Let me get you up to speed

After we made the decision to explore down under for a year, I spent a lot of time thinking, planning, and reading blogs (I will add links to those that have been more interesting, informative or inspiring). Initially I felt like I had all the time in the world, and there was a lot of planning but not much action. Getting our Australian visa approved injected me with a renewed sense of purpose though, and not only did the planning step up a gear, but I also sprung into action to get us equipped for the trip.

One of the important early decisions was whether to buy a vehicle in the UK and ship it to Australia, or to just buy something in Australia. I could buy a vehicle in the UK straight away, and then spend a lot of time not just preparing it, but also getting to know it so that I could work on it myself. Or I could avoid a lot of administrative hassle and shipping expense by picking something up in Australia, but after arrival in Australia our trip would be delayed until I could kit it out (or paid someone else to do it), adding significant expense. I opted for buying in the UK, and I think it was the correct decision in the end, as I have learnt A LOT in the last 2 years.

As I'm trying to get you up to speed, here are the highlights of what has happened since.

I bought a Landcruiser Colorado, and spent a lot of time working on it, getting it ready for the trip. The main modifications have been to the suspension, electrics, offroad & impact protection, engine performance (mainly aimed at improved fuel economy to offset the added mpg from the other modifications), and rear storage setup.

This was it when I bought it:

And this is it today:

We also bought a Customline Deluxe offroad camper trailer which my brother (Marius) in Brisbane has very kindly collected and looked after for us.

To enter (and remain) in Australia, we applied for a sponsored migrant worker's visa, using a company called Thames Migration. Because I was never certain how long it would take before we would be able to afford to make the move, I was never in a rush to get the visa overnight. This was just as well, as parts of the process felt like they took forever, especially my skills assessment.The whole move was very nearly a non-starter because I couldn't prove the content of my university first year syllabus - the university had restructured several years ago, and then outsourced the document archiving, and not all records made it into the archive... In the end it all came together though, and I can highly recommend the services provided by Thames Migration to anyone that wants to make the move from the UK to Australia.

Then Ness was offered (and accepted) voluntary redundancy at TFL. While we would have moved to Australia without the payout, the payout has allowed us to do the trip that we want to do, in the way that we want to do it. She then went on to do a bit of lucrative contracting at the Money Advice Service, which has also helped quite a bit. As strange as it sounds, we are very fortunate that Ness was offered redundancy.

After being a contractor for nearly 15 years, I accepted the offer of a full time role at Lenovo at the end of 2011 (they were fully aware of our intentions). I knew that this was a risky move, as this is the kind of decision that could stop a trip in its tracks. Especially because Lenovo has turned out to be a great company to be involved in, and I can easily see myself working there again in the future, but this time THE TRIP WILL HAPPEN.

Jake (who has just turned 2) is a real happy little chap and has been going to Toad Hall nursery 5 days a week, where he loves the staff, the activities, and especially Mr.Sparkles (who comes to do song and dance once a week)! We do wonder if he will miss them, but hopefully the trip will be full of adventures to keep him interested too.

My mindset regarding the trip has swung back and forth like a giant pendulum, from "we have all the time in the world", to "oh shit, oh shit, how am I ever going to get it all done". More recently its just been "oh shit, oh shit, oh shit". Our move related activity has intensified significantly in the last 3 weeks, which is both very exciting and knackering at the same time. Colleagues at work remind me that I am just about to go on the longest vacation of my life - it helps to be reminded.

With our flights now confirmed for 10 January 2013 we had to ship the Landcruiser asap, and I am relieved to say that today we finally loaded it into a container.