Another week away on the road...

Work sent me back down to Margaret River again for another full week of client meetings on the road which was unexpected and this time I really was on my own!

I was even more nervous this time, not sure if the driving down there alone, (at least last time I had Micky to accompany me), or the pressure to conduct meetings to new clients, was more daunting.

On the Sunday afternoon drive down from Bunbury to Margaret River (luckily we’d spent the weekend in Mandurah so that was a quarter of the route already done), I found talking to myself helped. Don’t they say that’s a sign of insanity..? Anyway, I needed to hear noise it was eerily quiet on the road. No iPod connection in our car for a little musical company and I haven’t owned a cassette tape since the mid-nineties to play in the cars’ cassette player. The car is Micky’s parents’ old car which they kindly gave to us when Micky arrived. I kept thinking ‘just don’t run over any kangaroos!’

My week wasn’t as successful as the first but I did manage to win some premium new clients such as; Gabriel Chocolates, (a lovely boutique chocolate shop), Arimia Wines, (a lovely little cellar door winery and restaurant with a lovely owner who came up with the vineyard name from her two daughters; ‘Ari’ and ‘Mia’), Wise Vineyard and Restaurant, a winery and restaurant in an amazing setting with gorgeous scenery nestled in the hills overlooking Eagle Bay and the ocean. I had another incident with farm animals, this time it was chickens! I visited an artist and when I met her on her organic farm she led me into her studio which was a five minute walk out into the field. I’d forgotten to take some magazines from the car for her so I insisted I walk back to the car to get them – I wish I hadn’t. A dozen or so chickens start to follow me so fast that I start to walk faster and then I ran and as I did they scurried along faster behind me, I was a bit scared. Why are you chasing me chickens? Surely you're not after a copy of Scoop magazine! By the time I got back to the studio I was so out of breath from running away from the chickens chasing me that my client said “did you run back?” “Yes, your chickens were chasing me!" I replied. "You can tell I’m not from the country can’t you!”.

I gained confidence each day on the road, I honestly surprised myself so much that I hope I can now maintain this confidence and calm in Perth where the driving is a bit more challenging on the busier roads. I even kept up to the speed limits, 110k/hour on some roads. I stayed in the same accommodation as before and spent my evenings cocooned up in my hotel room as I’d be pretty exhausted from the day. Must admit I felt relieved to come home at the end of the week. Whist it’s always good to get away and explore a beautiful region here in WA, being away on two work trips for two weeks over the last month has meant that I haven’t managed to do much else socially or even personal things for myself. I intend to get more settled in Perth now that I’m back at home, including unpacking the rest of the shipped boxes that arrived from the UK two months ago…

Arimia

Nice setting for a work meeting at Arimia :-)

Brookland Valley winery

Driving along scary roads

My Aussie wheels

View from Wise Winery

How you going, mate?

It’s been almost a month since I arrived in Perth and there are several cultural differences between Australia and England that have quickly jumped to my attention.

The one I want to share with you today is the Aussie way of asking “How are you?” versus ours. The Aussies and the English speak the same language but have different ways of expressing themselves with language. I've learnt in a short space of time that the majority of Australians here in Perth will ask me the exact phrase “How you going?” Just those three words. Sometimes the word ‘mate’ is added on the end for a friendly effect. The verb “going” is always mentioned which I find strange, as to me, it comes across as a question asking how I am travelling from one place to another.

Early example:

Australian person: “How you going?” (pronounced: Ow ya gown?)

Me: “Where am I goin? Urrrh well, I’m not goin anywhere right now… But later I’ll be going food shopping by car.”

To me, this isn’t really asking me how I am but instead, where am I off to, hence my initial reactions. My most used greeting is either a “How are you?” or a “How you doing?” or in most cases, my familiar south London one; “You alright?” which since I arrived in Oz has occasionally been responded to with a confused “I’m okay, I’m fine”, or “nothing’s wrong”, as some Aussies sseem to think I am asking them if they are physically okay – funny!

I’ve learnt that “How you going?” is the most common greeting down under but it might take some time to get used to…. And I’ll definitely be keeping my English greetings for as long as I can!

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Hello Sunshine!

I’ve been in Perth for over a week already and what a week it's been!

The jet-lag took a good few days to overcome but it hasn’t taken me much time at all to acclimatise to the weather (on average 35°C).

Apart from the obvious reunion with Mr W, the sunshine, hot weather, warm nights and breakfasts on our sunny balcony overlooking the calm Swan River, have put an instant smile on my face. Perth is the sunniest capital city in the world after all. In between settling into our new temporary home and assigning myself with the initial tasks on my emigration to-do list; (new Oz bank account, new Aussie phone number, Medicare and  job hunting), we’ve packed in a few trips to the beach including one to Yanchep Lagoon which is close by to where a friend lives. It’s a beautiful stretch of white sandy beach north of Perth city. And with the exception of the lifeguard, not a soul in sight…

D & M reunited

Apart from almost missing my flight, my journey to Australia was surprisingly smooth and restful (even if I did lose my iPod somewhere between London and Singapore!)

It was 1am when I landed in Perth. I wasn’t really tired, the excitement to see Mr W after three months apart kept me awake and energised, so much so that when I passed through customs and collected my luggage, I hurried my heavy trolley along at a joggers’ pace through the arrivals exit searching amongst the crowds of people for his familiar face.

There he was sitting ten or so metres ahead, “Sweetheart!” I yelled and waved as I pushed my trolley and hurried towards him with all of my belongings.  I was surprised he could see my head poking out behind my stacked suitcases and bags on my trolley. I was so caught in the moment rushing along to embrace him that my trolley was still in motion in a different direction when we reached each other and hugged. “Welcome to Australia sweet”, he greeted me.

Farewell family and friends...

My final week in the UK has been full of goodbyes, finishing work, and packing; in fact, lots of packing, unpacking and repacking!

Going back to the goodbyes…. There have been many, every day for the last couple of weeks and some haven’t been easy, but I knew that was coming. I feel very lucky to have such incredible people in my life who care a great deal and have been so supportive in my decision.

Leaving my job after almost four years felt surreal. We’d organised some leaving drinks at a local Latin bar the evening of my penultimate day which was fun. I was given a great send off on my last day with cards and presents and a farewell speech.

After finishing work, I had just two and a half days to organise myself and pack before I flew out to Oz. I was lucky to have my mum on hand to help. Y’know a 30kg luggage allowance is really not enough when you’re emigrating, even if you have already shipped two dozen boxes two months earlier! Mum had bought some weighing scales to measure my case to ensure we’d keep within the allowance. If only we’d known that at check-in at Heathrow I would be so fortunate to encounter a very friendly (and chatty) Singapore Airlines member of staff who not only gave me complimentary Priority tickets for my luggage and overlooked the 1.5 kg I went over by, but also offered me 10kg extra for free! Off mum went back to the car park to pick up my ‘emergency’ suitcase which was originally brought along for the unlikely scenario that my case was underweight so I could add my ‘reserves’ or, in case the old worn-out suitcase I used exploded, so this was a bonus.

Having said goodbye to close family and friends earlier today and having just bid a long farewell to mum at the airport terminal, I am waiting to board my 22:05 flight to Perth via Singapore. Excited, nervous, happy, sad, scared and energised sums up all of the mixed emotions I am feeling. Relieved and exhausted also as I had trekked to gate 18 for 20 minutes laden with my three heavy pieces of hand luggage having looked up the wrong flight with the same departure time, only to retrace my heavy steps to the correct gate number 3 with tears rolling down my cheeks thinking that there could be a possibility that I would miss my own flight having looked at the flight information screen to see red texting flashing Flight Closing and also thinking of the life I am leaving behind...

I am very much looking forward to being reunited with Mr W in Australia and starting our new Aussie lives together. And now I am literally off! I'll be in touch from the other side of the globe when I eventually get there - it's a loooong flight!

Surprise!

After a busy week finalising work duties, getting through my ‘Emigration to-do list’ and seeing various friends and family members, I was looking forward to some chill-out quality time with my sister before I leave.  She’d told me that she wanted to take me out for a meal to a recently opened French restaurant in her neck of the woods, coincidentally called Sister (I should have cottoned on then) and stay over at her place for the night.

Little did I know that on arrival at her place, my close friends and sisters’ friends were huddled together in her living room like excited little koala bears waiting to explode on me with a firework of surprises!!! Aussie flags, Aussie signs, balloons, a blow-up kangaroo and Aussie snacks decorated her living room!

 Wow, what a surprise!  An Aussie inspired leaving party just for me – I felt so touched.

Thank you to all of the girls and especially my sister, who made the night a fun and memorable one. I will miss you all…. x

Countdown...

Two weeks and two days….

This is how long I have left until I bid farewell to my life and loved ones in London and join my boyfriend in Australia for a new chapter living Down Under!

Around three hundred and sixty five days is how long we’ve been considering/planning/organizing the big move. To those who don’t know me, some background info: I am a twenty-something British born Turkish-Cypriot girl-about-(London)-town kinda girl working in advertising for an international magazine publishing house and have been dating my Aussie boyfriend for five years shy of three months…

It was way back in November 2010 when feelings arose on my boyfriend's part about the prospect of moving back (and in my case, emigrating), to Australia. I cannot deny that I was particularly reluctant, apprehensive and fearful of the idea and it took many months of contemplation and conversations between us and with friends and family to come around to the idea and his way of thinking. After nine years in London, my boyfriend believed it was the right time for us to make the move and improve our lifestyle to a better one of less stress, slower pace and warmer climate and with the current economic climate here, the opportunity to further our careers in better paid jobs as well as to be closer to his native Australian family.

I am very excited about the big move but the nerves have also kicked in… A new life in a different country, in fact, on another continent, with a different culture and lifestyle and being 9,000 miles away from loved ones is a daunting prospect. For the first time in my adult life, I have no plans for the year ahead or even for the next month… Those who know me well know this is unheard of! From March 2012, my diary is empty. No knowledge of a work schedule, social arrangements or travel plans. It does however, feel quite liberating.

So with my partner visa finally in place, my boyfriend already there since December, our belongings on a ship somewhere between here and Oz, and having resigned from my media job, I am slowly but surely preparing myself for one of the biggest rides and adventures of my life…

I know that my life is about to change quite radically yet, I’m not sure how exactly. This blog is to share my new journey with friends and family and anyone who may be embarking on a similar journey to mine, or anyone who just wants to come along for the big, rollercoaster ride.