A nice Xmas present from work on the last day before the shut-down had my boss offer me the option of taking voluntary redundancy, and finish about 6 weeks before I had planned, and also walk away with a little bit more money - not often you get that offer. So this means I now have a bit more time to be able to get everything done prior to our end of March departure, and there is a bit more in the kitty for the trip.
So after hearing this, all the plans of getting lots of stuff done over the Xmas break went south, and the time was spent relaxing and catching some waves at the beach. But we managed to spend a bit more money, with several things crossed off the list of things to be bought - we purchased a new tent for when we leave the camper and go off just in the Triton to explore the more extreme areas, and to cater for places where there are no facilities, we invested in a chemical toilet - still to have the "rock-off" as to who gets to clean it. Also bought one of those pop-up garbage containers that fit a full size garbage bag inside.
Also spent some time going through the house and deciding what furniture and items we are going to keep, and what we are going to get rid of. After our previous clean-out, there wasn't too many things left that have to go, but we will make a list soon, and offer them up to others if they want them, otherwise Vinnie's will get a donation. And it looks like our storage options are solved - the garage up the road where the LJ lives will be vacant when we move it and the owner is happy for us to store our furniture there for 18 months while we are away - a win / win for both of us.
After some dramas with our real estate agent (who listed our house in the wrong price category, and then wanted to debate that he had made a mistake), we are now back on track with selling, with the plan to go to auction on Thursday 7th Feb. This weekend sees the start of more open houses, with hopefully better results than we had in December which was fairly quiet. Hopefully it all goes to plan and sell either prior to the auction, or on the night. If not, it will be pushing ahead to try to get contracts signed prior to our departure, and worry about settlement later.
Starting to get a little bit excited, and surprisingly a bit less scared, even though I will be finishing work very soon (last day is Friday 18th Jan) and knowing the income will stop. Once we get the house finalised, and soem packing starts, there will also be a big "Leaving Sydney Party", so stay tuned for more info on that.
Other massive news was that Matthew got an awesome result from his HSC, and will be studying at UTS next year. We are both extremely proud of him. Uni will be a big step for him this year, and we hope he enjoys his time studying, but also taking time to enjoy a busy social life at the same time. Our hope is that during his uni holidays, he is able to jump on a plane and join us wherever we might be for a week or so, and share some of the sights we will be seeing. Same applies to anyone else - send us a text or email, and we can let you know where will be and when if you want to plan a short trip away. I think there are already plans for late-January 2014 in Adelaide, and October 2014 on Fraser Island.
More to come soon
Hammo and Di
