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Diary & Deliberations of the Dinkies


EmNew

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Agree with Mara be careful of the trees, but if you are not in the forest but rather in Belgrave or Lilydale or similar suburb  you should be ok. You also need to be careful of acreage even if not in a forest - eg places in Diamond Creek burnt a little while ago. 

 

Fire is very much part of Melbourne. We arrived 6 weeks before Black Saturday in 2009 and that was awful. Friends live in Diamond Creek and they were nearly burnt a few years ago and that was stressful. The Christmas and New Year fires last year on the Great Ocean Road were also quite sobering but also reflect the danger of living amongst the trees versus a suburb. 

 

I find it interesting how in Queensland people are almost oblivious to the issue, although people building in bush area have to meet stringent bush fire building criteria. 

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For some time now I have wondered why some of the trees where we live have black bark. It almost looks like the tree has been burnt at some point or tarred. There is also a red sticky substance that oozes out of the trees, can anyone shed some light what this is?

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I can't remember where you live @emmayenkanna, but I thought you are around Point Cook. If so fire unlikely to be the cause.  It could be that the tree is under attack from a borer insect. The stringybark eucalyptus bleeds red sap when under attack and the bark around the area darkens.

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@Sunnyskies thankyou so much, the mystery is now solved. It does make sense that it is due to insects as I have seen several different types of ants on the trees ?

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  • 3 months later...

So, 11 months in to our Aussie Adventure.......and loving it!

 

Today is the start of a small break for me - finished my contract role yesterday and I have a permanent role that starts 3rd October at the same company - really Blessed to have found a great employer, super environment and good future career prospects in the group.

 

On Monday hubby will join me for a week off and we're heading off to Lorne to use it as a base to explore the Great Ocean Road, Otways etc - our first Aussie holiday!!

 

As far as daily life is concerned, I still pinch myself, not quite believing we're really here and loving it so much. The ability to catch the train into work daily is great. Yes there are days when things go wrong on the line, but for me it's been 3 days so far in 2016 that a car was needed to get in or out of town due to things such as line closed due to tree falling down on it during a storm, signal faults due to vandalism and a man climbing a gantry over the line. So we're not talking about lack of maintenance issues here. 

 

The walk I take from Flinders down to my office never gets old. Crossing the Yarra , I get to see the sun rise to my left over the MCG, often have hot air balloons drifting over it to cross the Botanical Gardens, to the right of the bridge is a great view of the city, with some stunning sunsets at night when I return. I then get to walk past the Art Precinct ( I am a culture vulture ) so I get a thrill seeing dancers & musicians heading off to classes and rehearsals, seeing what's on at the State Theatre, listening to impromptu concerts outside the National Gallery for car or cd launches both morning and evening. Then I get to see the beautiful stone buildings of the Victoria Barracks, while opposite are the Botanical Gardens and the Shrine of Remembrance. 

 

Yes,  Australia is expensive, but somehow the Aussie Dollars seem to go quite far. My new best friend is the Coles shopping app - you can create your list on it, and set your store, so that when you enter , your list is automatically in aisle order - perfect when you have a preconceived idea of store layouts from decades of PIck n Pay shopping! There are fantastic weekly deals that I keep a look out for and base that week's meals around where possible, as well as 'spot' deals in the fresh food section where you can pick up half price deals on items close to 'sell by' dates. Love the self checkout too for the smaller shop. We learned quickly not to discount a chain based on impression gained in one store. Our first Coles experience was fantastic - new bright and shiny store - great impression. We got the opposite impression from our local Woolworths, and I was very reticent to ever try one out again, but have subsequently found one that rivals our favourite Coles. Yet to find an Aldi's in our area that is worth going to for anything other than stocking up on biscuits, sweets and chips for party catering purposes ( and have yet had a need to host one ) - the fresh produce sections look very tired and wilted....

 

Starting to find clothing that suits my body and work requirements - Jacquie as a store is good for corporate wear, and I find the Basque range at Myer has suitable work clothes for non-androgynous body shapes. For casual clothes I find Target perfectly adequate. For more durable casual wear, specials at Kathmandu and Rays are always good. Esprit is also a nice range from Myer for the more bohemian casual look that I like.

 

Weekend life has been a bit muted lately though - was studying at night up to June, and then it was financial year-end with all the fun of ASX reporting deadlines and audits that us number crunchers have to deal with.  So haven't had much energy to really get too adventurous with our explorations. We've done some lovely outings with friends to the Dandenongs, Yarra Valley and Mornington. On our own we regularly  head to the Dandenongs, have been to the Macedon Ranges, and more Mornington Peninsula destinations. All beautiful and worth heading back to. We make use of the Bayside walking trails every weekend that are on our doorstep, and for the last 3 weekends, we were so fortunate to see dolphins just off the shoreline! Last Sunday's were quite an active pod - really leaping fully out of the water.

 

Our focus at the moment is to find a new place to live once our lease expires in November. Just can't to this 'boutique apartment' thing again and for much longer. @SDTCPT - I so relate to your comment regarding it feeling like playing Tetris....

We're not quite ready to buy - timing of getting new permanent role and and lease expiry date just too tight to get a property in time. Going to meet with a mortgage broker anyway just to get an idea of what we really can afford and get some advice generally regarding the property market. We have to find an area that suits us both - I work in the CBD, and hubby commutes to Frankston, so somewhere in the middle is ideal, but that so happens to be an area that is quite expensive to buy into, but affordable to rent in.... Decisions , decisions....may end up renting for ourselves and purchasing an investment property elsewhere....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What a lovely read. We feel the same about chain stores. But will certainly look at the Coles app now, so far we've only had the Aldi app. (and of course now the app store is just full of reviews about unhappy customers, and each one is punting a different app... 1st World Problems???) Hahaha...we'll try them out. It helps a lot to keep on top of the specials, and buy the things you need cheaply, we just try to stick to the list of things we actually need, because it's really easy to want to buy something you might need just because it's on special. And that would defeat the purpose of trying to save money. So maybe it's like fire: useful and dangerous at the same time. :D 

 

I also appreciate the clothes info.


Hope you have an absolute ball on the Great Ocean Road! Share some pics with us later?

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  • 4 weeks later...

It's our one year anniversary today!

 

I have a vague memory of landing in Melbourne, dead tired from the flight from Cape Town, via Johannesburg and Sydney. We arrived around 8pm on 28/09/2016, fetched a by a great friend and initial host. I remember being in awe of 'pay wave' when she paid for the parking, and seeing the Melbourne Star all lit up whilst driving to her house. I remember cheese and biscuits being eaten in her lounge,  and then nothing. Just exhaustion, and no realization of the enormity of what had just happened.

 

I think in a way, the enormity of what we have done only set in now. Now that I have had a month off  during September in between jobs, it has really hit home. The realization that I couldn't pop in and visit a whole stack of loved ones during my time off, just brought home how lonely this process can be. I don't regret moving here one bit, but there is a hankering to see old friends in the flesh.......

 

We did get to see Lorne and the splendours of the Great Ocean Road, and I think Lorne is fast set to become our new Hermanus. So beautiful there, and so many walking trails and gorgeous scenery.

 

I have an instagram account of a small selection of photos that I have taken on the phone of our experiences so far - you are welcome to check out "emzinmel"

I add to it occasionally when I remember to, but am not so good at smartphone photography - prefer using actual cameras.

 

To the amazement ( and a little annoyance ) of friends back in RSA, we've started following AFL!  ( I am a dance/art culture vulture fanatic and have not had much interest in sport full stop, and hubby only really enjoyed soccer) 

The team we were 'assigned' by settled friends, Geelong Cats, did really well - making it all the way to preliminary finals, but then crashed out.... So this coming long weekend, we will be supporting the Melbourne team that did make it, Western Bulldogs, and hope they show who's the boss to the visiting Sydney Swans. I have to admit, we sit watching the match with Wikipedia open to decipher the rules, but are proud to say there are players we recognize now before they are named. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The poor Swans could'nt make it. At least the Sharks won in the NRL:) So I think it's 1 all between Sydney and Melbourne? The cricket will have to bee the tie break then:) As for the rules of AFL... as far as I can tell there seems to be only 1, "You can't knee your opponent in the back". But even that 1 seems to be open to interpretation:whome:

 

I missed it, but congrats one 1 year in:ilikeit:

Edited by SDTCPT
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  • 3 months later...

Wow, 2017 arrived sneakily, and now we're entering the last week of January already!

 

The last quarter of 2016 went by in a flash. Mon-Fri was spent with nose to the grindstone while the sun was up, and each evening was spent trawling realestate.com.au for properties to inspect for the coming weekend as we had made the decision we were ready to buy.

Saturdays were spent at inspections and auctions, and Sundays were spent recovering from Saturdays and starting the plan for the forthcoming weekend's real estate 'adventures'.

After a few unsuccessful and annoying bid experiences at auctions, we found a privately listed property that ticked most of our boxes, and went from failing at an auction in the morning to signing and having an offer accepted in the evening on the private sale!!!  Much jubilation, followed by panic......

 

We had a wonderful mortgage broker who walked the path with us, and a great conveyancer (  who I found via our community facebook group, and turned out to be from Somerset West ), and they both helped us enormously, as well as forumites who had replied to a post I made about house hunting at the time.

 

We moved into our own place mid December, and it felt really good to celebrate Christmas and New Year knowing we had put down some real roots as homeowners! (well, shareholders in a property anyway, along with our bank...... )

Now I can do fun things like annoy hubby with gathering paint swatches at Bunnings and placing them in various rooms, to see if the colour suits ( he knows the painting will come next, hence annoyance ). I can put up pictures and not worry about holes, permission, landlords and Bonds. I can start thinking about fur kids again..........

 

We've been enjoying some road trips down the Mornington Peninsula lately. The inland part is really picturesque, with rolling hills, trees, vineyards, and the coastal roads on either side offer great views. Today we went down to  Mushroom Reef at Flinders - soooo beautiful. Lovely cliffs, stunning beach, and tonnes of rock pools to explore, with crystal clear waters. Still gets me when I see chairs, towels, bags etc totally unattended while the whole family frolics in the water.... The lack of fear is so refreshing.......

 

 

 

 

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By some twist of universal karmic fate in the stars, you must've been destined to post this today @EmNew! Just this morning I was thinking about you and your journey and how things were progressing. And here you are, posting an update - and with such eventful news, too :) 

 

Congrats on becoming a home owner in a country you weren't even born in! To think that barely two years ago, you were applying for a visa to make the move, and now you have a job, a community, a home ... and a house of your very own. What an adventure, and so glad to hear it's going so well.

 

Have you managed to travel outside of Melbourne at all? Would be very interested to hear about your deep-in-nature experiences out Sydney way as well. And everywhere else, for that matter. Don't forget to share some pics with us when you have some free time, which doesn't seem like a lot by the sound of things! :lol: But a pic of your house and street would be exciting to see, in the meantime!

 

Enjoy the new place and make it your own. Here's hoping 2017 is filled with everything you hope for and more!

 

 

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Sounds so wonderful @EmNew

Hoping to be joining you in Melbourne in 2017. Looking so forward to the freedom and beautiful places to explore. 

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I think your home would be well suited to fur kids. Easier to contain them than if you had a tree house in the woods ;) Do you know if the Victoria legislation has any restrictions on where you are allowed to keep cats? (I know they are a problem with local wildlife, so just curious)

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@RedPanda you can keep cats anywhere, the various councils have slightly differing rules, but in general they are as follows:

2 cats and 2 dogs are the maximum, unless you approach the council for an extention, at which time they will contact your neighbours to check if they have any objections, if none, it should be granted.

Dogs have to be contained within your boundary, unless leashed.

Cats, if they become a nuisance to your neighbours, and the neighbours can prove that by photographs, you will be fined.

It is best to keep your cats in doors during the night, as that is the time that they do most of their hunting.

 

For me, since arriving in Australia, my cats have always been in door cats. Cats can be too curious and people can be very cruel! I want to know that they are safe.

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  • 4 months later...

It was January one day, and now we're half way through June........

 

Starting to feel really settled overall, as we edge closer to our 2 year arrival anniversary in October.  

 

Some days I forget we've lived anywhere else. It's so easy for us to feel at home in Melbourne. Today was a great example of our new 'normal'. It's been a perfect sunny and windless mid-winter's day, so we headed to the Bayside walking trails that run from St Kilda all the way down to Mordiallic along Port Phillip Bay. We stopped off at the Bayside Farmers Market that's held on the 3rd Saturday of each month in Sandringham, and stocked up on some divine edibles, whilst sipping on our freshly pressed fruit juice purchased at a stall. Lovely relaxed family atmosphere - people doing a big shop, others just browsing, families sitting at tables sampling their purchases, little ones squealing with delight in the petting zoo area, and live music entertainment. Stopped off on a bluff and looked back at the hazy silhouette of the Melbourne CBD rising up over the Bay, and I realised that this all felt familiar, comfortable and now my life, and I love it. 

 

There are aspects that I do struggle with from time to time. I find the work environment a little frustrating at times - indecisiveness, no detailed specs for projects which wastes a lot of time of going back and forth with draft after draft of the same thing. May just be my company, not an Aussie thing, but it's large ASX company so would think it's fairly representative of the big corporates. Overall however I do find the corporate environment here much nicer than in RSA. Fewer egos, more teamwork, fewer personal agendas........

 

I know it's early days yet, but we still don't have any Aussie born friends. People at work are super friendly, but apart from organised social drinks for farewells etc, nothing extends beyond the work place. I found that in South Africa, most of my friends were made at work, even clients became friends. We're thinking of joining a Rotary Club to combine meeting new people with volunteering.

 

Travel has been limited to some explorations of Victoria. Last weekend was a long one, thanks to the Queen's Birthday on Monday 12th. We spent it in a town called Marysville, that was destroyed by fires in 2009, and 34 lives lost in the town. It was eerie to think that the Garden Route was burning as we drove / walked through the area. The bushwalks were fantastic  - forests, waterfalls and in a month or 2, mountains that will be covered in snow. Most of the vegetation has recovered from the Black Saturday fires, with ghostly white trunks of dead trees in among the new growth.

 

Next step we're ready for is getting a furry purry for our new home. It's taken a long time to get over our loss of our Golden Oldies that couldn't make the move with us, but we're ready to love a new fur ball. Had to jump through hoops, which we're not used to, as we bought an apartment, not a house, so had to get permission from the Body Corporate. Sadly they only allow one, so now we need to find a breed that prefers indoors and being an only pet.

 

@mistermoose -how are things progressing your side? For photos of our journey so far, you're welcome to check out emzinmel on Instagram

 

 

 

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What a wonderful glimpse into a day in the life of Em 2.0!

 

I've been thinking so much about you over the last year - about whether you were starting to grow roots and if you could imagine yourself living, working and staying beyond the 2 year mark. Or 5 years. Or 10. From the sounds of it, your cost/rewards list is heavy on the rewards side, and what a great place to be so soon in the journey. Thrilled for you that you've come this far, made it out the other end with a smile and a happy heart, and can even start growing your furmily again. That's going to make an enormous difference. Though I only have one of our dogs left with us, I know the thundering silence that an empty home can bring when there's no one brushing up against your leg or sharing your bed or waiting for dinnertime. The connection you have with that little creature makes the outside world ok, and gives you something to look forward to the end of even the worst days. Will check out your IG straight after this. I never had a chance to visit Melbourne, and am still keen to hear what you think of Sydney when you visit so you can give us your take on the famous CT vs Sydney vs Melbourne debate (that will probably rage on forever, but still!).

 

My side? I haven't had the spirit to even update my diary on the forum with all the developments on my end. Since my last post, I've had another few incredible interviews with amazing companies for exciting roles. In the end though, even when I'm in the final 2, which happens often, they end up choosing someone in Australia. In the last one, they even told me that Australia just doesn't have someone with the skills I could offer, but that "the company is 2 years behind what (I) would bring to the table". This after 8 weeks of phone interviews, tons of emails back and forth, and loads of strategic vision shared for free. So they're still searching ... even though I'm available. They want someone who "knows the market". In which case, I ask myself, why have in-depth discussions for 8 weeks?

 

It's become clear that I'm never going to land a job I'm interested in from outside of Aus, however much I try, however many people I speak to on LinkedIn, or however many more attempts I make at applying for roles that come up. So that's the reality I'm faced with. In the meanwhile, work on this end has presented a few new opportunities, including being given profit incentives on an annual basis, which adds up to quite a bit of ZAR. So the uphill battle I've had with the jobs I've put so much energy into, combined with the salary comfort zone, has left me in a limbo state for the time being. I have until 2020 to take the plunge, and I can see myself doing it, perhaps even with my current employers expanding their business into APAC. I'm also working on some side business online in USD, and that has the potential to grow quite quickly, and if I get to that point and the income is consistent over a few months, then of course I'll have the freedom to live and work anywhere I like. And that may mean me coming over long before 2020. But a lot can happen in 24 months, so the job situation may suddenly shift (some evidence of this with other people in other teams at work), and it may take longer or more capital to get my side business off the ground, at which point I may have to just fly over, find somewhere to stay for a few months, and find the role that's meant for me.

 

Who knows? At this point I feel a bit like a dandelion swaying the breeze, waiting for a gust of wind to come along and whisk me off to where I'm supposed to be. For now though, the sun is shining and life's ok. Which is not the worst space to be in...

 

All the best to you for the 2 year anniversary coming up. Please keep posting and snapping and sharing :)

Edited by mistermoose
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Love your descriptions of your new normal in Melbourne @EmNew

We leave for a quick (4 day ...) activation trip to Melbourne end July and are in the midst of selling up everything we have built up over the past 20 years. Both exhilarating and scary. Also busy prepping our Scottie, Boston and Golden Retriever for the big pet move, which is far more complicated and expensive than I thought, but worth it.

We are also planning on joining Rotary next year and I'd be keen to hear your impressions. Think it is a great way to integrate, make friends and do good. We've been Rotarians for years and there is so much need here compared to my impression of needs in Australia, I am curious as to the work they do. We're also in a small, "youngish", relaxed club here so wonder about differences.

Take care.

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  • 5 months later...

Blink, and time just flies.......

 

So, we're at the beginning of our third year here in Melbourne, and we're more and more settled every day.

It really feels in a lot of respects as if this has always been home.

 

It's a year since we moved into our own property. It isn't our forever home, but it was a great foot in the property door, and we're lucky to have bought when  & where we did as we probably couldn't afford this one now, prices have risen so drastically!

We have furnished our home with a necessary ( and rather large - think there's Maine Coone in there ) furry purry too. We found a family that was relocating back to the UK and couldn't take their kitty with them - it was the perfect situation - we could save them from the heartbreak we endured when no-one would take over our older feline family.

 

We also gained perspective through the eyes of a Cape Town visitor a few months back.

Her first impression within 15 minutes of landing was how calm and happy people looked. Then she spent the next 3 weeks slack - jawed at how civil, polite and pleasant every one was, everywhere. How neat and clean things are, are great, quick and friendly retail service is etc etc.

Locals complain about traffic congestion - she just laughed and asked "what traffic" ?

She loved that she could spend hours walking around on her own, and feel safe. That there so many running / walking tracks in suburbia.

Another observation she made is that fathers are so much more involved and hands on with their kids here than in SA, and she loved seeing that.

 

We all however agreed, after a trip to Sydney, that we're glad we chose Melbourne to live in. We liked the visit, but wouldn't want to stay there. I think my expectations were a little high.

I found Darling Harbour lack-lustre ( unfair as I have V&A Waterfront as a benchmark ), the city was a nightmare with all the light rail works, so outside The Rocks, Harbour Bridge ( do the Bridge Climb - it's awesome ), Opera House and the Gardens, I was little disappointed.

People are still friendly , but not as friendly as those we encounter in Melbourne.

I think I would go back to NSW, but to explore the surrounding natural beauty, and avoid the city.

Awesome double decker trains though! @SDTCPT - you get to play with those?

 

We've joined a local Rotary Club now - it's been great to get involved in the community and meet some  locals. We have lowered the average age of the members substantially, but it's fun. It's also been an eye-opener that things are not so rosy for all Australians - that there are quite a few living in poverty - just did a Salvos Christmas hamper drive for needy families. A lot of projects are based offshore - Asia Pacific region , as well as Central Africa. Mostly around disaster relief and medical aid, as well as sponsoring children to come over to Australia for life-changing / saving surgical procedures. Fund raisers mostly come from hosting sausage sizzles at events ( lots coming up with Christmas Carols in parks etc ) and running a local Farmers Market. Australians are very generous, so most welcome opportunities to give the "gold coin donation" ( $2 coins )

 

So to sum up 2015/2016/2017 -  loving it and only regret is that we didn't do this years ago.........

 

 

 

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Hey Em,

 

Jip they let me out on the network all on my own 2 months ago... they must be nuts! :lol:

 

The new ones are the best... the old silver one can be a bit of downer...

 

Glad things are going well for you guys.

 

Did you do the Bridge Climb when you were here? Asks the person who hasn't even been to Bondi Beach since moving to Sydney almost 2 years ago... sad but true... :whome:

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