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Post by Jan and Shah on Apr 30, 2017 17:02:13 GMT -5
Sounds like a good idea about renting your Melbourne house. The way the house prices are going, if you sold Melbourne, you may not be able to afford another house if you decide to return. You do get used to getting up early (even in winter). When I was working I was up at 4.45am each morning to get to work by 7am. I would leave between 3.45-4pm but took much longer to get home due to the fact that the motorway was like a giant parking lot on some days so would get home anywhere between 5.15-6pm.
I am glad that you are settling in well and that the job has so many positive aspects. Keep us informed of your progress.
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Post by biteybird on Jun 11, 2017 7:02:25 GMT -5
Well, after several 'serious' chats with hubby, we've decided to both give it a red hot go in Darwin!  He's given notice at work and all our stuff will be uplifted mid-July. We are both leaving secure jobs to do this...maybe we're nuts, but hey, you gotta live!  Meanwhile, I'm going back home to Melbourne during the school holidays and we will sort some things out prior to the big move. |
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Post by cnyguy on Jun 11, 2017 20:03:56 GMT -5
All the best to you both. A friend of mine did that sort of thing twice-- left a good job as a college librarian in Pennsylvania because she had always wanted to live in Minnesota, packed up and moved to that state, and eventually found a good job there. After a few years, she felt it was time to return to New York State, so she packed up and moved again, found a good job, etc. May your story be as successful as hers. |
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Post by biteybird on Jun 11, 2017 20:24:43 GMT -5
May your story be as successful as hers. Thanks! I hope so, too. I think if we didn't give it a try I'd always be wondering "What if had done X?" It's been almost impossible for me to change jobs in Melbourne - my last job change took 5 years and two psychology degrees to do it! - but in Darwin there are a lot more opportunities (I think because the population is smaller and many people can't handle the heat & humidity). Fingers crossed it all works. Onward and upward!  |
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jun 12, 2017 3:14:57 GMT -5
Wow, that really is a big step. But, as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I visited the Northern Territory many, many years ago and absolutely loved it. Tried to get work there when I came back to Sydney but it was hard applying for jobs in another state at that time. I wish you and hubby the best of luck. If you don't do it, you will always regret it. It's very exciting |
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Post by easttex on Jun 12, 2017 3:31:41 GMT -5
One thing I loved about the navy was being able to see someplace new every two or three years. It's a lot harder to pick up and go when you don't have that built-in support system. It's a gutsy move, biteybird, and I wish you the very best. Fortune favors the bold! |
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Post by biteybird on Jul 10, 2017 2:38:24 GMT -5
Update time... I'm in Melbourne at the moment during school holidays (Northern Territory schools have 4 weeks' break between Terms 2 and 3 because it's the dry season and people can actually go away and DO things). Lucky for me, as I am using this time to get my house packed up and organise it to be rented out. The photographer visited this morning. Luckily he didn't take photos of the bedrooms, as they are a huge MESS! I have an 'uplift' booked for this Friday and the house looks like a bombsite. Yesterday hubby and I were moving a sofa bed out through the back door and then the bloody door knob/latch wouldn't work, so today I had to go get a replacement. It was about $110. So hubby has been trying to put that in since he got home from work.  I had a 'hard rubbish' collection booked today, which went fine, thank goodness. I will be flying back to Darwin on Monday night (17th) and will be taking 2 Bourke's parrots and a cockatiel on that flight. Unfortunately we couldn't take our 14 canaries and two Princess Parrots with us. We ended up taking them to a bird shop - the only one who would take them. The other places I had in mind have all closed down recently...I even checked rescue organisations, but the main one was closed down until 18th July (after we've left Melbourne). We felt horrible about it (and still do) but there just wasn't an alternative. So...it's 'all systems go' next week. |
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Post by easttex on Jul 10, 2017 16:33:23 GMT -5
What a pain moving is! Again, I remember back to my military moves and how relatively easy they were. The companies would come in and pack up EVERYTHING. In fact, you had to be careful or they'd pack up your garbage. I'm not sure I fully appreciated how easy they made it. Sorry about your birds. I wish I could have taken them. |
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Post by cnyguy on Jul 10, 2017 20:10:31 GMT -5
The companies would come in and pack up EVERYTHING. In fact, you had to be careful or they'd pack up your garbage. When my family moved many years ago, the movers came close to packing the garbage. They wrapped the morning paper in paper and packed that. They wrapped the bathroom soap dish, with the soap in it, and packed that. My empty morning coffee cup got wrapped and packed before I could wash and dry it. Very efficient movers. Now, I may have moving to look forward to myself. Getting a whopping big rent increase that will put me over budget, so I'm shopping for a new home for the parrots and me. |
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Post by biteybird on Jul 12, 2017 6:56:48 GMT -5
You said it...I had this guy come today to assess the space requirements for the move. Apparently I am limited to 25 cubic metres for the uplift (paid for by the Northern Territory government), which I wasn't aware of until last week. So our stuff, which isn't THAT much really, comes to 35 cubic metres. This means I need to pay the difference, which is nearly $1800. Sigh. And my hard rubbish collection, which I THOUGHT went well, didn't. They left behind some stuff because they said it was "timber". Actually, it was steel frames and gates, with some timber panels in them (and previously they've been collected by the Council without a problem). AAGGH!! I had to arrange to borrow a van from hubby's work, then go to the waste recycling centre, then manhandle the 9 heavy panels out of the van on my own (which was NOT easy, being 5'3 and having a bung wrist and back...but I'm proud of how I managed overall! ). That cost me $50, but it could have been worse. So, yeah, it IS a royal pain in the proverbial!  My house is now advertised online For Lease, so fingers crossed that my packing & uplift goes well on Friday, as Saturday is Open House. |
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Post by easttex on Jul 12, 2017 7:40:11 GMT -5
Oh, dear. I hope you'll be able to use some part of your four week break to relax.  |
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Post by biteybird on Jul 12, 2017 7:52:56 GMT -5
Thanks Easttex, haven't really managed that so far (freaking out, as I've never done this before!), but hopefully I'll relax after everything's packed away and we get away for the weekend. Next week is the last of my break. But I'm lucky really, as - if I had a 'normal' job - I'd have to take time off. So the timing couldn't be better, really. |
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Post by julianna on Jul 12, 2017 13:33:10 GMT -5
Wow... you sure have a lot going on. We owned two homes in the past that we rented out and honestly I would never do it again. It is really something how people treat things when they do not own them. We actually had to evict one tenant and that was not pleasant at all. I hope you get the best tenants ever... it really makes a huge difference. You wouldn't want to get a $1000 water bill because they "forgot" to call you to tell you the toilet was running. grrrrr
Thanks for finding the time to keep us updated.
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Post by julianna on Jul 12, 2017 13:36:18 GMT -5
p.s. The kids in school here are off the last week of June, all of July and August and first week in September. Nice break.
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Post by biteybird on Jul 12, 2017 22:22:38 GMT -5
Wow, Julianna, I guess that is just normal for Canada? Is it because of the weather that they get that huge break?
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