8th to 16th July 2008 - Perth WA

As mentioned before, we were in need of some tallboy’s, a TV etc., so after looking around we stopped in at a Cash Converters & ended up buying a 74cm flat screen TV. We failed to find tallboy’s locally at reasonable prices & decided to head back to IKEA.

Bought 3X tallboys, a solid pine mini 3 drawer unit for Savannah to use as a bedside cabinet & a few small items. Everything is in a DIY kit so Conrad’s got some assembling to do.

The next day we were on the look out for some chairs of some sort, now sick of sitting on the cold floor to watch TV. We remembered seeing some fold up chairs on sale in Bunnings, so off we went. We ended up buying a BBQ & some marked down patio chairs. Now how were we supposed to get the stuff home? One of the ladies overheard us talking & informed us we could just make use of their trailers. She told us we just needed to check they had one available, pay a deposit of $50 & on return of the trailer we’d be refunded the $50. What a fabulous service. It’s just fortunate that the Toyota has a tow-hitch fitted.

Back home Conrad started assembling all the furniture, & I started tackling the house, it really needed a good clean. I’m going to say it again, man this is a big house!

Of course we needed to test the BBQ out so we did some lamb chops on it for supper. Very nice! It’s so quick & easy. Here 2 weeks & doing it the Aussie way already!!

As we had managed to sort out internet & landline etc., we enjoyed our first Skype call from RSA, & bought a calling card so Conrad could also phone family. It was great to hear everyone & catch up a bit.

Tired of cleaning & working we headed out to Mandurah on Sunday. Wow it’s a lot bigger than we expected. Very pretty. We loved the whole feel of the place, we’ll definitely be back to enjoy the beach in summer, the water is warm & the view is amazing, even along the river. It was one of the small coastal spots we had considered moving to initially. It’s too far for Conrad to travel to work from though, so we are still happy were we ended up.

So Monday & back to work for Conrad. As we it would take a day or 2 to sort out a vehicle etc. He took the car. Savannah & I did the usual (I cleaned & she played).

Conrad’s day went well, about half of the tech’s are migrants & most are pretty friendly. The vehicle will only be ready for him on Wednesday, not too bad. We wanted to sort out insurance on the car & also take out Medical insurance. After a few quotes we decided on QBE for the car ($35 per month full cover incl. a hire car). We used iselect to get some quotes on medical cover. Decided on RTHealth fund & accepted their on-line quote. So now that’s all sorted only thing left to finalise is the family assistance from Centrelink. So I registered on-line & applied for it. I just needed to take in some documents for them to process my claim further.

As I’ve been back on-line I’ve been trying to catch up a bit on reading the forum. Came across a post for a coffee get together south of the river. I replied & supplied my details, I received a call that afternoon & heard the next one was the next day, Wednesday. As I would have the car, I decided to go. Conrad was getting a lift into work with one of the guys, & said he wouldn’t need the Navman, so I could use it, great at least I wouldn’t get lost.

What a lovely venue, Deepwater point, right on the Swan river. It was nice to chat & share thoughts etc. We had to cut our stay short though as Savannah slipped & fell into the water! Shame she was soaked from her toes to her chest! Freezing cold, I gave her my sweater & she stripped out of her wet things. We put on the car’s heater & headed home. After a nice hot bath, & some lunch, time to do some chores.

Off to Rockingham city shopping centre. First stop was Medicare/Centrelink office to hand in the docs. Then to Woolies as our cupboards are a little empty again.

Back home & Conrad arrived with his vehicle. For the moment he’ll use a Ford ute. & he’ll get his Hilux van later. His working hours seem odd to us as he works from 7h30 to 15h36. He’s been asked to work overtime from 6h30 to 16h00 as they are very busy at the moment. Of course this is more like the hours he’s used to, so no worries & the extra income is always welcome.

That’s it for now, see ya later!