RSA to Australia - a new chapter

Since we received our Permanent Resident visa (175) on the 31st March 2008, we have begun preperations for the start of a new chapter in our lives: Australia.

We thought it would be great for everyone to follow our journey to Australia, so keep watching this space as we will update it as we get a chance.

Conrad, Tammy & Savannah

Sunday, June 1, 2008

4 Weeks to go!

We can hardly believe how little time is left in RSA for us, the weeks seem to be just flying past. We are now feeling quite settled in at Viola Cottage, and are starting to relax a bit.

When they say that emigration is not for sissies, they really mean it! This week was very stressful & evoked strange feelings as we watched the Britannia team wrap & pack up our household.

I must say that we are very impressed with the packing team and the level of service we have received thus far from Britannia. The guys worked extremely hard & told us we were very organised.

Well we worked hard to be ready, we spent 3 days just cleaning up for them to pack. We also packed our luggage & moved out so that all food containers were empty, the fridge & freezer were dry by the time they arrived.

Savannah’s take on the whole thing was amusing as she couldn’t wait to move into the cottage, & all she wanted was a piece of bubble wrap & the empty rolls to play with. Not interested at all in the boxes & chaos in the house.

Had some luck too, while checking an old one brick safe before dispatching it to Cash Converters, Tammy found a R100 note inside, which we’d forgotten about, so that covered the day’s lunch: ¼ bunnies from Maharani’s – yum!

Some photos of the packing process:




And of course the container, which was loaded on Friday


The seal being fitted! And off to the docks it went.

We were very lucky with the weather, we were expecting 3 days of rain from Wednesday, however it only rained in the early morning & cleared a bit. Then about halfway through packing of the container we had a major downpour (you can see how wet it was in the picture of the Britannia truck). It then cleared again & we had a rainbow above the truck & a second one above the house.


It was quite a strange sight, the one above the house, as it only lasted a few minutes & was only a small patch.

Saturday we met with the landlord for final inspection, & received the refund of our deposit! He is actually very pessimistic about RSA’s future & was chatting to us saying he’s trying to get his kids to move overseas. Considering how invested he is here & how well travelled he is, it’s quite a surprise at his lack of confidence in the current political & financial state of RSA.

Now for all the farewells..........

2 comments:

rodney said...

Hi Burgers - got to your blog via SAAustrlia Forums. Thanks for posting - just want to say the pics of the container gave me goosebumps - i am so excited for you guys! And jealous! We are only a few months into the process of applying. Good luck and Godspeed - look forward to following your settling in and new life. Cheers! Rodney

Scott, Tracy and Kate said...

Hi Tammy - great pictures and commentary.