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Garrick's Mini-Migration Blog


Garrick

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Well... we found a place in Bentleigh East. It's a 4 bedroom place, and though it's an old house, they've repainted the whole interior and fitted aircon (living room) and cleaned the place up. It's got a nice garden for Amy and I can look at making use of the swing frame that they have to fit a swing for Amy.

We move in this coming weekend. Our container may also be ready to be delivered this Friday...so on 1 day it could be container + new Fridge/Washing Machine, etc (from Good Guys) and us.

This weekend we went to look at the ix35, and they agreed to let me test drive the automatic Active on my learner's license. We then did a deal to basically get the automatic at the price of the manual ($2000 saving) and it'll be ready in around 2 weeks.

Amy's easter was amazing...she knew exactly what to do with the eggs - put them in her basket. She loved it... and the cousins have a rabbit, so she went to give it a hug and gave the poor thing the fright of its life. :ilikeit:

Today I go for my driving test... in a car I've driven for merely 10-15 minutes and parked once (succesfully). The original car I was going to go in (Peugot 307) was sold recently...so it's a Toyota Prado (or whatever that big thing is called) for me.

Amy starts swimming lessons this week too. I'm sure she's going to be happy to get back in the pool. Hopefully in 2 weeks time we'll be settled and I'll be into my 1+ hour commute routine.

-G

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HeHe, we've been meaning to do an update for ages so i'll add to G's update.

Bentleigh East is an area that we decided we'd really like to live in when we did our LSD in August last year as there is loads of kids stuff, schools and things to do as a young family. It is also close to my cousins in Black Rock which at this stage is a real help. We haven't ruled out the West, but decided that the East was the right place for us to start off.

I spent ages looking at (and I kid you not) AT LEAST 20 houses, 3 of which were actually okay to live in. man the houses is Oz are weird (but that's a whole other story!)

The one was brand new and modern but I wasn't sure we'd have the space we needed, the other was really old and had a pink bathroom...so Garrick refused! Needless to say we are in the 3rd! It is older like G said, but they have added an extention so that it has 2 living areas and 4 bedrooms as well as 2 bathrooms (one on-suite). I said that it was my favourite once we'd seen it and so am glad we are in it. The garden is a lovely size for our little one and the lawn will be mowed for us...so YAY!!

I wanted to cry when I heard that our container was probably coming this Friday...it's going to make the world of difference!

Will also be good to have a car because although the publc transport is awesome, it can be a bit much when it's your only way to get around for months on end...on that note, if anyone has a small car they are willing to let me take my license in, I would SOOOO appreciate it. I cannot do it in my cousins Prado and our new car is also big...I had a hatch in SA so am freaked about parallel parking in a big car!!

Garrick is taking his test as I write this...in Pakenham! I'm going to beg them to give me a spot somewhere nearby!

I'm really enjoying the freedom that Australia offers but am finding it really hard to adjust...not knowing the shops to shop in or the brands to buy is really getting me down and I am missing my family terribly...they are in Umhlanga this week which was a holiday we had plannned on joing them for (Amy and I anyway) so it's a little depressing.

Anyway, been recommended a swimming school for Amy and am looking into the other groups...Gymbaroo and playgroup?? Any advice on mom and toddler groups is welcome!

And to all those still in SA...bring a container and load it FULL!! Things are really pricey here, especially good quality furniture...and even clothes and stuff! Kids stuff (like play houses or cots etc are very pricey so stock up!!

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Failed me for not indicating properly during 3-point turn and I stalled when I had stopped at the end of part 1 when I left it in gear and took my foot off the clutch... <sigh>

Does not pay to do your test in an unfamiliar car... Quite a bit disheartened right now... No idea how we'll fetch our car... And then have to organize driving lessons for both of us.. Now my poor girls have to be subjected to several more weekends of imfrequent weekend public transport. And to rub it in... A chap walked into the centre and said "I'm here to convert my Irish license...

-G

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Right...after a slightly restless night of my mind playing the test over a few hundred times... we move forward.

Today we confirmed delivery of our container and newly purchased items on Friday. So that's something good. We'll have space again - Amy will have a garden, and Michelle will have her household again. I'll get my office back and be able to start setting up home. Lots of work ahead of us this weekend, but we're so looking forward to getting out of this slightly depressing apartment.

Now I just need to try find someone with a license to help me go fetch our car in 2 weeks...

-G

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Hi Garrick,

Bad luck with your Driver's mate... I can relate as I did mine yesterday (but I've been driving arround every day for the past 6 weeks with my "invalid" RSA license). Anyway, after driving like a complete nerd and not doing a thing wrong, I get back to Vicroads & the officer tells me I just scraped through with 2 critical errors and 1 precaution! I was stunned!! Aparently... I did not check properly in all my mirrors whilst doing the 3-point turn, and the front of my car went just over the white line at one intersection. The precaution was because I drove too slowly (55 in a 70 zone). He told me that if a car had hooted behind me - he would have instantly failed me for driving too slowly. :D

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Now you see... you got through with two criticals... I was failed on two... even though she said I drove perfectly... I swear she was out to fail me from the start. :D

-G

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Well, I lodged a complaint about my test and they offered me a free test on the 8th of May. Am going to go to an instructor just to be 100% sure this time...

Container arrives tomorrow... New car next week... Soon we hope to have put this whole license debacle behind us...

-G

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, yesterday we both passed our licenses in the Racv car. I'm so happy that Michelle can now get around easier with Amy. Today we took our new ix35 up to the top of the Dandenong mountains to the viewing area. Was a bit amusing as the iPhone's route had us driving up this very narrow single lane gravel road up the side of the mountain...

This weekend I also found out that the main cause of delay in having South African licenses recognized here is actually our dear own South African High Commission...they simply haven't provided the Oz government with the info requested late last year.

-G

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Congrats! :ilikeit: It is amazing the "freedom" that comes with your license :)

The single lane gravel route is normally the nice scenic ones :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, we got our license cards yesterday. Driving is now more comfortable and 100 times more relaxing than in Jhb.

Now for stuff other than licensing...

Amy is doing so well. She has a small, albeit not perfectly clear, vocab. She loves helping around the house and has no problem understanding complex requests and is really quite perceptive and "skerp" - there's no getting anything past her. It's hard to believe how much she has developed in less than 2 months.

About life here. I took the first job I got offered because I needed one to get an income. It's a small company and has all the issues many small businesses face. The work is quite interesting and I'm enjoying the learning. Maybe I'll stay with them for years, maybe not. The package I took is at the bottom end of the scale for my skills/experience, so hopefully that will improve. We're a single income household for now, but that is our choice as we want Amy to spend a lot of time with Michelle in these early years.

We do ok. We're still finishing a proper budget so as to start saving towards a house. But we own our car 100% and are loving the amazing life here. Life may be a little hard sometimes, but it's still levels higher than life in SA. I have no urge to go back, not a chance.

-G

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Good on you Garrick and Michelle. nice blog and excellet view of the landscape so far! Keep the info coming... will definately follow your link from now on!

Cheers,

Jack

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, it's been almost a month since my last post, and I've been a bit loathe to post. Why? Well, the "minor" issues that my company has are not so minor really. From speaking to one or two of the long-standing staff that have been there for a while (they have their various reasons for staying), I have come to realise in time that this company has had cashflow issues for a while. They basically don't pull in enough to pay all their staff as well as their supers, tax, etc. That basically means that as time has progressed, what started as a 2-day late payment, has slowly over time become 20 days late (first payment, 2 days late, next one 5 days, next one 10 days, etc.). Oh the payments seem to eventually be made...but no super is paid... and there's the niggling feeling that the delays are only going to get worse...and yet, they still bring in more staff.

So obviously we're experiencing a lot of stress... we cannot "enjoy" the EOFYS sales right now... what disposable income (monthly savings) that was part of our budget is now being banked just to make sure we can pay the rent, etc...never really knowing how long it'll be before the next payment. Michelle is doing incredibly well under the circumstances. Amy is blisfully unaware, though she is incredibly attuned to when we are both "sad". Thankfully we have savings we brought with us should things go bad...but nobody in their right mind would sit around and hope it all comes right...would you?

In a way, this not-so-pleasant experience has made me look at life a little differently. I value my family so much more now. My faith has not yet fully being tested, but it stands firm. I have walked this path once before, alone then, not so now. Now I have an amazing wife by my side and a beautiful little girl on my shoulders. How much more so will we enjoy life here once this winter has passed.

-G

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  • 1 month later...

Well, almost two months have passed, and much has happened. In the last 2 months, I've started reading (and almost finished) Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life. I've also left that first company and am contracting at MLC. Yes, it's contracting, and so long as I don't get majorly sick, the pay is better. Been at MLC 3 weeks now. The place, the people, are amazing. Reminds me very much of my work back at Discovery.

We will soon be able to start living normally.

This last weekend, we bought a barbeque from Bunnings...yes... Bunnings. We went to BBQ Galore and I wasn't too impressed with the prices. And I've seen this one 4-burner on display at bunnings...but while I was walking around on Saturday, I saw other boxed ones that weren't on display, and on clearance for $350. So we decided to get it and I came back later alone...good thing too, because it was two huge boxes weighing in at 30kg and 43kg and they only just fitted in the car. Spent 2-3 hours assembling it and we made good use of it on Sunday with our first BBQ in Oz!

I'm sure M will arrange for us to have a whole bunch of fellow SA'ers over when the weather is better.

Praying and handing everything over to God has opened some new doors (work) and closed a chapter that we will remember well.

-G

PS. This is the BBQ: http://www.bunnings.com.au/products_produc...d-bbq_2064.aspx

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HI Garrik & Michelle,

I've just caugt up on your blog from day one to yesterday and wow, it made me laugh and cry, the pic's are fantastic and you give such an honest view of settling and coping in OZ from alone to being re-united as a family.

When we go my hubby too will leave me and our 3 kiddo's behind at 1st to make way for the rest of us and make sure it is a smoothe landing.

I know life gets busy but please keep updating your blog and a pic of your family and new car would be great.

God Bless and keep the Faith

Tania

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I was just wondering yesterday when we would hear from you again!

Thanks for sharing... hope the contract work turns into something permanent.

And happy bbq-ing!

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Good to hear from you Garrick. Got our bbq from Bunnings too, working over time at home and its still going great.

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  • 2 months later...

Seems I remember to update this every 2 months. :)

Let's see. Still contracting at the same company, and the income is steady. Work is interesting, so that's good. I think I didn't post for a while because Amy and I both got quite sick - Michelle managed to avoid the worst of it. I had an almost bronchitis cough for about 3 weeks - had to go onto a Ventolin pump at one stage. Amy was sick for a long time. The doctors eventually sent off for a blood test for her and everything came back fine... we spent several hours at the RMCH (Royal Melbourne Childrens' Hospital) on a Friday night and the paed (that specialises in communicable diseases?) couldn't find anything wrong...

By chance, the doctor that requested the blood test, asked the to run a second test for malaria and Immuglobulin deficiencies. And a hit came back. She has a possible Immuglobulin A deficiency. This means she is prone to basically, the common cold and sinus/throat viruses... So if someone at school gets sick, she'll catch it.

Anyway, she's been running a temperature of around 37.0 - 37.5 for over a month now. But she's fine with it. She just carries on being her playful, joyful, mischievous self. We sent her to an ENT and next week she is getting grommets, as she has fluid in her ears. Our poor baba.

In other news, I'm starting to get used to a gas bbq and I finally washed our car for the first time yesterday since we bought it - I figured, it rains almost every bloody day in winter, so why not wait for spring/summer and wash it then. Anyway, it looks brand new again. :) It was nice to wash it in the front garden (with a bucket - used the spraygun to rinse it off, as per Stage 2 restrictions :) ) and not worry about someone jumping over the 2-foot high wall and attacking me. Later on, I picked a bunch of lemons and just walked around to our neighbor that had asked for some before, and as he wasn't there, I just left them on his patio outside the door... No worries.

With daylight savings kicking in yesterday, it was a bit harsh to have Amy wake us at 04H00 (03H00 effectively) and then my iPhone have an alarm (uknown why at this stage) go off at 05H00 (04H00 effectively)...so I was basically at work today at the time I would still have been getting dressed on Friday... eish.

Anyway. Life is good here. We bought a 50" Panasonic Plasma recently and was nice to watch the footy final on it. In a few weeks Michelle and AMy head back to JHB to visit her folks. If it wasn't for the fact that they live on their private school grounds, I wouldn't be happy with them going. Even then, I have a tinge of concern, as I won't be there to protect them as such... anyway, I'll just have to survive being alone at home for a few weeks...with nothing but my new TV and online gaming to keep me company. ;)

-G

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Seems I remember to update this every 2 months. :angry:

In other news, I'm starting to get used to a gas bbq

We've been in Mindarie for two weeks now. And our rental property has a gas BBQ. What a mission!!!!!!!! But I guess I'll have to get the hang of it at some time or another.

PS: What are the chickens fed in this country? I've never seen such huge chicken breasts in my life!!!!

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PS: What are the chickens fed in this country? I've never seen such huge chicken breasts in my life!!!!

Hehe, my wife says the same. It's like they're on steroids. We're going to try getting chickens from Farmer's Market and see if they're "normal".

I agree, I cannot believe those chick breasts come from a normal chicken...

-G

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I saw the photo of that little Monay Mouton standing with her mom at her father's funeral on News 24 just now... and my heart just aches so much. My niece is around her age, and I cannot bear to think what my sister-in-law would go through if something had to happen to my brother. "Thankfully", they live in PE, so (optimistic South African voice) "the statistical chance of them being killed by some savage wanting their phone or hifi is quite low"...

All I can say, is that it isn't until you are out of that place, that you can see the noose tightening. It's the typical boil-a-frog situation. Those that are still there, are enjoying the warm water... those of us outside, can see the cook cranking up the gas...

Please, for the love of your children, get out now, if you can, while you can. Life here is challenging, sure, but it's not one where the challenge is making it through the day alive.

-G

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Life here is challenging, sure, but it's not one where the challenge is making it through the day alive.

Nicely put . . . :ilikeit:

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With daylight savings kicking in yesterday, it was a bit harsh to have Amy wake us at 04H00 (03H00 effectively) and then my iPhone have an alarm (uknown why at this stage) go off at 05H00 (04H00 effectively)...so I was basically at work today at the time I would still have been getting dressed on Friday... eish.

-G

Hey Garrick,

I'm having the same issue with my iphone...set it for 05:20 and it goes off at 04:20.....so will set it to go off tomorrow morning at 06:20....see if that fixes it :ilikeit:

I hear you on the sickness front...my 7 yr old was off school for the whole of August with pneumonia then flu then...... Folks here tell me that the first year is the worst for sicknesses, since you are getting used to all the bugs in the new country. And this Melbourne winter is something else!

Keep well mate

Tex

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Hey Garrick,

I'm having the same issue with my iphone...set it for 05:20 and it goes off at 04:20.....so will set it to go off tomorrow morning at 06:20....see if that fixes it :ilikeit:

I hear you on the sickness front...my 7 yr old was off school for the whole of August with pneumonia then flu then...... Folks here tell me that the first year is the worst for sicknesses, since you are getting used to all the bugs in the new country. And this Melbourne winter is something else!

Keep well mate

Tex

have you changed your settings because if your on the iphone you need to go to the international settings and choose australia and that should do it

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The alarm thing is a Clock bug.

Basically, create new alarms...as the old alarms try to compensate for daylight savings AS WELL AS your phone...

Will see tomorrow if I'm up at 05H00 for the 3rd day in a row.

-G

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The alarm thing is a Clock bug.

Basically, create new alarms...as the old alarms try to compensate for daylight savings AS WELL AS your phone...

Will see tomorrow if I'm up at 05H00 for the 3rd day in a row.

-G

Thanks; have created new alarms so will see what happens in the morning. Must say I've not been adapting too well to this daylight savings!

Tex

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