debbieschutte Posted January 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 @joweni - jip we've got the 18 year old and she's got the boyfriend so can imagine the same scenario on the plane..... hopefully she will find her feet quickly and move on.@rika-marie - thanks for all the info and advice. There will definitely be more questions.Today we sorted out our bank stuff. Hopefully everything is done that we should have. I forgot hubby's passport and ticket at home so we are going to the bank tomorrow to pick up the $'s at the bank. Got a reference letter for myself from a previous employer....I have just been searching all posts on cancelling our tv license and that is on the list for tomorrow. Doing an affidavit, attaching the letter from the removal company saying that the tv is in a container somewhere at sea. Not hoping for any luck or response from the SABC but at least I will have proof that I did try and cancel it.We are using my FIL'S 1993 Ford "something" which DOES NOT have an aircon to do the last minute stuff. O man and in this heat it was 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreR Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 Doing an affidavit, attaching the letter from the removal company saying that the tv is in a container somewhere at sea. Not hoping for any luck or response from the SABC but at least I will have proof that I did try and cancel it.TV licenses were designed to outlast people. Even after Armageddon, the only thing left on this planet will be a filing cabinet sitting in the middle of a smoking field in Auckland park with outstanding TV licenses. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 TV licenses were designed to outlast people. Even after Armageddon, the only thing left on this planet will be a filing cabinet sitting in the middle of a smoking field in Auckland park with outstanding TV licenses.That's the best thing I've read all week! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsJ Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 Loving this whole journal!I can't believe all the things that went 'just right' (the exact money for the tickets gave chills), must be a sign that you are doing the right thing! So sorry about your sister though, that is really sad. Maybe once you are there and settled you can think of some way of bringing her in?Can't wait to read more,Mrs J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbieschutte Posted January 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 TV licenses were designed to outlast people. Even after Armageddon, the only thing left on this planet will be a filing cabinet sitting in the middle of a smoking field in Auckland park with outstanding TV licenses.Think i was in the bank when this came through on my phone and i couldnt stop laughing. That smoke and cabinet all lonely wouldnt leave my head.... Loving this whole journal! I can't believe all the things that went 'just right' (the exact money for the tickets gave chills), must be a sign that you aredoing the right thing! So sorry about your sister though, that is really sad. Maybe once you are there and settled you can think of some way of bringing her in? Can't wait to read more,Mrs J[/quotYes everything fell into place! It was / is amazing. And we will definetly try to look for some way to help my sister and her family!!So now its only 2 more sleeps before we leave....We have done almost everthing that needs to be done.... hubby handed in his rewolwer at the police station and that was for me the best thing that happened all week. With young children in the house and being afraid of accidents which one always hears of in the news, I was so relieved that this was done! And the next best thing that we were going to live in a country where firearms weren't necessary! Last night we said goodbye to hubby' brother and his family. It went really well - they are not very emotional people (not that we dont love each other) so it was more of a "see you soon goodbye". It makes it easier for everyone which i'm grateful for.But tomorrow is my family's last braai and o man... wish i could fast forward to tomorrow night. We are cry babies and drama queens de luxe!On the other hand we are so looking forward to the start of this whole journey! It will be most of us first long flight anywhere so its going to be exciting. Seeing our new country for the first time and the shops and even the trolleys! But first the braai and the airport...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikamarie Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Might be a silly question but what is a proof of age card and how is it related to the department of transportation?It is just a card with your birthday and photo. Proves your IDThanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toitjie Posted January 19, 2014 Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 Debbie - this is such a nice journal to read. It reads like a novel. I hope your flights are all good and that you have a great landing and a fantastic new life. Dont stop writing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alida Posted January 19, 2014 Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 What a lovely read !! Can't wait to read your 'settling-in' story - please keep writing !!By the way, my mother is flying to OZ to visit my brother on the 21st as well, I wonder if you'll be on the same plane ... ?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbieschutte Posted January 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Alida we are flying today.... So our last night under an African sky has passed. We had our braai yesterday and in the beginning everthing went well until lunch when my father in law said grace before we ate. And his words and our family standing in a circle holding hands was too much. From there on it was lots of tears and hugsWe also later had to say goodbye for my 12 year old daughters friend. They have literally being friends since they were 4 months old. Daycare, creche and school. Some people never experience a frienship like thst their entire life. Seeing my little girl crying and trying not to was not nice. And him clinging to me sobbing was like leaving my own son.Dawid and Jonathan.... Eish.... So today its last minute packing and then off to the airport. I will definitely keep everyone up to date. Thanks for the positive feedback on this journal!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCabes Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Gosh Debbie I just want to cry... I also had a friend like that - we were just always friends, and her family moved away when we were 8 - we kept in touch though, wrote stacks of letters and we visited each other every school holidays even through high-school! So they mustn't give up on each other. I know there's going to be so much more physical distance between them but that doesn't mean everything has to end. Even today, that same friend and I will see each other and fall into conversation like we've seen each other every day since forever. Our relationship isn't what it was (growing up will do that), but there is something amazing about having someone you've known since forever - like a sibling I guess, but you CHOSE them. Thinking of you. God-speed and safe travels. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alida Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 I know it's a bit off-topic, but the moment debbieschutte is online again, we'll leave the space open for her again . In the meantime ... I have such a lifelong friend myself. We've met when we were 9 years old, differs only three months in age. Kept contact even though we've had years of not seeing each other. Had, after a few years of sporadic contact, a nice bash in the UK during the wave of 'holiday maker visas'. What a time we had ! Today, she is married to a friend-of-many-years-and-miles-and-memories of my hubby (whom I met in the UK - and his friend kind of really noticed her 'finally' on our wedding, she being my bridesmaid) and today live only 20 mins drive from us, so we're as close as ever again. What a blessing such friends are. Of course we are trying to brainwash them into going to OZ as well ... . 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbieschutte Posted January 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 So we are in Australia - at last!!The airport was crazy - crying and hugs and some more hugs and lots more crying. It was terrible. But I told someone that even though we are scared and our hearts were sore - I would do it all again. For our childrens sake - and our own!!! But as soon as we went through passport control we were on speed control and it was a long walk to where we would board. We had lots of hand luggage so it was stressful. the whole way - we had to wake him for breakfast so that was a relief.)The flight was good - a had a bit trouble sleeping but it was fine in the end. As we landed inPerth I was surprised to see that the airport was so small. Waited until the plane was empty before we took our hand luggage and exited. Just before leaving the plane an Australian airhostess asked me where the 2 small boys shoes were and that I should put their shoes on. Which I didn't have with me because they always take them off and leave them lying around. She was quite disgusted when I apologised and said that I don't have shoes for the children with me but they are in the luggage. She was very rude saying its for health reasons that children should always have shoes on their feet. (of course she wouldn't know that "boertjie seuns" living in Africa aren't afraid of a bit of whatever on the floor. I was quite flustered by then and hot and irritated and wasn't looking forward to any hassles at the border control or anywhere. We declared our medicine and spices and they stamped our yellow cards and at border control the woman gave our 8 (jip 8) trollies one look and said "please forward to exit" and that was it. Nothing was checked! What a relief.In the airport our friends were waiting. They were very glad to see us. I purchased a Vodafone simcard on the airport for $40 and got $750 worth of airtime and 1GIG data. When we exited the airport this absolute heat hit us. I couldn't believe it. It was hotter than what I expected. Loaded our bags into our friends cars and we went off to find our Avis rental. An 8 seater Kia Grand Carnival. Drove behind our friends to the house that we are renting. Was amazed to see the railroad tracks in between the high way and the train stations. Its very dry and brownish all the way from the airport to Burns Beach. Was very aware of the speed and that we shouldn't go over it. It felt weird being here. But is felt very good!! I realised how fortunate we were.Burns Beach is a lovely area. Huge houses and close to the beach. Our house is oldish in an oldish part of Burns Beach but 500 mtr from the beach and park but so comfortable and clean and perfect for us. 5 bedrooms 2 bathroom.. Our friends had bought us coffee and milk and tea and mince spaghetti etc so we didn't need to go the the shops for groceries which was a relief. They left after settling us in and we started to unpack a bit but it was very hot! Drank colddrink on the "alfresco" and it started to cool down a bit. At 18h00 a guy which worked with Billy and his wife came to the house. They had brought a picnic basket and we went down to the beach and park and the children played on the beach and the waves and the CLEAN park - at a lovely dinner chicken and salads and they brought us up to date with everything that we should and shouldn't do. At about 8 we went back to the house and the wife said that she would meet us the next morning to take us to Lakeside Mall where the parking is free and from there we could walk to Westpac to activate our bank account and do Medicare and licenses etc. Was so glad because even though we had a GPS we were quite lost with direction etc. Went to Lakeside Mall - its huge and clean and nice shops. Walked out the mall to the Westpac branch and the power was off so we couldn't activate our accounts. The same with Medicare and licenses - no power and it was quite far to walk from where we parked and we were panting like anything from the heat. My poor mom tagged along - shame. At Westpac they told us that they have a Migration branch in Lakeside Mall where we could activate our accounts. They were so friendly and helpful and within half an hour we had activated our accounts, we gave him the details to open the children each an savings account and we will be signing for them tomorrow. The guy at the bank tried to do our TFN nr but their website was off and he will try tomorrow again when we go for the childrens accounts. Very impressed that he could do that for us.After that we got Billy and the children each a $20 simcard. 400 mb and $200 talktime. Will see how that goes and upgrade or downgrade is need be. By that time it was late but we decided to start looking for a car. Drove to Wangara (first got lost) and bought a 2nd hand Kia Carnival. Bought it at the Kia agents which give a guarantee for about 16 000 km's - they would also take out any scratches and give the car to us in an excellent clean condition. Also told them we need to give the rental back on Friday and they said they will lend us a car until they had inspected and serviced and cleaned the car so that we would not be stranded. So we are very impressed with their service. O and this morning unexpectedly we viewed a fantastic house which would suit our big family exactly but bad news Is that the lease is only for 6 months. Definitely not going to unpack everything to start looking for a house in 6 months time. That was bad for everyone because the children loved the house. Well better luck next time.Tomorrow its Medicare and Centrelink and licenses..... and house hunting. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikamarie Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Hi Debbie! Great to hear from you. Yeah, i have to agree about the heat, it is hot!! We are seriously close to you guys! When you are ready for a visit, we would love to meet up. Sorry about the powerfailure. It also affected some of the trains today. We were also in lakeside mall today! Pity we missed you. Good luck with everything tomorrow. Go early@ 08:30! Medicare is so full everytime we went. We needed docs for the 100 points to apply for licences. Hope you have enough, if not, apply for the proof of age card so long. Helps to give you 100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
followmylead Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Welcome all of you! We are down in Busselton if you ever come down, stop by for a cuppa. Same to you Rikamarie. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreR Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Just before leaving the plane an Australian airhostess asked me where the 2 small boys shoes were and that I should put their shoes on. Which I didn't have with me because they always take them off and leave them lying around. She was quite disgusted when I apologised and said that I don't have shoes for the children with me but they are in the luggage. She was very rude saying its for health reasons that children should always have shoes on their feet. (of course she wouldn't know that "boertjie seuns" living in Africa aren't afraid of a bit of whatever on the floor. This made me laugh 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCabes Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 YAY! for a soft landing and wonderful friends! Sounds absolutely fantastic - though really hot!Hope you manage to sort all the admin out, well done on the car!Let us know how the house-hunting goes, hope you find something even better than the 6month place 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronwyn&Co Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 What a great journal! Btw Debbie that air hostess had no right to comment about the lack of shoes! If you weren't so surprised you could have told her to shove off ;-) but I guess now your boys are wearing shoes or their feet are going to fry in any case... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbieschutte Posted January 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 Thanks Bronwyn&co - jip she took the wind out of my sails. And nope still not wearing shoes.... hahaha. And we try and remember those shoes but it only gives them an excuse for one of their sisters to pick them up 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rozellem Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 Yip, she has no right. My kids never wear shoes and they surely did'nt wear shoes on the plane a few days ago. The only place we were ever asked was Bunnings, where its apparently a health and safety thing (understandably). But that was after we had been there a hundred times, so not even hugely enforced. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbieschutte Posted February 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 A lot has happened since i last wrote. Medicare has been sorted. We applied for our TFN nr's. Applied for proof of age cards which are needed to apply for our licences. Proof of age cards need 2 identification methods. Passport and bankcard with your name on and signature at the back. Of course we celebrated Australia Day. Took the train from Joondalup station to Perth. Sat on the Northbsnk of the Swan LAKE (as my hubby keeps calling it even though I've told him thats the ballet thing) .... dont know if we were more impressed with the crowds enjoying themselves without causing trouble and the spirit everyone had or the fireworks and airshows. Another thing we were impressed with was everyone obeying the rules. No alchohol before 18:30 and after 20:45. And when the clock said 18:30 the people opened their first beers. Amazing!Walking back at 21:30 to the station in perths streets with thousands of people all happy, not feeling unsafe or threatened was unreal. I told hubby i was born to live in Australia. This is the life!!The househunting was kind of a nightmare. Remember we are a family of 8. Need a big house. Minimum 5 bedrooms. We looked at a few and they were lovely but expensive! Got scared of the $$$ and started looking for 4 bedroom houses. For 2 days we raced from viewing to viewing and as always there were about 10 cars at each viewing. And each house was too small.... or didnt have a garage where we could store some of our stuff. In the end we realised we would have to go back to 5 bedrooms. Found a nice 5 bedtoom house in Quinns Rocks. Filled in the application, emailed pictures of our house and garden in SA to the agent, wrote a nice covering letter and offered rent 3 months upfront. Received a positive answer within 3 hours of handing in our application. Yay but still $$$. . We are moving in on the 6th of Feb. As soon as that was done we could get the children in school. Interesting fact.... we have 2 daughters both 12 year old. They both would have been in Grd 7 this year in SA. Oldest birthdat is in April. She is going to Year 8 - Butler College in Butler - brand new school - looks like a university. The other one's birthdsy is past cut off date of 30 June - her birthday is in July. She HAS to go to primary school. Butler College refuses to take her. But we are fine with the arrangement. From next year the laws change and Year 7's will be included in high school. So 3 of our chilldren go to Quinns Beach Primary and one us going to Butler College. Our container at this stage is in Port Louis Mauritius. Will be here end Feb. Met up with Rika-Marie and her family on Thursday. Had picnic at the park in Burns Beach. They mentioned the Refuge Disposals and the next day we went to have a look. Bought a brand new sleeper couch for $30. Today we drove through Kallaroo where the Verge is this week. Was amazing to see the stuff people leave on the pavement!! Got some really nice toys for the children. Tomorrow we will be going to church for the first time in Aus 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.