The adventure really begins in early July, although we weren't leaving until July 22nd. We had arranged to rent out our house while we were away, and we were pleasantly surprised by the level of interest in our place, particularly as we were only going to be away for six months, which is not a lot of time from the perspective of a prospective renter. As it turned out, the people who have rented the place have just sold a house not too far away, and were looking for a place to rent for about six months while they ascertained whether they liked the area or not, and if so, then they would be looking for a place to buy. As it turned out, the settlement on the place they had sold was on July 10th, and so they were keen to move into our place a day or two before that. Given that this would mean moving out two weeks before we were actually leaving, we were initially a little hesitant; however, we felt that it would be silly to turn down tenants who otherwise suited us down to the ground. Hence it meant that we had to move all our stuff out and clean up the house a lot sooner than we had initially expected, and so by the first weekend of July, we had been putting things into boxes for a few weeks, and thinking about what would be sent, what would come with us and what was to stay at home. As always seems to happen at such times, you never realise quite how much stuff has been accumulated until you have to shift it all somewhere; in our case, this was never more applicable than when it came to toys! Moving the deadline forward like this also meant that the dogs had to be taken off to the kennels a couple of weeks early, which meant that it was a bit hard to explain to the boys, especially Timothy, why the dogs would be going somewhere well before we went on the plane. Thus, by about Tuesday July 6th, things were about to get serious: Max and Melanie were at the kennel, there were boxes full of things piled everywhere, the storage place was all ready and waiting, and various oddments (such as bicycles, Playstations, and bulky toys) had been transported to those whom we had approached. All, it seemed, was ready, and we were beginning to think that the hard work was over, or at least in decline --- to put it mildly, we were wrong ...
The next few days are not so much a blur as a flurry. The movers were coming on Wednesday 7th July to shift all the furniture and boxes into the storage place, and so the Tuesday was full of preparations, and particularly in packing up all remaining things that had to go into storage. We still had plenty of boxes, but it seemed that we also still had plenty of things to go in them, such as food in the pantry and in the fridge, crockery, cutlery and so forth which we were unable to pack up until the last minute. There was also the computer, and lots of things in the garden shed, as well as decisions to make about exactly which clothes were to go and which were not. This latter one was complicated by considering what the kids would grow out of before the northen winter, and what they would need between now and the time we got on the plane. In the end, that Tuesday was an enormously long day, with Linda managing to snatch two hours sleep, and James not getting to bed at all! However, come 8.00am on Wednesday, we were ready for the movers. The truck had soon backed up the drive, and the men were stacking it full with beds, furniture, bookcases, the piano (an effort in itself!), and, of course, a multitude of cuboidal cardboard reminiscent of the final scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. It took most of the morning to fill the truck, which gave the boys plenty of time to observe what was going on. At one point, Timothy was particularly keen to help them carry the chairs out to the truck, and once they were outside kept pointing to them and saying "Chairs!" in his cheeky, laughing way. By the time the first truckload was full, there was a lot less in the house, but still enough to make us look around and scratch our heads. Then it was off to the storage place, a new aircraft hangar divided up into a number of garages, one of which we had rented. It seemed cavernous when we had inspected it a couple of weeks previously, but we were wondering exactly how it would all fit. The movers were soon doing their stuff, standing couches on their side, stacking mattresses against the wall, and generally cramming stuff in every which way they could. Soon the focus was back home again, with us packing up more last-minute bits and pieces. This included a load of stuff for the garage sale at the church, who had most considerably organised the sale to coincide exactly with the time that we had the maximum amount of stuff to donate! After sending that off, and the second (and final) truckload, all (hah!) that was left to do was to get it all packed into the garage and to sort out what was rubbish and what was to be packed into suitcases. Once we got down there, we saw that the movers had just managed to get all the stuff into the garage, leaving the odd space here and there for the few things we had still to come. The house, of course, looked vastly different, with next to nothing in it, apart from a pile of clothes, suitcases and some other oddments, all laid out in the lounge room like they were awaiting inspection. It also looked a lot bigger and sadder. By this stage, it was about 6.00pm, and we were physically very tired. We were also a little frustrated, as we had been lead to believe that the moving process would be over by about lunchtime, but it had taken all day. Hence, as we had about 23 hours left before we handed over the keys and lots of cleaning left to do, we were feeling a bit under the hammer.
So, we set sail from the empty house around to the Casey's place. Kieran, Tania, Mikey and Emma are friends of ours who live nearby and who go to the same church, and had graciously invited us to stay with them for a day or so whilst we got the house all organised. Hence it was an immense relief to head over to their place for dinner, and recuperate. The kids, especially Joshua and Mikey, have always got on well, and they were soon having a wow of a time. The boys had been around there a bit ahead of us, and were certainly enjoying themselves by the time we arrived. It was a great distraction from the worries of the day, and was just was the doctor would have ordered. Eventually we headed off to bed, feeling tired but a lot more relaxed.
The Thursday was also quite a rush. We had a leisurely start, with the kids all having a wow of a time and thoroughly enjoying each others' company. Then we had to face up to the list of cleaning chores to be done, and the looming deadline of 5.00pm. Hence we were soon sweeping, vacuuming, wahsing and so forth, and remarking on how much gunk manages to find its way to behind the washing machine. There was also an increasing pile of rubbish, which was evidence of how much stuff had hung around for a long time basically because it had nothing better to do! Somehow we managed to get another load of stuff to the garage sale, and the place looking respectable, if not perfect, towards the late afternoon. The kids spent a lot of time at the Caseys, which seemed to suit everone! The end was certainly nigh when the agent came around to make an inspection and take some photos. By this stage we had stuff only on the veranda, which required sorting into junk and non-junk, but otherwise the place was ready. Hence, we headed off after another day of hard labour with the house now empty, but with a lot of rubbish piled up in the driveway. We had hoped that we would be all finished by this point, but the rubbish would have to be cleared away, and there was also the small matter of Emily's passport, which we had been expecting any day now, but which hadn't yet arrived. So, once more we went off to the Caseys, and once more the worries seemed to melt away at the door. Another evening of fellowship and excitable but tired children ensued, and we were all very ready for bed when the time came.
By Friday morning, the situation was that we had lots of rubbish to clear from the driveway, and too much luggage to fit in the car. There is an old saying about packing that one should put only what is necessary into a suitcase, and then halve it. This is basically what we did (if only because the suitcases as originally packed were impossible to carry or to fit into anything less than a two-tonne truck), and so we left a couple of suitcases with the Caseys for temporary storage. Then Linda and the kids went off to Lollipops, a new indoor play centre where kids could spend an eternity, whilst James stacked the car full of garbage, and made a few trips to the tip. This took longer than it seemed it should, mainly due to the amount of traffic on the roads, and it was about lunchtime by the time it was finished. By then Emily's passport had arrived, and the new tenants, who were busy moving things in, had let it be known that we needn't be in too much of a hurry to get back, as they were very keen on the house! Then, after having some lunch, rounding up the family, stacking all the stuff we were taking into the car, posting off some winter clothes to the UK ahead of us, arranging the re-direction of mail, talking to the agent to check that we hadn't forgotten anything and working out just how insane we really are, it seemed that the whole moving out phase was finally finished.
This had been quite a learning experience. For one thing, it is now crystal clear why people don't do this very often! Apart from that, and the observations about exactly how heavy books are, bemusement about the sheer volume of possessions we have managed to accumulate ("just how many zillion toys can a couple of kids accumulate, hide, make dirty and break?"), and giving thanks that the door of the storage place hadn't had an extra coat of paint and that we are still about 2,990 pairs of shoes behind Imelda Marcos, it was clear that we should have done a couple of things differently. Whilst it was definitely the right decision to employ some professional movers, we had decided against getting people who would also pack things up. This was mainly on the grounds of expense, but also because we felt that we would have had to go through all the stuff personally anyway, to work out what was going with us, and what was not, and that it wouldn't be too much extra hassle to pack it up as we went. In the end, we probably made the wrong decision, as the amount of time that went into the sheer packing of things could have been well spent elsewhere. Also, having had professionals in to move all the furniture, it looks bizarre in retrospect to have done the cleaning and removal of rubbish ourselves. Next time we do this (around the next turn of the millenium sounds good!), we'll get someone else to clean up the house and cart away the piles of garbage, and probably to do the packing too.
After a stop in Dandenong to see Mum/Eunice/Nana and Dad/Verne/Pop, we then pointed the car at Sale and headed off to Mum/Eunice/Gran's. It was really good just to chat and relax, and not have to run around and get things done! We still had the minor problem of having too much stuff that we wanted to take with us, but that was a relatively simple thing to sort out. It would have been good to stay for a week or so, but James still had to work, and Joshua was keen to get back to school, believe it or not! As a result we set off on Monday morning, dropped Joshua off at school, and then headed for Bev & Steve's place in North Melbourne, who had very graciously allowed us to stay there for the time remaining before we left. Bev & the kids were there when we arrived, and it was good to catch up with them all. Then James headed off to work, which included an examiners' meeting, while Linda took Timothy and Emily shopping, and did some other running around. Thus began a period of ten nights in the one spot, which, as you will discover if you read on, was to be a record for quite some time to come! This time was filled with social engagements (to see people before we left), the seemingly endless round of organisational details (international driver's licences, insurance, bills, banking), attempting to finalise accommodation in the UK, and commuting from North Melbourne to Oakleigh to take Joshua to and from school. This last one sounds pretty simple until you have to do it in peak-hour traffic! We had a good night when we went out to dinner with Linda's side of the family, when Stuart and Wendy were down from Sydney. This involved Stuart & Wendy, Eunice & Verne, John, Russell, Maria & Caleb, and our lot. The carpet bowlers nearby provided some useful entertainment for the kids (despite Timothy and Caleb being keen on nicking the bowls when they got a chance!) Once the bowlers had finished, the kids soon found alternative uses for the space! We also had dinner with Sue, Dave, Michael and Robbie, and discovered how good Robbie is at playing with young kids, particularly Timothy.
As the final few days approached, things got a little more hectic. James still had various things to finish off at work, including getting some bits and pieces done for the person taking over the subject he was teaching (including giving a lecture the day before we left!), and there always seem to be some things which crop up at the last minute. We had also managed to get the amount we were taking down to a small truckload rather than a large one, and had a few more things to put into storage. We had always said that once the time came to get on the plane, all these sorts of problems would be over by definition, as it is too late by then! Knowing this, though, means that the final few days were correspondingly busier. Eventually, the last day came, the work was as finished as it would get, all the packing was done, and all we had to was to get some sleep. Even at this "phoney" stage of the trip, it was clear that we wouldn't have got this far without the help of family and friends, in all kinds of ways, and we are very grateful to all of you.
Hence, on the morning of Thursday 22nd July, we were collected by Eunice & Verne, piled our luggae and ourselves into two cars, and headed for the airport. Once we piled it all up onto a couple of trolleys it looked enormous! Then we checked in, sat around waiting for boarding, took the customary photo at the passport barriers, and then waded through the formalities. Eventually we not so much embarked on the plane as took it by storm, and we were soon ensconced right under the movie screen, and ready for take-off. Next stop the Hew Hess of Hay ...
James Harland (jah at cs dot rmit dot edu dot au)