Early August, 2009

We decide to accept the offer to move to Perth, AU, for 2 – 3 years and Bill’s company begins the paperwork.

Mid-August

We are told the visas will take 4-10 weeks, so we assume we have plenty of time to prepare for the move. However, the visas come through in just 2 weeks and Bill is told he is needed in AU asap.

Monday - August 24

We fly to Perth to find a place to live. Bill spends the entire week there writing a proposal, but with the aid of a relocation specialist, I find a townhouse and Bill gets a chance to see it and we decide to rent it. The location is perfect as it is only a 5 minute walk from the train station and then a 5 minute ride to his office. It’s just a half-block from grocery stores, shops, restaurants etc and only a 10 minute walk from King’s Park.

Early September

We find termite droppings, for the first time ever in the 11 years we’ve been in the house. Bill takes the cover off the spa and discovers algae, for the first time ever. The house seems to know we are leaving and is starting to rebel.

Monday - Sept. 21

Bill leaves for Perth. He is still working on my computer, downloading stuff I think I’ll need, when the shuttle driver arrives. We are so not ready for the movers, it would be much easier to just move everything, instead of trying to decide what to store, what to ship, and most importantly, what needs to go immediately, in a suitcase.

Tuesday – Sept. 29

The movers arrive to pack and move the stuff for AU. I am still sorting what to ship, what to store and what to take with me. I end up making mistakes that I don’t realize until much later, like packing my HRT. (UGH! Hot flashes return with a vengeance.) I am also careful to make certain I include all our jackets, coats and sweatshirts in the AU move, but I forget to leave anything out to take with me. The only thing left in the laundry basket is an old sweatshirt of Bills that I end up wearing EVERYDAY, EVERYWHERE for nearly two weeks. It also becomes my robe, because it is cold in our townhouse since the heater does not seem to work.

Wednesday – Sept. 30

Movers return to pack stuff for storage. I am living in the bathroom. It is the only place the movers can’t go to take my stuff. They try to pack everything not nailed down. I’ve told them not to pack my suitcases, and my 3 piles of papers and other “stuff” but they keep trying to get at it, so I move everything into the bathroom, close the door and put a “do not pack” sign on the door.

Jeanne has loaned me her trundle bed, so I can stay in the house. She and Celeste and Kathy all offered me their guest rooms but if I stay in the house I can continue to clean at night. Jeanne also gave me a plate and a bowl, and I have plastic cups and cutlery. I feel like an inmate, but it makes staying in the house much easier.

Thursday – Oct. 1

Last day for the movers, they seem determined to pack my stuff but I keep the bathroom door closed. There are 2 new guys today and I have to explain to them not to take the stuff in the bathroom.

The house seems so big and empty, it echoes. When you have virtually nothing, everything becomes valuable, and I scrounge around finding paperclips, rubber bands and tape! left behind by the movers. I put all of them to good use and am so happy to have found them. It's very weird how suddenly totally insignificant and ordinary things become very important and useful.

Friday – Oct. 2

A 2- person cleaning crew arrive and spend all day doing a “deep cleaning.” Several of the neighbor ladies take me out to another neighbor’s new wine bar. It feels great to relax and realize the moving part is finally over.

Saturday – Oct. 3

The carpet cleaner arrives and does a good job. I reseal the granite countertops and painstakingly clean all the spots off the hardwood floors that the cleaners missed. I fill all the nail holes and touch up with paint. The house is spotless and has never been this clean before. Why am I leaving?

Sunday – Oct. 4

At 8:30 in the morning the gardener finally arrives to move the sprinkler valves and equipment from inside the garage to the outside wall. He is over a week late, and I assumed he was not coming, but he insists he can finish the job quickly. An hour later he mentions there is water leaking in the back patio, and sure enough everything is wet but he says he will return shortly with a new faucet to fix it.

I still have lots of cleaning supplies and electronic waste to get rid of, as well as all the food in the refrigerator. Jeanne comes through again and takes it all. She is a lifesaver. I take a walk around the front and back yards and realize I’ve left several things behind, so I take everything out of the locked cabinet in the garage and store the yard stuff in there instead.

Two hours before I leave for the airport I bite into a carrot and break a tooth. The entire crown is gone but the tooth left behind somehow does not fall out.

As I am putting the suitcases in the car the gardener finally returns to fix the leak. I write him a check and hope there are no more surprises, I need to leave for LAX. I drive to the fly-away lot in Van Nuys to leave the car for Will to pick up, but I get lost and end up in Hollywood somewhere. Luckily I left early and find the lot without too much trouble, but I wish I had my GPS, which is now in AU.

Tuesday – Oct. 6

I arrive in Perth, after a 14 hour flight to Sidney, a 4 hour lay-over, and then a 4.5 hour flight into Perth.

Wednesday – Oct. 7 through Friday – Oct. 9

Went walking every morning in King’s Park. It is so big, it will take weeks to explore the entire park. Seeing lots of parrots and cockatoos. Tons of wildflowers too, but they’re pretty much at the end of their season. The park is wonderful, part bush, part botanical gardens, part manicured lawns and awesome play areas for kids.

Saturday – Oct. 10

Morning - Walked in King’s Park and on the way back we met an interesting guy, Rob, just getting ready to turn 70 years old. He was gardening and stopped us as we walked by, introduced himself and lamented that 3 things that have gone by the wayside are “good manners, the art of conversation and a sense of humor.” He seemed eager for someone to talk to and we were his target, so we listened and he talked. He told us about all the different jobs he’d had over his lifetime, then ventured to tell a joke, as he was known to “be a bit cheeky at times.” As we walked away he called after us, “You seem like a happy couple, G’day kids.” Kids?
Afternoon – we made another attempt to get some basic necessities and eureka! We found an IKEA. We now have 2 glass plates and 2 bowls, and 6 glasses. Feels downright extravagant after using paper plates and bowls and plastic cups. Can’t wait for our stuff to arrive, although it will probably take at least 2 more months. Trying to cook with just a small saucepan and a skillet is a challenge. Tried to use the oven but it smoked and never heated up enough to cook anything. Another thing to put on the list for the property manager.

Sunday – Oct. 11

Stopped at the “chemist” to see if I could get my HRT without a prescription. Of course the answer was no, and the clerk asked where we were from. She said she’d been to America once but could not get used to the money, since it’s “all green, why don’t they have colors?” (AU bills are different colors)

I’m learning some of the lingo. Shopping carts are trolley’s, parking lots are car parks, and alleys are laneways. Candies are called lollies, so candy stores are called lolly shops. Raisins are called sultanas. Aussies like to shorten words and usually put a y or an o at the end. So football is footy, Hell’s Angels are bikeys and our suburb is Subi (Subiaco.)

Wednesday – Oct. 14

Went to a meeting to discuss getting a community garden started. I have a hard time understanding some of the people, and we are speaking the same language, nominally. Someone says we should not allow any “chooks” and everyone laughs, including me, and we all agree that definitely, no chooks should be allowed in our garden. What are chooks? I discern from the ensuing discussion that they must be talking about chickens, although they never call them chickens, and I find out later, after checking the internet, that chooks are in fact, chickens.

Thursday Oct. 15

The insurance cards finally came in and I got a dental appointment. The office seems a bit behind the times, as they still use the old fashioned, hard, cardboard-like squares (that hurt when you bite down on them) to take x-rays. They don’t use a shield when taking x-rays, and they don’t put the little paper bibs on for when you dribble and make a mess. Surprisingly, the dental assistant came out to the waiting room to ask why I was there, and then she got down on her knees to look into my mouth, several times. Strange.

The dentist had to refer me to an endodontist. I went to the restroom before leaving and there was a sign over the toilet saying “As this is a communal toilet, please restrict yourself to lite release only.” Interesting.

In the grocery store, there is a combination of familiar brands, some we’ve never seen before and an odd mixture of recognizable brands that have been tweaked slightly. For example, Rice Krispies are called Rice Bubbles, and while the Kellogg’s logo is basically the same, it’s huge and takes up the entire box, instead of just a small one in the corner.

Still amazed at the prices, most everything is 2-3 times what it costs in the US. Eating out is especially pricey, even the locals complain about the cost of restaurant food. And all the stores close at 6:00pm, even the grocery stores, and pretty much nothing is open on Sundays. The only late shopping night is Thursday, and it seems everyone is out taking advantage of the opportunity. I'm not sure what working people do, although there is one small market that stays open late AND is even open on Sundays.

Saturday – Oct. 17

Overnight, it has gone from quite chilly to 100 degrees. It is hot, hot, hot, but we planned to go hiking so we drive to Serpentine National Park, only to find it closed. They have been doing a controlled burn, and the area is still smoldering. We drive to the dam and stop at a café. To our surprise, there are parrots, lots and lots of parrots, and they are not shy. They hop onto our table and chairs, hoping for something to eat.

After leaving the dam we drive to Mundinup State Forest and go for a hike. We don’t see a soul expect for another car in the parking area. Probably because it’s too hot and no one else is dumb enough to be out hiking.

We're back home, and Bill knocked the speaker off the table and it broke, and now he’s trying to fix it with only the few tools he brought with him and a bag of misc stuff I brought along in my suitcase. He says he feels like the professor on Gilligan’s Island as he scavenges twist ties off the bread to use for wire. If he can’t fix it we are relegated to listening to the radio, and there are no good radio stations in Perth. Many of them play songs from the 30’s and 40’s, either that or country western, which sounds strange sung with an Aussie accent.

Sunday – Oct. 18

Our heat wave only lasted 1 day, and thankfully it’s about 25 degrees cooler today. However, the heat (or the wind) seemed to bring out the flies, and they are sooooo obnoxious. They were bad enough while we were walking this morning, but when we sat outside to have lunch they were incredibly bad. We have been told to get used to it, they will be around until about April.

We had breakfast with a couple (Bill works with the guy) and they explained to us the odd situation with all the stores and shops in Subi, and every other suburb, closing on Sundays and at 6:00 p.m. during the week. The individual stores have nothing to say about their operating hours, it is all political. The one grocery store that stays open 7 days a week and doesn’t close until 9:00pm, is allowed to away with it because their square footage is under the limit imposed by the local government.

Perth has been described to us as being very conservative, and basically there are many old-timers who do not want to see any changes take place, including extended shopping hours and day-light savings time, which gets voted down year after year. Two of the reasons given for not wanting day-light savings time is that the cows will get confused and not be able to give milk at the proper times, and the other is that the extra sun light will fade the drapes. Honestly.