the lost Ark!

Just like in the closing moments of the famous Indiana Jones movie I was today watching the screws tighten on a case holding the most sacred of articles!! "The ark of the covenent?" I hear you ask! well my friends, it is almost the case.

Today we were woken early by a force of blokes who's sole purpose was to empty my life, pack it in small cases and deprive me of it for fourteen weeks. They were polite and courteous but I couldn't suppress my disappointment when the final side of the crate containing my TV was screwed shut. No TV for a couple of weeks!!

And it's not as if I am a soap addict but this week somebody could be killed off in a soap, lots of people get killed off in a Horror series based on Big Brother AND SPOOKS returns!

No dead Max, who cares really? No zombie invasion in the big brother house-hold. No exciting saving of the world from predominantly Muslim terrorists (why can't we have a welsh terrorist, apart from Duffy that is) for me. No what do I get?......a book.

If that is not enough, they also took all my kitchen utensils. What can you make with a milk pan (apart from noodles)? Just one tiny cooking pot with not enough room for anything (I said no noodles) to cook in it. Luckily I remember the student days, and I am a seasoned backpacker so I am sure I will be able to scrape together a meagre existence, also luckily I am now employed and have lots of take away menu's to hand. Plus, there's always pot-noodles;-)

Bedding, clothes, TV, computer, lightsaber, remote control Dalek, all gone! Well actually the remote control Dalek is under the stairs. Oh no Moira has taken it to the charity shop.

Took all our DVDs to the shop to pawn (yes that is spelt correctly) and they offered us on average £1 per DVD. There's no point arguing that an ex-rental copy of dog soldiers is better than shop bought as it has more trailers on it, no point at all. So our house is empty apart from some furniture we have donated to the Aussie invasion, and a couple of plants doomed to extinction!

So we move out of our house on Friday and in moves a strange Australian, well three in total. This is it, fingers crossed as we are embarking on the Nomad/Homeless phase of our master plan.

More about the leaving do

Well as we get the house packed up I though I could share a few photo's from the leaving do with all and sundry. Usually everyone places these on facebook but not allways. So here we go.

Football: man in Orange gets better tickets than us.

Moira has a drink

Is duncan actually bored?

football match

Drunk!!!

Not the first Shaft he's look along

Just a few of the wild photo's from the do.

The worst beer ever

Well this weekend was our leaving do/ final party blow out day. We had bought tickets to see Barnsley and Crystal palace fight it out on the football pitch. Very exciting!! Jon was down from Leeds so Moira was happy and we had enough to drink on the Friday to ensure nobody would be feeling guilty about starting (drinking) early on saturday.

A hot sunny day meant that we had chance to drink Chapmagne beer outside shivering by the garden furniture. it appears that hot and sunny are deceptive in October.

Soon we had set off for the journey of a lifetime, well to be more precise the football pitch. We had originally intended to meet with Duncan and Emma and thier friends at our house but they were running late so we changed venues, eventually meeting at the station for a bite of lunch then onto the match. Football fever, football mad. When we arrived we decided to have a quick drink before the match.......Bad Idea!

Crystal palaces idea of what Kronenburg should taste like is so very very wrong. The beer was foul and we couldn't drink a whole pint. Well actually that's not entirely true. I perciviered and managed to force the terrible tasting liquid down. I was to regret this later. Crystal Palace 3 - Barnsley 0. should have guessed it really!! Barnsley Beer 50 Crystal palace Beer -10.

Any way after the footy we dropped into an american style steak house. And then onto the Tup.

The m ost impressive attendant of the night was Helen Tun who, living all the way out in darkest Shenfield, made a massive effort to come and drink our farewells with us and desrves a special mention on this blog. Well done Helen, we love you, hope everything goes well in the future.

soon we were well into our inhebriated state as many of thise people who know me will recognise. Soon Jons excellent idea for a game, say what is most innapropriate at the time, was under full swing. Norks was used in one conversation with a woman, who incedently is rather well endowed. And between spoiling random strangers pool matches and watching Duncan and Chris snog I would say what I can remember of the evening was a success.

Now the long process of packing and cleaning the house. Next week our furniture is taken from us including the TV so I am already getting anxiety attacks!!

Guitar Hero

Having purchased a copy of the game guitar hero for our nintendo DS games machines we are now rapidly working our way through the songs in expert mode. Here is footage of a duel between Fraser and myself earlier this year.

I won by the way!!!

Renting Our House

So, our house was put on the Market. We asked for a professional couple, employed with no children and who didn't smoke. The estate agent listened very closely to us then picked the entire opposite. I understand that they are just trying to get somebody in as fast as possible and they have to make ends meet. I just wanted to have some security.

I must admit I am a little wary about renting out to foreign people who have yet to arrive on our shores, but have been promised by our agent (b'stow eves - Remember the name folks) that there will be a stringent background check on the prospective tenants. Hmmmm! My latest nightmare...

B.E: Hello bruce, we have a flat available for rent but need to vet you before you move in. Have you got a job?
Tenant: Not yet.
B.E: You sound ideal! Bring your bong and kids and we can find you a nice little flat. With furniture to sell as you need, they have broadband so you can sell everything on eBay.
Tenant: Ripper, I'll tell all me mates we are having a monster party!

An then I wake up screaming, very quietly so as not to wake the wife, actually this is not likely to be the case in reality as we are renting to a nice Australia person and some other Aussies who we have never met. I am brimming with confidence!!

Must remember to fix the leaky tap before we leave.

Oh and we have another batch of paperwork to fill out, and more fee's. Renting sounds nearly as expensive as selling.

Official

Well this is now officially official. With the tickets booked and a new suitcase purchased we are another step closer to moving to Oz. We have a 22 hour flight booked with Cathay Pacific. They look as though they have nice planes!! Most importantly they have in-seat entertainment systems so we can watch movies and play games on the way there. Seems our Nintendo's are not necessary for the flight.

Just have to sell the entire contents of the house. So if you want a drinks tower or retro space hopper then keep your eyes on ebay. If we ever get the darn thing up and running. my Darth Vader Mask will be available for those interested as will be a Scooby doo phone.

It's really amazing how much you manage to gather in a few short years. Anyway if anyone wants a Mazda MX-5 (£2,000 - Includes a Bluetooth hands free kit) then let me know.

Now we just have to start planning for the party!!!

It's Official

Well the decision has been made by the australian immigration department. After having been nominated by Oxfam in melbourne, hunted down all our personal documents and then scanned them and uploaded them to the website. Having slammed my fist into the computer several times whilst the immigration website failed to upload the documents. Having the embarrassment of having to have two chest x-rays due to the fact my torso is too long to fit on a single plate. does my chest look big in this is not normally a often asked question.

Finally, having decided we were not suffereing from fatal lung deseases, maybe a couple of mental one's, we have been granted the Visa. Monday the 29th October 2008 and we are now officially allowed to enter the land of Oz!

Grab a tinnie and jump into your Ute! We gonna have a party.