I couldn’t get out of work quick enough today. It has been a tough couple of weeks and I am more than ready for this break.  Reality hit home around lunch time when I suddenly felt very nervous about the whole travelling alone thing. If the travel agent had rung and said that they had had to cancel the trip I think part of me would have breathed a huge sigh of relief! Quite ironic really when you think that in the not to distant future I am going to be moving to the opposite side of the world with two children and the only thing that is certain is the whole uncertainty of it all! (Anyway that’s another story!)

John arrived on time to give me a lift to the train station.  Before leaving he gave me a card with some much sought after Icelandic Krona (the travel agent had forgotten to order mine) and I made the decision that I was definitely going to do the Glacier Adventure tour now!  The card was a photo of Earth taken from space which seemed very appropriate for life right now.  Inside he had written the words ‘The world is your Oyster’.  A favourite phrase of mine! The world really is a massive place with so many places to explore and experience and I don’t understand how anyone could not possibly want to get out there and see as much of it as possible.  I can go to Australia knowing that I have seen a large chunk of Europe and not being able to jump on a plane and be in a different country so quickly and easily is one thing I really will miss. (But that’s that other story again J )

The train journey was pretty straight forward, Clitheroe to Bolton and then change for Manchester Airport.  It wasn’t until we reached Picadilly Station that things got entertaining.  Jake and his family got on the train!! I know his name was Jake because it was plastered across the front of his T-Shirt.  Now poor young Jake was probably about 8 years old and epitomised everything Jamie Oliver and his cronies have been ranting about! He was as round as he was tall and judging from his behaviour (or lack of it) he had been fed a diet of pure additives and colourants, either that or he was a disobedient little shit who would have benefited from a bit of discipline in his life!  He was travelling with Dad and Step Mum and his younger sister who provided most of the entertainment for the crowded carriage! You know the type, the ones who always have to talk at full volume thinking everyone wanted to know their business.  By the time the train arrived at the airport I was aware of how Step Mum had only married Dad for his money (according to Jakes Sister LOL) and how they had left the oven, hot water and Tv all switched on!  The handle on their 70’s style suitcase had broken but it was ok because Jakes Dad was sure he could mend it once they got to the hotel and that no one was to worry because he had tied it together with his belt!  ‘Please god let his trouser waist be tight’ – I’m not sure I could cope with his trousers falling around his ankles when he stood up to leave the train! 

I found myself hoping that they weren’t going to Iceland – but they didn’t look the type, if it’s possible to define ‘the type’! Football strips and endless cans of lager by the pool seemed more there kind of thing – not a politically correct statement I know but I’m sure you understand the type?

As I stood up to leave the train I noticed Little Miss Sophisticated with her matching luggage (no Matalan goods for this one).  She was around my height, long mousy blonde hair tied back in a pony tail and dressed in jeans, top and jacket.  It was a very casual look but she seemed to carry it off with such ease.  She had a look of confidence and sophistication  about her and  made me in my ‘off to Iceland – dress for warmth and comfort’ clothes feel very frumpy and dated without even muttering a word to me!

Off the train the mad dash to Terminal 1 began.  I knew I had plenty of time yet I felt compelled to join the masses all scurrying along as if their flight was about to depart without them.

The departure hall is much smaller than Terminal 2 where I have only flown from before (hey international jet setter that I am lol).  I was feeling very conspicuous being on my own.  It’s a feeling I have grown used to but never felt comfortable with. It’s like everyone is watching you wondering why you are travelling alone, as if you have no right to be there and have no friends.  One of the perils of moving home frequently is that you never get to have that close friendship women usually have. Sure I have friends, lots of them but I haven’t had that all seeing and knowing friendship for a long time.

Once I reached check in I was disappointed to see Little Miss Sophisticated first in line to the desk!  Great! Now not only did I feel out of place on the train but it was beginning to look like I stood to be the only person arriving in Iceland dressed as if expecting to be anything less than an outdoor experience! 

Check in went smoothly and I went straight through to the departure lounge in search of dinner! I hadn’t felt much like eating lunch with the nerves but now I could gladly have eaten a scabby horse so long as it was hot and served with a side salad!  Luckily I didn’t have to resort to that and settled down with a sandwich and bag of crisps.  A flight to Tenerife had been delayed 4 hours and there were a lot of tired, frustrated passengers hanging around.  You couldn’t help but feel sorry for them, especially the ones with children – not a good start to their holiday! Rather selfishly I hoped that their delay wouldn’t have a knock on effect on other flights, more specifically Icelandic Air flight FI441 to Keflavik!

No trip away would be complete without a trip around Duty Free so I treated myself to a bottle of my fave perfume and 3 x 250ml bottles of wine for £5.  (One for each night of my stay). I had been warned that alcohol was very expensive in Iceland, as was everything so I was impressed with my find J  My shopping tucked firmly under my arm I set off to find somewhere to sit and wait for my flight and do some serious people  watching.  I sat with a school party from Solihull who were also on their way to Iceland. They were a lively but lovely and very funny bunch of Year 10 students, 28 of them in total.

40 minutes from departure our flight was called to gate 23.  It turned out there was a music festival happening in Reykjavik that weekend, Airwaves, and suddenly the departure gate was surrounded with lots of very hip and trendy party animals obviously on the way to the festival.  However there was now a happy mix of others dressed as myself, ready for the elements – PHEW!! I wasn’t going to look so out of place after all.

Little Miss Sophisticated was there, now sporting a party outfit which must have been hidden in her designer hand luggage and there were two women (Thelma and Louise) obviously already in party mode courtesy of the departure lounge bar! They were very loud and excited but very funny and no trouble.

Two young men were standing towards the back of the queue.  Probably in their early 20s and dressed in drain pipe jeans and winkle picker shoes. There was no mistaking they were off to party and not walk up volcanoes.  One of them looked like Gok!! You know! The guy from the Tv ‘How to look good naked’, so he promptly became known as Gok which then of course meant the other had to be Spiel!  (Gok ‘n’ Spiel?? Get it??) Looking around I wondered what people made of me! I wondered if my nervousness was written all over my face or if they saw me as, perhaps closer to the truth, a lonely, single traveller trying to be brave and adventurous.  Perhaps I was going to be the oldest swinger in town LOL – I was after going to celebrate my 40^th birthday. SHIT! Maybe I’m having a mid life crisis – although of course I’m far from middle aged as myself and John were discussing in the car on the way to the train station.  Just at ‘what’ age does middle age start?? Seems to me it’s always at least 10 years older than your current age!

When I came to board the flight I was excited and surprised to see that I had been upgraded to Saga (Business) Class! I did have to check with the air hostess that my boarding ticket was right but didn’t argue when she showed me to a beautiful black leather seat, extra wide (they must have heard about my growing backside!) and as comfortable as any lounge room chair I have ever sat in! Now THIS is the way to travel! My travelling companion in the seat next to me was non other than Little Miss Sophisticated!  She was travelling for the music festival and was staying with a friend who lived there. She had been several times before and spent ½ the trip with the been there done it kind of stories before pulling out an eye mask from her bag and ‘sleeping’ the rest of the way. She was after all going out on the town on arrival!

‘Dinner’ on the plane consisted of a croissant type thing stuffed with cheese and ham. It wasn’t the nicest I have tasted and I hoped it wasn’t an indicator of the food to come.

On landing at Keflavik airport the mad rush to the luggage carousel began. Why do we always rush to get there when we know damned well we are going to have to wait for the luggage to start circulating?  Thelma and Louise were anxiously stepping from foot to foot already convinced that it would be their bags that went missing, and Gok and Spiel were still laughing and joking clutching their case of lager to get the party started no doubt.  They were also heading to the Cabin Hotel so we agreed to stick together.  Thelma and Louise decided that as I looked like I knew where I was going and what I was doing so asked if they could join me to find the ‘Flightbus’ which stopped off at all the hotels.  My party of 1 was now a party of 5! 

Little Miss Sophisticated was stood by me talking frantically and loudly on her mobile phone.  She was supposed to be being met off the flight bus by her friend but it seems her friend had decided to start the party without her and was now dancing the night away at Nassa nightclub and was very much the worse for wear!! Little Miss was understandably very close to tears and just before panic set in I gave her my mobile number to ring if she was stranded. (once a Mum always a Mum I guess).  I’m not sure exactly what I could have done but I did at least speak English and I had emergency contact details for the tour operator should she have needed to find accommodation.  SEE!!!! Not quite so sophisticated NOW hey?  J  My party of 5 was now 6 as we all headed off to find the bus!

The bus trip was pretty uneventful, it was gone midnight and there isn’t much street lighting in Reykjavik.  There was however a very strong smell of sulphur – thankfully you soon got used to it!  The journey took about 45 minutes but by the time we had dropped off at various hotels it was 2am before we reached the Cabin Hotel, 3am UK time, which my body clock was still working on, so I checked in and promptly collapsed into bed wondering what I had done! Arriving late at night is never much fun, doing it alone is even less so.

My room was very small, two single beds with a small desk and chair between them.  There was a large mirror on the wall, no doubt placed to create the illusion of space – it didn’t work LOL.  At the foot of the bed was a single wardrobe with a TV on top of it. Great! I will be able to watch the rugby I hoped unaware at the time that it didn’t have UK programmes and Iceland wasn’t interested in the slightest about the rugby world cup so would not be showing it!   There was an en suite bathroom with a cubicle shower, sink and toilet. All very clean so I was a happy bunny, I didn’t intend to spend much time in my room anyway!

I slept well and woke with my alarm at 7.30. The shower was fantastic.  Being on top of a volcano Iceland has endless supplies of hot water and steam which is piped throughout the country providing heating and hot water for the population.  In winter it is even piped under the streets in the city centres to prevent roads freezing over!  The only negative is the sulphur smell when you run hot water but as I said you soon become used to it.

Breakfast was a huge buffet of cold meats, cheeses, cucumbers, eggs, fruits, cereals and a massive variety of breads.  The toaster was fun, a conveyer belt which you put bread on one end and it passed through, if you wanted anything other than warm bread you had to keep chucking it back in at the start again LOL

Gok and Spiel were already sat having breakfast and called me over to join them which I appreciated; I always think it looks sad to be eating alone!  Gok and Spiel had ordered a 12” pizza when we had arrived at the hotel. It had cost them £21!!! Obviously they weren’t joking when they said Iceland was expensive!

I arrived at reception with a list of trips I wanted to go on.  The old guy at reception rang the company and booked them for me.  I was a little uneasy when amongst all the Icelandic lingo he said ‘James Bond’ followed by a hearty laugh!! He was obviously referring to the Snowmobiling on the Glacier Adventure tour but I couldn’t help wonder if there was something he wasn’t telling me! (wonder if my travel insurance covered such activities – probably not!)

Sat: Gulfoss & Gheysr direct  then Northern Lights at night

Sun: Glacier Snowmobile experience

            Mon: Blue Lagoon then on to airport

Trips booked I had a couple of hours to kill before pick up so I wrapped up and went for a walk down to the sea wall which was only a short distance from the hotel.  The sea wall was made up of volcanic rock and lava deposit.  It was very strange to think that the rock was millions of years old – maybe being 40 isn’t so old after all.

Reykjavik Excursions sent shuttle mini buses to all the hotels to pick up passengers for the tours ½ hour before scheduled departure from the main BSI Terminal.  Waiting for the shuttle bus was always a bit of a concern, time keeping is not that good out there and you were left sitting hoping that your plans weren’t going to be messed up by a failed pick up.  I saw it happen to a couple of people but thankfully didn’t experience it myself.  

My first trip was to Gulfoss Waterfalls and Geysirs.  Safely off the shuttle bus and sat comfortably on the main coach I was joined by a couple of Americans. Luke and his Father, who I am pretty certain was introduced to me as ‘King’! (Strange name but guess nothing is impossible in America hey?)  Luke was flying a plane over to Birmingham to its new owner.  They had flown from Seattle to Canada, on to Greenland, then to Iceland where they had taken the day off to enjoy rest.  The following day they were flying from Iceland to Wick, in Scotland, up to Denmark then down to Birmingham.  Apparently it’s cheaper to import from Denmark??  His Father had gone along for the ride which bearing in mind he didn’t particularly like flying was a brave thing to do – it was only a very small light aircraft and he told hilarious stories of their trip so far.  I went on to spend the rest of the day with them, they were fantastic fun and very interesting people.  We had a bit of a debate about the morals of eating Puffin, which is Icelands national emblem but also their national dish! I had set off on my trip determined to try it but after being presented with a ceramic Puffin, to prod my conscience at times of weakness, I never did get to eat it!

Our coach didn’t sound too healthy from the word so we made an unscheduled stop at a ‘garden centre’ called Eden so the driver could have a look for the problem, he was convinced a drop of water would sort it out – we weren’t quite so sure!

Outside the garden centre was a ‘hot spot spring’ which had appeared suddenly a few weeks ago! The owners of the garden centre had put some bricks around it to make a bit of a feature.  Apparently these springs can literally just ‘spring’ up anywhere over Iceland and can disappear just as quickly, sometimes after a few days sometimes months or longer. 

With the coach now ‘repaired’ (?) we got back onto the coach to set off for the Geysirs.  As we drove along we could see steam billowing from the ground sending white clouds up into the clear skies.  Steam is directed through pipes that run above ground (due to constant underground volcanic activity) and in turn used to provide electricity for the Country.  Iceland is apparently the greenest country in the world! The only fuel they import is that used for cars and even that they are trying to change.  There are now 2 hydro gas fuel stations for cars which have been converted and they hope that eventually all cars will run off this gas and prevent the need to import less ‘green’ fuels.  Everything that can be recycled IS recycled, plastic drinks bottles even have a 5c refund to encourage you to return them.  It does make you wonder that why if Iceland can do it why can’t others?

There was no mistaking we had arrived at the Geysirs.  The sudden spurt of steam, 66ft into the air from Strokkur gave the game away a little! The whole of the Geysir area is geothermically active and there is a really strong smell of sulphur.  This was the location of the once biggest geysir in the world – called geysir funnily enough.  The original Geysir is no longer active but is a pool of multi coloured water from which steam rises. It last erupted in 2001 as a result of earthquakes in southern Iceland causing intense pressure underground.

Leaving the geysirs we got back onto the coach, which was once again making a rather strange noise, and headed off to Gulfoss waterfalls.  They were absolutely spectacular.  Made up of 2 waterfalls, side by side their combined drop is 105ft.  From a distance it looked like a cake with icing running over the top and down the sides but there was no mistaking it was water the nearer you got.  I have seen waterfalls before but nothing on this scale! The noise was deafening and the water looked so angry!  Luke, his father and I all discussed the possibility of surviving going over the falls in a barrel – Luke seemed to think it was possible to walk away at the end of it all. His father and I on the other hand weren’t so sure and decided we better head back to the bus before Luke decided to test his theory – he certainly seemed to have a hint of ‘crazy yank’ in his personality! 

By the time we all got back on the coach we were all pretty worn out, and some were cold and miserable.  Throughout the trip I was to regularly congratulate myself on looking like a prize dork in my waterproofs and woollies – I may have looked like a dork but hey I was the one warm and dry at the end of the day J  Take my word – if you ever go to Iceland waterproofs are the order of the day. At least they are in October!  The journey back to Reykjavik was about 90 minutes but not long into the trip it became clear that our coach wasn’t going to last the distance. We ended up having to pull into the car park of a café (which was closed) to wait to be rescued by a new coach. These things always happen to me L   I had planned to do the Northern Lights tour at 9pm that night and check in time at BSI was at 7pm.  It was looking decidedly dodgy for me being back in time to make it.  In the end I needn’t have worried as the Northern Lights trip was cancelled due to the weather conditions. 

By the time we got back to the hotel I went across the road to get some food from the garage then went to my room, showered and collapsed into bed.  Scott had been keeping me up to date with the Rugby world cup scores and once it was obvious we weren’t going to be lifting the cup I snuggled down and got some sleep and it wasn’t even 9pm yet!!

I woke on Sunday morning at 7am ready to shower and go to breakfast.  I was off on the Glacier Adventure today and was being picked up at 8am by the shuttle bus.  I was really excited about today which culminated in snowmobiling on top of the Glacier James Bond style!  It was a 3 hour coach drive and before we headed off we had to drop half the coach party at the bottom of the glacier, called the ‘tongue’ so they could go walking.  The drive seemed to take forever and it was raining or sleeting the whole way.  With the walkers on their way we left the main road and headed off to the mountain lodge, 12kms over very rocky terrain.  It was a bit like ultimate off roading but in a coach.  A bit scary at places where the track dropped off into the torrent of glacier water making its way down to the sea but I found the best way to cope with it was to look out of the right had window which looked relatively safe to be travelling on.  There were 7 of us left on the coach. Myself and a bunch of Americans.  They were a great bunch and all in the military. (or Meeletary as they pronounced it).  They had also planned to do the Northern Lights tour which was cancelled the night before so we all planned to do it tonight and then go into the city and listen to something of the music festival. 

We were met at the mountain lodge by a man resembling Russell Crowe J who had bad news. There hadn’t been enough snow and with the rain falling it had made the conditions too dangerous to go out on the snow mobiles.  Everyone was very disappointed and a bit annoyed that the situation hadn’t been pre-empted but we were told we could still go up onto the glacier so all wasn’t lost.  Standing outside the lodge was a massive orange truck – similar to a Tonka toy I remember the likes of my brothers playing with when we were younger.  It had wheels that were nearly 5ft high with big chains attached and a ladder that reached up into the ‘box’ we were to sit in on our trip up to the glacier.  Russell appeared at the top of the ladder announcing that the trip would take about 20 minutes and not to worry we were perfectly safe. Until that moment I hadn’t even considered NOT being safe but the very fact that he had needed to reassure us only served to make us nervous. 

The journey up was very, very rough and we were all thrown about in our seats.  The windows were very steamed up but through them you could see the glaciers edge and water raging down hill.  Great chunks of ice were floating down river and all along the edge was a big ‘over hang’ of ice just waiting to break away.  Was this global warming at its worst??  Eventually we came to a stand still and you could hear the clanking of the ladder being put in place. ‘Russell’ appeared and told us all to step out down the ladder and to try and walk on the black parts of the ice as it was less slippy!

Walking out onto the glacier was a fantastic experience but not quite what I had expected to see.  I had expected it to be crystal white everywhere but it wasn’t.  Sure the majority of it was but there was also much blacker than I imagined.  ‘Russell’ went on to explain how the glacier was built up over the years.  The black was volcanic ash which was then snowed on and frozen.  Later more volcanic ash would fall followed by more snow and ice.  I had this image of a black and white liquorice allsorts sweet!  The problem was that now global warming had kicked in and the top layer of ice had been melting over the years washing the layer of volcanic ash down into the rivers that we had seen on our way up. Now I have to put my hand up and say I have never really paid much attention to global warming, but seeing it with my own eyes really made me appreciate how much of a responsibility we all have to our planet.  ‘Russell’ pointed over to the mound of volcanic ash were we had parked our monster truck and explained that 10 years ago that was all under the glacier.  The mound was about 4 ft high and it had only taken 10 years for that all to melt away!   Most of Iceland is only a few feet above sea level so the rising sea level is a real danger to their shoreline and much of the farming that takes place on low levels.  It seems more than a little unfair that a country that is considered the Greenest in the world is going to pay the highest price of global warming!  I had seen many school trips on my trip so far and thought it was a strange place to have a trip to, but seeing the melting ice made me think that every school child should have to witness the consequences of our actions!  OK rant over for now J

‘Russell’ showed us the cracks running through the glacier and how they had filled up with volcanic ash and also warned us of ‘weak’ spots across the glacier just in time for Nathaniel, one of our group to fall into the ice up to his hips!  ‘Russell’ was the only one who didn’t let out some sort of yelp as we all envisaged the newspaper headlines stating the sinking of an American Tourist into the depths of the Glacier!  We were assured that the ice was still thousands of metres deep and we were perfectly safe but it unsettled me a bit wondering if my next footstep would be the one that incased me in ice!  Thankfully it didn’t J  before we got back onto the monster truck to head back down to the mountain lodge we took some photos. On one I am stood on the edge of the volcanic ash with the huge expanse of white behind me, if I had walked 200miles in a straight line I would arrive at the Arctic Circle! Pretty surreal to be so near and yet there be no snow and melting ice! 

The ride back down was equally as bumpy, like going down the intial dip on a roller coaster but thankfully slower!  It did start to snow quite heavily on our return journey and we found ourselves willing it to keep on snowing and repair the damage that had been done up there.

Back onto the coach we went to collect the glacier ‘walkers’.  They were someway off so we had time to go and look at the bottom of the glacier we had just been standing on top of.  The ‘tongue’ is the part of glacier that is sliding down the valley, named for its shape and from underneath it the dirtiest water flowed, melted ice mixed with volcanic ash.

Well it is finally beginning to feel like I am going completely insane! I have taken a break from a lot of the threads on this site cos frankly i find it all too stressful.
This last week has been awful. I have been ill with a chest infection (I never get ill!!) and I feel stressed out the whole time. The house is under offer - if the  buyers ever get back in touch with their solicitors details - and the neighbours have pretty much bought all my furniture this weekend.  I have told work I wont be going back after Christmas (hopefully before that), work is pretty much intolerable at the minute.  I have never been in a position before where I have had to stay in a job when it was in my best interests to leave. I bite my tongue every day for fear of saying the wrong thing or upsetting the wrong person  I have however, written my letter of resignation and I for one am not going quietly.  My Uncle died just over a week a go and tomorrow i have to drive way down south, stopping in B&B overnight ready for the funeral on Tuesday. It is with mixed emotions i am going. Obviously it is sad circumstance but it is also the final time i am going to see the extended family. My cousin emigrated to Canada a year ago and she has had to come back to bury her Dad. It is going to bring home all kind of emotions i am sure!

My ex husband has been a complete t*** tonight! Abusive text messages all evening about how i am taking his kids away from him!  I rang and he is obviously under the influence (!) and will remember nothing of it in the morning. Why cant pepple understand that it isn't all easy for me either?  I know I am taking the kids away from not just their Grandparents but their Dad. If I wasn't so sure it was the right thing to do I would have buckled long before now. Its not going to be a bed of roses, of that I am certain, and I haven't bought a pair of those rose tinted glasses everyone talks about, but I do believe that one day, it is all going to make wonderful sense and the kids are going to turn round and thank me for biting the bullet.

All that remains left to be said is ............................................." please please please let my visa be here soon ! xx

Whoo hoo - I've made it back again within a week (that has got to be some sort of blog record surely!)

So what is new? Not a great deal but my house 'buyers' have had the survey done which shows they are committed (as oppose to myself who is probably not that far off needing committing )  The Estate Agent says if we haven't heard back within a week they will chase it up.  They gonna be sick of me by the time this whole process is over - I have heard of it all going pear shaped so many times for other people that the sooner we get everything sorted the better - THEN and only then will I allow myself to get excited.  I have had to fight off the urge to book our one way tickets over the last couple of days! It is probably OK to do so but I can't stop worrying about tempting fate and all that.  PLUS if I was going to book them now I would probably book for early January whereas really I want to be there before then!   Quite like the idea of a stop over in Bali - whatchya think?? Probably going to be a good few years before we can afford a luxurious holiday like that again! Have I justified such luxury yet?

I discoverd Face Book this week!! After months of being hassled to hug or throw a sheep at someone I finally succumbed.  Wierd or what?????? Still not really sure I understand what it is all about but i have to admit it is all slightly addictive!! OMG!! What with Expats and Face Book I'm never going to have a life! It's funny actually - seeing what everyone is upto now - I actually think I have done pretty well for myself (well I think so - stuff the rest of them!)

Resignation! That is also at the front of my mind this last week!! I can't wait to to do it! I remember my first couple of months in the job when I thought it was a job I would stay in until I retired.  It hasn't taken them long to zap me of both my enthusiam and confidence and it will honestly be a wonderful day the day I deliver THAT letter

OOh did I mention we have started the packing?? It's a great feeling but rather strange to tape up a box and know that the next time you see it's contents you will be at the other side of the world!  We had a bit of an 'episode' yesterday when I had read a thread on this site. It was a thread from someone asking why Customs had cut open her diaries.  The replies went on to discuss how diaries often contain pressed flowers or the like!!! WELL only a few hours earlier we had packed Rachels diary of her trip to Australia and low and behold inside it was various bits and pieces which would not have been greeted with open arms  SO of course the box had to be opened and said diary located and offending articles removed! At least we discoverd our booboo before the offending box was at the bottom of the pile!

Well that is probably all there is to tell for now. I'm off to bed to dream of that magic phonecall in the early hours of the morning!!! I open my eyes and all thought immediatly turn to the telephone by the bed willing it to ring!!! ONE day it will, I just hope it isn't too far away

Ok, I have been shamed into updating my blog by Tiggs!! (have you seen her blog? it's always upto date and interesting!)

Well where are we upto now? Pretty much the same place as last time I posted to be honest   It's these damned delays at LCU that seem to be holding everything up.  I am probably going to be waiting at least another month unless there is one massive catch up session over in Sydney, which is probably unlikely so I am going to have to learn to be more patient.  I think what worries me more is what if my medicals finally get to the top of the pile and then they decide they need further information - that is only going to add to the delay again hey? Oh well, must try not to worry so much!

Hey did you read about my strange dream the other day? WELL ........... I am in the house, its my house but not this one (if you know what I mean) I am there with my three children, Scott, Rachel and Mark and Scotts girlfriend Joss.  We are all upstairs looking out the window at a tiger having a fight with a grizzly bear!! Scott decides to go scare the tiger away as the bear is getting hurt!! Off he goes but he can't split them up and he leaves the dream along with Joss. No idea where they went but they are safe and unhurt.  SO that leaves me with Rachel (14) and Mark(12).  I notice that Rachel has gone downstairs and is stroking the tiger. Very calmly I tell Rachel to walk away and I then scoop her up along with Mark and we are all standing safe on the book shelf on the wall!!  The tiger is below us trying to get us, more playfully then trying to hurt us but we are suitably scared!  Then from nowhere a packet of rice crispies comes into view so I grab it and throw it into another room, the tiger follows which leaves us time to get down from the shelf and get outside locking the tiger in the house!!!!!!!!!!     What do you make of that then?? Reckon all this sitting around waiting for a visa has got to me hey

House selling progress!  WELL at long last we are sold subject to contract!! YAHOOO never thought it would happen.  I lowered the price considerably but the housing market is pretty naff right now and to be honest it will be worth it just being able to get on with life when the visa finally arrives.  I have orderd the boxes ready for the move, they come tomorrow morning.   I am using Freedomshipping who to date I am very impressed with.  I am taking 16 book cartons and 4 tea chests and it is going to cost a lttle over £500, there is the AQIS fee to pay (cant remember off top of my head how much it is but they did include it in my quote).  There is so much around the house that I can start getting packed away and hopefully make it less of a panic when THE time comes. 

OOOOOoooh did I tell you I am off to Iceland?? No not THAT (buy one get one free Iceland) the land of the midnight sun   It's my 40th and I am going to spend it wallowing in volcanic mud at the Blue Lagoon Spa.  I can't wait, I have always wanted to go and I guess once I get to Oz it ain't gonna happen is it?  

Oh well - Im bored now - there you go Tiggs I've updated, let's see how long it is until the next time. 

Well I'm back again! I really must try and get into this blog writing thing! I know in months to come I will enjoy looking back over it all.

I guess I am now at the stage that seemed so far away when I first joined BE.com.  I first logged in and read all the stories of others who were just on the final long wait dreaming of myself being in the same situation one day. Well now I am and it is every bit as frustrating as everyother stage in this visa process. After worrying myself stupid over the whole medical thing they actually passed without any real problems. WELL presuming the bloods come back ok LOL  I had a dream the night before the medicals in which it turned out I had an in curable illness and Australia said the kids could go but I would have to stay here!   Amazing what games your mind can play on you in times of stress hey? The panel Doctor went off on his holidays yesterday so he won't be reviewing our blood results etc until he is back in 2 weeks. They will then be sent off to LCU who I am hoping will have sorted out the massive back log in waiting medicals!!!!!!!  I had hoped to be flying off to our new life in November BUT i am seriously wondering whether this is going to be happening now.  There doesnt seem to be any sort of order for the processing of Visas right now so really all I can do is sit tight and wait my turn, as infuritating as it is!! Maybe i should start crocheting or something equally as mind numbing!

Australia has now over taken my life completely. How on earth anyone managed it before the good ole days of the internet is beyond belief!! I am regularly online checkin out rentals, house sales and jobs. The children have looked at pretty much every school in the whole of Western Australia and I have already priced up a volkswagen camper van ready for me to fulfil my mid life crisis in true hippy fashion.

Well tomorrow is another day.........and all around the UK people are waiting for that ONE special phone call/email or letter ........... come Monday I will be congratulating the lucky ones and wishing it was me BUT then I will have to remind myself how quickly I have become one of the ones on the long wait and realise that one day, hopefully not too far away It will be me posting 'I GOT IT!'

..........but I am back!

Lots has happened since I last wrote. Rachel and I had our holiday out to Oz, it was fantastic but would have been better with out the family fall out (dont ask - long story)  Rachel loved the country as much as I do and we came back full of renewed enthusiasm to get things moving as soon as possible.

I recieved a lovely phonecall from my agent the morning we flew out of UK to let me know i had passed my TRA, which only made the trip more exciting.

My visa application has now arrived at the agents in Oz (well it will be delivered tomorrow morning when office opens).

I have told my family, and it has been awful. I didnt expect it to go down well but i didnt expect the back lash from the australian branch of the family. Think there has been some s*** stirring going on somewhere.  Anyway it doesnt change a thing, we are all still adament it is what we want to do and now it just cant come soon enough.

FINALLY i have managed to get the funds sent out to Migration Agent in Sydney .  I was beginning to think it would never happen with the credit card company not processing payment!

Anyway it is now 3-5 days until it 'arrives' and then we are up and moving.  LOL at least I was warned I needed to be patient.

Feeling a bit more optimistic about houses etc after seeing programme on BBC today. I'm not expecting to be able to afford to buy for a couple of years but at least it seems i will be able to afford rent!!  I need to find a job, cleaning toilets if need be, so that i dont have to eat into my equity too much - that is my deposit for my future house

Yes its gonna be damned difficult and i am sure there will be times when i wonder what on earth I have done BUT life here isn't exactly easy so if I am going to struggle I may as well do it in Australia hey?

Flipping heck - when I was told it was a long process I didn't expect that just to be the process of transferring money to agent to get started on the TRA!!!

Gonna stay up late tonight and ring to do it over the phone - suspect them not asking for my 3 digit security number is causing the trouble .

Went out and got a scanner today as recommended by agent for sending him documents - so at least I feel I am doing something useful

Faxed off credit card authorisation for TRA to begin  

Feeling a bit calmer now I have taken the first step - wonder how long that will last

Ok this is it! Faxing off signed contract and first installment of fees in the morning and off we go .  I feel like a child on Christmas Day morning.  Tv programme today showed Perth and me and the kids wanted to magic ourselves through the tv screen and into Kings Park.  None of us were too keen on the idea of snakes slithering in through the patio doors but I'm sure we will handle what ever gets thrown at us.

It only 73 days now until me and daughter go to visit my brother and his family.   We will be looking at it from a different prospective this time round. Having trips around all the neighbourhoods getting a good feel for the place, housing and schools etc.  I lay awake at nights wondering if I have lost the plot somewhere in life and that things like this don't happen to people like us but then I wake up and I think WHY shouldn't they happen to us.  We are a close family, not scared of hard work and we have lived on the bread line before so having to watch the pennies isn't going to be anything we haven't done before.  Our life here is nothing grand.  I work full time and own my house (with mortgage), and we have a car.  But we don't have an extravagant lifestyle and annual holidays aren't a regular event so I fail to see how it can be THAT much harder in Australia.  OK I won't be able to buy a house for a few years - will need to start again on the housing ladder - but that's not the end of the world and if it means that we get to spend more time together as a family and have a better quality of life (socially if not financially) then I would be a fool not to do it.  Australia has been like an itch for years - I scratch it only for it to come back again.  I don't want to be a little old lady wishing I had been brave enough to go for it.  Someone once said to me that when you are dying the things you regret are the things you have not done, not the things you have. 

So Mr L - do your funky stuff lets get this show on the road x

...........Ok I have chosen an agent to represent us on this roller coaster.  I won't name them here cos it wouldn't be fair

There was the first part of a short series on tv this morning about families wanting to migrate to Oz. It only fuelled my desire to get out there too.  I hope they dont concentrate of people with loads of money on the programme.  For me and the kids it is going to be a long hard struggle financially BUT if I didn't think it worth it I wouldn't do it at all.  I am so sure of this - a new life beckons x

..........there was me and my three children somewhere in a wet dreary Lancashire,UK.  After many years of 'shall we', 'should we' conversations we have decided that we want to be the other side of the world!  Not an easy decision by any means but one which feels right.  Our primary reason for wanting to go is better standard of living we will have and of course the weather to be able to get outside and do stuff is a major selling point.  I want something more for my children.  I won't spend the next paragraph putting this country down BUT there doesn't really seem to be much to offer here anymore. (That is all I will say on that or it may turn into a political debate which is not what i want this to be)  What do I want this to be?

......I want to be able to record all the highs and lows of this whole experience, so that hopefully I will be able to look back on it all and wonder how on earth I stayed sane!

So where are we at now? apart from wet & windy Lancashire that is!  Like I said we have come to the decision that this time we are going to GO FOR IT!  My elder brother has just been over for a holiday (he has lived in Perth for 18 years) and it has just made me more certain of what I want for my family and where I want to be.  I am going to appoint an agent to help me along the route.  I feel it is going to be stressful enough and if someone is able to take the load a bit then it will be money well spent in my eyes.  I have a short list of 2 agents - wont mention them here, but by the end of next week I expect to have signed up and the ball will be rolling.

Already my life has been turned upside down. Every waking moment I am thinking, planning or worrying about the whole process.  Wondering what I should take with me furniture wise and even wondering what would happen if the house sold before we were ready to go! All totally unfounded worries and completely unnecessary right now but its like I have been taken over by aliens!  I even spent 2 hours looking at houses to rent the other night!  (I really must learn to take one step at a time LOL )

We are going to apply for a sub 136visa (skilled independant). Finally being a Cook has proved useful!  Best news is that my eldest can come on the application with us, validate his visa and then return to finish his degree before rejoining us.

Well that is it for now - Day one of my blog (never done one of these before!) I will return regularly I am sure.  In the  meantime fingers crossed............................................