Thu 20 November 2008 - Trip away - Cervantes - day 3

We didn't fancy another day at the beach, well I didn't anyway, so on Monday we headed up to Geraldton stopping in Dongara on the way.

We met up with the emus again but one look at Paul and they were off and were fascinated with the landscape of massive sand dunes in the middle of bush and turquoise waters on the other side. Every now and again there would be a tin shack 'house' which looked incredibly isolated and that was it !

Dongara was definitely touristy but we didn't stop for long as it was about a three hour drive to Geraldton. When we got to Gero we wandered down the high street with the girls stopping in every tourist shop and then tried to find the shopping centre as we had promised them we would. After a long walk we gave up and headed for a cafe near the beach. The girls then ran through the water fountains before having a game of baseball with Paul before we headed off back to Cervantes.

Paul hated the driving and I have decided that I am not keen on these types of 'holiday' so we have now decided that weekends will be spent much closer to home and that we need to go for longer and have more flexibilty if we go further afield. A caravan it is then !

After a very early start the next day (6am) as workers were building right outside our unit we headed home. I never thought I'd ever be so pleased to see Mandurah. It no longer seems 'small town' in fact it seems practically cosmpolitan now !! Won't last long though !

Thu 20 November 2008 - Trip away - Cervantes - day 2

On the second day we called into Lake Thetis on our way out as it was so close. They are part way through building a boardwalk to the stromatolites so we followed that and checked them out. They are the oldest 'living' thing in the world although they didn't seem to be doing a lot of 'living'  but what do I know.

We then headed off to Jurien Bay which was gorgeous. We will definitely be going back there that's for sure. The beach was beautiful and there were little cafes and shops dotted around, in fact we have decided to go back there for a week at some point and hire a house. The aussies don't really 'do' hotels favouring caravans, tents and chalets and it's not any wonder when you see the prices hotels charge. However I am not someone who can sleep in a tent so we are going to save really hard when we get a chance and get a caravan. Never thought I'd ever say that !!

We spent a good few hours battling the flies and then popped into Leeman (why ?? There was nothing there) and Green Head which looked like it may have a bit of life in tourist season before heading back to Cervantes and a bbq. On the way Paul had to brake to avoid two wild emus which he then chased down the road roadrunner style before they went off into the bush. Nakita was worried Paul was going to hit them but I think he was more worried about the damage they'd do to his ute !

Thu 20 November 2008 - Trip away - Cervantes - day 1

Well I finally managed to persuade Paul to take some time off work to get away. In the two years we'd been here he's only had two days off !! So  booked a few nights in a hotel in Cervantes, a few hours north of Perth.

Saturday morning we left home at 9.30am and after a quick stop for a Body Shop delivery (and picked up a recruit !!) we prepared ourselves for the long drive.

We had to stop off at Gingin, one of the BS consultants had done a party though so I had to be nosy and check the place out. It was pretty with a lovely little church and set of shops and a cafe but the flies were bad so we didn't stop too long.

Next stop was the Pinnacles. These are wierd. They are like staligmites but made from limestone and rising up out of the sand. It was a very yellow sand. For $10 you can drive round them all and stop and have a look around. The girls chose to stay in the car but Paul and I wandered around for a bit swatting flies and battling the wind. Having sand blown in your face is a very good exfoliator I have found !!

We then stopped at Hangover Bay which was lovely - beautiful white sand and turquoise water (you can see why they call it the turquoise coast !)  and also Kangaroon Point (but not for long at the latter - between the dragonflies and the flies you could barely see anything !!)

We finally arrived at our hotel in Cervantes at 4.30pm, very hot, tired and hungry. The restaurant there was fabulous with lovely food but the pool was out of action for our stay - argh !!! Worse still, the social club across the road had a 21st birthday party which started at 8.30pm and lasted until 4.30 the next morning and came complete with the odd firework every now and again. 3 hours worth of sleep later Nakita woke up !!!

Thu 20 November 2008 - Alarming …

The teachers at Jack’s school were on strike for two hours this morning and we were instructed not to take the kids in before 11:00am. Liz had a doctor’s appointment and she left the house at nine leaving me to get Jack to school. Mornings are always a rush, but she when returned she was surprised to discover that things were much as she left them. She wondered how it was that Jack was able to go to school two hours later than normal today and I still managed to not have his lunch box ready, to not get him into socks or shoes, to not have his teeth cleaned, to not have this his hat on his heed and to not having packed his bag.

Truth is we’d been working on his school project which, for reasons known only to Jack, involved constructing a cuboid from paper, wrapping this cuboid in Xmas paper, tying a ribbon to said wrapped cuboid and sticking a teeny tiny little gift card to it all. I forgot about lunch, hats and teeth in all the excitement. So we left the house, in time honoured fashion, exactly 10 minutes before school was supposed to start, despite having an extra two hours to do it all in.

Blog entry continues here.

Wed 19 November 2008 - The up and downs of this migration roller coaster

Despite V emailing Thales about arranging a chance to have a chat to see what the prospect of getting a job with them, we have heard nothing.

Thing is they have indicated that they are keen on employing him, they just need him in oz.

V has finally got his IENG rubber stamped, so his next stage is to get his CDR done for engineers australia. Hopefully he will get assessed as a Mechanical engineer, which will enable a 175 or 176 to be applied for. However if all he gets is the ME technologist then our choice of visa is very limited. With out employer sponsorship we would only be able to apply for the regional visa for queensland. An area we dont really want to go to. But getting to oz for us is so important we would have to do it.

One minute we think we have things sorted, then something comes along to cast doubt over whether we can actually get a visa.

ah well back to the real world and the house work 

Sat 15 November 2008 - In at the deep end …

Couple of weeks ago I noticed that our pool was smelling a bit, ermm, different. Instead of the usual chloriney smell, it had taken on this rather more pungent odour - musty if you like. But we were swimming in it to no ill effect, so I just assumed it needed a bit more salt for the chlorinator.

However a couple of days ago, Liz, Jack and myself were in having a splash about and we all commented on the fact that it really was not pleasant to open your eyes in that water. I suggested we all got out until I had the water tested. So I took a sample of water down to our friendly neighbourhood pool shop and had the bloke test it.

Blog entry continues here.

Fri 14 November 2008 - Feels like we are in limbo

We are still no further forward on this migration roller coaster. We are still waiting to hear from Thales to see if they would be prepared to sponsor us. Even though V hasn't been offered an interview, an email we got off the recruiting guy did seem to suggest they were interested.

The Murray regional board had said they would have a chat and find out some information from Thales. So far nothing. Its just so frustrating.

Once V gets back from Switzerland then he will throw himself into sorting out his Engineers Australia skills assessment. With out that we cant progress any further. He will either get asssessed as a mechanical engineer or mechanical engineer technologist. Hopefully the former as then we can apply for the independent visa or even get Victoria to sponsor us. If its the latter then we will need sponsorship from an employer or possibly as a last resort sponsorship from Queensland on a temp regional visa, which really is our last hope. As that is the only place that lists mechanical engineering technologist as being in demand and it is only on their temp visa listing.

WE still have recieved no information pack from migration abroad or email. Will be checking to see if they have taken our money for nothing. Not sure what we can do about the money if they have taken it and not produced the goods. Certainly will not get them to act on our behalf as agents.

All this has made me feel a bit fed up, i was so optomistic after the Leeds expo, but know im feeling as though we will never get to oz.

The kids have been a real pain as well, they all want to go to oz and keep asking when we will be moving. All i can say is when we get a visa sorted out. Which is like asking how long is a piece of string.

J has been in trouble at school again, they phoned to say if he has any more bad behaviour then he will be expelled. The annoying thing is his behaviour in class is now much better, he is working harder and trying to concentrate more. The problem now lies in the times he is outside in the play ground.

Ive also had a letter send home about D my eldest, we need to make an apt to see his teacher as she is concerned about his behaviour as he has lately becoming silly in class. Apparentley his best friend also got a note home, although his mum has checked his school bag so not sure if he said that to get off the hook or not. I only found out when D when to bed.

I just sometimes feel like i must be a bad parent to be having so many problems with the kids at the moment. It always seems like it's my kids thats in bother , yet there are more trouble makers that go to both their schools who never seem to have a problem with the teachers. It could just be me being paranoid of course. 

 Im sure the lack of knowledge about what is going to happen to their lives after their birthdays must be praying on their minds, i know it is on mine.

Im one of those people who likes a plan even if it is a flexible plan so i can make arrangements etc.

WE have only around 5 months left before V is in the army and i DO NOT want to go back to live in the UK, but if we havent got sorted out with a visa then we will have to. Its so frustrating the not knowing, the wondering if it is all going to work out. Just recently ive dreamed about a our new life, the house we will live in the stuff we will get up to , the freedom the boys will get.

I know Australia is not  going to be some magic place that nothing ever goes wrong. Im well aware of the pit falls and problems we may well encounter, but despite all of that i just want to shout gizza job and let us get to oz.

It doesn't help that it is getting colder here in Paderborn and the weather is awful most of the time. I hate the cold and have had such a bad summer i need some sunshine in my life to help me get through the periods of winter weather. I honestly think i may be developing SAD, ive just lost my motivation and if i could i would just hibernate in bed till the sun comes out.

Looking forward to living in oz is what has kept me going through all the crap ive gone through in the past couple of years so i just hope my dream is not about to be shattered.

right time i was getting a nice mug of cappachinno to warm me up, my fingers are almost iced over, my nose is blue and im starting to resemble a snow man. I kid you not, i feel that cold, im wearing more layers on me than an onion.

so Australia LET ME In

Sun 9 November 2008 - The reality of conflict and war and army life

Last night V and i went out for a farewell meal with our friends, not because we are leaving but because they are deploying to Iraq this week. When they get back (which i hope to god they do) we will hopefully be on are way to oz.

It was such a fanatstic night, we drank to the future, a safe return from Iraq for them, then we had a toast for our fallen friends.

It wasn't till it was time for us to leave the bar to come home that it hit us all that this could be farewell forever.

AS with the army life you get posted and people come and go. WE have been lucky that 18 years ago when i first met my bro Mick and had such an intense relationship and had a bond that will last for life. V and Mick are like brothers and i was the same with him. In army life that is very rare.

so i was delighted that my bro was in Paderborn, although we had not seen each other for over 15 years, it was like we were never aparted.

His wife has become a dear friend and she to is deploying to Iraq. On having a final farewell hug we were all in tears, partly through the drink but because of the fear of the un known.

Paderborn is becoming a ghost town as the soldiers leave to serve once more for Queen and country.

A while back V got his photos out from when he first passed out into the army, out of those not many are still in the army and sadly a fair few have died in conflicts since 1990.

AS a wife over the years ive supported scores of wives who have found army life difficult, ive held them when they have been told their hubby had been injured , ive been their holding their hands when the husbands have sadly died.

This time is different as V isn't going and it feels strange when the boys friends talk about their dads leaving. C my middle son his two closest friends their dads are going away. Its heart breaking hearing them talk about their daddy may not come home , like its a normal thing.  Famlies who are part of the army have a tough life and although im glad that V will never see conflict again, he still has the memories of serving in the Gulf in 1990 when he was travelling in convoy when it was hit by freindly fire, he lost many comrades that day. I will always remember the anguish i felt when i heard it on the news, not knowing if V was injured or not. The guilt when he survived but my neighbours husband didn't.

So tonight, i remember those people i have known who have died since 1990. I shall also say a prayer for those deploying shortly, for a safe return for them all.

No matter where i am in the world i will remember them

Fri 7 November 2008 - I really needed that holiday it was great

WE all had a great time in Holland at the Center Parcs at Loohurst

It wasn't as busy as the one we were at fro christmas last year, the pool wasn't as good (at least that it what the kids thought)

But we all needed a break and made the most of it. the kids found the Dutch signs hilarious trying to prounounce words in a pretend Sean Connery voice.

It was good to just have fun. the pool tired both me  and V completly, after the first day in the pool, we managed to get the kids in bed before 8 and we were asleep before 9.

Our freinds came by train and v met them at Eindhoven, so we could show them around. WE had a lovely meal at the resort family grill restaurent. Ive never seen the kids eat so much.

Our holiday home was near a lake with a load of ducks and J managed to mimic the duck call and had them following him every where. He kept singing here comes the ducks yeah (think the song here comes the girls and you get the picture).

On the day before the holiday finished we went to vist our freinds in Amsterdam, following the trusty satnav. Mel lives not far from the city center above a row of shops so parking was a bit of a problem.

the flat was very modern and it felt homely, Mel and her mum took us on the tram which the kids thought was brill having never been on one, J in particular was amazed by it. Ive never known him be so quiet.

Once in the town center we had a trip on a canal boat. The boys have been on the boat trip around York before, but for them this was so much better , it was a case of look at this look at that, 3 very excited boys.

Afterwards we had Dutch hotdogs, yummy. followed by a walk around the main area.

All in all a brill day. Thanks Mel and Margaret for such a wonderful day in your company 

WE got back to Loohurst late at night, and 3 very sleepy boys had soup and buns and went straight to bed.

Last Friday we got back in time to get sorted for trick and treating. V took J around for 30 mins and the older 2 were with the freinds with discreet parents watching. ( the boys like to think they were on their own) Both boys ended up at different halloween sleep overs . so it was a quiet night for us.

The weekend , saw me catching up on the washing.

V left for Switzerland on the Sunday and i must say ive missed him so much.

Thankfully he is back late tonight.

This week has not been great, ive had a bug and have spent most of it in bed. D now has the bug and has had yesterday and today off school. the  today J complained of a poorly tummy, so i took pity on him and told him to stay in bed. I must of fallen asleep for a couple of hours and when i woke up D informed me the J had been mucking around and been a right pest, so the little toerag had pretended to be ill. If i wasn't feeling so shattered myself i would have took him back to school.

Whilst all this has been going on, we have had contact with the Murray regional board, they are going to see Thales to find out if there is a job avaliable for V and sponsorship is possible.

So thats all that is happening with us. time for a cuppa

Thu 6 November 2008 - Back to life, back to reality …

So, with the in-laws having safely re-entered their lives in blighty, we have been free to return to ours here in sleepy South Coast, NSW. Jack’s back at school, I’ve got my head buried in misbehaving PCs and Liz has got stuck into her graphic design work. The weather has been consistently improving over the last couple of weeks and the number of tourists passing through our little town of Barefoot Bay has been increasing steadily.

The American election has been in the news here and for once, the time difference on this side of the planet was a useful thing. While the rest of the planet slept, over here in Oz we got realtime updates on all the counts coming in from the voting stations in the states, during our daytime. So, finally the yanks have voted in someone with an IQ greater than your average pot plant. Hurrah.

As always, blog entry continues at my site ...

Sun 2 November 2008 - Happy families …

The torture is at an end. After nearly 7 consecutive weeks of in-laws, we have waved the last of ‘em off at the airport. It started, as I’ve previously mentioned, with the PILs, but for the last two weeks, we’ve been entertaining the SIL and her sprog. I’m not saying my family’s perfect, or indeed that I am, but dear god they’re hard work.

So. Last time I blogged, the SIL had not long arrived. Well, we have now dropped her and her sprog off at the airport on Saturday evening, putting an end to what has been a very painful two weeks. I thought that the PILs stay had been eventful, but the SIL out-did them in pretty much every way.

Blog entry continues here.

Thu 23 October 2008 - The difference between Aussie kids and British kids …

Tue 21 October 2008 - One in one out …

So. Blimey. Not updated the old blog in nearly a month. Life here has been turned upside down somewhat with the month that the parents-in-law were here and then the arrival of Catherine’s sister and niece two days after the Little Englanders left.

Tue 21 October 2008 - A positive vibe from the weekend at Leeds expo.

Despite us now knowing we cant use my skills to get the extra 5 points for the 175 visa. We have now a few options open up to us.V spoke with a few engineering companies who were very keen and have taken his cv. One of them had a very good relocation package aswell.

We spoke a great deal with murray regional board as V had applied for a job in Mulwala and the board have said they will get in touch with the company to ensure they know they will get support to sponsor V on a Regional sponsored migration scheme to get a permanent visa. So that looks hopefull.

Queensland also showed interest in sponsoring us for state sponsorhip, as were WA.

Victoria have saifd to keep an eye out on their skills list as it is changing soon and it could benefit us.

I also spoke with ramsey health who have told me once ive got registration through with NSWNB  that if i email them they will help get me on a return to nursing course at one of their hospitals. So again it looks promising.

So all in all the expo for us was a good expereince and we have gained a lot of contacts .

So next step is for V to get his assessment done by engineers australia. The result of that will depend on how we proceed. If he gets assessed as a mechanical engineer then we can still go for the 175. If not then it will be either the rsms or 176.

Time for a nap, as i got back at 4am and im knackered.   

Sat 18 October 2008 - Orthodontist

So this week we had our consultation with the orthodontist. I paid $120 for the two of them for a 5 min look at the x rays we'd had done and a quick look at their teeth, jaw alignment etc. Now it turns out that Nakita swallows wrong !! Not that I ever knew there was a right way, but most adults put their tongue to their mouth to swallow, unfortunately Nakita still puts her tongue to her teeth to swallow which is what babies do before they have teeth. The downside of this means that she is pushing her teeth out which is doubly bad as she still sucks her thumb too !!

Nakita's teeth are worse than Tallulahs, she is also missing two adult teeth which have never formed but the two that are there are coming down at an angle which is impacting her two adult top middle teeth which, if not corrected, will mean surgery. Gulp.

So we now have another appointment for November - $250 for them both to have moulds and more x rays done and then an apoointment in December for a consultation to agree a forward plan and costs. It's not going to be cheap that's for sure - minimum of 8 extractions and five implants for starters !

Tally of costs paid so far - $170

Wed 15 October 2008 - Had a brain wave

Something my freind said to me last night has just dawned on me, she said i should use my qualifications ive gained to get to oz.

So i did a bit of research and it looks like i may have a way for us to get the independent visa. Im now looking into getting my qualifications assessed as a a welfare worker using my expereince of nursing alongside my diploma in health and social welfare.Lets hope it will be possible. Fingers crossed

Wed 15 October 2008 - Operation oz

It looks like operation oz is not going to b e straight forward. not that we thought it was going to be easy.

NSWNB have emailed me to say they need more information, firstly a passport, lucki;y i can scan and print the pages they want from my passport, they then asked for evidence of my working history so have copied as many pay statements as i could, my character references hadn't been sent, that was easy to sort out just phoned my friend up to remind her. She felt so embarrassed about that.

The hardest to sort out is my professional reference as my last employer wont give me a reference as i hadn't worked there for so long. Not sure what i can do about that. Lastly the nursing transcripts that the NMC sent apparently weren't good enough as they did not have any theoretic components nor a syllabus of training. So that is going to be a hard hurdle to overcome.

Poor V is getting demented with how to get his skiils assessed, as it stands he can be assessed as an engineering technologist  via the sydney accord. However that is not MODL so we are going to need sponosrship to get to oz.

However there is a glimmer of hope as V has applied for a few jobs with Thales in Mulwala, they have emailed him wanting more information. So fingers crossed they will be willing to sponsor him and that will be out route to oz.

Tomorrow we set off for the UK, getting a daft oclock ferry from Dunkirk to Dover. hopefully we will hit Durham around dinner time. the kids and I are looking forward to getting to Durham. I desperatly need to get a smart pair of trousers ready for Saturday, so im hoping i wont be too tired to hit the shops.

Saturday is the expo in Leeds we are both looking forward to that and having a break from the kids. wE will be attending both Sat and Sun. Just hope we get all our questions answered.

Well got loads of laundry to get done so id best crack on  

Sat 11 October 2008 - swimming lessons

well the school hols are drawing to a close and the only thing the girls have managed to do is swimming lessons. Both Paul and I have been sick all through the holidays so they have been pretty lousy ones for the girls again. Hopefully the next holidays will be better - well it will be Christmas after all !

On the plus side Nakita passed her swimming badge so is onto the next stage and Tallulah passed two badges !! On the negative side all of their swimming stuff has lost all of it's colours due to the chemicals - I hate to think what it's done to the girls themselves !

Wed 8 October 2008 - Exam over operation oz begins

Now that the worse course i have ever done is over, i can concentrate on how we are getting to oz.Got an email from the oz army and if we wait for them it will at least April 2010. So i think its safe to say we wont be bothering with them.

At last we are starting to get some where with some of the applications that we have sent off. A few have asked fr further information, so fingers crossed.

Looking forward to the Leeds /oz expo. Im certainly feeling so much stronger in my self.

I still get the odd day when i feel crap but im getting there.

I dont think i did very well in the exam but just got to wait till DEC to see if i did enough to pass.

Benji has yet another ear infection and is not well so im trying to get an apt with the vets fr him. poor thing is feeling very sorry for himself.

Sat 4 October 2008 - House bound ...