What are we like!
Oct 3rd 2003, 12:47 am
#1
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 371
What are we like!
G'day
Ok, as we have now been here for almost a month it's time for the second update on our never ending adventure down under.
So there we were sitting pretty in our temporary rented accommodation on the morning of 26th September. We were all set for the move to our new premises the next day. Unusually for us we had already arranged for a seamless transition to the new place by arranging for our relatives and a convoy of vehicles to arrive the next morning to pick up our stuff. So what could possibly go wrong?
Well, as we sat contentedly in our lounge discussing the planned activities for the day (Morning coffee with Jockney and his family down by the beach, pre – employment medical for Bill at 2pm, and a trip to the estate agent to pick up our keys later in the afternoon for our new rented home) when a tap on the door interrupted our conversation. I answered the door and there stood our apartment cleaners, I explained that as we would be leaving the next day that perhaps it would be best if they returned tomorrow. "Sorry, thought it was today�. they said, “Nah� said me, “Its definitely tomorrow�. They looked puzzled but left to continue cleaning another apartment.
Told Bill what they had said, that they thought we were leaving today, to which he reassured me, for two seconds, with “Nope, we are definitely booked in here until the 26th�. An uneasy silence followed this sentence as we looked in horror at each other. “Err, wait a minute, today is the 26th……..Ahhhhhhhh!�
The scenes that followed would not have looked out of place in a Keystone cops movie. Bill called the apartment owners in the hope of extending our stay only to find out that a family of six were due to arrive at midday and the cleaners needed to be in by 10am to fix up the apartment. It was now 9.45! What were we going to do now? We had to be out of the apartment in the next 15 mins and we had our arrival baggage of nearly 200Kg of luggage, plus a variety of new bulky articles (Pillows, quilts sheets, cutlery etc) for the new house scattered around the apartment! Bloody hell!!
This was definitely our darkest hour (or near to the top, we seem to have so many!). Even if we could quickly get it all together, which would be impossible, where would we put it? We thought of outside but then dead on cue the skies clouded over and a torrential downpour started, accompanied by some very high winds outside of the apartment (or was that Bill and I!).
There seemed to be no way out, we dropped into auto pilot and continued to assemble our belongings and pile them up by the door. I was like a zombie, very pale, vacant, and desperately trying not to cry. Another tap on the door stopped our frantic activities in there tracks. “What now, I know its 10am but geeze, give us a chance�. Thankfully it was our upstairs neighbour who had heard of our plight and had come down to lend a hand. “Hey� she said “Don't worry about anything, we can take all of your stuff in while you sort yourselves out�. Lisa, my neighbour (that I had never met before) told me afterward that she could tell by just one look at my face that I wasn't handling things well, so she decided to take charge. She gave me a bag and told me to just take everything out of drawers and from tops of tables and just throw it in the bag "you can always sort it out later upstairs" she said. I think if she hadn't been there I would probably still be clearing out the apartment! She got the boys organised into taking the light bags and suitcases upstairs and found something for Rosina (5) to do so she was occupied and out of the way.
Bill then rang the telephone company and arranged for the line to be disconnected ASAP - the last thing we wanted was for the next people running up a huge telephone bill for us (we can do a good enough job of that ourselves!) Lisa came back into our apartment from one of her many trips and suddenly announced that she had just called her husband and that he would be coming home from work to help us out!! As he was nearby it would only take about 10 mins. Sure enough about 10 mins later Mark (Lisa’s husband) appeared. As well as helping move our stuff he also took it upon himself to ring around and try to find us alternative accommodation. This proved difficult as the next two weeks are school holidays and everywhere seemed to be booked solid. Eventually he found somewhere nearby - phew - and by 10:40 we had moved everything out of our apartment, and turned their apartment into something that resembled a cross between a tip and an obstacle course.
Mark and Lisa were absolutely awesome. Having helped us out of a massive predicament they now proceeded to make us all tea and coffee and helped us to calm down a bit. They told us that they had moved at least 10 times which was why they were quite expert and organised. They then let us use their phone to call for a taxi to take us into Adelaide for Bill to have his medical (high blood pressure or what!). Lisa offered to look after Lewis for us until we got back as he had been playing with her son David (also 9) for the past three weeks and they had become inseparable (Oh dear, another boo hoo time for Lewis )
Mark told Bill to try and not stress out to much about the job, he said he felt sure that he would get it, as after all that we had been through we had stuck it out, so we were obviously meant to be here, but if things didn't work out job wise he would get him a job working with him for Telstra (Australia's equivalent to BT)
The medical surprisingly went ok and we picked the keys up from the estate agent with no hitch. When we returned Lisa offered to keep Lewis until later that evening (and feed him) and Mark would bring him over to our motel when he returned from work. They had also said that they were happy to hold onto all of our stuff until it was picked up the next day. You wouldn't believe the state of their apartment, they could hardly move. When Mark dropped Lewis off that night he said that he and Lisa had been discussing our situation (Endowment not through yet) and that they were both willing to lend us some money to see us through until the house was sold! Flipping heck, they can't be normal people, more like our guardian angels! Naturally we declined but wow, what an offer, and from strangers.
I can't believe how friendly and helpful the people have been here. When we were out in a little cafe having a snack the owner, when finding out we had just migrated, asked if we had been to the local estate agents. We said no, that was our next port of call and she said "no worries, i'll nip out for you" She was the only person working in the cafe so closed for five minutes and left us inside to carry on eating. Can't see that happening too much in England!
The generosity of all of the australians we have met has been overwhelming. My cousins all pitched in to help us move and loaned us an amazing amount of stuff to tide us over.
Sorry it's another big post,
Sindy
Ok, as we have now been here for almost a month it's time for the second update on our never ending adventure down under.
So there we were sitting pretty in our temporary rented accommodation on the morning of 26th September. We were all set for the move to our new premises the next day. Unusually for us we had already arranged for a seamless transition to the new place by arranging for our relatives and a convoy of vehicles to arrive the next morning to pick up our stuff. So what could possibly go wrong?
Well, as we sat contentedly in our lounge discussing the planned activities for the day (Morning coffee with Jockney and his family down by the beach, pre – employment medical for Bill at 2pm, and a trip to the estate agent to pick up our keys later in the afternoon for our new rented home) when a tap on the door interrupted our conversation. I answered the door and there stood our apartment cleaners, I explained that as we would be leaving the next day that perhaps it would be best if they returned tomorrow. "Sorry, thought it was today�. they said, “Nah� said me, “Its definitely tomorrow�. They looked puzzled but left to continue cleaning another apartment.
Told Bill what they had said, that they thought we were leaving today, to which he reassured me, for two seconds, with “Nope, we are definitely booked in here until the 26th�. An uneasy silence followed this sentence as we looked in horror at each other. “Err, wait a minute, today is the 26th……..Ahhhhhhhh!�
The scenes that followed would not have looked out of place in a Keystone cops movie. Bill called the apartment owners in the hope of extending our stay only to find out that a family of six were due to arrive at midday and the cleaners needed to be in by 10am to fix up the apartment. It was now 9.45! What were we going to do now? We had to be out of the apartment in the next 15 mins and we had our arrival baggage of nearly 200Kg of luggage, plus a variety of new bulky articles (Pillows, quilts sheets, cutlery etc) for the new house scattered around the apartment! Bloody hell!!
This was definitely our darkest hour (or near to the top, we seem to have so many!). Even if we could quickly get it all together, which would be impossible, where would we put it? We thought of outside but then dead on cue the skies clouded over and a torrential downpour started, accompanied by some very high winds outside of the apartment (or was that Bill and I!).
There seemed to be no way out, we dropped into auto pilot and continued to assemble our belongings and pile them up by the door. I was like a zombie, very pale, vacant, and desperately trying not to cry. Another tap on the door stopped our frantic activities in there tracks. “What now, I know its 10am but geeze, give us a chance�. Thankfully it was our upstairs neighbour who had heard of our plight and had come down to lend a hand. “Hey� she said “Don't worry about anything, we can take all of your stuff in while you sort yourselves out�. Lisa, my neighbour (that I had never met before) told me afterward that she could tell by just one look at my face that I wasn't handling things well, so she decided to take charge. She gave me a bag and told me to just take everything out of drawers and from tops of tables and just throw it in the bag "you can always sort it out later upstairs" she said. I think if she hadn't been there I would probably still be clearing out the apartment! She got the boys organised into taking the light bags and suitcases upstairs and found something for Rosina (5) to do so she was occupied and out of the way.
Bill then rang the telephone company and arranged for the line to be disconnected ASAP - the last thing we wanted was for the next people running up a huge telephone bill for us (we can do a good enough job of that ourselves!) Lisa came back into our apartment from one of her many trips and suddenly announced that she had just called her husband and that he would be coming home from work to help us out!! As he was nearby it would only take about 10 mins. Sure enough about 10 mins later Mark (Lisa’s husband) appeared. As well as helping move our stuff he also took it upon himself to ring around and try to find us alternative accommodation. This proved difficult as the next two weeks are school holidays and everywhere seemed to be booked solid. Eventually he found somewhere nearby - phew - and by 10:40 we had moved everything out of our apartment, and turned their apartment into something that resembled a cross between a tip and an obstacle course.
Mark and Lisa were absolutely awesome. Having helped us out of a massive predicament they now proceeded to make us all tea and coffee and helped us to calm down a bit. They told us that they had moved at least 10 times which was why they were quite expert and organised. They then let us use their phone to call for a taxi to take us into Adelaide for Bill to have his medical (high blood pressure or what!). Lisa offered to look after Lewis for us until we got back as he had been playing with her son David (also 9) for the past three weeks and they had become inseparable (Oh dear, another boo hoo time for Lewis )
Mark told Bill to try and not stress out to much about the job, he said he felt sure that he would get it, as after all that we had been through we had stuck it out, so we were obviously meant to be here, but if things didn't work out job wise he would get him a job working with him for Telstra (Australia's equivalent to BT)
The medical surprisingly went ok and we picked the keys up from the estate agent with no hitch. When we returned Lisa offered to keep Lewis until later that evening (and feed him) and Mark would bring him over to our motel when he returned from work. They had also said that they were happy to hold onto all of our stuff until it was picked up the next day. You wouldn't believe the state of their apartment, they could hardly move. When Mark dropped Lewis off that night he said that he and Lisa had been discussing our situation (Endowment not through yet) and that they were both willing to lend us some money to see us through until the house was sold! Flipping heck, they can't be normal people, more like our guardian angels! Naturally we declined but wow, what an offer, and from strangers.
I can't believe how friendly and helpful the people have been here. When we were out in a little cafe having a snack the owner, when finding out we had just migrated, asked if we had been to the local estate agents. We said no, that was our next port of call and she said "no worries, i'll nip out for you" She was the only person working in the cafe so closed for five minutes and left us inside to carry on eating. Can't see that happening too much in England!
The generosity of all of the australians we have met has been overwhelming. My cousins all pitched in to help us move and loaned us an amazing amount of stuff to tide us over.
Sorry it's another big post,
Sindy
Oct 3rd 2003, 1:25 am
#2
Rocket Scientist
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Dreamland AKA Brisbane which is a different country to the UK
Posts: 6,911
Sindy, its nice to hear that there are still nice people out there willing to help! Hope things go well for you in regards jobs, houses etc. 
Oct 3rd 2003, 5:41 am
#3
Home and Happy
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Keep true friends and puppets close, trust no-one else...
Posts: 93,814
Sounds like things got a bot frantic for a while Sindy! Hope things go well with the new place and the job - and it sounds like you're meeting some great - and helpful- people!
Good luck,
Good luck,
Oct 3rd 2003, 6:42 am
#4
BE Forum Addict
Joined: May 2003
Location: GC
Posts: 3,353
Oh Sindy - I really felt sorry for you. Howver, it seems that you are having a great time. Let us know when you move in to your new apartment.
Glad you are enjoying it.
Debs
Glad you are enjoying it.
Debs
Oct 3rd 2003, 7:03 am
#5
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: Sussex
Posts: 1,927
Hi Sindy & Bill
Whew i am exhausted just reading your post, and i can sympathise as when we went on holiday the other year i got the date wrong and we only had a hour or so before we were due on the ferry.
Best of luck and hope you have a nice time at the picnic on Sunday.
footie chick
Whew i am exhausted just reading your post, and i can sympathise as when we went on holiday the other year i got the date wrong and we only had a hour or so before we were due on the ferry.
Best of luck and hope you have a nice time at the picnic on Sunday.
footie chick
Oct 3rd 2003, 9:40 am
#6
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 371
Originally posted by debsy
Oh Sindy - I really felt sorry for you. Howver, it seems that you are having a great time. Let us know when you move in to your new apartment.
Glad you are enjoying it.
Debs
Oh Sindy - I really felt sorry for you. Howver, it seems that you are having a great time. Let us know when you move in to your new apartment.
Glad you are enjoying it.
Debs
Nice to hear from you, hope all is well
We moved into our new rental on the 27th, we will be here for six months.
Have had a minor hiccup with the property we are now in. Did a washing yesterday, when I went to check it had finished opened the laundry door to find out that the floor was full of water and had suds everywhere! Later had a shower and the children were giggling away like mad as it was making the water in the toilet bubble up and make some disgusting noises! :scared: When you flush the loo the water rises almost up to the rim and then you have to wait for 15 mins for the level to drop before it can be flushed again. Called the plumber in and he said that the problem is roots getting into the drainage system, which he says is very common and that he gets about four to nine call outs a day with the same problem. Thankfully all is fixed now.
Sindy
Oct 3rd 2003, 9:47 am
#7
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Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 371
Originally posted by Pollyana
Sounds like things got a bot frantic for a while Sindy! Hope things go well with the new place and the job - and it sounds like you're meeting some great - and helpful- people!
Good luck,
Sounds like things got a bot frantic for a while Sindy! Hope things go well with the new place and the job - and it sounds like you're meeting some great - and helpful- people!
Good luck,
Believe me things were very frantic, what a cock up! Thankfully there are alot of very nice people in Australia. We have been very lucky and have managed to come across some of the best
Sindy
Oct 3rd 2003, 9:48 am
#8
A Male Member
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: Townsville
Posts: 2,106
What a monster of a post !!
Don't worry, we like em that way. Glad to hear everything is panning out and you like it all so far.
Don't worry, we like em that way. Glad to hear everything is panning out and you like it all so far.
Oct 3rd 2003, 9:58 am
#9
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Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 371
Originally posted by footie chick
Hi Sindy & Bill
Whew i am exhausted just reading your post, and i can sympathise as when we went on holiday the other year i got the date wrong and we only had a hour or so before we were due on the ferry.
Best of luck and hope you have a nice time at the picnic on Sunday.
footie chick
Hi Sindy & Bill
Whew i am exhausted just reading your post, and i can sympathise as when we went on holiday the other year i got the date wrong and we only had a hour or so before we were due on the ferry.
Best of luck and hope you have a nice time at the picnic on Sunday.
footie chick
I'm glad we are not the only people to have made such a mistake, I feel so daft about it now!
Are you going to the Essex meet? We are looking forward to Sunday although I hope the weather picks up a bit as it has been rather cloudy and cold. My son Scott said to me the other day "I thought you said it was sunny and hot in Australia" Come the summer and I will make him eat his words!
Although we have had quite a few hiccups along the way we wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.
Hope all is well,
Sindy
Oct 3rd 2003, 10:12 am
#10
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 198
Good to hear from you Sindy
As it will be us in 3 weeks time, it's good hearing from someone who has done the move before us.
Just hope I have your good humour if everything goes a bit pearshaped!!
As it will be us in 3 weeks time, it's good hearing from someone who has done the move before us.
Just hope I have your good humour if everything goes a bit pearshaped!!
Oct 3rd 2003, 10:21 am
#11
Joined: Jun 2002
Location: Cheshire, England
Posts: 743
Re: What are we like!
Originally posted by Sindy
G'day
Ok, as we have now been here for almost a month it's time for the second update on our never ending adventure down under.
So there we were sitting pretty in our temporary rented accommodation on the morning of 26th September. We were all set for the move to our new premises the next day. Unusually for us we had already arranged for a seamless transition to the new place by arranging for our relatives and a convoy of vehicles to arrive the next morning to pick up our stuff. So what could possibly go wrong?
Well, as we sat contentedly in our lounge discussing the planned activities for the day (Morning coffee with Jockney and his family down by the beach, pre – employment medical for Bill at 2pm, and a trip to the estate agent to pick up our keys later in the afternoon for our new rented home) when a tap on the door interrupted our conversation. I answered the door and there stood our apartment cleaners, I explained that as we would be leaving the next day that perhaps it would be best if they returned tomorrow. "Sorry, thought it was today�. they said, “Nah� said me, “Its definitely tomorrow�. They looked puzzled but left to continue cleaning another apartment.
Told Bill what they had said, that they thought we were leaving today, to which he reassured me, for two seconds, with “Nope, we are definitely booked in here until the 26th�. An uneasy silence followed this sentence as we looked in horror at each other. “Err, wait a minute, today is the 26th……..Ahhhhhhhh!�
The scenes that followed would not have looked out of place in a Keystone cops movie. Bill called the apartment owners in the hope of extending our stay only to find out that a family of six were due to arrive at midday and the cleaners needed to be in by 10am to fix up the apartment. It was now 9.45! What were we going to do now? We had to be out of the apartment in the next 15 mins and we had our arrival baggage of nearly 200Kg of luggage, plus a variety of new bulky articles (Pillows, quilts sheets, cutlery etc) for the new house scattered around the apartment! Bloody hell!!
This was definitely our darkest hour (or near to the top, we seem to have so many!). Even if we could quickly get it all together, which would be impossible, where would we put it? We thought of outside but then dead on cue the skies clouded over and a torrential downpour started, accompanied by some very high winds outside of the apartment (or was that Bill and I!).
There seemed to be no way out, we dropped into auto pilot and continued to assemble our belongings and pile them up by the door. I was like a zombie, very pale, vacant, and desperately trying not to cry. Another tap on the door stopped our frantic activities in there tracks. “What now, I know its 10am but geeze, give us a chance�. Thankfully it was our upstairs neighbour who had heard of our plight and had come down to lend a hand. “Hey� she said “Don't worry about anything, we can take all of your stuff in while you sort yourselves out�. Lisa, my neighbour (that I had never met before) told me afterward that she could tell by just one look at my face that I wasn't handling things well, so she decided to take charge. She gave me a bag and told me to just take everything out of drawers and from tops of tables and just throw it in the bag "you can always sort it out later upstairs" she said. I think if she hadn't been there I would probably still be clearing out the apartment! She got the boys organised into taking the light bags and suitcases upstairs and found something for Rosina (5) to do so she was occupied and out of the way.
Bill then rang the telephone company and arranged for the line to be disconnected ASAP - the last thing we wanted was for the next people running up a huge telephone bill for us (we can do a good enough job of that ourselves!) Lisa came back into our apartment from one of her many trips and suddenly announced that she had just called her husband and that he would be coming home from work to help us out!! As he was nearby it would only take about 10 mins. Sure enough about 10 mins later Mark (Lisa’s husband) appeared. As well as helping move our stuff he also took it upon himself to ring around and try to find us alternative accommodation. This proved difficult as the next two weeks are school holidays and everywhere seemed to be booked solid. Eventually he found somewhere nearby - phew - and by 10:40 we had moved everything out of our apartment, and turned their apartment into something that resembled a cross between a tip and an obstacle course.
Mark and Lisa were absolutely awesome. Having helped us out of a massive predicament they now proceeded to make us all tea and coffee and helped us to calm down a bit. They told us that they had moved at least 10 times which was why they were quite expert and organised. They then let us use their phone to call for a taxi to take us into Adelaide for Bill to have his medical (high blood pressure or what!). Lisa offered to look after Lewis for us until we got back as he had been playing with her son David (also 9) for the past three weeks and they had become inseparable (Oh dear, another boo hoo time for Lewis )
Mark told Bill to try and not stress out to much about the job, he said he felt sure that he would get it, as after all that we had been through we had stuck it out, so we were obviously meant to be here, but if things didn't work out job wise he would get him a job working with him for Telstra (Australia's equivalent to BT)
The medical surprisingly went ok and we picked the keys up from the estate agent with no hitch. When we returned Lisa offered to keep Lewis until later that evening (and feed him) and Mark would bring him over to our motel when he returned from work. They had also said that they were happy to hold onto all of our stuff until it was picked up the next day. You wouldn't believe the state of their apartment, they could hardly move. When Mark dropped Lewis off that night he said that he and Lisa had been discussing our situation (Endowment not through yet) and that they were both willing to lend us some money to see us through until the house was sold! Flipping heck, they can't be normal people, more like our guardian angels! Naturally we declined but wow, what an offer, and from strangers.
I can't believe how friendly and helpful the people have been here. When we were out in a little cafe having a snack the owner, when finding out we had just migrated, asked if we had been to the local estate agents. We said no, that was our next port of call and she said "no worries, i'll nip out for you" She was the only person working in the cafe so closed for five minutes and left us inside to carry on eating. Can't see that happening too much in England!
The generosity of all of the australians we have met has been overwhelming. My cousins all pitched in to help us move and loaned us an amazing amount of stuff to tide us over.
Sorry it's another big post,
Sindy
G'day
Ok, as we have now been here for almost a month it's time for the second update on our never ending adventure down under.
So there we were sitting pretty in our temporary rented accommodation on the morning of 26th September. We were all set for the move to our new premises the next day. Unusually for us we had already arranged for a seamless transition to the new place by arranging for our relatives and a convoy of vehicles to arrive the next morning to pick up our stuff. So what could possibly go wrong?
Well, as we sat contentedly in our lounge discussing the planned activities for the day (Morning coffee with Jockney and his family down by the beach, pre – employment medical for Bill at 2pm, and a trip to the estate agent to pick up our keys later in the afternoon for our new rented home) when a tap on the door interrupted our conversation. I answered the door and there stood our apartment cleaners, I explained that as we would be leaving the next day that perhaps it would be best if they returned tomorrow. "Sorry, thought it was today�. they said, “Nah� said me, “Its definitely tomorrow�. They looked puzzled but left to continue cleaning another apartment.
Told Bill what they had said, that they thought we were leaving today, to which he reassured me, for two seconds, with “Nope, we are definitely booked in here until the 26th�. An uneasy silence followed this sentence as we looked in horror at each other. “Err, wait a minute, today is the 26th……..Ahhhhhhhh!�
The scenes that followed would not have looked out of place in a Keystone cops movie. Bill called the apartment owners in the hope of extending our stay only to find out that a family of six were due to arrive at midday and the cleaners needed to be in by 10am to fix up the apartment. It was now 9.45! What were we going to do now? We had to be out of the apartment in the next 15 mins and we had our arrival baggage of nearly 200Kg of luggage, plus a variety of new bulky articles (Pillows, quilts sheets, cutlery etc) for the new house scattered around the apartment! Bloody hell!!
This was definitely our darkest hour (or near to the top, we seem to have so many!). Even if we could quickly get it all together, which would be impossible, where would we put it? We thought of outside but then dead on cue the skies clouded over and a torrential downpour started, accompanied by some very high winds outside of the apartment (or was that Bill and I!).
There seemed to be no way out, we dropped into auto pilot and continued to assemble our belongings and pile them up by the door. I was like a zombie, very pale, vacant, and desperately trying not to cry. Another tap on the door stopped our frantic activities in there tracks. “What now, I know its 10am but geeze, give us a chance�. Thankfully it was our upstairs neighbour who had heard of our plight and had come down to lend a hand. “Hey� she said “Don't worry about anything, we can take all of your stuff in while you sort yourselves out�. Lisa, my neighbour (that I had never met before) told me afterward that she could tell by just one look at my face that I wasn't handling things well, so she decided to take charge. She gave me a bag and told me to just take everything out of drawers and from tops of tables and just throw it in the bag "you can always sort it out later upstairs" she said. I think if she hadn't been there I would probably still be clearing out the apartment! She got the boys organised into taking the light bags and suitcases upstairs and found something for Rosina (5) to do so she was occupied and out of the way.
Bill then rang the telephone company and arranged for the line to be disconnected ASAP - the last thing we wanted was for the next people running up a huge telephone bill for us (we can do a good enough job of that ourselves!) Lisa came back into our apartment from one of her many trips and suddenly announced that she had just called her husband and that he would be coming home from work to help us out!! As he was nearby it would only take about 10 mins. Sure enough about 10 mins later Mark (Lisa’s husband) appeared. As well as helping move our stuff he also took it upon himself to ring around and try to find us alternative accommodation. This proved difficult as the next two weeks are school holidays and everywhere seemed to be booked solid. Eventually he found somewhere nearby - phew - and by 10:40 we had moved everything out of our apartment, and turned their apartment into something that resembled a cross between a tip and an obstacle course.
Mark and Lisa were absolutely awesome. Having helped us out of a massive predicament they now proceeded to make us all tea and coffee and helped us to calm down a bit. They told us that they had moved at least 10 times which was why they were quite expert and organised. They then let us use their phone to call for a taxi to take us into Adelaide for Bill to have his medical (high blood pressure or what!). Lisa offered to look after Lewis for us until we got back as he had been playing with her son David (also 9) for the past three weeks and they had become inseparable (Oh dear, another boo hoo time for Lewis )
Mark told Bill to try and not stress out to much about the job, he said he felt sure that he would get it, as after all that we had been through we had stuck it out, so we were obviously meant to be here, but if things didn't work out job wise he would get him a job working with him for Telstra (Australia's equivalent to BT)
The medical surprisingly went ok and we picked the keys up from the estate agent with no hitch. When we returned Lisa offered to keep Lewis until later that evening (and feed him) and Mark would bring him over to our motel when he returned from work. They had also said that they were happy to hold onto all of our stuff until it was picked up the next day. You wouldn't believe the state of their apartment, they could hardly move. When Mark dropped Lewis off that night he said that he and Lisa had been discussing our situation (Endowment not through yet) and that they were both willing to lend us some money to see us through until the house was sold! Flipping heck, they can't be normal people, more like our guardian angels! Naturally we declined but wow, what an offer, and from strangers.
I can't believe how friendly and helpful the people have been here. When we were out in a little cafe having a snack the owner, when finding out we had just migrated, asked if we had been to the local estate agents. We said no, that was our next port of call and she said "no worries, i'll nip out for you" She was the only person working in the cafe so closed for five minutes and left us inside to carry on eating. Can't see that happening too much in England!
The generosity of all of the australians we have met has been overwhelming. My cousins all pitched in to help us move and loaned us an amazing amount of stuff to tide us over.
Sorry it's another big post,
Sindy
Hi Sindy,
That is just the sort of thing I would end up doing. Major panic Stations ! And so could easily imagine you nightmare morning. Great post.
Oct 3rd 2003, 11:40 am
#12
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: What are we like!
That couple sound great. It's people like that that give Australians everywhere a good name. And I found people like that all over Australia.
badge
badge
Oct 3rd 2003, 11:53 am
#13
I Know What's Going On!
Joined: Jan 2003
Location: On The Outside Looking In!
Posts: 1,499
Hi Sindy, It's nice to know that things got sorted out in the end, but you've left us with a bit of a cliffhanger.......is Jockney still waiting for you down at the beach, coffee cup in hand???
Steve.
Steve.
Oct 3rd 2003, 12:04 pm
#14
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 316
Hi Sindy and Bill,
Wow you guys have had a tough time of it!
It is so good that you met people who were prepared to help when you needed it most! I hope all goes well for you now and you can settle into your new life. How are the kids coping? Have you got them into school yet?
Best of luck on the job front, you've made it this far, lets hope you can now start relaxing. Any news on your house sale?
We are off to the Essex meet this weekend, it won't be quite the same without you!
Hazel
Wow you guys have had a tough time of it!
It is so good that you met people who were prepared to help when you needed it most! I hope all goes well for you now and you can settle into your new life. How are the kids coping? Have you got them into school yet?
Best of luck on the job front, you've made it this far, lets hope you can now start relaxing. Any news on your house sale?
We are off to the Essex meet this weekend, it won't be quite the same without you!
Hazel
Oct 3rd 2003, 1:15 pm
#15
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: What are we like!
Originally posted by Sindy
Sindy
Sindy
Great story and good to see you doing well despite the traumas which you will laugh about when you look back - or even when you post them here. There are plenty of Lisa's and Mark's everywhere in this world, take with a pinch of salt those who tell you in my/our experience there aren't!!
Good luck
TennisOz