the branch immediately. She did and within 5 minutes the whole transaction completed.
The money appeared in my Australian account the next day. We looked at houses to build (you can buy a plot of land and then tell the builder which type of house you want put on it here) and searched for land again.
We then had a call from Pickfords, the ship with our container has docked in Melbourne and all the paper work lodged with customs. I paid the duty on the 4 bottles of Champagne we brought over. Hopefully it should clear customs by the weekend ready for the quaranteen inspection next week. Hopefully the week after we may get our stuff. This lifted our spirits even more. Things again seemed to be falling into place.
HSBC in Australia called me...Hello sir we have noticed a large amount of money enetering your account today... I siezed the moment and asked them about a mortgage. Meeting booked for Monday :-). They didn't show much interest before when I enquired....funny that.
Anyway the weekend arrived and we had kept going back to the same house design so we decided to have a look at the show home of it. We decide that this is the type of house we wanted. We went round several devolpements in the area and settled on a plot of land in a place called Pakenham. The plot is 872 square meters and is on sale for $165,000 (around 70,000 pounds). We sort the details out and put a verbal hold on it until I speak to HSBC about the mortgage. I also have to go to the government to get permission to buy the land also as I am not a permanent resident yet. This is a process and should just go through. We add up the costs that night. Land $165,000, House to build $237,000 + extras and the swimming pool esimated at $35,000. All in all we will get a 4,300 Square feet of living area house with a large swimming pool and still have a garden for around $500,000 (200,000 pounds roughly). If all goes to plan this will almost half what our mortgage was in the uk.
We end the week pretty happy.....
Kerry's Birthday
The rest of the week is pretty quiet. I go out one lunchtime and get Kerry's birthday present. I have bought her a new watch. On Friday our house sale completes. It has taken just 4 weeks. Although Kerry is sad that our home has gone it actually lifts her spirits and we now can move forward and plan our new home.
We spend several hours on the Web looking for houses and land. The area where we are living is very expensive and Land is not easily available. We find sveral plots and request details. They all turn out to be subdivided plots which means that someone has sold their backgarden so others can build directly behind them. We really don't want that.
Saturday morning (23rd June)and Kerry's birthday, Kerry is really pleased with the watch (phew!!!). Lauren and Kayla wake up early, excited for Kerry's birthday. We spend the day just out and about looking for land and seeing what the areas are like. We get Kerry a birthday cake, the bakeries are not as good as the uk. There doesn't seem as much variety. But we get a nice cake and pig out in the evening. Sunday we take the girls swimming and just have a fun day playing around.
We spend several hours on the Web looking for houses and land. The area where we are living is very expensive and Land is not easily available. We find sveral plots and request details. They all turn out to be subdivided plots which means that someone has sold their backgarden so others can build directly behind them. We really don't want that.
Saturday morning (23rd June)and Kerry's birthday, Kerry is really pleased with the watch (phew!!!). Lauren and Kayla wake up early, excited for Kerry's birthday. We spend the day just out and about looking for land and seeing what the areas are like. We get Kerry a birthday cake, the bakeries are not as good as the uk. There doesn't seem as much variety. But we get a nice cake and pig out in the evening. Sunday we take the girls swimming and just have a fun day playing around.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Monday 18th June - Bad Day !!!
Today I get up as usual and Kerry drops me off at the station. I decide not to take the slow train but to get the express this morning. The Express goes round the City loop and stops at a Station called Southern Cross before ending up at Flinders Street. Southern Cross is a bit closer to Collins Street than Flinders but not a lot in it.
I exit at Southern Cross and walk down Collins Street. As I start to walk up the steps to enter our building which is on the corner or William Street and Collins ( I am in the South Tower and the North Tower basically backs onto Flinders Street which runs parallel to Collins. These Towers are joined by an Atrium where we get our coffee and breakfasts ) I hear some unfamiliar noises short and quite load. As I get to the top of the steps the noise has stopped. I think nothing of it and enter the lift. As the doors close I hear what sounds like a shop Alarm going off. I hear it on all the way to the fifth floor where I am located and as I exit the lifts the alarm noise stops. Again I don't think too much of it.
I arrive at my desk and start to setup the laptop, login to the phone etc and have a chat to a PDU Lead John who has just started. As we talk there are police sirens going off everywhere. The sirens go on for a long while, at least fifteen minutes. We joke that I have got away and wonder what on earth is going on.....
Then a project manager I am working with Terry, lets us know what has happened. There has been a shooting on the corner outside our building and there is one dead and two critically injured. We then hear that the gunman has gone into the Rialto Hotel and that had been sealed off. I walked past the Rialto as the entrance is on Collins.... The Rialto had been sealed off. I call Kerry to let her know that I am ok and I haven't got caught up in it. It dawns on me had I caught the direct train I would have walked past the shooting area. The noises I heard whilst walking up the steps were the gunshots. Worst still I thought of the man who was dead, apparantly trying to help a girl who was being dragged by her hair into a taxi. He was fine when I started to walk up the steps with everything to live for and by the time I got to the top of the stairs (there are only about 6 or 7 steps) it had all gone and he was dead.
It hit me quite hard and for the first time I thought long and hard about the UK and the people I knew back there. Luckily Kerry, although she had heard on the radio about it, didn't reasise just how close I was to it. I was round the corner and again luckily didn't see anything but I was only 150 yards away. Whilst talking to Kerry on the phone John come's over and mentions to me not to go over to the other side as you can see the body on the street. Just then an announcement comes over the tannoy that the building has gone into high security and that and entrances and exits are locked and nobody is allowed to enter or leave the building until the police give the all clear.
The rest of the day we are all in a bit of a daze, out of the window the road has been closed off and all day police vehicles are going up and down it. Around lunchtime people are allowed to come and go out of the entrance on Collins Street but the rest of the entrances are still locked and we are still on high security.
I leave that night thinking how lucky I am and all the what if questions running running around in my head. I think constantly of the man who was just someone trying to help and his family. He was a family man and now his family have lost a husband and father. I think of Kerry and the girls and of how lucky I am and how quickly it can all be taken away....
I think the thing that has hit people so hard here is that this is just so unlike Melbourne. Melbourne is usually a friendly city, a joy to be in. As they say though, there are good bad apples whereever you go. On the plus side we have more good than bad...
I exit at Southern Cross and walk down Collins Street. As I start to walk up the steps to enter our building which is on the corner or William Street and Collins ( I am in the South Tower and the North Tower basically backs onto Flinders Street which runs parallel to Collins. These Towers are joined by an Atrium where we get our coffee and breakfasts ) I hear some unfamiliar noises short and quite load. As I get to the top of the steps the noise has stopped. I think nothing of it and enter the lift. As the doors close I hear what sounds like a shop Alarm going off. I hear it on all the way to the fifth floor where I am located and as I exit the lifts the alarm noise stops. Again I don't think too much of it.
I arrive at my desk and start to setup the laptop, login to the phone etc and have a chat to a PDU Lead John who has just started. As we talk there are police sirens going off everywhere. The sirens go on for a long while, at least fifteen minutes. We joke that I have got away and wonder what on earth is going on.....
Then a project manager I am working with Terry, lets us know what has happened. There has been a shooting on the corner outside our building and there is one dead and two critically injured. We then hear that the gunman has gone into the Rialto Hotel and that had been sealed off. I walked past the Rialto as the entrance is on Collins.... The Rialto had been sealed off. I call Kerry to let her know that I am ok and I haven't got caught up in it. It dawns on me had I caught the direct train I would have walked past the shooting area. The noises I heard whilst walking up the steps were the gunshots. Worst still I thought of the man who was dead, apparantly trying to help a girl who was being dragged by her hair into a taxi. He was fine when I started to walk up the steps with everything to live for and by the time I got to the top of the stairs (there are only about 6 or 7 steps) it had all gone and he was dead.
It hit me quite hard and for the first time I thought long and hard about the UK and the people I knew back there. Luckily Kerry, although she had heard on the radio about it, didn't reasise just how close I was to it. I was round the corner and again luckily didn't see anything but I was only 150 yards away. Whilst talking to Kerry on the phone John come's over and mentions to me not to go over to the other side as you can see the body on the street. Just then an announcement comes over the tannoy that the building has gone into high security and that and entrances and exits are locked and nobody is allowed to enter or leave the building until the police give the all clear.
The rest of the day we are all in a bit of a daze, out of the window the road has been closed off and all day police vehicles are going up and down it. Around lunchtime people are allowed to come and go out of the entrance on Collins Street but the rest of the entrances are still locked and we are still on high security.
I leave that night thinking how lucky I am and all the what if questions running running around in my head. I think constantly of the man who was just someone trying to help and his family. He was a family man and now his family have lost a husband and father. I think of Kerry and the girls and of how lucky I am and how quickly it can all be taken away....
I think the thing that has hit people so hard here is that this is just so unlike Melbourne. Melbourne is usually a friendly city, a joy to be in. As they say though, there are good bad apples whereever you go. On the plus side we have more good than bad...
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