Moving

We move down to Melbourne this week for the new ATC job, so we've been packing for the past couple of weeks. The removalists are coming this afternoon and we've finally finished, apart from the stuff that's going with us in the car.

We're not taking everything with us, since my step-daughter is going to house sit while we're away. That means we could pile everything up in the garage ready to go, and yet still have furniture to sit on. We've spent a lot of time recently, maneuvering around half filled boxes and items of furniture.

We're using a backloading company for the removals. Instead of putting just your stuff in a truck and moving it, they load it into a shipping container with other stuff that's going to the same place and put it on a train. Then the container gets filled up at the other end for the trip back. Because the costs involved are so much less for the removal company, they can pass on the savings to their customers. We're paying about a third what we would have with a traditional removalist. It takes a little longer, but that's not a problem when our stuff is going into storage anyway.

Everything is going into a 3 metre by 3 metre storage unit near the airport when it gets to Melbourne, since we only have accommodation lined up for our first week (paid for by my new employer). We've got two weeks once we get there to find a rental place before I start work at the end of the month. We're treating the drive down as a holiday, since we haven't had a proper one since April, two years ago, and won't get another one till Christmas time.

A lot of people have been telling us they're jealous, especially the ones that have lived in Melbourne, so that must be a good sign. There's also the fact that this is almost a sea change for us, Donna's never lived outside of Brisbane. I think most people would love to have the opportunity to do what we're doing, but circumstances prevent them, kids at school, finding a job in the new town, etc.

It's certainly going to be an interesting next few weeks.