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....