Saw a house on the internet just before Christmas and have been anxiously waiting for the real estate agents to reopen so I could make an appointment to view. Anyway, went to see the house yesterday morning and fell in love with it. It's in a perfect location for us, literally round the corner from the kids school, walking distance to the beach, shops and within staggering distance of Debbie and Gareth's house. We put an offer in straight away but the process is way way different to the UK. We had to go down to the real estate's office and complete a contract because once an offer is accepted it then becomes legally binding so that neither party can change their mind. Anyway, after nearly an hour of paperwork we headed off to the beach. The agent phoned us shortly after to tell us our offer had been rejected. A few phone calls later and a bit of negotiation he finally called back to say the vendors had agreed to our price. He needed to get us to sign the amendment on the contract and offered to come down to the beach with the paperwork! Can you believe it? He actually came down to the beach and found us!!!!!
So that's that. We now have 28 days to secure the finance and then a further 28 days is allowed for settlement. I think this is the link for the house. It's no 56 Montebourg Meander, Port Kennedy
http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=106228457&f=0&p=10&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&cc=&c=8866416&s=wa&tm=1262093616
.........oh, and I went back to work today. How crap is that! I always have 2 weeks off at Christmas so I'm not impressed at just getting a couple of days off. Oh well, a couple more days being a Sales Consultant then onwards and upwards to Bank Manager next week. Does anyone know how to run a bank?.........answers on a postcard please. lol
Weather report: Damn hot! Beautiful!
Tuesday 29 December 2009
Saturday 26 December 2009
Merry Christmas
Can't believe it's over a week since I last posted on here.
I had an interview for the bank manager job the day before Christmas Eve and I got the job!!!!! I start on 4th January, so back to being full time and learning another new job. I'm looking forward to it though.
Simon has got a job. He will be working for a glass company as a glass cutter. He starts on the 11th January. So things are looking up and we are now house hunting! Simon is adamant that he wants a house with a pool but I would rather we get the best house for our money now and put a pool in later, so no doubt there'll be some squabbles over the coming weeks!
The Bankwest Christmas Party was amazing. There must have been well over a thousand people there. No expense was spared, it was free bar all night and great entertainment laid on in two huge rooms. I had to be helped onto the coach at the end of the night so that's a good sign that it was a good do!!
Had a good day on Christmas day. Woke early with the kids and we all opened our pressies then had a lazy morning before we all got spruced up and went round to Debbie and Gareths. Debbie put on a great buffet and Stacey and Andy also came round. Debbie made sure we all pickled ourselves in alcohol. I drank a litre of Martini as well as some Ouzo, Advocaat, Rum and coke, Malibu and Baileys shot (yuk), and sambuka that almost stripped the lining of my throat. Suffered a bit today and although the weather is glorious outside we just slobbed out in front of the telly eating chocolate. Me and the kids all played with our new Nintendo games!
Linzi and Mark have entered little Harry into the Christmas spirit! Christmas Eve he was dressed up as an elf, yesterday he was a mini Santa and today he was a little Christmas Pudding. Thank god for webcam, I wouldn't have missed that for the world.........that poor child!
Not sure what we are doing yet tomorrow but on Monday the weather will hit 40 degrees so we are going down to the beach so the kids can use their new body boards they got for Christmas.
Tuesday 15 December 2009
Weather is back down into the mid 20s this week and we woke up this morning to the smell of smoke in the house, a hazy fog outside and a dusting of ash on the cars. There is a bushfire burning down at Harvey which is about 90kms south of us. I think everything is under control, so nothing at all to worry about.
I've applied for promotion at work to Bank Manager............keep your fingers crossed!
Not much other news at the moment. We have been receiving packages and cards from England for over a week which just makes me want to spend Christmas with you all in the cold UK. If I win OzLotto tonight we'll be in Cleveleys next week!
Went for a walk on the beach on Sunday evening and guess what the kids found?................ a shed snake skin!!!.............on the beach!!!!! They've saved it in a tupperware box so they can show Grandad next time they see him!
The kids break up from school this Thursday and don't go back again until February! It's their "summer holidays". I only have three days off work over Xmas and New Year. Normally take 2 weeks off so I'm gutted. Never mind, I want to save my leave up for when Linzi, Mark and Harry come to visit.
15th December today and I've not done the Christmas shopping yet! I've never been so unprepared. I need to crack on!
Speak to you soon
xx
I've applied for promotion at work to Bank Manager............keep your fingers crossed!
Not much other news at the moment. We have been receiving packages and cards from England for over a week which just makes me want to spend Christmas with you all in the cold UK. If I win OzLotto tonight we'll be in Cleveleys next week!
Went for a walk on the beach on Sunday evening and guess what the kids found?................ a shed snake skin!!!.............on the beach!!!!! They've saved it in a tupperware box so they can show Grandad next time they see him!
The kids break up from school this Thursday and don't go back again until February! It's their "summer holidays". I only have three days off work over Xmas and New Year. Normally take 2 weeks off so I'm gutted. Never mind, I want to save my leave up for when Linzi, Mark and Harry come to visit.
15th December today and I've not done the Christmas shopping yet! I've never been so unprepared. I need to crack on!
Speak to you soon
xx
Saturday 12 December 2009
The heat!
Well I've just finished putting up the Christmas tree, Bing Crosby is crooning in the background and it's 38 degrees outside and I'm sweating like a pig!!!! Just had to walk down to the shops because the car is too damn hot to get into. Which brings me on to this...................below is something that our Uncle Dave in Serpentine sent us coz he thinks it's funny when I say I'm melting and it's only 30 degrees! Have a read, it's funny as hell and very appropriate considering the weather here today! Thanks Dave xx
DIARY OF A POMMIE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA .August 31 - Just got transferred with work from UK to our new home inPort Kennedy, Western Australia . Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by the pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I've finally found my new home. I love it here.
September 13 - Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I'm turning into a sun-worshipper
.September 30th - Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today.Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here.
October 10th - The temperature hasn't been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it's windy though.Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than I expected.
October 15th - Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body Missed three days of work. What a dumb thing to do! Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.
October 20th - Didn't notice Kitty (our cat) sneaking into the car beforeI left for work this morning. By the time I got back to the car afterwork, Kitty had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and stuck to the upholstery. The car now smells like Whiskettes and cat shit.I've earned my lesson though: no more pets in this heat.
October 25 - This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant f**kn' blowdryer. And it's hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink anthe repair man charged $200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from f**kn' Perth....
October 30th - The temperature's up around 40 and the parts still haven't arrived for the f**kn' aircon. Been sleeping outside by the pool for three nights now. Bloody $600,000 house and we can't even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
November 4 - Finally got the ol' aircon fixed. It cost $1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 25 degrees, but the humidity makes it feel about 30. Stupid repairman.
November 8 - If one more smart arse says 'Hot enough for you today?' I'm going to f**kn' throttle him. F**kn' heat! By the time I get to work, the car's radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking f**kn' wet and I smell like baked cat !
November 9 Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in the ol' car. I thought my f**kn' arse was on fire. I lost two layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and my f**kn' arse. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried arse and baked cat!
November 10 - Weather report! It might as well be a f**kn' recording. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and f**kn' sunny! It's been too hot to do anything for two f**kn' months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week.
November 15 - Doesn't it ever rain in this damn f**kn' place? Water restrictions will be next, so my $5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the f**kn' pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the f**kn' flies You don't dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the f**kers!
November 20th - Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 f**kin' degrees today. Now the air conditioner's gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, 'Hot enough for you today?' I had to spend the $2,500 mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid f**ker F**kin'Port Kennedy! What kind of sick, demented f**kin' idiot would want to live here
!December 1 -WHAT!!!!The first day of Summer!!!!You've got to be f**kin' kidding!
DIARY OF A POMMIE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA .August 31 - Just got transferred with work from UK to our new home inPort Kennedy, Western Australia . Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by the pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I've finally found my new home. I love it here.
September 13 - Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I'm turning into a sun-worshipper
.September 30th - Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today.Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here.
October 10th - The temperature hasn't been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it's windy though.Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than I expected.
October 15th - Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body Missed three days of work. What a dumb thing to do! Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.
October 20th - Didn't notice Kitty (our cat) sneaking into the car beforeI left for work this morning. By the time I got back to the car afterwork, Kitty had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and stuck to the upholstery. The car now smells like Whiskettes and cat shit.I've earned my lesson though: no more pets in this heat.
October 25 - This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant f**kn' blowdryer. And it's hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink anthe repair man charged $200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from f**kn' Perth....
October 30th - The temperature's up around 40 and the parts still haven't arrived for the f**kn' aircon. Been sleeping outside by the pool for three nights now. Bloody $600,000 house and we can't even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
November 4 - Finally got the ol' aircon fixed. It cost $1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 25 degrees, but the humidity makes it feel about 30. Stupid repairman.
November 8 - If one more smart arse says 'Hot enough for you today?' I'm going to f**kn' throttle him. F**kn' heat! By the time I get to work, the car's radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking f**kn' wet and I smell like baked cat !
November 9 Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in the ol' car. I thought my f**kn' arse was on fire. I lost two layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and my f**kn' arse. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried arse and baked cat!
November 10 - Weather report! It might as well be a f**kn' recording. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and f**kn' sunny! It's been too hot to do anything for two f**kn' months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week.
November 15 - Doesn't it ever rain in this damn f**kn' place? Water restrictions will be next, so my $5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the f**kn' pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the f**kn' flies You don't dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the f**kers!
November 20th - Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 f**kin' degrees today. Now the air conditioner's gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, 'Hot enough for you today?' I had to spend the $2,500 mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid f**ker F**kin'Port Kennedy! What kind of sick, demented f**kin' idiot would want to live here
!December 1 -WHAT!!!!The first day of Summer!!!!You've got to be f**kin' kidding!
Thursday 10 December 2009
A momentous day!!
The container that we waved goodbye to in Cleveleys on the 2nd September finally reversed onto our drive this morning! It took the guys 3 hours to get everything off and unwrapped and it took me and Simon another 7 hours to sort everything out and put everything away (well not quite everything!)
I didn't realise just how much bloomin stuff we had brought! We can't fit it all in here!! We have unpacked most of it and the house is now looking very homely after being so bare for so long! But now we have loads of stuff still wrapped and boxed and just sat outside under the car-port. I'm worried that the bogans are going to jump over the garden wall and nick it all. I need to phone round and get some prices for self-storage.
Everything seems to have made the long journey without any mishap, apart from the fridge-freezer. It has a small piece broken off from the back, which doesn't really matter but it also has one of the glass shelves missing so presumably it's been in the wars somewhere along the way. It works though, so I went straight to the supermarket tonight and bought loads of ice-cream and lollies. It's such a luxury to have a freezer!!!
When the guys brought my sideboard in I got a lump in my throat coz I was so pleased to see it!! How ridiculous is that! haha. (Not as bad as Simon......he HUGGED the fridge freezer! hahaha)
When the kids got home from school it was like Christmas day for them to have all their belongings back.....and also their beds! They have been sleeping on airbeds for 3 months!
So now it's 9pm.....my legs are aching and my feet are throbbing. It's been a hell of a day and I can't wait to finally climb into our own bed tonight. Not slept in it since August!
That's it for now but watch this space because there are possibly some exciting developments on the job front. I'll be back soon. xx
I didn't realise just how much bloomin stuff we had brought! We can't fit it all in here!! We have unpacked most of it and the house is now looking very homely after being so bare for so long! But now we have loads of stuff still wrapped and boxed and just sat outside under the car-port. I'm worried that the bogans are going to jump over the garden wall and nick it all. I need to phone round and get some prices for self-storage.
Everything seems to have made the long journey without any mishap, apart from the fridge-freezer. It has a small piece broken off from the back, which doesn't really matter but it also has one of the glass shelves missing so presumably it's been in the wars somewhere along the way. It works though, so I went straight to the supermarket tonight and bought loads of ice-cream and lollies. It's such a luxury to have a freezer!!!
When the guys brought my sideboard in I got a lump in my throat coz I was so pleased to see it!! How ridiculous is that! haha. (Not as bad as Simon......he HUGGED the fridge freezer! hahaha)
When the kids got home from school it was like Christmas day for them to have all their belongings back.....and also their beds! They have been sleeping on airbeds for 3 months!
So now it's 9pm.....my legs are aching and my feet are throbbing. It's been a hell of a day and I can't wait to finally climb into our own bed tonight. Not slept in it since August!
That's it for now but watch this space because there are possibly some exciting developments on the job front. I'll be back soon. xx
Wednesday 9 December 2009
Aussie Jingle Bells (Brilliant!)
Dashing through the bush, in a Rusty Holden Ute
Kicking up the dust, esky in the boot
Kelpie by my side, singing Christmas songs
It's summertime and I am in my singlet, shorts and thongs
Oh jingle bells jingle bells, jingle all the way
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day. Hey!
Jingle bells jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
Engine's getting hot, we dodge the kangaroos
The swaggie climbs aboard, he is welcome too.
All the family's there, sitting by the pool
Christmas Day the Aussie way, by the barbecue.
Oh jingle bells jingle bells, jingle all the way
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day. Hey!
Jingle bells jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
Come the afternoon, Grandpa has a doze
The kids and uncle Bruce are swimming in their clothes
The time comes 'round to go, we take the family snap
Pack the car and all shoot through before the washing up
Oh jingle bells jingle bells, jingle all the way
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summer's day. Hey!
Jingle bells jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
Holden Ute (rhymes with boot) = a type of open back van (just about every bloke in Oz dives one)
Esky = a cool box
Kelpie = an Australian breed of dog
Singlet = vest
Thongs = flip flops
Swaggie = swagman, a drifter
Sunday 6 December 2009
Just done my first week in my new job as Sales Consultant. Love the hours, 9am to 2pm but there's so much to learn, it's all a bit mind-boggling at the moment. Also it's bad timing going part time now Simon is out of work but we didn't know at the time. Simon has applied for a few jobs and is waiting to hear. He is also starting looking at setting up his own business doing pretty much what he did in the UK.
My new job is in Spearwood which is a 35 minute drive through a huge industrial area. All the guys in the Utes drive like nutters and the huge lorries aren't much better. I'm on a "Welcome to Bankwest" induction course in the city tomorrow and Tuesday. Need to catch the train at 7.25am in the morning! Thought those early train days were over when I left Paymaster!
Our container is due to arrive with us on Thursday. Yipppeee!! Don't know where the hell we will put everything though! We definately wont need the wardrobes we shipped coz all Aussie houses have built in closets. I'm betting that some of our stuff will be damaged as the guys who packed it in Cleveleys weren't exactly careful getting it into the container!
Well we are officially in Summer here now and the weather is certainly hotting up. The shopping malls have all got the Christmas Decs up and the Christmas adverts are on the telly, some of the houses are even decorated like the one on the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, but I'm not feeling Christmassy at all yet! Worse still......I haven't even started Christmas shopping yet! If I was in Britain I would have it all bought, wrapped and under the tree by now! It's my work's Christmas party this Friday night, looking forward to that, it's a free bar all night! Got a new frock and new earring so I'm ready to go!!
Nathan has fallen in love (awwwww bless!) with a little girl in his year group. He wants to buy her some jewellery for Christmas! Maya has been snorkelling with Simon today at Point Peron. She's looking like a true beach babe now, with a gorgeous tan. Even Nathan has a tan so he doesn't look like Gollum anymore!
Not sure if anyone is still following this blog or if I'm just talking to myself. Can you click on the "comment" link below and just give me a quick "hi" to let me know that I'm not the only one on this blog.
Presuming there is someone out there.........I'll be back soon! x
My new job is in Spearwood which is a 35 minute drive through a huge industrial area. All the guys in the Utes drive like nutters and the huge lorries aren't much better. I'm on a "Welcome to Bankwest" induction course in the city tomorrow and Tuesday. Need to catch the train at 7.25am in the morning! Thought those early train days were over when I left Paymaster!
Our container is due to arrive with us on Thursday. Yipppeee!! Don't know where the hell we will put everything though! We definately wont need the wardrobes we shipped coz all Aussie houses have built in closets. I'm betting that some of our stuff will be damaged as the guys who packed it in Cleveleys weren't exactly careful getting it into the container!
Well we are officially in Summer here now and the weather is certainly hotting up. The shopping malls have all got the Christmas Decs up and the Christmas adverts are on the telly, some of the houses are even decorated like the one on the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, but I'm not feeling Christmassy at all yet! Worse still......I haven't even started Christmas shopping yet! If I was in Britain I would have it all bought, wrapped and under the tree by now! It's my work's Christmas party this Friday night, looking forward to that, it's a free bar all night! Got a new frock and new earring so I'm ready to go!!
Nathan has fallen in love (awwwww bless!) with a little girl in his year group. He wants to buy her some jewellery for Christmas! Maya has been snorkelling with Simon today at Point Peron. She's looking like a true beach babe now, with a gorgeous tan. Even Nathan has a tan so he doesn't look like Gollum anymore!
Not sure if anyone is still following this blog or if I'm just talking to myself. Can you click on the "comment" link below and just give me a quick "hi" to let me know that I'm not the only one on this blog.
Presuming there is someone out there.........I'll be back soon! x
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