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VISA Granted... now for the BIG ESCAPE...


GideonVD

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Hi there, this thread follows on from the previous one dedicated to the VISA application part of our process to move to Australia (http://www.saaustralia.org/index.php/topic/37767-never-expected-this-but-saw-it-coming-part-3-the-visa-application/page-1).

In this thread we will journal/diarise the whole process of getting our behinds to Australia, before the 31 October 2013 deadline.

Now is the time for our BIG ESCAPE :D

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CONGRATS!!!

Luckily the Aussies have a sense of humour and don't take threats of bombing their kind too seriously :)

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CONGRATS!!!

Luckily the Aussies have a sense of humour and don't take threats of bombing their kind too seriously :)

:P

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31 January 2013

Tonight we celebrate. :)

We also took time to have a look at the calendar, to help us decide when we want to leave for Australia, and have decided the flight day will be the 3rd of August 2013.

Now at least we can plan the rest of the stuff backwards from that ;)

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Hey Gideon, you make leaving sound like a planned escape from a c-max prison. A real life version of "Prison Break". That's going to be one big @ss tattoo your going to have to put on your back. :P

One thing I have learned in the last couple of days, Planning is for the birds dude. You can plan as much as you want but the only planning you will actually use is the emergency plan enclosed in the "only open this envelope in case of emergencies" back up plan that you made.

My advice (FWIW) is make a list of everything that you need to do on a BIG piece of paper, stick it on the fridge, take one day at a time and eat the elephant bite by bite.

There is no plan that can be made to cater for every eventuality in this adventure, remember that you have literally turned your life upside down, there are going to be many unknowns in this process and things will get tough (even though you don't think so at the moment). Don't cause yourself unnecessary stress because the plans you make don't turn out the way you want them to. Shrug it off and make a new plan.

I wish the two of you the best of luck and look forward to reading of all your shenanigans along the way.

Edited by HadEnoughofJuju
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Thanks man... :)

Don't worry, most of the plans will by high level and over periods ;)

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1 February 2013

We contacted IOM this morning to try and get quotes for flights to Melbourne out of Johannesburg on the 3rd of August 2013.

We filled in all the requested information and attached all the relevant documentation.

Hope we get a very good quote soon seeing we are booking way in advance :)

Edited by GideonVD
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1 February 2013

We contacted IOM this morning to try and get quotes for flights to Melbourne out of Johannesburg on the 3rd of August 2013.

We filled in all the requested information and attached all the relevant documentation.

Hope we get a very good quote soon seeing we are booking way in advance :)

Did you contact them by phone? I've emailed a few times and still no response. I will only be breaking the news of my resignation to my boss at the end of May, so working in an open plan office makes it difficult to communicate telephonically.

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Congrats Gideon.....such a good season for visas! Enjoy the planning :)

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Did you contact them by phone? I've emailed a few times and still no response. I will only be breaking the news of my resignation to my boss at the end of May, so working in an open plan office makes it difficult to communicate telephonically.

Yeah, seems it works faster to just phone them. My wife took the initiative as I tried the email route first. :)

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2 February 2013

We started the chucking out, collecting for auction, distributing to family/friends and private advertising process today. Tackled the garage first, what a lot of crap one can collect over the years. Dust bin filled to the max, two big boxes of stuff to take to the auctions to sell, advertised 3 nice appliances on OLX and Gumtree. The rest will have to be boxed for the move to Oz.

Can't wait... but for now... I'm pooped :P

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Mmmm...is an afternoon on the couch watching the cricket an option GideonVD? (It sounds like you deserve it!)

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I wish... na, its more think and planning. :) Did a lot of adverts on OLX and Gumtree, and updated the one for my car.

Here's hoping things stay working out for us :)

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I'm still working in the garage cleaning stuff and it's going on 3 weeks now and still have quite a bit to do. Doesn't seem like it will ever end. :P

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I'm guessing most of you are by now John Lennon fans "... imagine no possessions ..." - it'd certainly help with this part of the move. :)

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Hell, if it was only that easy ;)

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Hey Gideon,

Congrats and good luck!

Our tickets are booked for 19 august 2013..... I mailed IOM with all my details & received a quote a couple of days later for one way fare to Melbourne in August. They quoted me ±3400€, we gave that a miss and bought tickets on line for ±2200€, thats a huge differance to me!

Best of luck!

John

Edited by jcl
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Cool, will keep an eye on it. Thanks :)

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5 February 2013

My Kia was sold today, did the whole 9 yards and more. Unfortunately had to take an offer for R225000, but still happy :). We also got our IOM flight quotes, for JHB to SYD to MEL... R15600 for the both of us. Used some of the car's money to pay that, put away a little and pushed the rest into the house bond.

Just need to phone them tomorrow morning to recalculate my monthly instalments before this month's instalment goes through :)

Slowly but surely. Have been selling of a lot of smaller things here and there. Seems the market isn't that bad at all.

Still waiting for the electrical certificate on the town-house, but should have that tomorrow afternoon. End of the month the transfer goes through and I get R825000. Take a small bit on the top along with today's car sale and that should easily cover the cost of the container :)

I feel a lot more positive now. The flights are booked and paid for and the stuff is moving... :D

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Congrats and goodluck with the way forward! Why is IOM cheaper and what are the reason one would book with them?

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IOM uses United Nations funding to make up the difference in the cost of the ticket.

Reasons for using them...........cost, additional lugage allowances. (note additional lugage is for the flights exiting the country, not for flights to get to the point of exit (this can be problamatic))

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8 February 2013

We received the E-tickets for our flights. SAA from JHB to SYD, and Qantas from SYD to MEL. :)

The reality of it all is slowly growing on me... as is the realisation of what we are leaving behind...

But I keep it together and keep a straight face. Keep reminding myself, this is for the better.

On another angle... we decided to advertise one of our dogs to a "good home". Our little Jack Russle, about 5 years old...

We decided to try and get the heart-ache out of the way as soon as possible. Just wish Oz will make up their bloody minds about the quarantine of animals soon, we need to know what we are going to do with the ones we initially wanted to take with.

Edited by GideonVD
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12 February 2013

Eish, its tough getting information from some service providers on cancellations of contracts and such. Mailed Momentum and Sanlam on finding out about making some of my policies fully paid up and then just leaving them to term. Tried getting info from SABC, but I reckon this will be a useless attempt.

At this rate I'm starting to become an alcoholic (or just better at it) :o Finished the bottle of Black Grouse and 12.y.o Glen Ord whiskey... just cracked open the 15.y.o Glen Fiddich... :D

Still need to finish off the rest of the alcohol in the house as my wife's not a big fan of alcohol. So its a one-man-job :P

Struggling to make decission on wether or not to take the dogs, how many, when should we put them in quarintine if we do... eish... my head hurts (takes another sip of whiskey)...

Who said emigrating is easy!? :glare:

Edited by GideonVD
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