Toitjie Posted December 4, 2013 Report Share Posted December 4, 2013 Hi there B - it sounds like you have planned everything! Very exciting! I hope everything is smooth sailing from now on. I know that one of the most difficult things will be your cats. Its really horrible saying goodbye...I wish you all the best with everything that lies ahead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BriD Posted December 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2013 Hi there B - it sounds like you have planned everything! Very exciting! I hope everything is smooth sailing from now on. I know that one of the most difficult things will be your cats. Its really horrible saying goodbye...I wish you all the best with everything that lies ahead Thanks Toitjie...yes we getting there. Working furiously towards our deadline date!!Yes...it is going to be terrible to say goodbye to my kitties...just hope I find them good homes really soon.Following your journey under-down...you are such an inspiration...I hope you know that. Big big hugs!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BriD Posted December 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2013 After a hectic week of baking and planning our immigration we have made some headway in things. So I am glad about that.This week has been a bit rough with the family starting to realise we are really going through with this. I have been dealing with crying people, angry whispers, my hubby and I being "awarded" a giant spoon for being "stirrers" for wanting to immigrate.... sigh....I told my MIL our planned date of departure and she actually looked like someone physically hit her...she actually took a step back in shock. I felt really crummy about that ...but none of this is new to them. They knew if the project did not come through then that we would make our plans to leave asap.My dad has agreed to take our cats (they took our dogs this last weekend)...I am SO grateful my babies will be with my family. BUT...I need to get them there asap so they can get settled. So again another sudden decision and my kitties will be going to Durban on Tuesday...I am already in tears. They are even more of an intricate part of my daily life and I will miss my Ally coming to sit on my chest every morning, head bumping me and purring loudly. Man....this is so hard....no words to describe this This is really the best possible outcome for us for our furbabies...but by no means easy at all. So 2 cats will go to Durban on Tuesday and our 3rd little old lady cat will have some exclusive mommy time until just before the container comes when we will need to put her down :cry: ....H A R D....no words... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCabes Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 HUGS!!! B I'm so sorry this is all hitting you at once!I'm sorry your in-laws are reacting the way they are. The vindictive side of me wants to think of things to award them with in return that would be the equal of the spoon. The rest of me wants to say try and let it go. People get nasty when they're hurt - and mad when they're hurt. It's very human, but hard to deal with I'm so sorry your kitties are going so soon! At least you will have your old lady to look after you and see you through this.Hang in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BriD Posted December 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 I am so excited today. Yesterday my second cousin Travis contacted me. Up until November they had been living in Melbourne (his parents immigrated when he was 4 years...he is Aussie and so is his wife). He told me his flat was available for rental. It happens to be in the South East of Melbourne and seems a good area. It is a flat on the 2nd floor, but nice size. And affordable rent for us. It was like an answer to prayer! I have been stressing so much about rentals and getting Amy into a nice school. So this will take a lot of stress off us in our beginning stages.They would only require 2 months rent ahead (that includes the Bond rate). And we would rent for a year.I feel like this was serendipitous...I feel so much calmer now. We will lose our $200.00 deposit for the other furnished place...but saving so so much more by starting our rental immediately...even if we have to slum it until our stuff arrives. And now that bring me to another consideration...should we just bring move cubes and store our big furniture in South Africa until we move into a bigger place one day...otherwise we will probably have to store stuff in Oz...Decisions decision!!!!But happy...very happy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toitjie Posted December 14, 2013 Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 Im glad you found a rental place to move into directly. It does take enormous strain off your shoulders if you can move directly and not have to move again in 2 weeks.Even for a small place like Canberra I have seen storage facilities. I dont know the cost but with the rand going downwards, maybe do a calculation what it would cost getting things here now and put in storage, versus getting them later on. good luck with your final preparations! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilise Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 That is indeed a weight of your shoulders. I have been in contact with a few rental agencies in Canberra, and I cannot get someone that is willing to let us rent whilst this on this side? So frustrating as I would really like to NOT have to spend $2000 for two week stay whilst looking for a place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCabes Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Oh Bri, I'm so happy for you!!! GO TRAVIS!Nothing quite like family! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaL Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 I'm glad you have accommodation settled, one less worry.Did you get the two cats to Durban O.K.?I so know how difficult this is, I'm a cat person and my cats are my world, even the kids say I love the cats more......................I saw a sign the other day that said, " Had to get rid of the kids.......the cats were allergic".........I think next time I am in Mackay, I will buy it.I've just realised that you leave on my daughters birthday, so I will most certainly be thinking about you that day.Stay strong, there is still so much ahead. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BriD Posted December 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 (edited) Andrea. .. the 3rd Feb is my birthday too! !Quite an auspicious day to change ones life. .. lolCat move went fine. Amazingly they were settled and happy a few hours after arriving. I burst into tears seeing the pics of them languishing on my Sisters bed. I miss them terribly but knowing they are happy and loved makes it so much better. I will see them after Christmas when we visit there.Love that sign. .. think you should definitely get it. Going through all my stuff and I have so many things cat related. .. lol.That is indeed a weight of your shoulders. I have been in contact with a few rental agencies in Canberra, and I cannot get someone that is willing to let us rent whilst this on this side? So frustrating as I would really like to NOT have to spend $2000 for two week stay whilst looking for a place.Shame man...it does suck how difficult it is to find something from this side. Which is why I cannot pass up this opportunity to take this with both hands. I am holding thumbs that you find something before you go Edited December 17, 2013 by BriD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toitjie Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 (edited) Marilise, on 17 Dec 2013 - 7:04 PM, said:That is indeed a weight of your shoulders. I have been in contact with a few rental agencies in Canberra, and I cannot get someone that is willing to let us rent whilst this on this side? So frustrating as I would really like to NOT have to spend $2000 for two week stay whilst looking for a place.ontact PRD Nationwide and see if they would be willing to help. or search on their website for houses in the areas that you like. Remember that you have to give them lots of good reasons to choose you and prove that you have the means to pay for a couple of months without jobs. But they are such nice and considerate agents. Let me know if you can find their details, otherwise I will have a look here somewhere Edited December 17, 2013 by Toitjie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilise Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Thanks Toitjie - I will try them, found their number on AllHomes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BriD Posted December 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2013 The last few weeks have been a complete blur. I am so exhausted and "gat-vol" of sorting through stuff. It is without a doubt at this stage the most overwhelming part of this process so far.We have received the floor plan of our flat. It is apparently a good size...but wow...it is compact. Going to be quite an adjustment...but I am looking forward to it. Will be better to clean a smaller place than a huge one (which is what I am trying to do now...maid has gone and won't be back). Got the first draft of the lease agreement this morning, so just ironing out one or two queries and then that will be done and dusted. Thank goodness!!Obviously we have adjusted quite dramatically what we will be taking in our container due to the size of the apartment. So we literally sat with measurements of our furniture and the floor plan and plotted out exactly where everything will be positioned and how it would fit. So we know exactly what we are taking to prevent having to store anything there. We did do a cost comparison of storage here in South Africa and over there....man alive...miles apart in prices. So we have rented a single garage size storage space in South Africa. We will store all the things we will want, and in a year or so will send a second container when we have a bigger place.Just taking our piano out of the container saved us about R8000.00 on the container fee due to handling and crating. So that saving is welcome right now!We moved our dates forward as much as possible to pack the container. So the big dates are 8/9 January 2014. So that is the date we are working towards. Ironically, we are leaving so much stuff behind that we can practically stay in our house until we pack the rest of the stuff into storage the following week.Today is the day my little old granny cat goes to cat heaven My husband will take her this morning. It will be so hard...just another hard moment in a series of hard moments. We leave for Umhlanga on the 26 Dec until 5th Jan...it is not fair to her to be left all alone for so long. And then once we back everything goes crazy. She is busy sitting on my lap right now...terribly heartbreaking (((To top it off...on a completely unrelated topic...an acquaintance yesterday lost her 7 year old little girl. Though I barely knew the family...for the last week we have all been praying desperately for her 2 children who caught a terrible bacterial infection in Mozambique while on holiday there. They were both airlifted to Durban and have been in critical condition since then. Her 12 yr old son had a heart attack and they managed to stablilize him, her 7 year old daughter's kidneys failed on Friday and yesterday her heart gave in and she passed away. I just cannot stop thinking about her and her family...such a shocking devastating loss. It makes me feel physically ill just thinking about this devastation. The little boy is still in critical condition...I am praying fervently that he makes it.I seriously want to get into the Christmas spirit...but guess my mind has been so busy thinking about immigration etc that I somehow missed the Christmassy spirit bug. At least I managed to put up 2 Christmas trees and do all the shopping and wrapping...but I cannot deny I am itching to get the trees down again and back into their boxes.Anyways...onwards we go. Getting more excited by the day and feeling the urgency to get there more now. A good friend and her family had an armed robbery in their home in Bryanston. They have all the security you could want, cameras, fencing etc...but it did not help. She is 6 months pregnant, she and her husband were tied up and her husband hit over the head with a gun. Their 4 year old daughter witnessed everything. Fortunately it did not go beyond that...yes...it could have been infinitely worse....but still does not make this in any way ok. Feels like as the time comes closer to leave the underlying paranoia gets worse. I remember Toitjie commenting on this very thing a while back.I had better go carry on with sorting. Good Luck to everyone throughout every stage of this process.xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCabes Posted January 6, 2014 Report Share Posted January 6, 2014 Hugs Bri!!!You sound very organised and I'm glad the plan for packing and storing is coming together now.I am so sorry for your acquantaince's loss. We have friends whose 4 year old son passed away after a car accident on Christmas day 2 years ago (the other driver was overtaking on a single-lane road). It is just heartbreaking. It probably sounds awful but I'm convinced I am a better mother since then. A magnetized photo of their little boy has a permanent spot on our fridge and I often thing of him and look at him and remember, however hard parenting is, I get to have these moments. I hope this doesn't sound wrong... I'm not great at explaining my thoughts in this regard... Nothing can make it better or easier for anyone who has experienced this kind of loss. I really hope and pray their little boy makes it!!You must be almost ready to pack the container now, am sure that will be a great relief once it is done.Hope your friends are ok after their robbery It does seem like everything escalates just before people go.Thinking of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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