Walk the cat!

As you can imagine, there were many last-minute preparations prior to departure.  One had been to purchase a harness and leash for Oscar - to prevent accident or escape during roadside rest stops.

Oscar wasn't being given preferential treatment.  Sunny is far more a scaredy cat (and not particularly mobile) so he was not considered in need of restraint.

In fact at our first stop, he quickly scuttled back inside his enclosure when taken out for a stretch!

We weren't greatly surprised by Sunny's wimpiness but we were a little taken aback that Oscar responded so well to his lead.  Well, he was fine to walk where he wanted to go at least!

Nick had booked us into a pet-friendly cabin just short of Wagga Wagga. I did not enquire as to the overall distance until much later in the day - and I was acutely disappointed to learn we will still some 300km short of our destination.

We took many very frequent rest stops during the afternoon/evening/night - very necessary for all convoy members.

Moving the menagerie

Our two-car convey held a party of four people, two cats, one bird and one stick insect. Nick drove Elmer towing our trailer, with two human passengers.

Although Erin initially drove the "menagerie car", I took over the driving just South of Sydney and remained in the driver's seat till the end of the day. 

Sundance aka Sunny (one of our cats) rode beside me with Lucy (Vaughan's stick insect) riding atop Sunny's cage. Our other cat, Oscar, shared the back seat with Keegan (Erin's rainbow lorikeet).

Keegan often travels with us on our camping trips but long-distance driving was a new experience for the cats - and stick insect!  Lucy didn't complain at all but Oscar and Sunny did at various stages!  Overall they did well though - thankfully.

Stuffed stuff!

We handed the keys back after our final property inspection and then stuffed a last load of stuff into storage. 

Both units are now filled to capacity, so more culling will be on the cards in the New Year!

After a KFC lunch our two-car convoy was on the road, heading South - at 1.00pm.  We were in for a very long haul ...

Moving Out!

Nick started moving boxes and lesser used items over to our first storage unit in early November. 

At the end of the month, we enlisted the aid of removalist to shift our furniture into a second unit (next door to the first).  The same company has assisted during our previous two moves.  In 2009 we needed 15 man-hours of assistance but a year later we required only 12.   Another two years down the track and we had reduced even further to 8 man-hours! 

The house was a lot barer afterward and we started camping out at home.  It was lucky we had our Engels and stretchers/air beds!

On the last night all beds were shifted into dining room, so as to leave the bedroom carpets in pristine condition after they had been cleaned.  I use the term "night" loosely.  Nick and I stayed up till 2:00am and then were awake again around at 6:30am, to clear away the last of our belongings in preparation for an end-of-lease pest treatment.

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!

How's them apples?!

I really like my cheerful apple tablecloth!

We are still packing here, with no real idea of where we will be living beyond 5 December.  My sewing machine and overlocker are set for storage, so I have had bit of a sewing blitz while I still have a work area to work in.

As stress-relief, I have been enjoying planning my picnic case conversion.  Happily Anaconda had a sale and I was able to purchase a 25-piece melamine picnic set for $24.99.  I collected it yesterday. At $1 a piece it was cheaper than anything I could source on eBay. Rather conveniently, Anaconda occupies the lower floor of a building - with a Spotlight store overhead. I left my family downstairs and enjoyed some time alone browsing the fabrics. I bought a length of rather funky retro apple print.  I washed and hemmed it last night. Given my suitcase/picnic case is red my plan is to have a red/green apple theme.

I am still thinking about the lining. My other smaller case was designed as a picnic-for-two hold-all, so it was originally constructed of material already backed with vinyl - and from time to time I wipe over the interior with a damp sponge. The red suitcase is lined with paper as presumably the manufacturer saw no need for waterproofing. When I google some people have re-lined these cases with fabric but it seems they intend to use them for storage or craft. Given I want to use mine for picnics (and based on my experience with my existing, smaller case) I think some sort of robust, wipe-out surface would be better but am still undecided as to the best means of doing that.

The picnic set included a salad bowl and I already had the salad servers purchased for 50c a piece from a liquidation warehouse. Nick and I have played this morning and everything fits into the case - including my large salad bowl, so I am rather chuffed with that.  Nick has thoughts of creating some light plywood dividers to hold everything in place as we trundle along but that might be a project for a bit later when life (hopefully!) settles again.

An open and shut case!

We are in the throes/throws of packing for what might well be our biggest adventure to date. Is it exciting? Sort of. Is it stressful? Definitely.

Where are we going? Well, we still don't know! We do know we need to exit this house by early December and we hope to very soon have a clearer idea of whether we will be heading North or South.  In the meantime we are packing and culling (vigorously).  Of course, life goes on around these missions and in spite of all other angst.

As a distraction from all the packing, yesterday I bought - a suitcase!  (Yes, I appreciate the irony).  I don't intend to pack my "new" case - well, not with anything but picnic provisions!  I might use this one for inspiration in terms of technique.  Stay tuned for the conversion!