Will the last Englishman out of the country turn the lights out please ?

16 weeks to go !

Yesterday we passed through a mere 16 weeks left in the country. Funny, the day we start counting is the day there is a major terrorist threat in the UK. From talking about it being 16 weeks on Wednesday night, we were wishing it was 16 days on Thursday morning, with the revelation that British born 'citizens' were trying to blow up 10 planes. Marvellous, what a place to live.

Things on the migration front are going well, the Aussie Bank account is open, the passports are currently having their visas applied, the grant letter has pride of place at home, we keep looking at it to see if it's real !

We go to see D's dad in a few weeks, to say goodbye to him. He will be over for the leaving do, but it will be the last time we see his little place for a while.

It's been a real good week. The grant came, the Bank got their act into gear, the exchange rate soared, and yesterday K passed her Prince II exam . Everyone is so very proud of her, she has been a little starlet. This will help her get a short contract before we leave, to get her in the swing of things. One more written paper to go for her, which I know she will pass. The job interviews are rolling in for her, and she is going to do something Monday which will make her very very happy ..................................

Whooop...............There it is !

We have the grant letter ! Back of the net ! Get in !

It has taken over 2 years, but we are finally, finally there. We are so so happy we had the foresight, and determination to do it, as we could not live in the UK a day longer than we have to.

Passports going off to the Embassy now, just to get the visa entered in, but knowing NOTHING can stop us going to Aus now is such a wonderful feeling.

The Motherload !

We've only gone and done it. 80% of our capital is now in the electronic ether, all in Aussie Dollars. Thanks to the good old chaps at the Bank of England, they stuck an interest rate hike in just when the market least expected it, and the pound rocketed as a result. Cheers Freddie, nice one old boy.

Shopped around, got a rate only .2c of the 18 month high, so we are well happy . It looked for a while that we would have to leave our cash here for a bit, as the rate was down around 2.41 for some time, and at 2.35 before that. We changed GBP40k at 2.41, and am gutted about that now. We had to tho, for our bond, so c'est la vie. 2.48 sounds a lot better though doesn't it. We made AUD$8k just on this transfer alone !

One last lot to transfer, but as we now own a very very substantial amount of AUD$, that can wait until we need it. I have quite enjoyed being a broker for a couple of days, and may invest the last lot in some obscure currency like the Bolivian boliviano, as I would be a millionaire easy in that. I remembered a trader at my old company, kicking his chair back from his desk near market close, and pretending to ride a horse, whipping his leg, shouting "Come on the EURO, come on the EURO". Did this for 10 mins, until market close. Then shouted "Yes, I am fuckin rich !", and walked out. At the time, I thought Prrriiiiiiiiick ! Now, I kinda now how he was feeling .

Dont like to say told you so......

To add weight to our opinion, and the title of our blog :

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5241974.stm

The BBC is now also onto the fact that we are being invaded, consumed from within by parasites. Every day there is an article about the NHS failing due to the number of immigrants, or something about how many illegals have absconded. Every taxpayer in this country is funding the likes of these clowns, and we've had enough.

Got sent a joke the other day, it's about the county's situation, but it uses animals rather than races. We have friends from many cultures, all of whom share the same abhorration for the people that are bringing the country down. Here it is, the bit about the cats is well funny :

REST OF THE WORLD VERSION:

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building and improving his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.

The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

____________________THE END____________________

THE BRITISH VERSION:

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.


A social worker finds the shivering grasshopper, calls a press conference and demands to know why the squirrel should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate, like the grasshopper, are cold and starving.

The BBC shows up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper; with cuts to a video of the squirrel in his comfortable warm home with a table laden with food.

The British press informs people that they should be ashamed that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so while others have plenty. The Labour Party, Greenpeace, Animal Rights and The Grasshopper Council of GB demonstrate in front of the squirrel's house.

The BBC, interrupting a cultural festival special from Notting Hill with breaking news, broadcasts a multi cultural choir singing "We Shall Overcome". Ken Livingstone rants in an interview with Trevor McDonald that the squirrel has gotten rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the squirrel to make him pay his "fair share" and increases the charge for squirrels to enter inner London.

In response to pressure from the media, the Government drafts the Economic Equity and Grasshopper Anti Discrimination Act, retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The squirrel's taxes are reassessed. He is taken to court and fined for failing to hire grasshoppers as builders for the work he was doing on his home and an additional fine for contempt when he told the court the grasshopper did not want to work.

The grasshopper is provided with a council house, financial aid to furnish it and an account with a local taxi firm to ensure he can be socially mobile. The squirrel’s food is seized and re distributed to the more needy members of society, in this case the grasshopper.

Without enough money to buy more food, to pay the fine and his newly imposed retroactive taxes, the squirrel has to downsize and start building a new home. The local authority takes over his old home and utilises it as a temporary home for asylum seeking cats who had hijacked a plane to get to Britain as they had to share their country of origin with mice. On arrival they tried to blow up the airport because of Britain’s apparent love of dogs.

The cats had been arrested for the international offence of hijacking and attempt bombing but were immediately released because the police fed them pilchards instead of salmon whilst in custody. Initial moves to then return them to their own country were abandoned because it was feared they would face death by the mice. The cats devise and start a scam to obtain money from peoples credit cards.

A Panorama special shows the grasshopper finishing up the last of the squirrel’s food, though spring is still months away, while the council house he is in, crumbles around him because he hasn't bothered to maintain the house. He is shown to be taking drugs. Inadequate government
funding is blamed for the grasshopper’s drug 'illness'.

The cats seek recompense in the British courts for their treatment since arrival in UK.

The grasshopper gets arrested for stabbing an old dog during a burglary to get money for his drugs habit. He is imprisoned but released immediately because he has been in custody for a few weeks. He is placed in the care of the probation service to monitor and supervise him.

Within a few weeks he has killed a guinea pig in a botched robbery.

A commission of enquiry, that will eventually cost £10,000,000 and state the obvious, is set up.

Additional money is put into funding a drug rehabilitation scheme for grasshoppers and legal aid for lawyers representing asylum seekers is increased. The asylum seeking cats are praised by the government for enriching Britain's multicultural diversity and dogs are criticised by the government for failing to befriend the cats.

The grasshopper dies of a drug overdose. The usual sections of the press blame it on the obvious failure of government to address the root causes of despair arising from social inequity and his traumatic experience of prison. They call for the resignation of a minister.

The cats are paid a million pounds each because their rights were infringed when the government failed to inform them there were mice in the United Kingdom.

The squirrel, the dogs and the victims of the hijacking, the bombing, the burglaries and robberies have to pay an additional percentage on their credit cards to cover losses, their taxes are increased to pay for law and order and they are told that they will have to work beyond 65 because of a shortfall in government funds.

____________________THE END____________________

Australia has it's problems, but at least we wont be surrounded by scary looking, strangely dressed, cloaked people, who dont speak English. Controversial comments yes, but riding the tube every day is turning us into different people, with different beliefs, thank god we are getting out.

Saturday, and at work !

Another weekend, another day in the office with the sun shining outside and wishing I was out there !

It's gonna be at least a 12 hour shift today, babysitting an implementation . Still, I pass the time by thinking, this is going to pay for a weeks rent of the campervan, or the decking round the pool, etc etc.

Its a necessary evil I guess, less than 4 months to go now, and all this work will have been so worth it. A little extra now, and then at least 2 months off when we get there, it will be bliss.

Business plans for Aus are taking shape. We know what we are going to be doing, and are talking with some people here in the UK about a partnership, all sounds real promising. If we can do as well in Aus, as they have done here, we are made.

Going to do some more digging around for quotes on the container, the planning never stops.

Visitors already and we're not even there yet !

With our departure date confirmed, now we've also got visitors confirmed too !

The in-laws have finally booked their flights. It took a spoof email to Sanrda telling her flight prices were going through the roof due to an oil crisis, but she's only gone and done it !  They arrive December 19, and stay through until January 17 2007.

K's cousin follows shortly after for 2 weeks, then Liz and Ian follow in Q1 2007 sometime. Narf is doing the Aus/NZ thing in June/July, and the Droid has said he will be there next Xmas. D's Dad will be out there at some point too.

The Merc went last night. Sad to see it go, but it did look lush driving up the road. All we need is the exhange rate to move our way a few points and we will approve the motherload for transfer to AUD$.

Still no word from the CO, so that's gonna be another week to wait I guess

Bit Bored

It's all very quiet on the immigration front at the moment. We just seem to be waiting for things all the time now. For instance, I still have the Merc. The chap paid by cheque, so we had to wait for it to clear. I daren't drive it incase I ding it or something, so I just have to look at my lovely car each night, knowing it is going. It does definitely go tonight though, which will be very sad.

No word from the CO either on the grant letter. They must have the new police reports by now, so I thought we would have heard something. We then have to drop the passports into the Australian High Commission in The Strand, and wait again for them to come back. I did not mind the waiting 18 months ago, but I just want it all over now.

We keep occupied by sorting what we can for our arrival. Here is a pic of the campervan we have hired for the first month :



It is 6 berth, so pleny of space for the 2 of us. We cant wait to wake up in the morning, open the curtains and see Australia ! We are going to stay the first week in Sydney, in a BIG4 Holiday Park called Lakeside Holiday Park.

http://www.sydneylakeside.com.au/

They have bbq's and everything there for you to use, it is going to be amazing. We will tour round in the day, then come back at night, hook up, have a barbie, and kick back with a drink or 2.

Cant Wait !

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

Take good care of my, bayyybeee

Today is a sad day. The focus of my love and attention for the past 3 years...... is gone ! K has left me I hear you ask ? No, worse than that, the Mercedes is sold !!!  It is going tonight. I did consider spending my last night with it by sleeping in the garage with it, but I think K would also have been going today had I done that !

It's going to a good home, real nice chap. He loves it, so I am sure it will be as loved as it was when I had it. I will certainly shed a tear when I see it drive off. I will drive it out the garage, not letting on that it is being taken away. Who knows, maybe it wont start, maybe it already knows. Oh, my poor little car.

Anyway, enough of being a sad bastard. It's great news really. We have been so lucky in selling the house, and car real easy. One more to go, K's 206cc, and we have nothing left to sell ! K still thinks she is keeping that until we leave, but I can feel a sneaky Ebay advert coming on. MMwwwaaaahhhhaaaahhhhhhaaaa. It will be sold, oh yes, it will be sold. Found a nice cheap little Renault Laguna Diesel Estate on there to replace it. Be ideal for lugging things around in the build up to the move, and K will look great with her Dior shades on in it !  

Houston, we have cleared the tower !

Today is a good day. We have finally received the last piece of our jigsaw, K's police report. That is going off to Aus tomorrow, and then we need only 2 more things. The grant letter, and the pink slip in the passport !

Gave up smoking today. Been saying I would do it for a while, but started last night. Dont even really miss them, and everyone says the first 3 days are the worst.

The Merc has had over 1500 people view it on Ebay, with 65 odd people watching it. 7 bids so far, which is great as there are still 3 days left. That should meet the reserve easy, which will swell the bank account some more.

We are at Farnborough on Saturday for the airshow. Scary to think next time we set foot on one of those big birds we are gonna wake up in Australia !

Right, Self Ship it is !

Having started to get quotes from different companies on a 20ft container, and the fact that moving into the rented place here in the UK resulted in us ditching skip loads of stuff, we have decided to do a DIY job. Looks like we will save £2k, which is AUD$5k, which is the cost of the campervan for the first month !

It's pretty scary thinking about it. We are going to commit all our worldy goods to a container, which will be driven off, placed on a dodgy old container ship somewhere, sailed halfway across the world, and then we hope to open it up and see everything still there, and undamaged ! K already has her security head on, she wants a padlock, which only we have the key too, maybe 6 padlocks. I've explained that Customs will want access etc etc, but that's not sitting right with her at the moment. I am sure it will be fine.

I've been swotting up on how to pack this bloody container. The TV is scaring me slightly. We still have the original box, but at sea these container ships can fall 5 storeys between the waves. Now, no manner of packing is gonna save my beloved tv if I box it up, and drop it off the 5th floor of somewhere ! Plenty of foam underneath, and ratchet straps on that bad boy.

The Merc is getting loads of interest, so fat chance of that going in the container. I dont think it will be mine for much longer . On the plus side, it will probably pay for the pool and landscaped garden in Aus, so every cloud.......

Not a lot else going on at the moment. It's all pretty much done. We know where we are getting the campervan from and where we are staying, more to come on that another day.

Oh, and for the comedian who posted about my hair gel, it's wax I use not gel, and I guess I am gonna have to put up with some Aussie stuff once I get there, but the endless sun and beautiful surroundings will more than make up for it !

We are so so close !

D's police report is with Annie at Global Visas. K's still not turned up yet. Annie said that the CO may well issue the grant letter just on faxed copies of the reports, as they are merely extensions ! We could have it all official by end of this week, early next. We know it's going to happen, the request for the bond money means we are in, just want it to be official !

The Merc is looking lovely and clean. We will probably advertise it this week, we will both be sad to see it go.

Better News

Got D's police report back after only 26 days ! Maybe the Met read our blog

Just waiting on K's now, that is 7 days behind (hopefully).

Cars going up for sale this weekend. We are both absolutely in love with our motors. The Daddy of the family is a Merceded SLK 32 AMG. Had it 2 and a half years, absolutely stunning. 0-60 in 4.9 seconds. It has to go tho. K is gonna have to sell her 206cc also, but she wants to hang onto that till nearer November. The Merc is only in the garage all the time anyway, so it's going now. Only worth £20k now tho, but on the bright side that is AUD$50k

Leaving Party is booked, it's all getting real now

We have now booked a lovely hotel for our leaving party, Packfords hotel in Woodford.

We are having the do on Saturday November 11, and it is bound to be an emotional night. It's all becoming very real now, and we go through states of anxiety (Mainly D), and excitement.

We both cant wait to start our new lives in Aus, something happens here every day which makes us glad we started the process when we did. Dont think we could live here much longer.

Flights booked today

So the date is set. November 23 Folks, and we are on our way !

Booked with Malaysian Airlines and got a great price. £362.00 each one way, including all taxes.

Now need to get the 40kg baggage allowance agreed, try and get some good seats pre-allocated, and we are all done !

Exactly the reason we are leaving this creaking old country !

Got home last night after a lovely meal in Prezzo to find what we believed to be our new police checks. Considering we already have them from last year, and neither of us have had a brush with the law since, you would think it a simple process.

We sent them seperately this time, as it confused the poor little people last time having 2 applications in 1 envelope, and this time after waiting 3 weeks, we get 2 envelopes back. One said we supplied the wrong info, and was returned. It was not the wrong info, it was the same statement as in the other envelope ! Arghhh ! The other said thanks, we have received your request, it will be 40 days. Thats on top of the 21 days we have already waited ! It is a 2 minute job, if you get stopped on the roadside the police have the info in 2 seconds !

This place is going down the tubes, we cant wait to get out.

The preparation starts here !

It is now just over 5 months until we begin our new lives.

The status of our application right now is that we have passed our medicals, we have invested the necessary funds into Aussie govt bonds, and we would have our little pink slip by now had we not asked to extend the entry date by getting new police checks sent through... D can finish his current contract by extending the date, so it seemed sensible all round.

Our current situation represents over 18 months of hard work, nervous tension, and lots of anticipation and excitement ! We started by D writing his paper on his career thus far, which totalled around 40 pages, and took 3 months to write. This was the hardest part of the process, but it was passed first time by the Aussie Computer Society, which was a weight off our minds. Since then, we have had to get references (Which was not easy, they have to be so detailed), find endless documents in the depths of our filing, renovate our lovely 1930's semi detached house in Woodford, get it on the market, sell it, move out, find rented accomodation, have medicals, transfer money to Aus, the list has been endless.

Obviously we will be sad to leave our friends and family behind, but we cant wait to make a new start in a country we feel is more in keeping with our outlook and desired lifestyle. We are in the home straight now, one last push and we are on the plane !