Things to do to get settled in!
1. Get connected to internet
2. Join a medical aid.
3. Open bank account
4. Rent a house
5. Buy a car for me
6. Decide on a company car for Cornel
7. Find school for Heinz
8. Find school for Anja
9. Find me a job
1...........Since we arrived in Australia things has not always gone that easy. We had a lot of problems getting onto the internet. We bought an Optus Yes (Cornel calls it Optus Yes..it is not working..Yes it is not working) prepaid modem and because it was a new release from Optus they had a lot of difficulty setting it up. I took me a whole week and a lot of patients to get them to install in successfully. In desperation I went to the library one morning to at least answer some of my emails and to search for houses. In the chaos of getting the kids organised and getting a parking for this use Camry I ended up parking on a parking place for only people with discs. So after searching on the internet for half an hour and the kids running around in the library we left and there it was the parking ticket that I knew I would eventually get. I did not think it would be for parking though I thought it would rather be for speeding! $57.00 WOW Eish Eina. Cornel was obviously not very impressed with me but hey at least now I will be more selective of my parking spots.
2.........Before we left South Africa Cornel’s new employer put me in contact with their preferred Medical Scheme people. I could set everything up via email and on the Saturday after arriving in Australia we just went to Medibank’s offices in The Glen and paid the first instalment. We received our cards through the post 4 days later and now we receive a invoice every month and just pay via the internet. Kempe then refunds us! Wasn’t that easy?
3..........I applied on-line for our joint bank account from South African and we also just went into the bank on Saturday activated the bank account and also opened bank accounts for the kids. We received our bank cards through the post and Bob’s your uncle we changed the pin at the branch the next Saturday and there we go......No pain whatsoever. The people at the bank are so friendly and helpful and explained everything to us in great length about how bank accounts work in Australia. We even got credit cards and was approved for a credit facility.
4...........It was not easy finding a house. Once we were connected we search for houses on-line and went at the open inspection times. Cornel’s budget was $390 per week and because I had a look at a couple of houses during the week in that price range I knew we were not going find one that we would be able to call home. In my own mind I increased the price to $450 and saw a beautiful house the Friday afternoon in Mount Waverley that would be just perfect for us. It was so close to Cornels’s office he would be able to walk on a nice morning. Regardless to say when I told him the price he said no. Well we had a look on the internet that night (obviously in his price range) and Cornel joined me on the Saturday and it was actually very funny watching him in these different houses pulling up his nose. In the one house he went with Heinz to the garage and as they came out he was laughing.... he said that the spiders would carry him out of that garage by his collar. So off we went to the house of $450 and Cornel gave in and we submitted the application on the Saturday afternoon. Obviously on the way there I heard a speech about not being able to afford it and that I must now start to work ....bla...bla...bla. So fingers crossed... but they let us know on Tuesday that our application was not successful. Oh no. Ok so off to the internet I go again....but.... about 2 hours later the lady phoned and said that if we still want the house it is ours because the people that were approved did not want it anymore and we were second on the list. Yippiee!!!!! So we signed for the house paid the deposit and 1st months rent and now we can move in on the 6th September. House sorted!
5............ We heard about Car City in Ringwood where they have +- 2000 cars for sale. We went there and WOW was there a lot of cars! Nice ones and also realy crap ones. We saw 3 that we liked and Cornel talked about the price with the sales people and I took 2 of them for a test drive. A Getz and a Toyota ECHO. I did not like the Getz so we decided on the ECHO. We paid the 30% deposit there and then and they said I can pick the car up on Tuesday. We organized for the rest to be financed over 4 years. That was painless and quick!
6............. Kempe told Cornel what the budget was for a company car for him and we had a look at a couple of SUVs 7 seaters. He saw the Toyota CLUGER (spelling??) and also the Mitsubishi Outlander. Cornel took them for a test driver and set his heart on the Outlander. So he ordered the Outlander and will receive it in next week. Also painelss and quick!
7............Now that we know where we are going to stay I could enrol Heinz in a school for next year. He will be starting Primary School at Pinewood Primary in Mount Waverley. They have a introduction week starting 4 September in the morning so I will be taking him to school so he can meet the teachers and get to know the school and maybe make some friends. The school fees are $200 for the books for the year and $100 for excursion fees for when they visit the fire station and go on trips. WOW that is all. I love Australia!
8............not there yet.
9..............not there yet.
1. Get connected to internet
2. Join a medical aid.
3. Open bank account
4. Rent a house
5. Buy a car for me
6. Decide on a company car for Cornel
7. Find school for Heinz
8. Find school for Anja
9. Find me a job
1...........Since we arrived in Australia things has not always gone that easy. We had a lot of problems getting onto the internet. We bought an Optus Yes (Cornel calls it Optus Yes..it is not working..Yes it is not working) prepaid modem and because it was a new release from Optus they had a lot of difficulty setting it up. I took me a whole week and a lot of patients to get them to install in successfully. In desperation I went to the library one morning to at least answer some of my emails and to search for houses. In the chaos of getting the kids organised and getting a parking for this use Camry I ended up parking on a parking place for only people with discs. So after searching on the internet for half an hour and the kids running around in the library we left and there it was the parking ticket that I knew I would eventually get. I did not think it would be for parking though I thought it would rather be for speeding! $57.00 WOW Eish Eina. Cornel was obviously not very impressed with me but hey at least now I will be more selective of my parking spots.
2.........Before we left South Africa Cornel’s new employer put me in contact with their preferred Medical Scheme people. I could set everything up via email and on the Saturday after arriving in Australia we just went to Medibank’s offices in The Glen and paid the first instalment. We received our cards through the post 4 days later and now we receive a invoice every month and just pay via the internet. Kempe then refunds us! Wasn’t that easy?
3..........I applied on-line for our joint bank account from South African and we also just went into the bank on Saturday activated the bank account and also opened bank accounts for the kids. We received our bank cards through the post and Bob’s your uncle we changed the pin at the branch the next Saturday and there we go......No pain whatsoever. The people at the bank are so friendly and helpful and explained everything to us in great length about how bank accounts work in Australia. We even got credit cards and was approved for a credit facility.
4...........It was not easy finding a house. Once we were connected we search for houses on-line and went at the open inspection times. Cornel’s budget was $390 per week and because I had a look at a couple of houses during the week in that price range I knew we were not going find one that we would be able to call home. In my own mind I increased the price to $450 and saw a beautiful house the Friday afternoon in Mount Waverley that would be just perfect for us. It was so close to Cornels’s office he would be able to walk on a nice morning. Regardless to say when I told him the price he said no. Well we had a look on the internet that night (obviously in his price range) and Cornel joined me on the Saturday and it was actually very funny watching him in these different houses pulling up his nose. In the one house he went with Heinz to the garage and as they came out he was laughing.... he said that the spiders would carry him out of that garage by his collar. So off we went to the house of $450 and Cornel gave in and we submitted the application on the Saturday afternoon. Obviously on the way there I heard a speech about not being able to afford it and that I must now start to work ....bla...bla...bla. So fingers crossed... but they let us know on Tuesday that our application was not successful. Oh no. Ok so off to the internet I go again....but.... about 2 hours later the lady phoned and said that if we still want the house it is ours because the people that were approved did not want it anymore and we were second on the list. Yippiee!!!!! So we signed for the house paid the deposit and 1st months rent and now we can move in on the 6th September. House sorted!
5............ We heard about Car City in Ringwood where they have +- 2000 cars for sale. We went there and WOW was there a lot of cars! Nice ones and also realy crap ones. We saw 3 that we liked and Cornel talked about the price with the sales people and I took 2 of them for a test drive. A Getz and a Toyota ECHO. I did not like the Getz so we decided on the ECHO. We paid the 30% deposit there and then and they said I can pick the car up on Tuesday. We organized for the rest to be financed over 4 years. That was painless and quick!
6............. Kempe told Cornel what the budget was for a company car for him and we had a look at a couple of SUVs 7 seaters. He saw the Toyota CLUGER (spelling??) and also the Mitsubishi Outlander. Cornel took them for a test driver and set his heart on the Outlander. So he ordered the Outlander and will receive it in next week. Also painelss and quick!
7............Now that we know where we are going to stay I could enrol Heinz in a school for next year. He will be starting Primary School at Pinewood Primary in Mount Waverley. They have a introduction week starting 4 September in the morning so I will be taking him to school so he can meet the teachers and get to know the school and maybe make some friends. The school fees are $200 for the books for the year and $100 for excursion fees for when they visit the fire station and go on trips. WOW that is all. I love Australia!
8............not there yet.
9..............not there yet.
