Metoo Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Hello everyone, We we arrived in Sydney yesterday. Had brilliant flights, second leg was on the A380 with Singapore Airlines. We had an exit seat on the upper deck. Sydney airport was in chaos. The queues to get out were massive and took over an hour to leave the airport. Picked up up our hire car and after a little tour of the city and a stop off in Manly to stretch our legs we made our way to our very nice air B n B. Our host (who is lovely) showed us our accommodation and made us some lovely food. Once showered we lay down for a quick nap and fell asleep for 10 hours lol. Going shopping today for for a new car. got a whole list of jobs for today. will update some more later. Metoo xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest51810 Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Glad you arrived safely and hopefully see you soon! X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelensvaleHoward Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Exciting times Will look forward to reading your updates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 We have been here a week now. So far we have sorted out our bank accounts and finally got our Visa cards working after a few problems. We have our new Aussie driving licences (no test required, hooray) We have bought a lovely car which we can collect on Friday and best of all, today we secured a rental and we can collect the keys on Saturday. Tomorrow we are off to centre link to get registered for Medicare and whatever else you have to do there lol. We have been staying in an air B n B since we arrived and I have to say it was the best decision we could have made. Our host has looked after us like family. Australians have shown us such kindness, we have had several offers from people to lend us stuff until our container arrives, including a couple of ladies from the real estate office. One of of our real estate ladies is coming round to our new place for coffee just as soon as I buy a new kettle lol. Good luck to everyone else who is finding their feet just now. Metoo xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest51810 Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Sounds like you're settling in well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freckleface Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Glad to hear you arrived safely and are finding your feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 The queues to get out were massive and took over an hour to leave the airport. Well, an hour is pretty good for an international airport. You can get through immigration here super-quick if you have a biometric passport, only to wait 45 mins for your luggage... Welcome to Sydney! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 Glad to hear you arrived safely and are finding your feet. Thanks Freckles, It makes such a difference when people offer to help you and offer a little kindness especially when you are feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole moving experience. The guy who is looking after us at our air b n b has asked me to make a list of all the things we will need to tide us over till our stuff arrives. He said he will box it all up for us including his spare bed if we need it. Tonight he cooked us a big steak dinner with wine to celebrate getting our house. I think we will remain good friends as we will be living just a few streets away from him. I am looking forward to tomorrow, every day now seems an adventure. Oh and by the way, bananas are $1.49 kG in Penrith Plaza, bargain. Metoo x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 People are very welcoming here, I found. When I first arrived, One of my (many) AirBnB hosts told me she was clearing out her kitchen, and put aside a box of pots and pans for me. In the end, another friend did the same and I didn't need them all. Was given fans, bedding, all kinds of stuff. Where are you looking at staying, Metoo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 Well, an hour is pretty good for an international airport. You can get through immigration here super-quick if you have a biometric passport, only to wait 45 mins for your luggage... Welcome to Sydney! hi Mungbean, Ha ha we do have the bio metric passports, that bit was ok. It was the bit where you queue up at "nothing to declare" or "something to declare" Those queues were massive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 People are very welcoming here, I found. When I first arrived, One of my (many) AirBnB hosts told me she was clearing out her kitchen, and put aside a box of pots and pans for me. In the end, another friend did the same and I didn't need them all. Was given fans, bedding, all kinds of stuff. Where are you looking at staying, Metoo? We are in Glenmore Park, Nr Penrith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Those queues were massive. Remember that 1-hour wait next time you go through Heathrow! (Or even better, never again go through Heathrow.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 Am in no rush to visit Heathrow again ha ha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freckleface Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 We are in Glenmore Park, Nr Penrith. I really like Glenmore Park. One of my friends used to live there and I spent many happy hours walking around the lake/pond with her solving the problems of the world lol. It is such a lovely family orientated area with good shopping close by in addition to the local shopping centre. I hope you will be as happy there as my friend was. She was very reluctant to leave but had to move due to her husbands job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 We are in Glenmore Park, Nr Penrith. Lovely. Great central location for day trips to: Blue Mountains via Bells Line of Road, Wisemans Ferry and Berrima. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 Yesterday we collected the keys to our house, it seems huge compared to our UK home. After measuring the fridge hole we found that the two door fridge freezer we had our eye on was too big for the space. Rather than spending lots of money on a fridge that we didn't really want we went to cash converters and managed to get a fridge freezer and a 50" telly for not s lot of $. This will tide us over until our container arrives in about 3 weeks time. We have ordered a new bed which won't arrive for about 8 weeks as it's made to order, so we have borrowed a bed and bedding from our B n B friend. We have bought a plastic table and chairs to as a temporary dining set and the cheapest toaster and kettle I could find from Target. Our two unacompanied suit cases are still "lost in action" we just keep getting told they are in transit. Really wish they would hurry up. Today I am going out with my friend (yes I have a friend already) we are going to visit the Sunday Christmas markets while the boys watch the motor racing on the telly. The the car we bought last week was supposed to be ready for collection on Friday but there has been a delay. They needed to fix a couple of things and are waiting on parts so they have lent us a car while we wait for ours. Only trouble is the air con only works for about 5 mins and then it cuts out, we were roasting hot yesterday on our drive to Castle Hill to see friends. There is a bird outside our window which sounds like a goat lol. Well that's about it for now, we will wait fior our container now and hope everything arrives safely. Good luck to everyone else who is settling in. Metoo xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Lovely updates, glad to hear things are going so well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adele244 Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Really enjoying reading your updates, what a massive blessing that everyone is soooo kind to you. We are leaning towards an Air bnb, but I worry that the kids will seriously give the host a major headache!(even though they are not badly behaved) Please keep your updates coming and thanks for sharing. x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Only trouble is the air con only works for about 5 mins and then it cuts out, we were roasting hot yesterday on our drive to Castle Hill to see friends. I drove for 18 hours across the outback once in the summer and the only air conditioner was the open window; so don't envy you there. There is a bird outside our window which sounds like a goat Now not heard that one before. Wonder what it is? Maybe it really is a baby goat in your neighbours yard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Now not heard that one before. Wonder what it is? Maybe it really is a baby goat in your neighbours yard! Maybe an Australian Raven (commonly called a "crow")? It could sound a bit goaty at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elven Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Hi Meetoo welcome to Sydney! We've been here a year and we move to Glenmoore park on the 1st November. I'm looking to make friends out that way, so feel free to PM me. I notice your from Leicester, my son went to university there and we lived not far from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Maybe an Australian Raven (commonly called a "crow")? It could sound a bit goaty at first. Just sitting here having a cuppa and it sounds like there is a baby goat outside!!!!! Honestly never really noticed this until OP mentioned it.:eek: Otherwise I love the sound of the birds. I love bellbirds and whipbird calls best of all in Australia (and peacocks in the UK). But magpies and kookaburras sound great too, especially as the morning wake up call. I even like those ruddy cockatoos who fly over the house in the evening in big groups squawking and screeching. Boy they are noisy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 I drove for 18 hours across the outback once in the summer and the only air conditioner was the open window; so don't envy you there. Now not heard that one before. Wonder what it is? Maybe it really is a baby goat in your neighbours yard! ha ha try this one then, last night we had the patio doors open and something ran across the carpet. it looked like a furry caterpillar but it ran quite fast on beetle legs, about an inch long and dark brown in colour. We scooped it up and put it outside, lol. Never seen anything like that before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumpingjellybean Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 squawking and screeching. That always reminds me of a TV show I saw in about 1997 about British people in Australia. And one woman hated everything about the country, particularly the strange birds that squawked different to British birds. My gosh, that was the talk of the office the next day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Hi Meetoo welcome to Sydney! We've been here a year and we move to Glenmoore park on the 1st November. I'm looking to make friends out that way, so feel free to PM me. I notice your from Leicester, my son went to university there and we lived not far from there. Hi Elven, We would love to meet up when you arrive in Glenmore Pk. I will PM you. metoo x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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