Falling round the Planet

Feathers?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 21:54:00 +0000

No, not a reference to Wallace and his plasticine pals. No, this is a reference instead to a comment from the Britannia agent who visited yesterday to survey for a shipping quotation. According to him there's a big thing that anything to do with feathers can't be shipped, so that's duvets, pillows, cushions, sofas with feather cushions..... eh????? Someone please tell me this is ridiculous, or that there is a genuine reason for this. He said it was in their brochure under restricted items, but then he couldn't find it!! This wasn't mentioned by the Pickfords agent last week.

I know plant items can't be shipped, wicker baskets, food, anything with soil still on like boots and bikes, but manufactured pillows containing sterilised feathers.. I can't find this on any restrictions list.

I also can't find a definitive answer to wool tops. This is wool at the point prior to spinning into yarn and is used for making felt. It's been washed and dyed and is totally clean, so is it banned (if so then why aren't wool jumpers?) or does it just need to be declared? ... in the interim I am busy making felt with the kiddies as part of their art/creative sessions ;) which has got to be acceptable with the amount of detergent and hot water used!

Have fun x

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:York,United Kingdom

VISAS

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 21:30:00 +0000

I should have posted this yesterday but I ran out of battery power, sorry! Anyway, mega fantastic news...... OUR VISAS HAVE BEEN APPROVED!!! Woohooo!! YAY!!! eeek!! They're letting us in!!

Huge grin :D

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Shippers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:49:00 +0000

So despite not yet having the visa I have started to make a move and get organized. The two under stairs cupboards have been cleared of junk, and only the shippable stuff remains. Freecyclers have done, and are doing, rather well out of me!!

Last week Pickfords came to assess the contents of what I think is a small house. A really pleasant guy with great stories about the adventures of shipping around the planet! He estimated that I'd need a sizeable chunk of a 40 foot container as a 20 would be too small... eeek I didn't think I had that much!!! Especially as a couple of chairs in the living room and a double bed as well as a few other bits and pieces are not being shipped.

Britannia Whitby Oliver are coming later today, and PSS on Monday so it'll be interesting to hear their views. Need to nudge Anglo Pacific, I sent an email via their website but no one has been in touch.

Have fun x

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

New Pages

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:07:00 +0000

New lists have now appeared on the navigation bar above... any comments are welcome in the normal way :) These are work in progress and will be regularly updated, changed, crossed out, etc.

And not only but also, yes I've changed the look of the blog - get used to this... I get bored with layouts very quickly as readers of The Handmade Amoeba will testify!! Eh, always looking for improvement! ;)

A Homer Moment

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Advice:

Do your very best to avoid a Homer Moment!

You know that visa? The one you are sick to death of hearing about? One very key little bit of advice: REMEMBER TO SIGN the pesky form BEFORE you put it in the post, get it returned, and post it again! You've got it, I forgot.

I have to 'fess that I still really do think I had signed it. Even when I look at the boxes on a fresh printout of the form I still BELIEVE I had already signed them, but I guess I hadn't. DOH!

Thanks Adrian for pointing it out - and there! I did blog it!! ;)

Have fun x

Homer image courtesy of Blippit

"I Don't Believe It!"

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:19:00 +0000

Victor Meldrew had it right. Bureaucracy! Remember I sent that visa off on Saturday? Well I got it back today! Yup, you read that right. I had a delivery note through the door yesterday requesting I go and collect a packet from the post office depot. I thought it would be an Amazon parcel. Last thing I ever thought I would see again was the visa application.

Upon further investigation, after storming up to the post office proper, it turns out that Airsure doesn't deliver to Australia. OK, SO WHY RECOMMEND IT THEN? It is suspected that the operator put in Austria in the computer - yeh, I can see how that kind of mistake can happen, even after entering the full address and post code.

Now it is re-winging it's way to Perth via International Signed For and will take another 4/5 days from today. If I see it again I.. I.. I... really won't believe it! If there is a good thing, at least the Post Office immediately offered to waive the extra cost of the postage - twice that of the original. What ever happened to 'by any means possible', and that by posting and applying postage a contract is formed by which the Post Office agree to deliver your letter.

Live and learn!

Walking on Sunshine...?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:46:00 +0000

Praps not yet, but that though is one step closer now the visa is in the post.. whew!! I lost track how many times I checked the list of requirements, the pile of papers to include, the number of copies of things, the form itself... trust me it was a lot!! But it's a weight off knowing that I can't do any more about it... it's winging it's way across the planet to my new employer for the finishing touches before going on to the immigration office. AllI can do is sit tight and wait. It's going to be a long month, I can see!

For anyone sending off a visa application abroad like this, remember to pick the Airsure option at the post office which guarantees worldwide tracking (so they reckon) and a speedier delivery estimated within a week. Cost is of course more, but what price peace of mind? Around £7.50! Not bad considering the distances involved.

Have fun x

It'll be in the post

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:02:00 +0000

...tomorrow!! I had a spot of rework to do:

Travel Insurance documents - I still only had the renewal quotation not the schedule...another quick call to Columbus Direct, sorted, printed, in the pack.
Parental Declaration - passport photocopy of father needs to be black and white and certified, sorted, will get it tomorrow morning.
Letter from employer - my agent has sent through the letter confirming dates of contract with them and Atkins, sorted, printed, in the pack.

nearly there, nearly done......

Almost at the Post

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:57:00 +0000

C's passport arrived the day before yesterday, woot!

My accountant has signed off the copies of important things, yay!

All I need now is the letter from my agency - reminder sent again - and confirmation of my travel insurance. I discovered the document I had was just the quotation received before it gets automatically renewed. Rang them today and they promised to send by email but nothing received...

All being well everything can be posted off at the weekend or at least Monday... ye gods is it Friday nearly??

NOTE... I didn't know this but the accountant pointed out that passports shouldn't be colour copied - ooops! Quick, recopy in b&w... at least that's what the money laundering laws require, so it's highly likely that imigration law is the same. Ahem!

How long does it take...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:36:00 +0000

...when it's not busy season? J's brand new squeaky passport arrived today, just over a week from posting - how fast was that!! I was under the (misguided?) impression that it was a busy time of year so it would more likely be 3 weeks to arrive... and thus the reason I used the check & send at the post office in order to reduce this to 2 weeks. Needn't have worried! ~~Now I can give the X-ray clinic a ring and arrange for himself and I to pay it a visit later this week (hopefully).~~ Update: if you're from the UK and are not planning to work in a school, nursery or medical setting then for a 457 visa the X-ray isn't required... check this out on Form 1163i

It'll be a busy couple of weeks to the end of the month as it's also corporation tax time ... dust off the calculator ... feed the hampsters ... oil their wheel ... ;)

Have fun x

One Step Forward

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:50:00 +0000

The offer letter came through yesterday, woopeee. Just need to sign and email the signature page back. It feels good to have got this at last. Now things seem more concrete. I can start telling people! That's my next stop - onto my other blog over at The Handmade Amoeba to spill the beans!

The visa form is almost complete, and I've now got the extra bits of info that help me fill in the sponsorship info. That just leaves

Kiddies passports - they ran out two weeks ago!! J's has been sent off, but C's photo got rejected by the check & send service at the Post Office. Her head was too small - LOL! I was very peeved as it had cost a fiver for 4 pictures and there was no indication on the machine instructions that the camera can zoom out.... grrrrrrrrrr! This was compounded by the fact that she is at her grandparents 120 miles away. Call to my mum to get new ones organized... posted... and finally accepted by the post office today! Five days late! I just hope the passport offices aren't busy.
X-Rays - these are to prove that we don't have TB... shucks you mean to say I've got to spend £70 a pop when I can show off a lovely TB jab scar on my left shoulder!! To top this one I need J's passport so I can't arrange this, and then we have to trawl all the way over to Manchester to get it done at an officially recognised clinic. Good job only myself and J need them... aparently under 11s don't need x-rays. yay.
Letters from employers - I think these are the references that are being gathered already. Which reminds me I was promised a template letter to send to my company.
Medical cards - thought I'd better get these updated with the current address so as not to cause any issues with Medicare. Note that these do not go to the surgery as it says on the cards but to your local NHS Trust! Would have been nice to know in advance!

Sure there's more to add here, but as I haven't got my list here I can't remember! Simples!

Have fun! x

Aussie Window Shopping

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:44:00 +0000

I was rootling around on the net as I often do, reading a post here and there on blogland, and read about some amazing reclaimed furniture on LillFishStudios blog. She was windowshopping, and I thought what a great idea. But where can I keep the inspiration? I don't want to print stuff off because that's just not green and it just gets chucked out anyway. So here you will find a regular feature about the things I want to get for my new Australian home, or things that I can dream about getting!

So first up, using Google Australia I typed in 'reclaimed wooden tables' because I want an old and huge wood table that will do justice to two antique wooden 2 metre long wooden backless benches I already have. I use one of them as a hallway 'shelf' and the other is used with a modern Ikea table - not a very good look! My first hit landed here at Green Furniture Picture Gallery which had this piece of gorgeousness:

and this

OK so they're it's not all about tables then, it's about the reclaimed wood.... so I find this for the garden (from the UK!)

Blogger is driving me up the wall now - the links are as follows:

table: http://vermontwoodsstudios.com/

sideboard: http://www.strangerfurniture.com/

garden swing: http://www.sittingspiritually.co.uk/

That's it for the moment, it's time to walk home... in the RAIN :( yeugh!

More tomorrow or maybe later today ;)

Well it's Finally Started!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:49:00 +0000

Hello, and a massive HOORAY! After more than a year looking for a job in Australia one has at long last landed. I am still reeling from the shock of it all. A little over a week ago a recruitment agency rang me after seeing my updated profile on a job seekers site. We exchanged a few calls and emails co firming that there were jobs that might available. Then there was a call as I was doing the school walk (I don't run) to tell me that a project director was coming over to the UK the coming weekend and was interested in meeting up for a chat. It didn't sound too definite but meet we did, and less than an hour later I had a call to tell me the job was mine if I wanted it. Eh, you could have knocked me down with a feather. I thought the meeting had gone well, but not that well!!

So, now it's all systems go. I have all the visa paperwork in hand, with most items ticked off, and just waiting for the formal job offer and sponsorship to be emailed across. Then what do I find, but that the children's passports ran out two weeks ago. doh, doh, doh!!!! What timing was that! It means a two week delay and a hundred quid gone nowhere fast. Doh!

Then there are the x-rays. I figured this would be an easy task to just pop down to the local hospital, but nope. It has to be a registered centre, of which our nearest is Manchester. That'll be a day off then. And I'm still not sure if the children have to have one too. I'm guessing they are as it's for checking for the presence of TB. Bet that will cost handsomely!!

Well if you've got this far and you haven't fallen asleep, thanks for reading, welcome to my new blog, it's here to chart my progress up to and beyond landing at Perth airport in about 10 weeks time..... eeek!