'The Move'

Hi All!

This blog is from 2 weeks ago. We only managed to get internet a few days ago. Regardless, we'd love to share our journey if time is on your side.

I am trying to find the words to begin this blog...

Looking into a fire is a settling feeling. After a long and tiring three days, we are nurtured by the simplicity of country living.

Our move began on Thursday 30th June. A four degree morning welcomed us to what was going to be a mental & emotional test, little did we know the the night before! After boxing our belongings for the last three weeks, we thought we were well prepared for our move.

So the day began at 6 am. We had breakfast as usual, knowing it was the last breakfast in our gorgeous little cottage in Henry Street. Tim caught the tram to South Melbourne to pick up the 3 ton truck at Budget rentals, and I stayed at home with Gloria, the pug, to greet Tim’s parents, Jill & Roger, at 8:30. While chatting in the kitchen, we heard the keen driver, Tim himself, drive the truck up Henry Street, ready for our load.

8:45 am, and it all began. For those of you who know me, I’m always talking about cleansing! Thursday was a day where I thought I could’ve cleansed a whole lot more. Not realizing how much gear we had, we began loading the truck. What we thought would take 2 hours, turned into 7 and finally, we left for Bright with a full (and I mean ‘full’) load at 3:10 pm. Jill kindly made us some choc chip cookies and Roger blended his homemade lemon drink to set us on our way. On the outskirts of Melbourne we stared at each other, finally being able to express our tiredness in words! 7:30pm, and we had arrived at our new home, 80 Delaney Avenue in Bright. It was absolutely freezing!!! Challenged by the Alpine air, we began unloading at 7:45pm. Our hands were like ice, our nose were frosted, but somewhere in the midst of it all, we found the strength to operate. 11pm, 12, 1, 1:30am Friday morning, we ‘called it a night’. Absolutely warn out, we stoked the fireplace, assembled the bed and climbed in, ready to hibernate... we wish!

Friday morning we awoke, after 5 hours sleep. Cold, fatigued but we pushed on. With more furniture and boxes to unload, we prepared our tummy’s with a bowl of food then made our way out to the truck. Another cold morning!

At 10:45am, the final item was taken through the front door. Giving each other a high five, we washed our faces, cleaned our teeth and jumped into the truck for our journey back to Melbourne. 30km’s down the road, Tim’s face blankly stared and the truck pulled over. The first thing I thought was ‘flat tyre’. But no, we forgot the budget trolley (which was hired with the truck). So, with the thought of being half way to the finish line, we had to drive back to our new home and pick up the trolley! 

With an extra 60km’s added to our trip, we still managed to arrive in Melbourne at 3:30pm. With 90 minutes left before having to return the truck, we loaded two furniture items and a fridge, unloaded the furniture at ‘Leonard Joels’ Auction House in Prahran, dropped off our donated fridge at Revolver Studios (where Tim works) and managed to get to Budget at 4:56pm, four minutes before close. Thank our invisible helpers!

Roger, Tim’s step father, kindly picked us up from the depot and drove us back to Henry Street, ready to pack the car with what we couldn’t fit in the truck. The lovely Jill, Tim’s mum, had prepared some sandwiches, cookies and date slice, along with Roger’s famous lemon drink, for our dinner. I can’t emphasize how amazing the taste of simple food is after an enormous day!

5:30pm, and we set Jill and Rog free with a few items which they offered to store until our next trip to Melbourne. Still having a stack of bits ‘n pieces, Tim, with his touring day knowledge, somehow packed the mazda with the remaining of our belongings. I have to admit, amongst the final load, we did four garbage drops in the industrial bins near Chapel Street and another drop to Jill and Rogers, before we could load the car.

During the final loading of items and garbage drops, we had to clean the whole house, ready for the new tenants. Again, what we thought would take us a couple of hours, turned into an absolute mission! Commencing our clean at 5:30pm Friday, we didn’t finish cleaning the house until 2:30am Saturday morning. 9 hours of intensity! From the shed, laundry, attic, oven, stove, dishwasher, cupboards, skirting boards, toilet, bath, floor boards, office, bedrooms, we blitzed the place! As little Gloria (our dog) slept in the entrance to the bathroom, we kept pushing into the early hours of the morning, finally finishing up at 2:30 am! Oh no, it wasn’t over! With a wilted little puppy and our fatigued bodies, we climbed in the car ready for a 3.5 hour drive back to Bright.

After blasting air conditioning on our faces to keep us awake on our trip, we arrived at 6am. Staggering to the front door, we washed our faces (no hot water), had some food and climbed into bed.

The following night we celebrated with a gorgeous plate of steamed vegetables and Tim famous homemade sauce and finally a 'hot' shower. It was at this time we realized the massive task we completed.

We are here! Unpacked and now completely rested. We are loving Bright and the simplicity of rural living... with cafes, bike tracks, skiing, hiking... and no more traffic!