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The Panda and the Wolf move to Australia


RedPanda

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Congrats @RedPanda you have come so far. I think you are entirely correct on moving into the renewable energy sector. If it was available a million miles ago when I was studying I would've definitely moved in that direction. It's a fascinating industry.

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16 hours ago, Husky said:

How fabulous. Love your "let's try this another way" attitude. My husband is in the renewable energy sector (electronic engineer) as well. Ok if I pm you about your experience in the renewables job market?

 

Sure, please do! Always good to hear relevant experiences :)

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  • 1 month later...

And so, as fuel for my own confirmation bias(Moving to Aus was the best thing ever).... You know I keep going on about the benefits that ease of mind has on your health? The other evening when I was lying in bed all relaxed, getting ready to put the light out, I got curious and took my resting heart rate. The result was so surprising that I did a second measurement. But it was the same. In one year my resting heart rate had dropped from 88 bpm, to ~65bpm! That's a reduction of 25%, and now puts me squarely in the "healthy" bracket for my age and gender.  As someone who has always been a little concerned about my heart health this is fabulous news!!! (In the meantime I've measured it again a few times, it's totally true)

So regardless of the mechanism, more exercise because I'm happier to venture out on my own, or absence of stress, relaxation of vigilance, eating better food....whatever did it, I don't care, I just know it wouldn't have happened without coming to Australia! So I can now say: Moving to Australia has increased my calculable life expectancy! Yay! :D 

Lalala... in other news, we made use of our free time this Monday by exploring the Warburton area a little. The drive there was quite beautiful, past wine estates and horse farms. When we got there we went straight to the Cog Bike Cafe and asked for advice about the local bike trails. So listening to all the stuff the guy told us we decided to cycle along the O'Shannassy Aqueduct Trail, ~20 km return trip. It was so beautiful! The trail was very relaxed, since it's actually a service road next to the aqueduct it's mostly flat, with the odd up or down just to 'change lines' so to speak. I would definitely recommend it to beginner cyclists, since it's not difficult, it's very pretty, and you can decide to turn back at any point. After our cycle we had lunch back at the Cog Bike Cafe, they serve stupendously delicious smoked chicken wraps...chicken..brie...poached pears..aioli ..and crunchy green stuff.

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  • 9 months later...

I haven't been here for quite some time, I see...
We've been up to a lot in the meantime.

We bought a house in Feb 2017, and since May I've been renovating it. I painted all the interior walls, I painted the ceiling beams (cathedral ceiling, I rented scaffolding), sanded and sealed all the floors throughout the house, and then embarked on a project-based adventure of 'fixing up' various things. Like sanding and painting all the kitchen cupboards/cabinets, moving plants around in the garden and adding new ones (the local community is very generous with their plants). And with all the parents visiting we got spoilt with 'new stuff' to put in our house, like a feature lamp and some trimmings here and there to improve the look. Once we had more hands, we used them of course! So we added shelves to my laundry, and completely spruced up the storage 'thingy' in the house, so now hubby has a decent place to put his tools, and also a good place for some odd things we want to store. We still aren't sold on the Aussie idea: Just put it under the house! Yea-nah, not our idea of proper storage.

Like I said, all the parents came to visit, and one friend, with the result that we've been hosting guests on-and-off from October to middle January! We're lucky that they were all impeccably behaved, and it was a really positive experience.

In between all of this, hubby was first told to 'keep an eye out for other work opportunities'...excellent isn't it (especially if your contract is coming up for review)? but later offered a permanent post at a different dept of the same company. This came with a few added features, and we must say, they have been very enjoyable. Not to mention that a permanent post feels a deal safer than a contract appointment. So things have gone really well in that area of our lives. I got caught up with moving and renovations, and put job seeking on the back burner for a while. I'll start up again this year.

We have obviously survived yet another Melbourne Winter! :o Hahahaha! Piece of Cake! (especially if you go out to the little patisserie cafés and order it, the piece of cake, with delicious coffee...go on...just do it!) But seriously, if you live in Melbourne you have to have ducted heating, and you have to be able to run it when really needed.

With all our guests we just realised again how very happy we are with our decision to move here. I know it's not for everyone, but for us it was the best decision possible. We listened to the stories from South Africa, the daily lives of our visitors, and were particularly struck by the amount of small grievances faced every day. The number of things that don't work the way they should, and how this cascades into all facets of life. We also got to experience the delight of things that 'just work', through the eyes of our guests: How easy to open a bank account (you can even make an appointment!). The mail that comes to our door, even if it's big, or waits patiently at the nearest office if you missed the delivery. Excellent service- they wanted a Míele part to replace one that was stolen, in RSA: Oh no, you have to buy the whole thing new, there is just no other way to do it, here: No problem, just phone parts department, here is their number...a few days later, package at the door! And if you have any issue with something you bought, just return it to the store 9/10 they'll replace it for you, with a smile. Older people are safe to explore the CBD/City Centre on their own. We took my in-laws to see the Melbourne New Years fireworks, and they  just astonished that the crowd was so polite, friendly and well behaved. They were also astonished to learn that many of the event pointsmen were volunteers. And of course the National Parks, just blew them away! The fact that they are free access, neatly kept, SAFE to enjoy at all hours of the day, and beautiful.

We did a long road trip to Adelaide. The scenery was really pretty/very interesting/bleak/stunning. Absolutely worth it. We saw a number of landmarks without realising that they were landmarks :lol: but we enjoyed them all the same. Adelaide itself (we didn't get to see too much, only spent one day there...longer story...) was quiet and felt small-town-sy. It reminded me of Potchefstroom. We did have some excellent beer and food there.

And so it was that on a good day near the middle of January, this year, I entered my 30s, with friends and family present and some singing over Skype and FaceTime, and a great relaxed sense that "things will be just fine" going forward :)

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Happy 30th @RedPanda

Must admit that my 30s (now in my 40s) were some of the best years of my life.

Sounds like you guys are more than " just fine". Thank you for all the support and sharing of info.

#lovemelbourne

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here's to 21 hours awake: Oh boy! What fun! :D

So this weekend we attended Melbourne's White Night, after our regular game night with friends (yes, in one night, the night is long enough :lol: ). Apparently it's an international arts movement that started in Paris as Nuit Blanche and spread across the globe. Basically, they put up stunning free public light displays all over the city, on well known public buildings like the Royal Exhibition Hall or the State Library. And the have street performances roaming around. And all this happened on Saturday from 7pm till Sunday 7am, right through the night. They closed off major streets and people just swarmed through the city, walking from one amazing thing to the next. It was totally worth going to!!! To get an idea look up #whitenightmelbourne2018 or similar on Instagram. So at 11pm we left our friends' house, drove to the best nearest train station and left our valuables in the parked car (yes, you lock your car this time ;) ) Then we found out our Miki cards had expired after four years, but no worries, the booth was manned and we were helped with new cards and our balances transferred to them immediately. This took less than 10min. Hopped a train and got out at 11:50pm in our city centre to find a happy crowd of people milling about like guests on the lawn of a garden party. Except there were thousands and the party was city wide! 


It reminded us why we love living in Melbourne. We like being able to use the city centre, that it's safe, and that it's thriving. We love the relaxed holiday feeling of the crowd. Official stats are that the city hosted more than 600 000 people for the event, and there were only 31 arrests, in total, including drunken disorderly behaviour and minor thefts. That's nothing.

It was just mind blowing to think that people went to all this effort and expense to provide a spectacle for the public to enjoy, free of charge. And the quality was really really good! They transformed the main hall in the State Library into an aquarium and then a jungle, with light projections and sound. It was just stunning.


And then, I have to add, we wouldn't have gone if it wasn't for the urging of friends we made here. It is very important to put in the effort to make new friends after arriving in your chosen city. Isolation will cause you to miss out on amazing things. So if you're shy, suck it up, and say 'yes' to all social invitations (that don't actually scream: I'm a serial killer looking for my next victim) for at least the first year. Then nurture those friendships. Social groups are living changing things, so try to make as many friends as you can, even if you don't know if you're really a good fit. Time will tell, but only if you give it a try first ;)  If you told us four years ago that we would voluntarily go to our city centre at midnight and spend hours walking around on the streets in a crowd that's thousands big, we would have just laughed "Good one! Now tell me how you're gonna win the Lotto next week?" We're just really happy with our life choices right now :ilikeit: 

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On 19/02/2018 at 3:14 PM, FromDurbs said:

I told you, you should not miss White Night !


Ai tog... I was trying to be diplomatic here and protect your identity :lol: 

But yes, you told me to go, and it was 100% the right thing to do that night! :ilikeit: 

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