melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Mar 5th 2005, 12:34 pm
#1
surfer chic from Teesside
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2004
Location: Halls head, WA
Posts: 1,431
melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Hi
OK so its been a month since we arrived in Melbourne, here is the story so far..........
After a very, very tearful, emotional and drunken leaving do, we made our way back to the in -laws. Reading through all of our cards and pressies, I cried some more, and I cried again when I thought of leaving Montu the dog in the morning.
Our leaving do was a great success, very emotional, we didnt relise that we had so many friends and how much they all cared. We got lots of lovely cards, pressies and tons of $$$$, for a while, it made us wonder why we were leaving all these nice people behind!!!
That night I didn’t sleep, maybe it was because Jonathan had drunkenly sprawled himself all over the bed on top of the covers, and done a wee in the laundry basket, but I was so nervous, excited and upset about leaving the next morning.
The next morning came and went really quick, we hardly had any time to pack and say goodbye, leaving my little Montu was the hardest thing ever, as she sat and looked at me with her big brown eyes but before we knew it we were on the plane to Kuala Lumpur.
We only had a 20kg luggage allowance,which was a total nightmare and we ended up having to leave lots of stuff behind (which was awful).
The journey was long and uncomfortable, we were both very tired, but about 20 hours later we arrived in Kuala Lumpa, where a tropical rainstorm awaited us. We were so tired and jet lagged, but we fought the tiredness and went out into the city. As well as meeting a lot of Jonathan’s distant cousins, (he is a bit burmize) we had some great food, cheap as chips, and I got a new handbag, which cost all of 50p!!!!
In Kuala Lumpa we went up to the twin towers, which is the largest building in the world and we walked the skybridge during a thunderstorm!!! The weather was great in KL, very, very hot. By about 4pm each day the heavens opened, the sky went black and it tanked it down!!! The nights were great as you didn’t need any sleeves and you could walk around freely moving your arms about without shivering (which is a rarity in Teesside) I think the climate was just right for me there!
After 2 nights in KL we left KL for Melbourne. When we arrived in Melbourne they were having the worst weather in history! Talk about taking the weather with you! We had brought storms and gale force winds which had caused flooding and trees to blow down. My first thought was, “oh my God what have we done, I didn’t think Australia got storms like this�. After a couple of days the sun did get out and we hired a car and went exploring.
The first few days were so hectic, as well as been very jetlagged and waking up at 4.30am every morning, and falling asleep at 6pm every night, we had to sort out tax file numbers, medi-care, drivers licences and bank accounts, as well as trying to find a new home, we were feeling VERY stressed!
We drove all over the place looking at houses. We were very shocked at the state of a lot of the properties and I was beginning to lose hope of ever having a modern house, with a decent kitchen and bathroom. I just felt like crying thinking that they were all like old fashioned wooden shacks that were dirty and hanging to bits and I couldn’t see my self living there. It made Hasguard Way seem like a palace!!!
Anyway after visiting lots more real estate agents (most who were very unhelpful) upping our budget slightly, and viewing 7 properties a day, and found a nice 3 bed house overlooking the beach in Seaford. So we put in an application, which was accepted. Just when we thought that we could breathe a sigh of relief and stop stressing, we found out that the agent had forgot to mention to the landlord that we had a dog and so we couldn’t have it after all!! So we were back to square one! I was ready to lie about the dog and just sneak her in, thinking that any decent property will probably refuse us and unless I wanted to rent somewhere where the landlord would have to pay me to live there, I would need to lie about Montu. We decided to give it one last try being honest and if that failed then we would have to lie!
We found a brand new house in Chelsea, it was gorgeous with a big landscaped garden, the house really was out of this world and was all brand new and very modern and lovely décor. We put in an application saying we had an ‘outdoor dog’, and awaited the outcome. We didn’t hold out much hope so we also put in an application on another property, which wasn’t as nice but had a fab location in Aspendale. Situated right on the beach and 100 meters from the station, this was ideal, so also applied for there and failed to mention the lovely Montu. As luck would have it, the next day the agent rang and said we had been accepted on the Chelsea house and that the landlord didn’t mind Montu, we were over the moon! Then the 2nd agent called and said we had been accepted for Aspendale as well!!!! We were spoilt for choice, the Chelsea house was nicer, but Aspendale had a better location, so we decided to lay our cards on the table, we told the Aspendale one that we had a dog and awaited their decision, comfortably knowing that we had the house in Chelsea if they said no. The agent came back to us and offered us the Aspendale house with our dog, so we took that one, its 3bedrooms, master with en-suite, big family bathroom and downstairs loo. There are also wardrobes in each room and a dishwasher in the kitchen!!! For $280 per week it’s a bargin, the beach is right behind us and the train station is on our doorstep! Jonathan gets the train into the city each day so it’s ideal for him. The beach is lovely and dogs are allowed on there without a lead before 10am, and after 7pm so Montu will get her walks…..
Montu is by far the most difficult part of this move, it has been so upsetting (as well as expensive) seeing her go through all of this. She seems to have coped well, but it’s been awful having no control over her, and being apart from her. She is black and she has been very hot. The people at Spotswood are lovely, but the cooler sprays have never been on and Montu is panting away in the blazing heat. The first time i went to visit her I cried when I left her, it was awful, cos she saw us and went mental,thinking she was comming home with us,it was the hardest thing ever leaving her there. Poor dog,just accepts it now and thinks that she lives there, she gets so excited when we visit, i cant wait till sat!!!!
Apparently she coped well with the flight and did not dirty her crate, the staff at spotswood said, she came bounding out of the crate when she arrived at 6am in the morning!!!
She comes on saturday 12th and I am counting down the days, as i cant feel settled till i have her back with us. She will be so spoilt when she gets out.
Anyway JC loves his job and has settled in really well, he gets the train each morning and it takesabout 40 mins to get into the city (extra 40 min nap before work). His office is fab and its on the river bank, dead swanky,with loadsa resteraunts and suits. On friday afterwork we all meet up there for drinks. The only bad thing is jc works with tons of girls, even his manager is a women (around my age aswell) so i will have to learn to cook soon or I could lose him forever (along with my visa)!!!
I am doing a temping job at the moment in the university, i work 2.30 till 6.30 and its the easiest job ever,helping students to fill out direct debit forms for their gym memberships. I get good money aswell.
Prior to this i had another job but i only went in for 2 days and found it dead boring, it didnt help that it was 34 degrees outside and i was sat indoors in a fridge, so being the sun lover that i am, i jacked it in, and spend a fewdays on our beach!!! I was also offered a job as a sales manager with a company car and a huge salary,but the hours where long and i didnt come here to work long hours soi declined. But there are lots of jobs here, so you can pretty much take your pick. I applied for loads when i first arrived, thinking it would be difficult to find work, but my mobile has never stopped ringing and I had to stop applying and going to interviews, as I was getting so confused, and they all want you to start work the next day, and I needed my weekley visits with Montu, so I am gonna lay off the applications now till I get her homeand settled in.
After work JC and I have been going to the beach behind our house and having an evening swim in the sea,while the sun is setting, and walking home bear foot as its not even a min to our house from the beach, the water is a lovely 19 degrees, we really are living the dream!
We have bought a ford focus, on finance from ford (which was pretty easy) its 2 years old and we go to the beach surfing every weekend, i can offically surf now, standing up and riding a wave, its totally amazing and i love it,i have even been surfing without wearing a wetsuit which is totally cool! Jc bought me my own board and guess what, its pink!!!!
Stacey my little sis is staying with us at the moment, but she is leaving on Monday, i think one of jc friends is comming on sat, and another was here 2 weeks ago, so we have been very busy with vistors.
I wish we had brought EVERYTHING tho, as shops are far apart,and there is nothing very nice here, (unless you wanna pay a fortune for it) so we have ended up with a house full of ikea stuff. I thought it would be fun shopping for everything new but its not, its very time consuming, and becomes boring and fraustrating after a while, especially when you have sold your perfectly good things for a pittence of a price back in the UK.
Oh and banks are a rip off!!!
laura
xxxx
OK so its been a month since we arrived in Melbourne, here is the story so far..........
After a very, very tearful, emotional and drunken leaving do, we made our way back to the in -laws. Reading through all of our cards and pressies, I cried some more, and I cried again when I thought of leaving Montu the dog in the morning.
Our leaving do was a great success, very emotional, we didnt relise that we had so many friends and how much they all cared. We got lots of lovely cards, pressies and tons of $$$$, for a while, it made us wonder why we were leaving all these nice people behind!!!
That night I didn’t sleep, maybe it was because Jonathan had drunkenly sprawled himself all over the bed on top of the covers, and done a wee in the laundry basket, but I was so nervous, excited and upset about leaving the next morning.
The next morning came and went really quick, we hardly had any time to pack and say goodbye, leaving my little Montu was the hardest thing ever, as she sat and looked at me with her big brown eyes but before we knew it we were on the plane to Kuala Lumpur.
We only had a 20kg luggage allowance,which was a total nightmare and we ended up having to leave lots of stuff behind (which was awful).
The journey was long and uncomfortable, we were both very tired, but about 20 hours later we arrived in Kuala Lumpa, where a tropical rainstorm awaited us. We were so tired and jet lagged, but we fought the tiredness and went out into the city. As well as meeting a lot of Jonathan’s distant cousins, (he is a bit burmize) we had some great food, cheap as chips, and I got a new handbag, which cost all of 50p!!!!
In Kuala Lumpa we went up to the twin towers, which is the largest building in the world and we walked the skybridge during a thunderstorm!!! The weather was great in KL, very, very hot. By about 4pm each day the heavens opened, the sky went black and it tanked it down!!! The nights were great as you didn’t need any sleeves and you could walk around freely moving your arms about without shivering (which is a rarity in Teesside) I think the climate was just right for me there!
After 2 nights in KL we left KL for Melbourne. When we arrived in Melbourne they were having the worst weather in history! Talk about taking the weather with you! We had brought storms and gale force winds which had caused flooding and trees to blow down. My first thought was, “oh my God what have we done, I didn’t think Australia got storms like this�. After a couple of days the sun did get out and we hired a car and went exploring.
The first few days were so hectic, as well as been very jetlagged and waking up at 4.30am every morning, and falling asleep at 6pm every night, we had to sort out tax file numbers, medi-care, drivers licences and bank accounts, as well as trying to find a new home, we were feeling VERY stressed!
We drove all over the place looking at houses. We were very shocked at the state of a lot of the properties and I was beginning to lose hope of ever having a modern house, with a decent kitchen and bathroom. I just felt like crying thinking that they were all like old fashioned wooden shacks that were dirty and hanging to bits and I couldn’t see my self living there. It made Hasguard Way seem like a palace!!!
Anyway after visiting lots more real estate agents (most who were very unhelpful) upping our budget slightly, and viewing 7 properties a day, and found a nice 3 bed house overlooking the beach in Seaford. So we put in an application, which was accepted. Just when we thought that we could breathe a sigh of relief and stop stressing, we found out that the agent had forgot to mention to the landlord that we had a dog and so we couldn’t have it after all!! So we were back to square one! I was ready to lie about the dog and just sneak her in, thinking that any decent property will probably refuse us and unless I wanted to rent somewhere where the landlord would have to pay me to live there, I would need to lie about Montu. We decided to give it one last try being honest and if that failed then we would have to lie!
We found a brand new house in Chelsea, it was gorgeous with a big landscaped garden, the house really was out of this world and was all brand new and very modern and lovely décor. We put in an application saying we had an ‘outdoor dog’, and awaited the outcome. We didn’t hold out much hope so we also put in an application on another property, which wasn’t as nice but had a fab location in Aspendale. Situated right on the beach and 100 meters from the station, this was ideal, so also applied for there and failed to mention the lovely Montu. As luck would have it, the next day the agent rang and said we had been accepted on the Chelsea house and that the landlord didn’t mind Montu, we were over the moon! Then the 2nd agent called and said we had been accepted for Aspendale as well!!!! We were spoilt for choice, the Chelsea house was nicer, but Aspendale had a better location, so we decided to lay our cards on the table, we told the Aspendale one that we had a dog and awaited their decision, comfortably knowing that we had the house in Chelsea if they said no. The agent came back to us and offered us the Aspendale house with our dog, so we took that one, its 3bedrooms, master with en-suite, big family bathroom and downstairs loo. There are also wardrobes in each room and a dishwasher in the kitchen!!! For $280 per week it’s a bargin, the beach is right behind us and the train station is on our doorstep! Jonathan gets the train into the city each day so it’s ideal for him. The beach is lovely and dogs are allowed on there without a lead before 10am, and after 7pm so Montu will get her walks…..
Montu is by far the most difficult part of this move, it has been so upsetting (as well as expensive) seeing her go through all of this. She seems to have coped well, but it’s been awful having no control over her, and being apart from her. She is black and she has been very hot. The people at Spotswood are lovely, but the cooler sprays have never been on and Montu is panting away in the blazing heat. The first time i went to visit her I cried when I left her, it was awful, cos she saw us and went mental,thinking she was comming home with us,it was the hardest thing ever leaving her there. Poor dog,just accepts it now and thinks that she lives there, she gets so excited when we visit, i cant wait till sat!!!!
Apparently she coped well with the flight and did not dirty her crate, the staff at spotswood said, she came bounding out of the crate when she arrived at 6am in the morning!!!
She comes on saturday 12th and I am counting down the days, as i cant feel settled till i have her back with us. She will be so spoilt when she gets out.
Anyway JC loves his job and has settled in really well, he gets the train each morning and it takesabout 40 mins to get into the city (extra 40 min nap before work). His office is fab and its on the river bank, dead swanky,with loadsa resteraunts and suits. On friday afterwork we all meet up there for drinks. The only bad thing is jc works with tons of girls, even his manager is a women (around my age aswell) so i will have to learn to cook soon or I could lose him forever (along with my visa)!!!
I am doing a temping job at the moment in the university, i work 2.30 till 6.30 and its the easiest job ever,helping students to fill out direct debit forms for their gym memberships. I get good money aswell.
Prior to this i had another job but i only went in for 2 days and found it dead boring, it didnt help that it was 34 degrees outside and i was sat indoors in a fridge, so being the sun lover that i am, i jacked it in, and spend a fewdays on our beach!!! I was also offered a job as a sales manager with a company car and a huge salary,but the hours where long and i didnt come here to work long hours soi declined. But there are lots of jobs here, so you can pretty much take your pick. I applied for loads when i first arrived, thinking it would be difficult to find work, but my mobile has never stopped ringing and I had to stop applying and going to interviews, as I was getting so confused, and they all want you to start work the next day, and I needed my weekley visits with Montu, so I am gonna lay off the applications now till I get her homeand settled in.
After work JC and I have been going to the beach behind our house and having an evening swim in the sea,while the sun is setting, and walking home bear foot as its not even a min to our house from the beach, the water is a lovely 19 degrees, we really are living the dream!
We have bought a ford focus, on finance from ford (which was pretty easy) its 2 years old and we go to the beach surfing every weekend, i can offically surf now, standing up and riding a wave, its totally amazing and i love it,i have even been surfing without wearing a wetsuit which is totally cool! Jc bought me my own board and guess what, its pink!!!!
Stacey my little sis is staying with us at the moment, but she is leaving on Monday, i think one of jc friends is comming on sat, and another was here 2 weeks ago, so we have been very busy with vistors.
I wish we had brought EVERYTHING tho, as shops are far apart,and there is nothing very nice here, (unless you wanna pay a fortune for it) so we have ended up with a house full of ikea stuff. I thought it would be fun shopping for everything new but its not, its very time consuming, and becomes boring and fraustrating after a while, especially when you have sold your perfectly good things for a pittence of a price back in the UK.
Oh and banks are a rip off!!!
laura
xxxx
Mar 5th 2005, 12:56 pm
#2
¤¤¤ • ¤¤¤ • ¤¤¤ • ¤¤¤
Joined: May 2004
Location: Frankston South, Victoria
Posts: 2,867
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Hi Laura,
Great post!
By now you would've got Montu - hope she's alright. Spoil her rotten.....!!!
Glad all's going well - look forward to meeting up again in Mornington, have replied to your PM - still can't quite believe you're actually out there!!!!!!!
Take care mate,
See you soon
D D xxxxxx
Great post!
By now you would've got Montu - hope she's alright. Spoil her rotten.....!!!
Glad all's going well - look forward to meeting up again in Mornington, have replied to your PM - still can't quite believe you're actually out there!!!!!!!
Take care mate,
See you soon
D D xxxxxx
Mar 5th 2005, 1:03 pm
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Fantastic post, helped me put things in perspective for the return to Oz as even though not for another 1-2 years, the prospect haunts me as only moved Oz to UK a year ago. We have cat too!!!
You were originally from Teesside??? Just to let you know the place gets more bloody depressing as time goes by. Only thing keeping me here is my family at the moment. Hubby would be back to Oz in a flash. Got caught in a rain storm at Hartlepool today and it was freezing.
Keep the Forum posted, best of luck
Merlot
You were originally from Teesside??? Just to let you know the place gets more bloody depressing as time goes by. Only thing keeping me here is my family at the moment. Hubby would be back to Oz in a flash. Got caught in a rain storm at Hartlepool today and it was freezing.
Keep the Forum posted, best of luck
Merlot
Mar 5th 2005, 1:34 pm
#4
surfer chic from Teesside
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2004
Location: Halls head, WA
Posts: 1,431
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Hi merlot
yeh, from sunny teesside
Don't miss it at all!!!
In fact havent missed anything yet apart from free banking and my mum and dad (but only cos they are not on line) they call every sunday anyway.
Havent missed any one else as they are all on line, so makes it easy!
Bet you cant wait to get out here again. havent been on here for ages asno connection, so havent had a chance to read many posts yet, so i'll have to catch up on why you came and went etc????
Dolly,
Havent got Montu back yet, we get her on the 12th(next sat) she will be 1 year old on the 14th aswell, so shes gonna be one spoilt lil' pup when she gets out!!!!
Its awful without her here, surprising how much you miss the little ball of fur around your feet, when they are not there!
off to bed now as v.late
Oh its great to be connected to the world again.........
laura
xxxx
yeh, from sunny teesside
Don't miss it at all!!!
In fact havent missed anything yet apart from free banking and my mum and dad (but only cos they are not on line) they call every sunday anyway.
Havent missed any one else as they are all on line, so makes it easy!
Bet you cant wait to get out here again. havent been on here for ages asno connection, so havent had a chance to read many posts yet, so i'll have to catch up on why you came and went etc????
Dolly,
Havent got Montu back yet, we get her on the 12th(next sat) she will be 1 year old on the 14th aswell, so shes gonna be one spoilt lil' pup when she gets out!!!!
Its awful without her here, surprising how much you miss the little ball of fur around your feet, when they are not there!
off to bed now as v.late
Oh its great to be connected to the world again.........
laura
xxxx
Mar 5th 2005, 1:53 pm
#5
.
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 21,374
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
What a great post, so jealous. My wifes a secretary so sounds good for her on the work front. Maybe I'll retire
Mar 5th 2005, 1:57 pm
#6
Account Closed
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 7,172
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
God bless you for such a fantastic post. we are hoping for melbourne this year and your post makes it all sound real somehow. i read every word from beginning to end - i normally get bored halfway on some on here!! 
thanks again and keep posting - its fascinating!!
HAPPY DAYS!!
thanks again and keep posting - its fascinating!!
HAPPY DAYS!!
Mar 5th 2005, 1:57 pm
#7
Account Closed
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 7,172
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Originally Posted by fraser
What a great post, so jealous. My wifes a secretary so sounds good for her on the work front. Maybe I'll retire
bloody hell thats scary - i was just about to PM you and tell you to read this thread!!! ARGGGGHHHH spooky :scared: :scared:
Mar 5th 2005, 2:20 pm
#8
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Originally Posted by fraser
What a great post, so jealous. My wifes a secretary so sounds good for her on the work front. Maybe I'll retire
M
Mar 5th 2005, 2:22 pm
#9
.
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 21,374
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Originally Posted by Rooksie
bloody hell thats scary - i was just about to PM you and tell you to read this thread!!! ARGGGGHHHH spooky :scared: :scared:
Mar 5th 2005, 2:24 pm
#10
Superfreak!!
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: Thornlie, Perth, W.A.
Posts: 1,177
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Hey Laura! Glad you`re lliking it 
A couple of questions:
- We`ll be in KL for a few days. What do you suggest as places to go (ie my wife will want to know where you got the hand-bag ) ?
- Jobs. What made you so popular on the job front? Your experience in the UK (or were you offered good jobs where you learned on the job). Did you apply with agencies while you were in the UK or apply there at the job centre or wherever?
A couple of questions:
- We`ll be in KL for a few days. What do you suggest as places to go (ie my wife will want to know where you got the hand-bag
) ?- Jobs. What made you so popular on the job front? Your experience in the UK (or were you offered good jobs where you learned on the job). Did you apply with agencies while you were in the UK or apply there at the job centre or wherever?
Mar 5th 2005, 2:24 pm
#11
Account Closed
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 7,172
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Originally Posted by fraser
You're not a stalker are you
Mar 5th 2005, 2:26 pm
#12
Account Closed
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 7,172
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Originally Posted by Merlot
I think my husband is planning on doing that when I go do the secretarial bit.
M
M
ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Mar 5th 2005, 2:40 pm
#13
.
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 21,374
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Originally Posted by Rooksie
ive been a legal secretary for 20 years and have only just recently talked my husband into letting me stay home and play being mum to our girls for first time ever - can we please delete this thread before he sees it!!!!! :scared:
ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Mar 5th 2005, 2:42 pm
#14
Account Closed
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 7,172
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Originally Posted by fraser
My wife does patents and trademarks not much of that in melbourne unfortunately may have to take my tools anyway
Mar 5th 2005, 2:45 pm
#15
.
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 21,374
Re: melbourne - 1 month on & dog
Originally Posted by Rooksie
there is a thread at the moment about taking tools which i bet my hubbie hasnt thought about yet - i.e. need them before the rest of our stuff via shipping (assuming we get that far!!!) and obviously cant take them as luggage!!! have you considered that one yet?
Rooksie your worse than my missus trying to give me more things to stress out about
I think we'll probably take a couple of week detour on our way so tools shouldn't arrive too long after I start work