Loubags Blog

Smoke on the water

Well, more mist over the lake really. The weather is now on the slide into winter and I've discovered that it does actually freeze in Australia. Had to scrape ice off my car last week. As you know I hate the cold and wet, but there is something very comforting about sitting in front of a huge open fire, a storm raging outside and a kitchen full of wine. Our valley is looking beautiful at the moment, so I'm still in love with it all.

The good news is that we are now permanent residents, so will no longer be booted off the soil after another 3 yrs.  We have made some really good friends here, so will be catching up with them to celebrate in the near future ( I'm an alcoholic and you know who you are  ). All the neighbours are great and we feel like we are being accepted into our village community.

Work is going well and I've applied for another job - same place but higher grade so more money. After all the hassle of the move and visa application over the past 12 months, I'm now going to chill out and not stress over the job. If I get it great, if not - no worries.

Have got lots of plans for the house - pool, decorating etc and have just remembered that I forgot to get my lotto ticket for tonight. Looks like they're on hold for another week!

WA - It's pretty big!

Well, we've completed our longest roadtrip in Oz so far. Spent a great weekend up at Monkey Mia, a short ( by WA standards ) 9 hours drive with only the occasional roadhouse and kamikase emus for company.

It was ace! I loved the fact that you can drive for miles and not see another person and then end up by the ocean where you can paddle with wild dolphins.

I must admit that 3 days at Monkey Mia was enough for me, but I could happily have carried on driving for several more hours each day, stopping at odd little places along the way. I think a campervan trip around WA is a must for us in the not too distant future. Shame work gets in the way of a good time.

6 go bonkers in Honkers

Well we did the Hong Kong thing and surprised Dave in the pub. Luckily he was well up for it and we had a fab few days of eating, drinking and the usual sightseeing stuff. It was great to catch up with everyone. Doesn't seem like 8 months since we last met - the time is flying by here.

HK has changed loads in the 7 yrs since we were last there and even more in the 17yrs since we signed our lives away at City Hall ( aahh memories ). Much cleaner, with some good restaurants and at last decent wine at decent prices.

Hopefully they'll slow down on the building of shopping malls, or it will soon resemble Singapore and lose loads of its original buildings and culture.

This was the first trip there that one of us didn't have a hex put on us, so hopefully this bodes well for our visa application.

After that excitement, it was back to work as usual, but we are off to spend a few days camping with friends over Easter, so that will involve more drinking and eating. It's tough!

Roo spottings have slowed down recently. I can hear them yomping through the bush after dark, but it's been a while since I saw them. We had an invasion of Red Tailed Black Cockatoos a couple of weeks ago, which are about the size of an eagle. They took up squatters rights in the garden and became extremely verbally abusive when we went anywhere near them. They've buggered off now and it seems really quiet without them.

After successfully obtaining some scotch bonnet chilli plants, I was concerned that some of them weren't thriving in our garden as they seemed to be dying off. Yesterday, I glanced out of the window to see one of our resident black lizards ( about 2 ft long ) haul itself into the tub and start munching happily away! These chillies are damn hot, so I'm guessing that these reptiles don't have much going on in the way of taste buds.

Weather cooling down considerably at night and in the mornings - still can't believe we chose to live in one of the coldest valleys. Thank the Lord for reverse cycle air con - the heating works a treat.

What is going on??????????

What is happening to my blogs? Just spent 30 mins updating mine, only for it disappear into web world. Tried again and the same thing happened.

Maybe third time lucky, but I'm too cross to bother.

Highlights of the others were -

Having an ace time

The Karate Kid

Roos

Hong Kong.

See ya!

God, I'm Brave!

Let my guard down too quickly and became very complacent about huntsman spiders.

That was until today, when I had one on the roof of the car in the garage.

Took a while and the aid of a pool net pole to wrestle it to the ground, but I won and it conceded defeat and joined its rellies in the garden ( with some help from me and a glass ).

Despite some mutterings from BE members overseas ( you know who you are  ) I'm feeling damn pleased that it got sorted and I got back in the car. Best go and celebrate with a good drink.

Roos

Was sitting on verandah last night and saw a roo at the bottom of the garden!!

How cool is that? I love this place.

An update at last

We moved on the 8 Dec and absolutely love our new house. We've spent the last few nights sitting on the verandah drinking a few glasses of the local wine and taking in the views.

Bloody wonderful!!!!

Vineyard one side, lake the other and bush all around ( no jokes about brazilians Degs  )

It makes all the 5.00am starts worthwhile. We hadn't planned on living in this area - in fact had never heard of it before - but god bless the estate agent, who got to know us well enough to encourage us to look at it just before it went onto the market for auction.

My car is finally licensed to be driven on the roads of WA - long, painful and expensive story that I won't bore you with now. First couple of days I kept forgetting it was a manual and stalling it at the lights, not cool. However, I'm now very adept at racing Utes and keeping out of the way of road trains, so it's good fun.

Saw England beat the Aussies in the cricket at the WACA - legends 20/20 match. Marvellous evening, especially as Merv the Swerve was playing and he is one of my all time faves. I was a bit pissed off because he was hugging and kissing some fans and having photos taken, but when I called out for my turn, he decided to ignore me and go back to the cricket - Jake reckons it's because I'm so old.  Still, I got some good piccies of him.

We have now applied for permanent residency - another long process of waiting and government departments. Still, life is great over here and we have a fab house to come home to after work.

All is good!!!

Bought A House!

It's all signed and sealed! Move on Dec 8, so will be in for Crimbo and the New Year.

After finding the house of our dreams and then wading through all the paperwork that is a mortgage application, we then had to apply for foreign investment approval.

God bless the FIRB - humans really do work for government departments in W.A!  Had a great contact person there and got the all clear last week.

Never thought we'd be able to own such a fab property, so it still seems a bit dream like. It is in vineyard country, so was obviously fated for us to be there!

Regrets over moving to the other side of the world - None.

Kids - The making of them.

Work -( besides usual political strife and personalities ) Great

Huntsman spiders - Bring them on!! ( Am determined that nothing will upset my happy mood over the house, but not checking for mail again ).

All in all - it's good for a Tuesday.

Huntsman Spiders - YeeeeeeK!!

It's true - they're here ( in W.A )

They are definately big, hairy and scarey.

I'm still alive, so that's positive, but they're bloody quick.

Not looking in the post box again!

Blog again when heart has stopped racing.

Chow.

Guilty Pleasures Take Two

Ok - here's mine

He Used To Give Me Roses - Theme to Prisoner Cell Block H ( not sure who by until I can find it to look it up)

Next saddo? -

Guilty Pleasures

Hiya ( especially Kate and Degs )

thought you'd look at Guilty Pleasures!!

No - not referring to the the best club night around England at the moment sadly!

This relates to the guilt we have about being pulled over by the Feds ( sorry Mike, those nice men in uniforms keeping us safe and sound  )

Just been stopped again for a breath test on my way home from work. I seriously think it's a great idea and fully support the WA police, so don't have a problem.

HOWEVER - is it just me that feels guilty when stopped even though I know I'm driving safely with NO alcohol in me???????????????

Have been working a late shift and although I've dreamed of a huge glass of cold, dry white - haven't had a drop. So why is it that when I'm asked to give a breath test I'm already feeling guilty and condemmed?

Must be something in a previous life!

Talking of Guilty Pleasures - will start my new blog about it and put the first one up. ENJOY !!!!!!

Time Flies

Yep, it's true. Time flies when you're having fun!

Keep meaning to update the blog, but have been busy settling into the new life. Our furniture arrived a couple of weeks ago, so the rental feels more like home now. Shame we will have to repack when we move in a few months though. Will be starting to look for a property to buy  in the next few weeks. That'll be interesting as there is a wide mix of housing around here. Many are 70s style brick / concrete that you wouldn't touch unless you wanted a project house or had an affinity with your Grannies decor. Others are fab and funky with great views from the verandah and pool and would require a substantial lottery win to purchase. Haven't seen many inbetween yet, but am hoping that a funky little number, virtually brand new, with large pool, verandah overlooking the city and accomodation for guests, will come up at the right price pretty soon

The weather is still pretty crap - often wet and windy, so I'm looking forward to the summer. We've had a few good days and Phil and Jake even ventured into the pool last week. Didn't stay in long though!

Found some great places for lunch by the sea and in Freo Harbour, so am making the most of days off. Also found the Dior counter at Myers, much to Phils disappointment!

Everyone seems settled. Jake is still enjoying school and has joined some local drama groups.  Ben is having driving lessons and bought himself an old nail recently. I've even taken my life in my hands by going out in it with him. It's a bit scarey when you can see the road from your seat and you wonder if you will make it home before being overcome by petrol fumes .

I've started my fitness regime by buying loads of magazines and thinking about what I should do. I was going to start running again, but it's really hilly round here, so that may just finish me off. Phil goes every morning, so makes me feel guilty - not! I've started to notice middle age spread and the start of a turkey neck, so I'll definately need to do something before the bikini season starts soon!

Spider update - one huntsman in the house, but luckily I was at work so didn't see it.

Chow!

Love it!

Exactly 3 weeks today since we arrived and it's flown by. The rental is now feeling more like home ( thank god for Ikea ). Its cost us a bit in essentials eg. lamps, cutlery, teatowels etc etc, not to mention the time spent chasing up the agents when the electrics exploded ( another story ), but only 3 or 4 more weeks until our stuff arrives.

I started work on Monday and despite my concerns regarding the state of mental health care in WA, its great so far. The staff are friendly, helpful and professional and the ward has a good feel to it.

The town we are in is fab - just like the Wild West, but without the shoot outs ( as yet! ). People smile and chat in the shops and it has a good communtiy spirit. It also has a drive thru bottle shop with wine on special most of the time. In the event that you just want everyday grog, its also has Liquor Save where you can get drinkable Chardonnay for the equivelent of £1.00 per litre. This is most definately my kind of town!

I'm feeling almost like an Ozzie now as I had a roo hop out in front of the car the other evening, and yesterday was stopped and breathalized by the Booze Bus on my way home from work.

Its all good.

Here at last!

Quick update only!!

Arrived a couple of weeks ago and stayed with rellies until last week. Moved into our rental last weekend. It has fabulous views over Perth and a great verandah to sit on( with a  glass of wine) to watch the sun set.

Jake started school and loves it. It specialises in art, drama, etc so he is in his element. Ben has got a job as a fencing offsider. His main problem is the kangaroos on the road to work!

Love the area and the friendliness of the people ( and the drive thru bottle shops ) Can't wait for the weather to warm up.

Start work on Monday, so will see how that goes.

Will blog more when time allows.

Until then - she'll be right!!!

No going back now! Roll on July 25!

At long last we have exchanged contracts on the house. Its been a couple of weeks of pure stress, haggling and hassling, but its now done.

Shippers booked for next Wed and Thu and we leave this house on Friday 14 July. Flights booked to Perth for 25 July, via Kuala Lumpur.

Now need to catch up with everyone and say au revoir. Have to let my best mate know this evening, and am not looking forward to telling her ( hope she's not reading this before I make the call!). Will miss everyone loads, but I'm dead excited about our new adventure.

Suppose I'd better go and make some inroads with the packing................

Offer accepted!

At last!! After despairing that we will ever find someone who loves our house as much as we do  - we've accepted an offer this morning .

We have accepted it on condition that we exchange within 4 weeks or it goes back on the market. Having been down the road to nowhere before,  I'm not taking any chances of it falling through several months down the line.

Not going to get too excited incase I jinx it all, but once we exchange there will be lots of drinking and general merriment.

Oh bugger it - why wait?

Squeezy Marmite!

Squeezy Marmite - it's just so wrong!!!

Off to the land of sun ( sadly not Oz yet tho )

House still not sold ! We've had some very strange people round to view and lots of interest but no offers as yet. Nothing around here has been shifting in the last few weeks, but it looks like it may pick up soon.

There's a house a few doors away, not much bigger than ours with a very 70s interior ( or sauna style if you know what I mean  ) which is on for exactly £100,000 more than ours!! If that sells first I may just throw the towel in and go for an insurance claim rather than a sale!

Anyway, we've decided we need some real, regular sun, so we're off to Greece in a couple of weeks or so for some R & R .

Can't bloody wait. A week without keeping the house clean and tidy or showing smelly wierd strangers around. Bliss.

Anyone want to buy my house?

House still up for sale!!

I thought that if we limited viewings to those that had already sold, we may not attract too many timewasters. It seems that this is not the case.

A typical example of the type of viewers out there are the 2 doddery olds that rocked up last week -

'Wheres the garage?' he commented. 'I always put the car in the garage'.

  Seeing as we don't have a garage, so its not in the picture or description of the house, I felt like saying - why the hell have you come to view my house then, you stupid old git. I didn't tho - I simply smiled and suggested that he may have to negotiate with the neighbours who do have one!

Things then went from bad to wierd, as the only thing they really wanted to know was which way the garden faced. Now I do understand that this may be of interest or importance to many, especially gardeners. However I was shocked when they produced a compass and spent a while checking it, then arguing over whether it was correct or not!

 By the time they were leaving I was ready to strangle them. All that cleaning and expense on flowers for nothing!

 We've only had one legit couple round. They liked it ( but not enough to put an offer in ) and seemed fairly normal, so I was hopeful that they were 'the ones'.

The agent is coming round tomorrow, so we will put the pressure on for her to come up with a good marketing ploy. We've also put it on an independent website ourselves ( Phils taken some great photos for it - another career path he should follow when we move ), so fingers crossed.

Its obviously not meant to be at the moment, but it still really bloody frustrating.

Do things happen for a reason?

I hope they bloody well do!!!!

The house sale fell through on Monday night, 3 days before we were due to exchange contracts!

I can't describe the murderous feelings that Phil and I had, but safe to say that voodoo, knives and lots of alcohol were involved.

I am definately one to bear a grudge and I hope that the sh***y Mr S has a miserable,hard and lonely life from now on!

The house is back on the market and we are only accepting viewings from people who have sold or are cash buyers ( ha bloody ha!), so that should put off all the saddos who have nothing better to do at the weekend.

The only bit of light in this sorry mess, is that we may get a better offer, so I really do hope that things

Happen for a Reason!