Merry Christmas & a happy New Year

Hello everyone, the day before Christmas, time to give you all the best of wishes from us. Although it is a little bit funny to have this weather (29-33 degrees) at Christmas, we think it is a lot better than the cold, foggy weather back in Europe ;-)

As you will all know there have been and still are a lot of bushfires in Australia. Luckily not so much around Perth. One house has burnt, which was situated in 'the Hills' which is about 15km east of CBD. On the news they told that the main reason why the house burned down to the ground was that the evaporative air-conditioning was on, which was 'inhaling' burning bits and pieces from outside.

So far about 500.000ha have been burned in Australia, which is about 1/10 of Holland. To give you an idea, this is whole of NoordBrabant or so.

Anyway, over to us:
Next week we have the whole week off. We realised that this is our first Australian holiday!!

Talking about bushfires, in the bushfire season people are supposed to be very careful, and there are rules (laws) in place that should help to prevent fires from extending. The block of land on the right and the left of our house is not built up yet. The owners have to make sure that at the beginning of the fire-danger season (half of October) they cut all the weeds on their block, so if a fire starts, it will not easily expand. The owners of those blocks had not done that (by the end of November) so we called the county to ask what is supposed to be done. The county then told us that they had already been given fines (AUS 750,=) for not doing it, and given one week to prevent the county having to do it (and than paying far bigger fines).
As of last week they both have done that.

Two weeks ago the photoclub had their end-of-year function. Again a photo competition, but this time with food and drinks. Entries for the competition had to be photos that have been entered before (in one of the monthly competitions). Of course Peter has entered some photos. And one of his photos won the 2nd price (aud 20 voucher) in the 'slide'-competition.
The photo that won was this one:


And one other photo that we would like you to see is one Peter took a week ago, just in our backyard. The photo is named "David & Goliath":

Kayaks and Planes

Another mointh has gone by. Fortunately this last month was (again) not all work and no play ;-). After a test paddle Ellen has chosen a kayak to buy. And today she joined a group-paddle and had a ball...

Some more pictures here.

Peter's boss has extended his contract for another 4 months (last week requested 3 months and made 4 months of it this week). We will be taking a few days off between Christmas and New Year, and we have planned a holiday for 3 weeks in February. We are not going to plan anything for the holiday, we just want to get in the car and drive in a generally south direction.

Another one of Peter's pictures 'won' a competition. The photo won the 2-weekly 1st half of November competition with this photo:


For the next weeks competition I have entered this one (a view from our backyard ;-):


Last week we have enjoyed the Red Bull air race in Perth. I made lots of pictures and it took me most of my spare time in the last days to sort them out and present some of the better ones on the photo site. I know there are people out there (Jan !!) who might have wanted to see all that.. Good news for them (again, Jan !!): The Red Bull air race will be back in Perth in 2007 and 2008. Nice to see was that the Black Swans were not all worried about the big number of people (> 200.000) and not frightened of the noisy planes.



More photos of the Air Race

Well, as said last week, pictures say more than a thousand words. I hope you're enjoying them.

A picture says more than a 1000 words ;-)

Hi All,

We can not believe it has been this long since the last post (a whole month). Don't worry, we did not forget you! It has just been pretty busy the last weeks. That happens when you're both working full time ;-) ;-)

In a nutshell the latest news, followed (where appropiate) by pictures (in the spirit ot the title of this topic ;-):

Two weeks ago we went on another walk with the walking group. This time we went to Yanchep Park, about 30 mins driving north of us. Here is one picture, a wildflower called kangaroo paw:


If you ant to see more, have a look HERE.

Last week we went whale watching with our friends Sandra and Xander. Very nice to do, just be carefull if you're easily seasick. I managed to take some reasonable photos. Not all as sharp as tehy should be, but that is a challenge when you're out on a boat on the ocean! One picture again:

And if you want to see more, look HERE.

And last but not least, we have bought a second car. We wanted a little bit more 'space to move'. With a second car we can go our own way when necessary. BTW, we bought another Ford, this time a Falcon, 1,5 year old. Photos of that car will follow when we have made some ;-)

Anyway, we think you are now a up-to-date about our life! Just one last thing to say: We still love it here, more and more every day........

First work week / Correction of mistake last week ;-)

To start with, I said that the monkey photo had won a 3rd price in the club competition, but that was a mistake... It was the Mountain Goat photo!! The judge did spend some time talking about the monkey photo too, that's what caused the mix up.. Anyway it is now corrected, have another look at the prior post.

Last week was my first week of work. Not only has it been 5 months or so since I have been working, but also I am now working 5 days a week in stead of 4. The days are not as long though as they were back in Holland and because we are back home early enough, we can still enjoy other activities in the evening (like photoclub, dancing, bowling). So, more days to work in a week, but shorter days.
How did I like this first week? Well, I think it went all pretty good. I am taking over the work of someone who had his last working day last Friday. Starting next Wednes day the second person who knows about 'my' customers will be on a holiday for 2 weeks, so from Wednesday I'll be on my own.
I will probably make some mistakes in that time, but my confidence is growing really fast. All together I like my new work (BTW I am working as change-coördinator, which does have some overlap with my last role in Holland).

Although I did not feel too tired through the week, and we were out literally each evening, I was pretty tired yesterday (Saturday), and only after sleeping in a bit more this morning (Sunday) I felt rested! While getting more used to the work next weeks that will probably get better. Also we will not be doing something every evening which will help too!!

Triple top 3's !!

Last Monday I entered some photos in our monthly competition again. I was hoping I would at least get a same result as last month (a merit). To my surprise, three out of my six entries became 3rd in their respective category. Especially for the Mountain Goat photo that was a very good result, since there were about 30 entries in that category (and good ones too!).

It will be very difficult to improve this result the next time, since I am now working full time. But I'll try anyway ;-)

Here they are:

Category: Mono/B&W, subject (Windows)


Category: Slides, Open


Category: Prints, Open, Colour

Done with the fun !

Good news and bad news... I was not called from Sydney last Monday, also not after leaving a message the next day at the voicemail of that manager. But... this morning I was called by the recruitment office through which I have had an interview at a IT-support company for a role as change manager (and for which I did not get the contract because of budget problems).
They were urgently looking for a change-cöordinator (to start on a 3 months contract), and they asked if I would be available on short notice. Of course my answer was yes, and after the recruitment agency contacted the company again, I have signed the contract this morning. I am expected to start coming Monday, and I will be visiting them tomorrow morning to meet some people and get some reading material.

So, suddenly the fun has come to an end. Only 4 days of freedom left and then I will have to work too. Although nice to get back in a work situation (meeting new people etc) and being able to contribute to our bread and butter (;-) too, I will be missing my freedom of the last weeks (hmmmm, months really). I will now have a lot less hours to 'play' with my photography...

BTW: The company where I am going to work is the same where Ellen works, only in a different building (closer to a trainstation too ;-). So, from now on we will be again working for the same company just like we did back in Holland for the last 3 years.

Update

After receiving the 'golden pineapple' award Ellen received a giftvoucher last week as an appraisal for her work. That has been a very nice gesture!
Peter is expecting to be called coming Monday from Sydney for a job interview (on contract base). The responsible manager is stationed in Sydney, but the application is for a job in Perth.

What Ellen likes very much (the most ?) about working in Perth is that when she goes out for lunch to get a nice Italian sandwich, she is always seeing and hearing parrots flying around. As well the typical rosella's (grey and pink) as the 28's (green/blue with a yellow band around their neck).

One of the things we have found is that the signs stating that speed camera's are used in WA is very true in Perth. So far we have not been 'catched' (as far as we know at least ;-), but we are spotting a (mobile) speedcamera at least once a week on average. So for anyone wondering about that... Perth is really a risky place to speed!

Last Wednesday we (finally !!!) took up dancing again. We found a nice dancing school about 15 minutes driving from home. So for all ballroom dancers that are thinking about coming over to Perth for a holiday (;-) do take your dancing gear with you (Peter and Lia). BTW the owner of the dancing school recognized the name of the sister of our damcing teacher in Holland.

Three weeks ago at the monthly competition Peter entered some photographs. Although none ended in the top 3, one of them got a 'merit' (see below ;-). Next Monday (September 11th) he will enter some pictures in the competition again. If any results are worth mentioning, you'll read about it!

Finally, pictures of our new home ;-)

At last we have been able to put some decent photos of our house on our photo site. Have a look at the most recent ´link´ at the right of this page. (Or if you can not find it, look here ;-)

Further not a lot of new news. As you can see in the pictures we now do have our (red) lounge suit and (as mentioned before) our (snowwhite) couches. Yesterday we have been able to find a couple of nice rugs. To complete the furniture inside the house we are now waiting for the coffee table (has been ordered, a coffe table version of the dining table) to be delivered and we have to find some nice lamp tables to put beside the couches and along the lounge suit.

Ellen is still the only one working (;-) and enjoying it very much. Peter isn´t (yet) working and to be honest is enjoying his freedom very much too ;-). He has of course not given up looking for a job...

Two weeks :-(

Hi all… it is really unbelievable but the last post is dated August 1. So that’s another two weeks gone just like that. Time to get you updated:

Ellen has had her first full week of work. She really enjoys it. Of course she is pretty tired every night when she comes home. It is a new job in a new environment in a new country. But after this first week she is already starting to get a grip on the work. Since she has been asked to fill in for someone who is on holidays now (managing 5 projects). The biggest challenge here is not the 5 projects themselves, but the fact that the person going on holiday first had another contractor to hand over his work temporarily, but then after a few days this contractor did not come back. So Ellen had to take over while the colleague was already on holiday.

In the last two weeks Peter is contemplating (thinking about somewhere in the back of his mind ;-) to maybe start doing something more with photography. Not so much changing career at once, but besides working in his current field, also put a bit more time into photography (try to get it a bit from hobby into amateur level ;-). And then see if maybe opportunities will arise in time to change careers.

Yesterday we have been at Marina and Mikes wedding. It was a ‘home’ wedding. In Australia it is very usual to choose your own location (which can be anywhere, like simply at home). The marriage consultant will marry you where you want.

Today we have said goodbye to Eddy, Elly, Lieke and Imke. We have met them in Tilburg last year (they were also at a xpdite meeting). They have been living here since November, but have now decided to go back (for a couple of years at least). To a certain extend we have now experienced the same as what our friends and family in Holland must have experienced when we left…

This Wednesday our sofa (the red one) will be delivered. So another piece of our home will be added. Step by step the house is now turning into a perfect home ;-)

We have made some photos of the house, we expect to publish some of them in the next few days!

ADSL (continued), flat tyre and work ...

Well, as usual (by now ;-) another week has gone by. Do we have anything new to tell ??? Yes, we have.
Our (snow-white) couches have been delivered last Wednesday. They´re beautiful! And before you are all going to put comments about the pictures: .. Finally the last problem with Telstra/ADSL seems to have been solved. We did have adsl for 2 days last week.
But guess what, the 3rd day (Friday) suddenly we did not have any connection to the internet anymore. So, again it was time to ´climb in the telephone´. To cut a long story short: The day after buying a DIY package (see two posts ago) ourselves at the Telstra shop, there was a little note from Australia Post in the letterbox. It said: ´Final Notice´… Or in other words, the ´lost´ package from Telstra was at the Post Office now. We went there, explained that we had bought one ourselves now, and sent the package back. The same day we installed the DIY package, and everything went perfect. But then as said last Friday suddenly our connection with internet was gone. First checking everything (all cables connected, all lights on the modem on green etc…), but the only thing that was not ok was the actual ´internet´ light. Anyway, after calling Telstra it appeared that they had received the returned package. And then someone thought that we did not want adsl anymore, so simply cut off the adsl definition for our telephone number. If he or she would have had a good look, he or she should have seen that the returned package was connected to a cancelled order-number, and that there was a new order-number. Anyway, it was all possible to correct but it would take 3 working days max to get the connection back. Since we are pretty dependant on internet I told them I did not like that, but was reassured that we should still be able to use our old dialup account in the mean time. Of course, the first attempt did not go right, and indeed after calling (again) another colleague said that is was not possible to go back from adsl to dialup with an account. But she could mend it by simply creating a temporary account for us to use. And that is what we have done since Friday. Then the day before yesterday (Sunday) I tested the adsl modem (just in case ;-), and what do you know… we seemed to be back online through adsl.
So, we only have to call Telstra again (promised to do that) to let them know that we do not need the temporary account any more. We have not done that yet but will do that today or tomorrow. Of course you can imagine that we will do so with a bit of fear… What else will go wrong when we tell them to shut down the temp dialup account… ;-)

After this not so short story after all (;-), yesterday morning Peter drove back after doing a little shopping, and from a certain moment he heard a funny sound every time he made a turn to the left. Even when doing it slowly it did not sound good. Arriving home he had a good look at the car and found that the rear right wheel was flat (or at least pretty empty, wheels don´t actually run flat these days). So, he had to replace the wheel with the spare one. Now by itself this is not so special, but for him it was the first time in his life that he run a flat tyre! He is am hoping this is just coincidence, but it could be that the change of running flats over here are a lot bigger than in Holland, since there is a lot more rubbish on the road. We´ll have to wait and see what the reality will be ;-). Today we brought the punctured wheel to the dealer to get it repaired. They repaired it, put it back on the car (and put the spare one back under the rear of the car where it belonged, they checked the pressure on all tyres and finally cleaned them all). The total cost of this all was ….. 40 dollars ! A lot less then we were actually expecting.

Now then finally some good news about the work situation. Ellen was called last Thursday by the recruitment office. The company that Ellen had had an interview with 2 weeks ago, and that had said to look out for a more senior role for her, has asked the recruiters if she would still be available. They do not have the more senior role available just yet, but (the recruiter and us think) they just did not want to let the change to get Ellen go. So they have now offered her a 6 months contract as a project manager. Starting with small projects for now. We expect they will probably offer her a permanent job after that ;-). She is asked to start next Monday (August 7th), which is pretty fast! Ellen is on one hand very happy to start working of course, but on the other hand it will be the end of the freedom of the last 4 months for her. The best part of this contract is that she will earn (before tax) even more than in Holland. Knowing that the tax is a lot less than in Holland, Peter almost doesn´t have to work anymore ;-) ;-)

In the mean time Peter has done another interview and (only just) got a result of an interview back that he did three weeks ago. Unfortunately they have found someone coming from another oil & gas company, so have chosen that candidate. They did state he was a close 2nd, and would like to keep him in their database for when other opportunities will arise. So, although being rejected, still not a bad result by itself.

Ikea2 and walking

Last week we have been busy (amongst other things) to assemble the cupboards we bought at Ikea. It took a day and a half in total, but we like them a lot. We have ordered two more ;-). Unfortunately there was one set of doors that was NOT the right colour (birch in stead of white), so the idea that Ikea was a bit better organised here (concerning orderpicking and delivery) than in Holland wasn't the right one.

Since last week there seems to be someone who is making comments on our posts (one comment on each post!) with a stupid sentence like 'I found information here' with the word 'here' hiding a link. We had to decide to try and stop that kind of rubbish, so we are going to turn on the option that you have to sign in at blogger to be able to make a comment. We hope it is not too uncomfortable for you. To give you some time to react we will change that setting in a week from now. Please let us know if you would have a problem with that.

Then a special message to Frank R.: Frank, we know you are about to start your sabbatical trip (biking to Turkey) soon. We hope you have a nice trip!! If possible let us know how the trip goes.

Ikea and Telstra

Last Saturday we had some friends over (Dutch immigrants and some partners). It was very nice, and we made some plans for starting up a 'walking'group'. A date for the first walk is set.

Last Monday we have been to Ikea (again ;-) and ordered some more cupboards, so we can start organising the last two 'to be organised' rooms, the office and the hobby-room. They just called that they would be here in half an hour to deliver them. We are also planning to have a look at Caversham Wildlife park in Whiteman Park. The idea is to organise the (1st) walk there, so we want to have a look first, and make some nice pictures.

Peter has joined a Bowling league (10-pin bowling). Last Thursday evening he played for the first time (in years ;-).

Yesterday we contacted Telstra (since they had not contacted us). There was no news concerning the sent package. First they agreed to just send a new package, but a few minutes later told us we could also go to any Telstra shop and simply buy the DIY package. The money for that will then be refunded on the invoices. So, that is one of the main items on the shoppinglist for today!

End of the week

On the job front only one new thing to mention, Ellen has made a very good impression at her interview and they are now looking into possibilities to put her in a more fitting job somewhere in the next few weeks. Exciting!
Peter did not hear anything yet about a result of his interview, so hopefully that will come next week (but as mentioned in previous post, time does tend to go faster then expected, for everyone ;-).

Today we called Telstra (the phonecompany) because we expected the DIY (do it yourself) kit for the adsl connection somewhere at the beginning of this week. Telstra has called Australia Post (that they hire to deliver these packages) and they have not been able to tell where that package is at the moment. It has been delivered by Telstra to Australia Post at the 5th of July, so should have been here. In 48 hours (that is working hours, so next Tuesday) they should have more news ... :-( We'll wait and see!

Time flies when ...

Unbelievable….another two weeks passed without us publishing anything on the blog. Sorry for that! On one hand we just are very busy, and then when we do have some time left we are very much enjoying being able to see our dvd-movies again. We have been missing them for almost 3 months, so we are trying to catch up with the missed fun ;-)

Anyway…we are now living in our house for 2 weeks, and we really, really, really love it! All the boxes have been upacked by now, the bedroom, kitchen and dining room are in order (all the stuff is in the right place). The other bedrooms are not too bad: Most of our stuff is now in the right room. We just have to arrange it all within the rooms. This Friday a cabinet will be delivered that we can use in the office-room (bedroom 4) to put all the files away. We are also looking round (for example at Ikea, which, although a very big one, is present in Perth) for cupboards for the study and the hobby room (bedroom 3).

As most of you will know, when moving in a house the first 80% of the work gets done in about 20% of the time, but the last 20% always seems to be taking far more time (usually small stuff but a lot of it). Ellen has done a magnificent job by washing every clothing that we have (since most of it has been in the container for 2 months). It took her about a full week to get through it. And we are very fortunate that the washer we have here is a top loader. Although being a bit less water-efficient as the one we had in Holland, it is a lot faster. A full wash cycle takes only 30 or 40 minutes.

In the last weeks we have also met some other Dutch emigrants that we got to know through the xpdite website. This Saturday we have invited some Dutchies to meet at our home and exchange some experiences.

About the work: Last Friday Ellen has had an interview for a 6-month contract job as project manager. She should hear something by the end of this week. Peter has had an interview last Monday for a (permanent) position as change & release manager (this was the job mentioned in the ‘blue to the bone’ post on our weblog). That company has also said to inform by the end of this week if he is the preferred candidate or not. Now we both already found a couple of times that saying ´by the end of this week´ can easily mean in a week or two… So we are also looking for other opportunities at the same time. By the way, we are very happy that we did not have to work the last couple of weeks, because that would hardly be compatible with moving in a new house!

Talking about the new house, we are also waiting for a package by Telstra with the material to install (wireless) adsl at home. Once we have that we will finally be able to upload more photos than we used to do the last 3 months. We will be making some photos of our new house (inside and outside) in the next few days, and upload these anyway.

Last week we were changing a lamp on the ceiling (replacing one of them with one of our halogen lamps). We found that the ceiling is (if we name it correctly) completely made of plasterboard (´gips´ in Dutch). That means that you have to use a bit different methods to attach a lamp to the ceiling. For this one Ellen went up the ceiling which meant she had to climb above the ceiling (through an access panel in the hallway) and there walk from one wooden rafter (or beam) to the next. Because it is not wise to step on the (plasterboard!) ceiling which is attached to the bottom of these rafters (;-), and there are also conduits laying on the ceiling for the ducted air conditioning, this was an adventure in itself!

Fortunately in the mean time we have found other material that can be used to attach stuff to plasterboard ceilings, so any other things we want to attach to the ceiling will be pretty easy to get done.

And as a last remark: winter is slowly starting to creep in. Night temperatures of about 4 degrees, day temperatures around 15 or 16 degrees. Compared to where we are coming from not too bad for winter, but a warm sweater is needed. Only the normal winter rain(s) have not really started yet, but should be getting here.

Blue to the Bone

Again the last week has passed almost without noticing it. No news (yet) on the interview for the contract job. But since I (Peter) have also applied for a permanent job where the application period has closed last Friday and where they will contact candidates coming Tuesday or Wednesday, it is not a problem.

Last week Wednesday we went for a walk in the Kalamunda Shire (Perth Hills). Not too long a walk (5 km), but some very steep climbs and descents. Then also taking some time to take photos so we still needed 3 hours. You really have to be carefull when thinking about distances here, they do tend to be a lot longer then back in Holland ;-). A few pictures can be FOUND HERE.

Yesterday evening we went out with Paul and Ileana (the owners of our current holiday home). We went to Northbridge to enjoy nice Italian food, and after that we went to a blues-club (Blue to the Bone). In that club they have live (blues!) music. It was very nice!

Coming week will be a pretty week for us, since we will start moving in our (own! new!) house in Darch. Several deliveries will be made in that week. Wednesday the big day when the moving company will bring all our stuff from our container. We are very curious to see if everything is still in good order. If so, Wednesday night will probably be the first night that we will be sleeping there! One of the important things that should be arranged from Tuesday is our landline. We hope that that will go as planned. We can of course still make calls through our mobiles, but our connection to the internet (so in fact to all of you!) is depending on that.
Then about 2 to 3 weeks after the connection of the phoneline we should receive the DIY (do it yourself) package for a ADSL connection. After that is installed we will finaly be able to upload loads of pictures (we will be making lots of pictures of the house) again.

Coldest & Dryest start of winter ever!

Very interesting, the day after describing a 'typical' winterday, we heard on the news that on Friday morning the temperature in Perth (downtown) had broken a record. The lowest temperature EVER MEASURED (for the start of the winter anyway) of -0.7 degrees... At the same time it is also the dryest start ever. So our description of the winterday probably was not vey typical. But even so, you can understand we are still saying to each other every day: "...and this is what they call winter...". We are curious what we will experience in the next two months, which are the real winter months ;-)

Winter, Interview en Photoclub

We know that the weather in Holland is very summer-like at the moment (32 degrees). We think that that aslo means that it is very sticky (humid). Is that correct?
Here in Perth it is of course winter. I will describe a typical (?) winter day for you, as it has been today: At night the temperature goes down to about 4 or 5 degrees. So when you wake up it is pretty fresh. When going out at abolut 9 or 10 am, the outside temperature is somewhere around 12 to 14 degrees, which is (with a bit of wind) still pretty fresh. But then around noon the temperatures are back to about 20 till 24 degrees. So in other words, put on a jumper or cardigan in the morning, and leave that at home in the afternoon ;-)

This Friday I (Peter) will be having an interview at a company to see if they will hire me as a contractor for 6 months. This opportunity has been arranged by a recruitment buro! As you will understand, pretty exciting for me (us), and at the same time also a bit funny to think about having to go to work again ;-)

Last Monday evening we went to a club evening of a photoclub. This club arranges 2 club meetings per month. The first of the month is usually a competition evening, the second is reserved for topics like workshops, lecture, etc.. It was very interesting, and both of us are thinking of joining a photoclub. Next Monday we will have a look at antoher one, and after that we will choose one of these.

Container ready for delivery

Today we got a phonecall from the moving company. Our container is now through quarantine and ready for delivery. This is even a week or 2 faster than we expected ;-) .
Also today we learned that settlement on June 26th does not neccesarily mean that you can actually move in on that date... Legally the sellers have untill noon the next day (the 27th) to deliver the (keys of the) empty house.
Of course not a real problem, but we will probably be actually moving in a day later than we thought. And of course reschedule some deliveries....

Two more photos

On our biking trip (Munda Biddi trail) cousin Eric was with us also. He also took some photos. Two of them we have added to our photoset. One of Ellen and me together, and one very special macro photo of a very agressive animal.... Take another LOOK HERE!

Also last Tuesday we have been at a short (dry ;-) introduction of the Swan Canoe Club. We are now thinking about joining the club and take up Kayaking. In a couple of weeks our stuff furniture and other stuff should have arrived and we should be moved into our house. After that we want to start with the (wet) introduction course, learning some basics. When we have done that course, then we can use the club boats any time we like ....

Munda Biddi trail

Last weekend we have of course watched the (friendly) soccer match Holland-Australia. Friends invited us for that. They are real 'Oranje'-fans, while we were somewhere in between ;-).

Besides that we have done a part of the Munda Bidda mountainbike trail. When this trail will be ready it will run from Mundaring (north of Perth) to Albany, which is 900 km to the south! At the moment the first 300 km are ready. Since this was also our first experience with mountainbiking (or maybe we should call it bush-biking?) we decided to do an easy part of it, and not too long a part either. We choose a 10km part, to do that both ways. The trail mainly runs along (or through) the hills. You just park your car at a road close to where the trail crosses the road. Then get up your bikes and ride! It was a lot of fun to do this type of biking. Although it was an easy part, it still had some reasonably steep climbes and descents. Especially the descents were a bit challenging for since they are (or course, it is bush!) covered with loose sand.
I did take my camera with me, so here's a SHORT IMPRESSION

Container arrived in harbour

Today (that is 4.00 am) we received a (automatic generated) email that our container has arrived in Fremantle (which is exactly the date that has been planned 2 months ago), and is now on its way to the licensed bond of the Australian Customs. So, next week after the long weekend we expect to be contacted by the moving company about further steps and details.
We are of course very happy that there have been no delays! The house will (assuming no unexpected surprises will occur of course ;-) be transferred to us on June the 26th. So that's 3 weeks after coming Monday.

Last week we have againg been busy shopping for furniture. Meanwhile we have bought a couch set (3-2-2) for the 'games' room where the audio/video set up will be placed. You may think we're not right in the head, but the color we ordered it in is: snow-white!
Also last week we bought some appliancies (fridge, washer, dryer, microwave/oven combination) and a coffee machine (espresso/cappuncino).

Finally today we have bought a sofa for in the family room. This one in red. For those of you who can remember, 2 months ago (in Holland) we were saying that we would most likely NOT buy anything leather to sit on.... Well, we have been wrong ;-) As well the couch set as the sofa is leather... Since we have evaporative airconditioning in the house, we expect we should not regret that in summer ... !

About the work, as mentioned last week the bigger firms (where we have apllied for job(s)) do take their time to make decisions, so no news there yet. The only new information is that I (Peter) will be having a meeting with two consultants at the same recruitment office that Ellen has been last week.

All of you have a nice long weekend, enjoy the soccer game (Holland - Australia) if you can ;-)

Dining table

Today we went looking for a dining table (and chairs). And although we had thought about looking for a square table before and decided not to go for that, we did walk into a set (table with 8 chairs) that we just couldn't resist. The table is 1.50 * 1.50 m, Light Oak. The chairs are leather with light oak legs.

Also we had another look at washers, dryers and refrigerators. We are almost clear on whoch ones we want, but we first have to have another look into the house and take some measurements to be sure.

On the bike to Freo (Fremantle)

Today we did another nice bike ride from Scarborough Beach Road (=Perth) to Fremantle. This time we rode 47 km. Again some more than last week. Unfortunately the Fremantle Doctor (the seabreeze from the south west) did not show up today, and we even had a bit of head wind all the way (and back).

Last week has (as usual by now) gone by in an instant. Ellen had an interview at a big recruitment firm to talk about possibilities. It was a very good interview, and possibly an interview with a company will follow somewhere next week.

Since it was a week ago that I had sent in my application for a job that I would absolutely like, I (Peter) called the contact at that firm to ask if there would be any news. The reaction was: "hopefully in the next couple of weeks will be decided which applicants will be invited for an interview". Now I thought I did not understand correctly, so I checked: "Did you say the next days or the next weeks?"... You'll guess, the answer was: "In the next couple of weeks". I do understand that they want to be sure to find the right person, but I was wondering if this is the typical 'laid back' way of life .. ;-) Of course, I do not mind not having to work for another couple of weeks (almost like a sabattical ;-) but I will of course keep on pursuing other job opportunities too..

This week we also got the plans of the house, so we are now also (on paper) trying to decide which furniture goes where, and what furniture we need besides what is on its way.. This will probably consume a fair part of our thoughts for the next weeks ;-).

Then tomorrow we will go to Gosnells where a 'Dutch cultural community day' will be. Having looked at the website, we expect we will see a lot of old fashioned Dutch activities (like dancing on clomps ;-), but it might be fun to just have a look anyway.

Another week

Unbelievable, another week has just gone by.. What have we done last week? Well, mainly looking round a bit in several stores. Since we have bought a house now, we know that we will have to buy some furniture to complement the stuff that is coming over on the container. Of corse, anything more than looking is not possible. First we want to be certain that the settlement date is sure. And of course we also want to be sure that the container has arrived in time. By the way, we have actually gotten the approval for the finance subject to valuation. This valuation should take place in the next few days.

What we have been looking for in the shops is: a couch (needed for the livingroom/theatre-room), a dinner table, a fridge (yes, a big one like they usually are over here ;-). And (almost) last but not least we will also have to buy a new dvd-player (region free) to be able to play our own dvd's as well as the new ones we will buy here in the future. And than the very last: a big plasma screen.... To be honest we think that will be our most improtant new item for the house.
We are pretty certain which one we'ld like to have, but if anyone has ideas, do's or dont's etc in this field, please let us know. (We are looking for a 50 inch screen;-).

Today we did a nice bike ride along (a part of) the Swan river (or rather a side-arm of the river). With 38 km we are making progress!

The next stage

Last Monday we have learned we would be able to get a mortgage before actually having a job. So, last Tuesday we started house-hunting! In the current market in Perth you have to be very fast. As soon as you see a nice house in the paper or internet, don't hesitate and have a look. There are a lot more buyers than sellers. So after driving by 40 or 50 houses (we lost count ;-), we found a house that absolutely appealed to us. We called the agent to arrange an inspection (have a look inside) to see if the inside was as good as the outside. Well, it did. So yesterday evening we started negotiations. After a counter offer or two this the agent called us this morning that our last offer was accepted by the buyers. So, since this morning we are the proud owners of a new house (not even one year old). Of course all of this subject to finance, but that should not be a problem.
To give you an impression of the house, have a LOOK HERE (Getting greener again, Ronald ??).
In time this link will probably disappear, but by then we should have pictures of our own, and replace the link.

Thanks Jan Roza ;-)

Jan, you were absolutely right... Netherlands was still mentioned in our profile as being our location. But that silly mistake has now been corrrected!

Living in a holiday

We realised we had not posted any news on our log for almost a week now. Partly because the days are just flying by, partly because we also wanted to post a few photo's, and not until today could we find the time to do that. The 4 photo's that we uploaded today took more than an hour (patience is a virtue ;-).

What have we done last week:

After further research for job opportunties we both have now applied for 2 jobs, sent our resume's to a big recruiter and sent our resume to a contact through a mutual friend. No reactions yet, but that is to be expected ;-).

Last Tuesday we got on the bikes again to have a nice ride. But we did not realise that the Fremantle doctor gets stronger when the day gets older ;-). Since we started to bike at 15.30 and southward, we had to bike against a pretty strong wind. Not to mention the hilly character of the bikepath... Oh, for those of you that don't know that, the Fremantle Docter is the sea brease that usually comes in everyday. We have been told that how earlier it starts, the stronger it will get by the end of the day. Now that we know that, we will try to take it in account when going for a ride (leave early, and if possible leave against the wind so we can return with the wind in the back).

A few days ago we also went for a walk. In fact we walked to the (same) bikepath. Only 10 minutes walk from our current rental house, and we are on that bikepath, with nice views to the ocean. Since we were walking I (Peter) could now take my camera with me and take some photos. A few of these have now been uploaded, and you can find them HERE.

Also last week we booked some theater performances in Perth. One orchestra performance (Dvorak & Grieg) in the Perth Concert Hall, one cabaret performance (Take-Two) in a night-club-like set up in Subiaco (with 4 or 6 people seated at round tables) and a musical performance (Motown, again in the Perth Concert Hall)

Last Saturday we had friends over from Secret Harbour (Marina and Mike) who stayed for dinner. Next Saturday we will have other friends for dinner.

By the way, everyone thanks for your reactions / comments on the weblog. We really enjoy that. Some of you have said that all the pictures so far are just looking like we are on holiday. We'll, although that is how it seems, but we are actually living here now ;-). And indeed everyday we are saying to each other how lucky we are that we are indeed living here. Besides the small detail of not having a job yet, we are realy living in a holiday-like environment, and we love it !!! If any of you is doubting if it would be nice for you... Don't hesitate, and try to get over here ;-)

The Dutch TAX department has found us...

What we were expecting, but not this soon happend last week. The Dutch TAX department has found us! Aunt Sjaan received two blue (A5) envelopes in here mailbox for (each of) us. The envelopes contained a multipage question sheet with lots of questions to answer. The accompanying letter states that they had received information from Waalwijk (the county) that we have left the country. And they need us to answer the questions to be able to determine if we own them money... We have filled in the documents and put them in the mail this morning.

This was of course another milestone: our first post ;-)

Since today we are also working on finalising our resumé's, because we found some interesting job-ads on the internet. The next couple of days we will be studying on the application-procedures and performing them. Some of these jobs are with the WA-government, and they have a very extensive (but very good organised) internet based application system.

We'll keep you posted on any progress....

All our stuff / our bikes

When moving from Louises place to our rental in Ocean Reef, the car was very able to carry everything we are currently having with us.. (except for the bikes that is). Look HERE.

Although just a regular dialup connection, we are now reconnected to internet through our own laptop. Look HERE.

As promised, here are the photos of our bikes. Including the 'shockies' under the saddle and at the front ;-). Look HERE.

Coastal bike ride / Anzac day

Today we made the bike ride (as planned yesterday) to Hillarys and back. Only 21 km's, but the bike path mainly runs through the dunes along the coast, so it does go up and down all the time.

Our bikes have shock absorbers on the front and under the saddle. We can tell we would never have anything else anymore! Riding our bikes reminded us of the test drive we did a couple of months ago with a Jeep Grand Cherokee (that was in Holland). That car took every speedbump without any problem whatsoever. Our bikes do the same with all kind of irregularities in the road (and bumping up sidewalks is no problem at all).

The weather (yep, again ;-) was oke during the first part of the trip (lots of big, black clouds), but just 5 minutes before we arrived in Hillarys the rain started to fall. On the way back there were still lots of clouds, but no rain. Temperatures just above 20, so couldn't be better for bikerides.

Today is also a national holiday in Australia, Anzac day. On this day people remember the fallen soldiers of the wars. Originally started as a remembrance day for fallen Australian and New Zealand soldiers during a war against the Turks in 1904/05 at Gallipileo. It was too early for us to have a look there, but in Kings Park in the centre of Perth people gather before 05.00 am, and than at sun rise start marches through the street.

Moved to Ocean Reef

Last Friday we moved to our second 'home' in Perth, Sunset Cottage in Ocean Reef. The first day and night we had to get used a little bit. Although very silent (in a little cul-de-sac), at night there are thousands of crickets (krekels in Dutch). Also the first night was pretty humid.

Yesterday we have (for the first time since we're Down Under) taken the time to just sit outside and read our books. The weather was great, 23 degrees and a nice warm sun (Please, if you are getting bored with the good weather news, just let us know ;-).

As of today we have transferred the telephone (landline) into our name, so now we are having our own phonenumber and more importantly we are re-connected to internet through our own laptop. Although it is a bit slow (normal modem connection), we are now able to surf without having to bother anyone else.

Today we have bought some (new) pillows, because although the beds are not too bad, it is of course not as good as our own beds (which are under way in the container ;-). Also today we picked up our bikes, which are now complete with accessoiries like mud-spats, bagage-racks and lots more. Tomorrow or the day after we'll take some pictures and post them here. Plan for tomorrow is to have a nice bike ride to Hillarys (visit Louise) and back.

Photos of our car

Today we (I ;-) found some time to put photos of our car on the internet so you can have a look at them HERE.

Tomorrow we will have a look around the south of Perth (Secret Harbour, maybe Port Kennedy), and also visit a co-immigrant that we know from the emigration forum.

Point of no return

The day before yesterday we got our bikes. We have been riding them a bit today to check for any neccesary detail adjustments. Some parts like mud spats were not in yet (that is, they only had one set in the shop) so had to be ordered. These final parts are expected in 2 weeks. Meanwhile we can test the bikes further.

This afternoon we made a little walk on the beach followed by cappucino's on a terras. Being a bank holiday there were lots of people on the terrasses, though nog on the beach. Temperatures of 22 degrees, but a fresh wind from the sea did make it a bit cool to sit on the beach.

When walking on the beach we came to an important (albeit quick) decision, we are here to stay! We used to say that we would not be able to live in Holland anymore after probably living here for half a year or a year, but we (both) find that this ' point of no return' has already arrived.

Tomorrow we will visit a Medicare office to formalize our healthcare, and at the same time let them tell the options (and costs) of extra ' private' healthcare.

Driver's licenses arrived

Yesterday (Thursday) we went to Ellen's aunt (Sjaan), and much to our surprise our WA-driver's licenses had already arrived. Also the bank cards (handy-cards), a bank statement from Holland (so the address change has worked ;-) and my (Peter's) first phone bill.

Also yesterday we picked up our car, and it is really a wonderful car. In the evening we drove Michael and Oscar (his son) to the airport for their short holiday (2 weeks) in the UK! Loads and loads of space in the back of our car.

We have no specific plans for today (being Good Friday's, all shops will be closed) but are now working on our resumees. Later today we will have a walk on the beach and/or throguh the dunes. Forecast for today and tomorrow is 29 degrees and lots of sun. For Sunday and Monday the temperature is expected to be 23, lots of clouds and some rain is expected.

Today (Monday) we have arranged our car insurance. The insurance company was happy to accept our claim-free history, so we got the maximum no-claim discount (65%) and even ' for life'. Meaning that we won't lose that maximum after making a claim. Of course, if you would claim too much you'ld be kicked out of the insurance ;-). Besides arranging the car insurance we were also informed about the possibilities of placing the health insurance, contents (of the house) and possibly the house itself at their company too. That would give discounts like 2.5, 8 or even 10% on the premiums.

After that we went to the licence registration office to get our driver's licences transferred into Western Australian ones. First we talked to an Irish guy (who did remind us a bit of Mr. Bean!) who did some cheks on our papers and our eyesight. After confirming that a Dutch licence is applicable for transfer without doing any theory test, we had to fill in (another) form. With this form we then went to another counter where they checked the data again. After that they took a picture of us, and told us the licences will be sent by post in a few days. Since next weekend is Easter we will probably receive them somewhere next week.

So, all together, going strong !!

Amazingly enough we hardly had any jetlag. The day before last we arrived at 14.30 at Perth airport. The actual immigration procedure didn't take any extra time at all. Just a simple stamp in the passports was all. After arriving at Louise's place we had a nice dinner and a nice chat. We were able to stay up untill 22.00 before crashing into bad. A good night sleep, and we were up and running the next morning.

Yesterday we went to the bank to change our addres and arrange some more account and bank cards. Also Peter bought a new mobile phone and a pair of sunglasses. At the end of the afternoon we had a look at a Ford dealer and saw an interesting (demo) Territory. This morning we went back for a test drive. After that drive and some tough negotiating we bought it !! We didn't expect beforehand that we would buy a car this fast, but we did...

When we will have some decent access through a broadband connection, we'll upload some photo's..

In Singapore

A short update: We are now on Singapore Airport. Local time is 06.30 am. Our connecting flight to Perth will leave in 3 hours. Just had a nice cup of cappucino. So far the flight was pretty much oke. The plane was filled only half. More news later...

Moving Day

At the end of a tiring day we are now sitting in an empty house to post this post (;-). The movers were gone by 3 pm, which was a bit earlier than expected. We have made over a 100 photo's today. You can find a few of them here.

Early this morning we have been measuring the weight of our suitcases and boxes. That was a shock, a total of about 115 kilograms. We are allowed to take 80 kgs with us. A quick call too Singapore Airlines learned that every kg above 80 would cost us 55 euro's. So, we were lucky that the movers were still working downstairs, so we had some time to empty some boxes and put stuff in the 'container' room. At the moment we have a total bagage weight of 78,5 kgs. And now we are hoping that at checking in they will agree on that...!

Our last working day

Tuesday, March 28 was the last day for me (Peter) to go to work and Thursday the 30th was Ellen´s last day. Not that any work has been done on these days, since they were our last ones! This were the days to say goodbye and farewell to our (Peter´s & Ellen´s) colleagues. The rest of this month is all holidays.

So, the situation that we won´t have a job at all will only occur if we do not find a job by May 1st. Even then, a few extra weeks of ´holiday´is not that bad either.....

Moving impression

The last days (more than a week in fact) we are busy organising all our stuff as a preparation for the actual moving day next Monday. We´re going through all the stuff to decide what we have to take with us on the plane, what can be thrown away (emigration is a very effective activity to really start sorting all your old stuff out ;-) and what can be sold or be given away. And of course what stuff has to be packed and loaded in the container by the moving company. Have a look at this short impression.

Farewell friends

Last Saturday we organised a little party to say farewell to our friends. Have a look at some photos here. We are still very amazed to find that the farewell´s still do not feel like a farewell at all! We´re still too anxious to get on the plane and get to Perth ;-)

Last Sunday we had our farewell dinner with the family at the Paradijs (Paradise), a local Chinese restaurant. As you can imagine it was a bit funny because on one hand this was not the very last time we´ll see them, but at the same time it is probably the last time (for some years at least) that we´re all together in this setting.
But the food was oke, and we´ll be saying the final goodbye´s (again, only for some years of course ;-) to all family members later this week or beginning next week.
Have a look at some photo´s made during this dinner.

Time is drawing nearer (not fast enough for us, really ;-). The last two weeks we have spent a lot of time in cleaning up and sorting out the stuff in the attic and in the garden shed. Some of the agreed stuff has already been picked up by our neighbours. Since last Sunday we have no more plants in the house!

Little over a week ago we went to our favorite restaurant (Japanese restaurant Kyoto in Veldhoven) where we had our 'last' dinner cooked by Ming. If you're ever in the neighbourhood of Veldhoven and like to have a very nice meal, do have a meal at Kyoto's !! Here are some pictures of our last meal: http://www.flickr.com/photos/perthpete/sets/72057594080993709/

Some more goodbyes coming week are saying goodbye to our hairdesser, Maartje. She has been cutting Peter's hair for maybe close to 20 years. Thanks, Maartje!

Although it's only three weeks from tomorrow before we'll be flying, we are still pretty busy with all the cleaning up, sorting out, plan activities etc, which prevents us from getting nervous!

Slowly but surely we are starting to say goodbye's. Peter's cousin and his wife came by this afternoon to say goodbye (ok, one month earlier than expected, but what the ... ;-).

After the dinner table and chairs and some smaller plants where picked up last week, today our big palm-plant (2m high) has been picked up. Another new empty spot in the house!

A lot of times we are asked why we are emigrating to Australia, and although it is not very simple to explain it, the following link does cover a big part of it:
http://www.wherethebloodyhellareyou.com

Another link that we would like to share with you is the following one. This Sunset Cottage is the house that we will be renting from the end of April till the end of June (and after that, who knows, maybe stay there a bit longer, maybe we'll be looking for a house to buy of our own):
http://www.ozstays.com/7896

SOLD - SOLD - SOLD - SOLD - SOLD - SOLD

Hi all,
As of today it is formal, the financial condition has passed without the buyers making use of it! (See the picture, for the non-Dutch readers: VERKOCHT means SOLD).

So, this morning we have also booked the (one way !) tickets to Perth. Yesterday evening we have been looking into possibilities about leaving as early as possible. We found that if Ellen works 3 Fridays (we normally do not work on Fridays) we can even leave a week earlier than our last plan.

So, we expect to arrive in Perth on Thursday April 6th, 2006. Scheduled arrival time 14:35.
Of course, we´ll probably spent some time at immigrations before actually leaving the airport ;-)

First stage passed

Yesterday morning (early, 00:00 ;-) the three day ´consideration´ time for the buyers have passed. Not that we expected anything, but you never know. Tomorrow a real estate appraiser will visit us to do an appraisal of our home. Our buyers will need that as condition of their bank for the mortgage. Saturday afternoon the buyers themselves wil visit us and bring their parents to show them the house they have bought too...

You´ll understand that we now think it all looks pretty sunny! This weekend we will start to work on a (provisional) planning, based on the assumption of flying to Perthin the middle of April and leave the actual delivery of the house to our real estate agent. In a week or three we expect to be able to make the final decision for the travel date.

Take Two !!

Although we were thinking about waiting till the financial condition in the house selling contract has passed, we just couldn´t wait any longer, and give you the good news ...

We have sold our house (again).. Today we signed the contract with our (new) buyers. Of course they now have 3 days time to back out (that ´s the law) and then there is the financial condition. This condition states that the contract could be cancelled if they would not be able to get the mortgage arranged before February 1st. We are pretty confident that it will be no problem, so that´s why we are already communicating it. No other complicating conditions like what we had with the last buyers ;-)

In the contract we agreed on a delivery date of May 1st or anytime sooner which we would agree upon from both sides. We are actually considering to look into the possibility to leave 2 or 3 weeks before that, either in the case that the buyers would be happy to agree on that, or to leave the final delivery into the hands of our real estate agent. But it would take a bit more tight planning, so for now it is just an idea. We´ll let you know!!

Set back !

Hi all,

Unfortunately we have a set back to report. The selling contract of our house has been cancelled last week. Our buyers had sold their house with a condition that their buyers get a licence to start an eatery in their (our buyer´s) property. This licence has been given by the county, but between Christmas and New Year (the last week of the 6 week objection-period after publishing county decisions) exactly one (1) objection has been received by the county.

Although it is at this moment not certain that this objection will be approved or rejected by the county, our buyers still had to cancel the sell for now. They have told us that as soon as the objection has been rejected, they still would like to buy our house. They are aware that we can not wait for a permanent decision for an undefined period (that's what you get with county procedures ;-), and that we will be looking for other buyers in the mean time.

The result of all this (and that's for 99.9 % sure) is that we will not be able to leave for Australia in the first week of March, but that it will be somewhat longer. How much longer of course depends on how fast another buyer has been found, or how fast the county has decided to reject the objection.

That's all for now, we'll keep you all up to date about new developments!

Waiting for the selling conditions to pass ...

As most of you know, we are waiting for the selling conditions in our selling contract to pass. That should be clear by the end of next week. Very strange situation, since a week our minds are fully set on preparing all preliminary activities for our emigration (which fits our emotional state), but at the same time we are still not able to really take the final steps.

We can only hope it will all be fully clear after next week. Untill then we´ll just have to remind each other every now and than to be prepared for any set backs, and try not to fully unload the emotional battery (keep some reserve in there, just in case ;-) ).

Today we have been to an audio shop to get some information about possibilities to get the firmeware of our dvd player adapted so we will be able to look at Australian dvd´s too (that´s region 4, while we are region 2). They told us that there is not a big chance that our player will be applicable for that (it´s 7 tyears old now), and that they are not even sure if making a dvd player region free really means ´free´. It seems that in a lot of cases the region free results mean able to read region 2 and region 1 (US and Canada) because most non-region-2 dvd´s are from North America.

So, we´ll have to do some more research on that field. Worst case situation is that we would have to buy a new player in Australia (for the dvd´s we will undoubtedly buy overthere ;-) and also keep our current one to be able to play our current collection of dvd-players. And hope that one will not break time any time soon.....

If anyone has any usefull comments on this, just let us know!

Still in Holland

As of today we have decided to keep our experiences notes on this weblog.