Snail's Pace ...

"Is there anything as horrible as starting on a trip? Once you're off, that's all right, but the last moments are earthquake and convulsion, and the feeling that you are a snail being pulled off your rock" 

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Even though Ms Lindbergh was describing holiday travel rather than relocation, I felt very much like that rock-clinging snail in the immediate lead-up to our departure.

Early September 2012 marked our two-year anniversary of moving into what had, until very recently, been our home.  Almost to the day we received a Notice of Termination with an exit date of 5 December.  There was much to-ing and fro-ing throughout the next three months.  As you can imagine, it was a very stressful time – knowing we had to go but not knowing where we would end up. 

Melbourne, Rockhampton and Mackay were all considered equally valid options during that very uncertain period.  Finally, barely two weeks before our exit date, we received confirmation of a three-month temporary accommodation booking in Melbourne – and so we started heading South on 5 December.  Our “essential” clothes and belongings came with us but for now the rest remains locked up at Morisset.

A sense of unreality prevailed as our departure date loomed.  Most of our energies had been directed toward culling and packing, putting our furniture and “stuff” into storage – while preparing to hand our rental home back to it’s owners.  We were incredibly busy (and super-stressed).  A few days before our exit date, when we started making our farewells, the reality of our interstate move began to filter through and my snail-like tendencies became apparent!

We are no strangers to moving, given this is our 5th move since August 2005.  However, the other shifts have all been fairly local, with the longest distance a mere 30km.  Our latest relocation was much, much bigger - in all senses of the expression.
 
Although my childhood had been somewhat nomadic, since the early 1980s I have lived in various locations along a 75km stretch of the NSW Central Coast/Lake Macquarie/Newcastle region – and we were moving 975km away to Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city. 

We've had many adventures but this one will definitely be our biggest yet - stay tuned for our updates!

To put matters in perspective Melbourne has a population of 4.1 million, which is in sharp contrast to the estimated 2,500 of our previous lakeside locale!