The Upside Down Day

Today was one of those days where you aren't quite sure if it was a good day or a bad day. Where you want to cry but other times you can't stop laughing. We are still waiting on our work permits from China which is dragging things out a lot however I did fix the "japanese water torture" leak noise in the shed that has been waking us up for the past few weeks. I was lucky enough to watch my Aunty Kate ride in a competition and help hand out the ribbons, but I got an agonising headache from being out in the sun (yes, i had a hat on and a bottle of water).

I got a great laugh watching Bryan hide behind a door waiting for my Aunt to come out so he could scare her, particularly since she was hiding on the other side waiting to scare him but when I went to bed a millipede dropped on me.......I think this picture of my niece sums up my feelings.

The Jobs

So here's the big news. We have accepted jobs at Shaoyang University near Changsha in the Hunan Province of China. We will both be teaching conversational English to University Students and they are looking forward to us starting asap. Our contracts include a two bedroom apartment and meals. The school year has already started so they are keen for us to arrive but the visa process will take another few weeks. Therefore we may not be able to leave until early April - but once the visas come we are off!!!

The Country Trip

We spent a few days in the Clare Valley this week. We enjoyed the lazy time we had and also took some time to explore the history of some of the local towns. Bryan took some amazing photos and even won Scrabble twice. We solved the Mintaro Maze and had dinner at the Taminga Pub where we resuced a Border Collie and got her back to her owner. Still deciding where our next holiday may take us......

The Medicals

We had our medicals (for our visa applications) on Tuesday. Lot's more needles, chest xrays and even ECG's - quite an extensive testing procedure. Got the results today and all is good. We are disappointed by the time it takes to organise everything, could be a lot longer than we thought before we leave. So with plenty more time to fill in, we went to the beach with my niece Madison and fed seagulls.

The Best Thing for Her

We finally found a home for Pepper. We know now why we couldn't find one before, it's because she needed to go to this one. She is going to be sooo loved there and left yesterday to join her new family and new doggy mates, Milly, Molly and Oscar. Obviously we are quite sad and I still keep looking for her or thinking I can hear her but we know we have found a fantastic home for her and she will be really happy. We have been fortunate to rehome both Jedi and Pepper with fantastic families who were really grateful to have been chosen to take care of them.

The Quote of the Week

Definitely only funny if you were there and could hear the funny voice Bryan was putting on and see him struggling to put his sneakers on...

"A shoehorn, a shoehorn, my Kingdom for a shoehorn....the Devil considered Bryan's offer but soon realised that Bryan's Kingdom consisted of not much more than a small black dog".

The Seaside Trip

We spent the last few days in Robe, a 3 hour drive from the Adelaide Hills where we are staying. Naturally, Pepper came along too and we found a dog-friendly motel. We enjoyed some beautiful walks on the beach and coastal scenic drives, watched the sunset and fed the seagulls and basically just chilled out. It's a beautiful little town and made me want to live in a place where i could walk the length of the main street and back from my house. Each morning when we opened the door, Pep would go straight to the car and wait to get in. She seems to have resigned herself to the nomadic lifestyle we have adopted and now just goes with the flow. It's going to be very hard to leave her, the three of us have been having some wonderful adventures and doing everything together. She even followed Bryan up these steep rocks, we are still wondering how she did it.

The Weekend

Having finished all our teaching requirements we got to relax this weekend. We went to the Uraidla show and enjoyed the wood chopping and sheep trials. We walked under the native animal marquee only to look up later and get quite a surprise as you can see in the photo with Bryan. We ended the weekend with a game called Buccaneer, where at the end when it was realised that my landslide victory came about by blatant cheating I was condemned by the group and told of how "disappointed" they were in my actions. Yeah right, the game is called "Buccaneer" guys, as in PIRATES. Since when did Pirates play fair???

The Prac Teaching

We have both now completed our 4 hours practical teaching. Despite being sooo nervous before it began, I really enjoyed it and I love planning lessons that are fun and encourage my students to speak a lot. Here's some photos of Bryan teaching his students. They were all in their early 20's, of different nationalities and really keen to learn. The observer passed us both which means we have completed our TESOL requirements.

The Adelaide Zoo

Fantastic trip to the zoo today - got to feed the Lemurs and hold a Bilby and a Rufus Bettong. Saw a very active Echidna and Tasmanian Devil and realised how much I will miss Australia's diverse wildlife. Saw the Pandas too - they were much smaller than we realised.

The Drive to Adelaide

We made in in only two days it was amazingly easy and even Pepper traveled well. Now it's time to prepare for the prac-teaching and get rid of even more things. By the time we leave Adelaide we need to have just one suitcase each - nothing more. Pic shows us leaving Brisbane for the last time.

The InClass Course Component

Back in Brisbane and just completed our in-class component - both passing and receiving our ceremonial certificates. We're taking a few days to finish up some assignments and then off to Adelaide for our prac teaching.

The Stinky Town

We spent 3 nights in Rotorua at a backpackers - a new experience for us both. We went luging, fed seagulls, visited Huka Falls and got pretty wet as it rained the whole time. The smell was pretty overpowering - Rotorua is known for it's geothermal pools and they don't smell too great. We drove to the largest lake in Australasia - Lake Taupo, where we played golf, into the lake!

The Caves

On our way to Rotorua for a few days break we stopped at the Otorohanga Kiwi House and the Waitomo Caves. A beautiful glow worm tour and a 2 hour walk around the caves showed some amazing sites, not all photographable unfortunately.

The BBQ

GU Bob organised a family BBQ today. Great food and great company made for a great day.
I was thrilled to catch up with Lydia, the creator of Pedro, which she gave me when I was 3 and I only recently passed to my niece, Madison. See pics of Pedro then and now:

The MOTAT

We spent the day at the Museum of Technology and Transport with GU's Bob and John. It was like having personal guides because their stories were far more interesting than those the Museum had! Photo shows us enjoying an "Earthquake Experience". After Motat we went to Sylvia Park - a 1km long shopping centre!

The Greats

Today we caught the bus to Auckland to be met by my Great Uncles Bob and John. They looked just as I remembered them and it's been 18 years since i've seen GU John!!! We went up the Skytower for a great view of Auckland and then were treated to a "tiki tour" around everywhere. We were taken back to GU Bob's where GA Cherry had made a marvelous dinner for us and our room even had fresh flowers in it! We were thoroughly spoilt.

The Lake Walk

After a fun afternoon of playing with the nephews and niece we went for a lovely evening walk around Hamilton lake. It's only about 2.5 kms and there was plenty of bird life to look at and learn about. The weather has been great and not too cold!

The Arboretum

I still don't know how to pronounce the place but I loved it. We visited the Waitakaruru Arboretum and Sculpture Park. It's an old quarry which has been replanted and open to visitors. There is a 2km walking track along it that has art sculptures along the way. It was beautiful to walk through (although I struggled with the steps!). I thought of my Uncle a lot and think he would have really enjoyed it. We had a booklet that told us about the art and the artist and had a very enjoyable time. I'd highly recommend it. The scenery changed from deep rainforest to open meadowland with plenty of water ponds filled with lillies. It was very relaxing yet we were active. The fresh air here is great. See here: http://www.sculpturepark.co.nz/

The Catch Up

So what's been happening? Well the surgery went ahead and has been declared a success and the recovery was made much easier by a wonderful husband and a god-sent Aunt. The process of selling everything began and went remarkably well. Jedi found an amazing home, perfect for him and has already established himself as part of the family. We had a few minor hiccups, with poor little Pep getting cancer and needing an operation - which thankfully removed it all but meant we couldn't find a home for her. Then Bryan went and got an abscess in his tonsils that required surgery 2 days before we were due to fly to NZ and kept him in hospital. Thankfully again, he was okay.
The house has settled, the money paid and everything we own packed into our car, including Pepper. We are in New Zealand on holiday and Pep is holidaying at Amanda's Palace for Pets. Everything is on track.

The Surgery

Got the call yesterday - the surgery will be done on Monday. So much to organise before then!! I'll be in hospital for almost a week and at home for a month - not even allowed to drive :(
The pic on the right is what they are doing to my spine:

The Building and Pest Inspection

Apparently the house passed inspection, as we expected. It's only two years old and we kept up the regular termite inspections. No nasty ants found.

The Sister I Always Wanted

Having a little brother is nice and all but I did always want a sister too. So here she is, my new sister-in-law and fabulous mother to my niece Madison Rose. She's a wonderful addition to our little family group and I look forward to spending as much time with her as I can.

The Contract

So we signed a contract this morning. Now for the 14 day wait till it becomes unconditional. If all goes well settlement will be the 11th of January....

The Offers

Well it seems our agent has been working hard. We have two offers on the house now - both worth considering. We are waiting on one final couple who are still looking today but will know tomorrow whether they will put in an offer. After that we will most likely accept one and the scary stuff begins... So come this weekend we should have a tentative moving out date.

The Fourth Open Home

We're at the Adelaide airport now, waiting for our flight home. We've been away for the last few days so weren't around for the last open home. And last it probably will be. For some reason the fact that we turned down the previous offer of $496K didn't mean anything to our real estate agent as apparently this weekend she took an offer for $480K. Which means, not only is she wasting our time, she's wasting other people's too. We had to point out that we had repeatedly said we wouldn't look at anything under $500,000, that we didn't have to sell because I would be having surgery in December so we could always wait til next year and try again. I guess I'm annoyed because she was my choice and she doesn't seem to be listening to us.

On the positive front - here's a pic of my beautiful niece we went to visit.

The Third Open Home

We sat on the next door neighbours balcony and watched the proceedings. I couldn't help get excited when it seemed that the place was full of people at one stage. Apparently it was only 6 interested buyers but that seemed promising. But of course it wasn't. Everyone's budget was $450k. I don't even know why they are bothering looking at our house then. I just want to stand at the front door and remind people that it's not a theme park so if they can't afford it, don't come in.

The Question

We put the house price at $515 and someone asked if we would take $430. I think Bryan summed it up well with “are they mental?”.

The Price

So our plans are all kind of fizzling out now. There's no interest in the house and with 7 other houses in the estate for sale and countless others in the area, there just doesn't seem much chance of selling it.

So we stuck a price on the house of $515,000 to see if anyone is interested then but in all honesty there are at least 30 other similar houses around here at far less - some even $420K.

I guess we need to have a plan B now, that involves staying in this house.

Maybe we will get a chance to use all 8 dining chairs now.

The Waiting Game

I hate this waiting. No-one has expressed any serious interest. Mostly the answers are that they have seen 12 other houses as well. There is so much for sale in our area it's insane and makes it so much harder for us. Yet another house in our estate has gone up for sale which makes the total 7 inc ours and there's only 2 streets. It was off to such a good start with that first early offer and now it's turned into a bit of a fizzer. We're keeping the house pretty tidy which is nice but i do miss having the dogs inside during the evening and they seem to miss coming in.

The Second Open Home

We were out today helping the cousins move when the second open home occurred. Only three groups through this time but one was a couple from last week who this time brought their parents through. Hopefully this means they really like it! There is an inspection booked for tomorrow also at 10.30am. I'm looking forward to accepting an offer so we don't have to keep the house soooo clean!

The Withdrawal

We received confirmation today that the potential buyers had withdrawn their offer. There is another house in our estate that has just gone on the market and it certainly seemed to be what they were after, more so than our own. Now, we just have to hope for another offer.

The First Offer

You brace yourself for it. You know it's going to be low but you secretly hope that it will be more than you want it to be - that the offer will exceed your dreams. Does it ever? It certainly didn't for us. In fact it was one big flop. Not even within $30k of what we would take. Counter-offering seemed a waste of time given the vast price difference. But that's what you do. If they come back with something else we will probably wait it out til after this weekend's open home, hopefully there will be more interest after that. As Bryan says "it's only been 4 days - be patient".

The First Open Home

Seven groups came through but no-one bought it. The people that seem to like it only have $450K to spend. Of course they'd like it for 450. Who wouldn't like it for 450?? Maybe we will have better luck at the next open home. It would be good to at least get an offer, something that says someone wants it. I just want it to sell so we can start organising the next step.

The Listing

The house is now officially advertised for sale - see the listing here:

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=106070719&f=0&p=10&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&cc=&c=79514274&s=qld&snf=rbs&tm=1255649284

The Photos

The photos are back from the professionals. Makes you wonder why we are selling it! Let's hope people see them and want to come to the open home - this saturday.

The Landscaping Finished

It's done! Thanks to some wonderful helpers - it's done. And the inside is clean! The professionals are coming tomorrow to take photos - let's hope it scrubs up well.