travelbug

Just wanted to ask the locals - there's been a thread on the main section about redback spiders and the like..... has anyone ever seen any of these "inside" their house in Tas?

I'm not petrified of spiders - would just rather not see them if you know what i mean!

carina

Hi Travelbug
Sorry - dont know about the redbacks ! as we are not in Tas yet.

But I was just doing a search on containers and see that you asked about packing your own and wondered if you were still thinking of doing that ? If so, did you find out wether the removal company still deals with all the paperwork & insurance etc ? We are going to Tas in June, when are you hoping to go ?
Carina

travelbug

Hi Carina, of all places to chat to someone - i met a friend of a friend at a funeral last year that runs his own shipping/freight business - and he mentioned that they would be able to probably almost half a quote provided by a door-to-door service provider. What they would do is drop the container off - allow you a certain amount of time to load it (i think you'd get charged by the hour if you went over the alloted time - about 6hours i think).
They handle the majority of the shipping paperwork - but as you would have self-packed they did not handle ANY of the Insurance matters and you would have to do a lot of the customs paperwork. I have no idea exactly what that would entail but i do intend on having another chat with this guy in the next month or so. We quite like the idea of self-packing - but then are aware that professional packers have certain techniques for packing around shaped furniture etc that we're not aware of and i dont know how we'd be able to find out. From searches i've done not many people seem to have written anything on BE about self-shipping/packing. There was one guy who had all his furniture in storage and their container just got dropped off at the storage place for them to do so there must be people out there that have done it! We still need to sell our house (going on the market in Feb), so we dont have a definite date yet for moving - but as soon as possible once a sale goes ahead hopefully (fingerscrossed)...

If i find anything out during the next couple of weeks i'll be sure to let you know...
Cathy

carina

Thanks Cathy & Good luck with the house sale !
We decided to rent our house out, as it was'nt selling, then rent somewhere in Tas till we are definite about wanting to stay. I havent been myself, but my hubby & son went on Dec 06. We have 3 kids and would have been too pricey for all of us to go, so I am trusting there judgement !
I read that you've been and really liked it, which area did you like best ? I cant wait to go now, so excited !! I reckon it will be great for the kids, to give them a better future ( thats the plan anyway !)

Carina

travelbug

Hi Carina, we're planning on renting as well when we get there - and still haven't ruled out the North of the Island - as we're seeing what turns up with my OH's work prospects......
It was lovely in Tas, we much preferred the place to Perth anyway!
We didn't get a chance in the time we had to see anywhere other than the South of the Island (and probably not a great deal of that to be honest)...but all the bits we saw we loved and some of the residential places we really liked the look of were Bellerive, Lindisfarne, Blackmans Bay, we thought Kingston looked nice as well... I loved some of the places down Sandy Bay Road (but they'd be a bit out of our price range - more's the pity!)....There was a place called Taroona that was very nice but for me not close enough to shops etc. Before we went i was really struck on a place called Howrah and had looked up loads of properties/investigated schools etc there. However when we visited the town - although it was still very nice, it didn't grab me like some of the other places which was a shame.... But saying that i still wouldn't turn down a nice house there given the opportunity and it was right by a beach! We also drove to Austin's ferry and the houses there looked like they were on quite big plots.
Hobart itself was lovely - and it was so nice and refreshing to see old and new buildings rather than just all the newbuilds we saw in the new Perth Suburbs...and i would imagine if you lived somewhere like West Hobart that it would be a great location - although i'm not sure what the choice of schools etc would be like.
I have a feeling if we come to the South for definite we will no doubt look to rent initially somewhere like Kingston. Here in Romford i live under a 10mins bus journey from the town centre and although i'm wanting a quieter life i still want to be walking distance / a short drive from all amenities if possible... I have not driven myself for about 15 years - so i need refresher driving lessons when we arrive!
I felt very much at home in Tas, and even the places that are deemed the "rougher" area's to live in dont seem that bad to me when i compare them to the "rougher" area's near to where we live now and we live in what is classed as quite a nice area....
We were led to believe by many people before we left for our trip (especially by the rellies based in Perth) that Tassie was very backward blah, blah, blah.
We found none of these things to be true.....and are quite excited by the prospect of living there - we just hope that the work situation for my OH is ok...He did meet with people whilst out there and they did say he shouldnt have a problem finding work in what he specialises in - but it's still scary to up and go without a definite job offer! I also found certain aspects of the place reminded me of home - especially one of the roundabout's near Hobart city centre....(strange though that may seem!)....and even some of the trees in the city centre made me feel at home.... I just felt comfortable there, and i'm hoping that feeling will still be there when we do arrive later this year sometime....
It's a nice feeling though knowing that the few people we met out there seem to be seeking the same things as us....and nobody we met had any intention of leaving anytime soon!

travelbug

and the inland places look lovely (like where Kezzabird is moving to) - but we never really got a chance to see any of those....
So Kerry - when we do arrive - you can be my tour guide for a few days!

carina

Hi Cathy
All sounds good to me ! I prefer the quiet life too! Like you say we are also guided by where the jobs are. We also went to Perth in 96 on our honeymoon actually. I dont think I could stand that sort of heat for too long, so we decided against it. Some friends of our moved to Tas about 4 years ago, they are in Devonport and loving it. My OH hasn't got a definite job offer either, but like yours did get some offers whilst he was there, so just hoping something good turns up. Thanks for the info on all the places, I must admit I am drawn to that area myself for some reason ? Its nice that some of the areas remind you of the UK - we might not get so homesick then!
Carina

Teabag

The only time you need to worry about redbacks is if you are picking up anything outside that hasn't been used for a while - like Garden Chairs, Bikes or anything. Just get a dust brush and brush under neath any cobwebs away, when the redback crawls out 'cause his nest is disturbed just whack him with the hard edge of the brush and problem solved!

kezzabird

Hi all!

When you guys come out here I will gladly show you around and help you out in anyway I can. As I know how hard it was for us when we arrived, not knowing anyone. Don't worry about the creepys, although they are here, you can bug proof your house with some special stuff you can buy in the shops. Like the Uk you may still get some in the house, you just need to be careful not to put clothes on the floor and tap your shoes before putting them on. Oh and give your beds a good going over when making them.

I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but we've had a couple of experiences with bugs! We keep our wagon in the garage and one day I took Alex out and whilst I was looking right to the oncoming traffic at a roundabout Alex was saying "mummy....mummmy....mummy!" I just thought it was the usual trivial 4 year old thing and said "what Alex!" in a slightly annoyed tone! And when I looked ahead to go onto the roundabout a Huuuuuuuge huntsman was walking down the windscreen on the outside I freaked out and in my panic couldn't find the wipers and was indicating left and right around the roundabout When I finally got off the roundabout the spider had tucked itself underneathe the wiper blade, so I put my windscreen wash on and the flaming thing walked down the bonnet and tucked itself inside the engine bay!!! So I put the car in the sun all day and hoped that it would either leave of its own accord or get mushed in the engine! And another occation poor little alex got stung by a Jack Jumper ant! Poor little might was crying his eyes out, we put vinegar on it and it seemed to take the sting out of it and gave him a dose of Piriton incase he got an allergic reaction, but the next day he was right as rain and forgot all about it. So its best to keep some sort of antihistimine for children in the cupboard and vinegar to nutralise any stings and it also helps to kill any bacteria that may have got into the bite or sting. I personally haven't come across any redbacks, but as a precaution I always wear gloves when gardening. When you first get here you will be paranoid about it, I was. But you just get used to it, I am now, although am still cautious, I can now sleep at night without worrying about it! You just need to use your common sense and not put your hands in a log pile without wearing gloves etc.

Any how this is all coming from a complete aracnaphobic, and I have coped, so I'm sure you guys will adjust too.

And guess what folks?

The Bishops have said that they have made a big mistake, they don't want to leave Tassi and are coming straight back, after they have visited the folks back home!!! I have to say I knew that they weren't unhappy here, just missing family and friends. And now they have made a few mates out here they have found things to be much easier. Corrine said that on their trip back up through Tassi to catch the ferry to Mel, they suddenly realised that looking at the beautiful scenery that they didn't actually want to leave!!
I just hope they don't change their minds again

Any way I hope I haven't put anyone off coming here with the talk of bugs!!

Kerry
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Teabag

OMG! Haven't the Bishop's already packed up their stuff and sent it off?

kezzabird

Yes they have!! But they have now told the shippers to bring it back!! I am letting them into their rental, which luckily they can keep so they can have their stuff when they get back!! Wot r they like eh!?

jerzo

Well at least now they really know where they want to be

I hope all their stuff gets back ok too x

It's too quiet here I am waiting for their flight to land...I set up flight alerts on my computer so I know exactly when they land...it's been sooo long already!! I waved them off at 5am yesterday (heart-breaking...I am a wimp) I've already done my 'to do ' list and after a couple of hours sleep last night i'm glad I don't have anything to do today!!

They are only staying in Sydney and not popping over to Tas ...that would mean 3 weeks away I would go bonkers, No dishes,no beds to make,dirty socks to pick up, dinners for 6 to make and generally no noise (Keane is noisy...not the same as a full house though!)

ENOUGH WHINING WOMAN

I'm awaiting my phonecall from Sydney (must not blub all the way through it!!....it's me hormones )

Bye
Zoe xx

kezzabird

eh? I thought they were coming to Tas?

jerzo

They were but as it was the second part of our trip Jerad said he didn't want to go there without me (bless!!) I think it had more to do with having to look after the boys for 3 weeks!!
I told him to carry on and go but he said he'd rather cut the trip short and wait til we go out permanently.
I know from you and all the others that we will love it out there....even more so if we can get a house like yours

So Jerad (City hater) now has a week in Sydney...I hope it's not too bad...it's got plenty to do for the boys anyhow...i've given him a list of places to take them!!

Hope all is well with the house sale......they complete really quickly over there don't they??
Zo xx

kezzabird

Oh I see! Poor blighters they will only just get over their jetlag then they will have to set off again!!

Yes they normally Take about 30 days, but the people that are in their want longer, so it's gonna take 60 days. Which is ok by us, as we have our rental until apr anyway. We are signing the offer contract in the morning.

Stop worrying and enjoy your peace while it lasts! They will be fine.

Kerry
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