It's really happening... the shippers have been!

The shippers came this morning and started the journey for our selection of stuff to take to Adeladie... they moved at amazing speed and packed the whole lot in just over an hour!

So now our belongings have started their journey. Weird to think the next time we see it will be in Adelaide!

Shippers! 27th April 2007

WE GOT IT!

Hurrah hurrah hurrah! We got it!

We both had the day off today so were having a long lie in. Fast asleep at 9am the phone started ringing and it was our agent telling us our visa had been granted! Felt like a dream (and have since checked phone to make sure it was real!)

So today after a celebration breakfast in Chiswick, we took our passports into the agents to get the visa put into them, then went off to a pub called Adelaide near Camden, London. We then came home and booked our flights for 3rd June! We are absolutely shattered!

Not quite sure what we're feeling now. Very mixed emotions - happy, excited, shocked, stunned, tired, exhausted, ever so slightly nervous! Such a relief though...

VISA Celebration

Hitting rock bottom...

Throughout the worry and stress of waiting for our visa over the last few months we've often wondered if we will need to hit rock bottom before we deserve our visa! Last night I think I hit it!

We had a lovely day in the park and went to meet our friend Ant in Clapham Junction in the evening. It was a lovely evening - lots of chatter and lots of white wine...

Not sure if it was coz I only had a salad for dinner or whether I just reacted badly to the alcohol for some reason, but I was so ill when I got home! I think I've only been sick from drink a couple of times before in my life (don't get me wrong, I get hangovers but am never sick!) so I was competely gutted and annoyed with myself!

And it wasn't just being ill, I was not only clutching the toilet but also crying and shouting (all aimed at the Department of Immigration in Australia) - it was horrible! I was out of control!

Had a banging head and felt really rough all day today but nevertheless had a lovely day in the park (again) with friends.

Picnic in Hyde Park

Oh the state we get ourselves into... Let's hope that was rock bottom and the visa comes soon!

Becks

How am I feeling?

This blog seems to be turning into a kind of therapy so I thought I'd take the opportunity to try and note down how I'm feeling right now. Rather than blurt on and on, here is a list of words that come to mind:

Fed up
Not knowing
Worried
Sad
Miserable
Heart pounding
Up and down
Really fed up
Headache
Anxious
Clock watching
Excited
Nervous
Hyper
Numb
Tired
Obsessive
Disengaged
Putting a front on
Happy (it's not all miserable!)
Shakey

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Becks

Good news - ish!

Well, some good news...

In a frustrated 'sick of waiting' moment a few weeks ago we decided to just go for it and apply for On Arrival Accommodation. We checked out which flights we would like to be on and applied with the date of 7th May. A few weeks ago we (stupidly) presumed that our visa would have been issued by now.

So, just to complicate things a little, we have been very fortunate in being successful and have OAA allocated to us for our arrival on 7th May.

Thing is, we still don't have our visa! If it got issued today we'd probably go with it for 7th May, but if it gets issued in the next couple of weeks we'll obviously be a couple of weeks behind plan (on top of the 6 months behind plan we already are!).

Feel really bad as I know a lot of people aren't lucky with getting OAA but it's sods law that we of all people got it! Going to make a few enquiries and see if we are able to postpone our arrival by a few weeks, or pay for the weeks we aren't there just to hold it. It's too good an opportunity to let slip by!

Easter relaxation

When some people on Adelaide Brits said a few weeks ago they thought it might be after Easter that we get our visa news (as part of a sweepstake!) it seemed like so long away, but now here we are still waiting!

After a relaxing Easter break visiting the folks, it was hard coming back to London knowing we'd be coming back to the waiting, worrying and uncertainty of waiting for the visa. We've got just over 6 weeks left on the tenancy of our flat so things are getting tight!

The good news is that today we received an email from the Local Clearance Unit saying

"Dear Rebecca, Thank you for your email. The medicals has been received and is currently undergoing assessment.Once this is finalised, your case officer will be notified. If you requireany further information regarding your visa application, please contactyour case officer. Thanks"

This is good news as it confirms that our medicals arrived in Sydney and haven't been lost! Let's hope it has triggered them to be processed!

In the meantime, some photos to remind us of our happy Easter...

Easter

Our trip to Number 10

Our Tenancy Deposit campaign - including a trip to Number 10!

Yesterday we went to 10 Downing Street as part of our campaign against dodgy landlords who rip people off by keeping their deposits!

We met everyone from Shelter at Westminster tube station and wandered over to Downing Street where a strict police man shouted out our names and we had to shout 'yes' like at school! We had our bags and jackets scanned and also had to walk through an airport security thingy.

Once in Downing Street itself it felt really weird - almost like a film set. The news had just been announced that the Iran hostages were going to be released so there were quite a lot of media waiting outside.

Walking up to the black 'Number 10' door and through it felt really surreal and like it wasn't really happening! Once inside the foyer/hall we had to shout out our names again! We were then escorted into a waiting room, where our names were given again, and then hurded out of the waiting room like sheep!

Then we got to walk up the famous staircase with pictures of all the previous prime ministers - again really surreal, and we managed to hold off the Catherine Tate impressions.

We went into a big grand room where we waited about for a bit and looked over the back garden - all very nice.

We sat infront of a roaring fire and had a cup of tea with Ruth Kelly (Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) and told her all about our troublesome landlord. We were all anxiously waiting to meet Tony but sensed the wait was getting longer and longer...

Eventually Ruth got called out of the room and then came back in saying she had good and bad news. The good news was that the hostages were being set free in Iran, but that meant the bad news was that Tony was too busy to see us! Shucks! It was hard to take no for an answer, especially knowing he was somewhere very near us! Not even a pop of his head around the door to say 'Hi, sorry I can't stay for photos'! Ha!

By then the media had really gathered outside for the statement from the PM about the hostage release so we had to be sneaked out a back entrance! Passed Margaret Beckett on our way out so another celebrity spot! (if you can call her that!)

So all in all a fun experience. Good job Tony is leaving though coz he won't be getting our vote now! Ha ha!

Feeling calm

Ok, so after hearing that it could be another 5 weeks before we get an answer on our visa, we took it upon ourselves to call the Adelaide Skilled Processing Centre ourselves.

This is something we aren't suppoed to do as we have an ageny (supposedly) acting on our behalf, but we just couldn't sit back 'wondering' what was happening anymore! Anyway, a simple call to the ASPC told us that our medicals are still in Sydney and haven't yet been processed.

This led to panic and concern on our part as we became worried that our medicals had been lost en-route, or somewhere amongst the piles of paperwork at the processing centre in Sydney. However we've since heard that there are delays at the LCU (where the medicals are processed) and visa's are slowly starting to come through again.

All in all, feeling pretty calm about things. Last week we were comletely fed up, but this week it is as if we've but the waiting to the back of our minds and almost expect not to hear any news each day!

Fingers crossed the visa comes soon though. It's now 12 weeks since we had a Case Officer, and 8 weeks since they had all the paperwork.

Eeek.

Stop that tow truck!

On a quiet Saturday morning, we were awoken by the nasty tow truck and traffic wardens illegally towing cars from outside our flat!

In true Dan & Becks style, we ensured we got involved and started snapping! We soon passed the photos to the driver of the car for evidence...

Stop that tow truck!