Permanent visa application

With just over a year to go on our temporary visa, we are posting off our application for a permanent visa today, with a big file of paperwork heading off to Adelaide.

After getting the confirmation on sponsorship from the NSW Government, I have had to compile a lot more forms and information about us and the business, as well as get the accounts redone for a different 12-month period - since the length of time to get the sponsorship meant that the accounts period fell outside the required time period for the main application. We also had to get a lot of paperwork certified, but there is a good free service at the library each Saturday where JPs will do this for you (and it took a few visits to get all the items done).

There are little things that arise during the process that I hadn't considered in advance, such as the accounts period being different and the time it takes to get police checks done, both in Australia and the UK. We have been waiting for the latter ones for the past 2 weeks to get everything finalised and so we should have sent off our requests for these sooner with some better planning! It's also been a tight process to get everything in before Caroline turns 18 in two weeks' time, as that would mean a further batch of forms to be completed, but it's possible we may still need to do this is the application isn't reviewed until after this time.

Hopefully the application won't get lost in the post so that we have to do it all again! Not sure how long it's going to take now and we're hoping we don't all have to get medicals and X-rays done again, especially as Laura will be in Wollongong soon. It's now just a case of wait and see, and eventually we will have some certainty, one way or the other!

Washout

This past weekend seems to have been a continual rain storm / shower, with Saturday being the worst - apparently over 70mm fell in Sydney over a 24 hour period, and northern NSW is also under flood alerts. Which means that Lesley & Dave timed their visit here very well, and we had a quiet weekend indoors!

The Olvers in Sydney

Lesley and Dave have been here for 5 days, on their way to a longer stay in NZ. They arrived last Tuesday morning - Australia Day - after having spent a few days in Hong Kong. The day turned out hot and sunny and we took them to the city to enjoy the events going on around The Rocks and on the harbour, and then enjoyed some fish & chips on the beach at Balmoral on the way home.

The rest of the week was a good chance for us to do the tourist trail again and show them the sights. The weather forecast had been mixed but turned out pretty well in the end and every day was hot. We went up the coast on Wednesday to Palm Beach, where we walked up to the lighthouse and were lucky (?) to be able to watch a scene from 'Home & Away' being filmed by the beach.

Sue decided to take it easy at home on Thursday so Laura and I took the Olvers to the city again where we had a wander around, went up the tower for a view and walked along the bridge before heading back again on the Manly ferry. Friday was a trip to the Eastern Suburbs and South Head, with a great lunch at Doyle's in Watsons Bay and then an afternoon dip in the sea at Bondi, which was lovely and the waves not too strong!

On their final day we took them on the Spit - Manly walk to get them prepared for some hiking in NZ! It was a hot day and walk, but some great views and a good way to finish their stay. The past week has been a holiday for us as much as Lesley & Dave and it's been great to have them here, even for a short time. They departed for Christchurch early on Sunday morning for a 3-week stay there.

Summer heat

It's been a particularly hot weekend, especially on Friday and Saturday when the temperature was in the high 30's and this coincided with the 2-day 'Big Day Out' music festival at the Olympic Park. Caroline went on Saturday with some friends and just managed to last the whole day although the afternoon and evening did start to get cooler. Her main incentive was to see the headliners, Muse, in the evening, who didn't disappoint apparently!

We had a quiet weekend, partly due to the heat but also because Sue has got shingles! She seems to have caught it early and got some drugs from the doctor to try to suppress the initial pain, but she's not feeling great at the moment.

Laura's birthday

It was Laura's birthday on Sunday and her departure from teenagerdom! She'd been out partying on Thursday night and again on Saturday, so by the time her birthday arrived she was feeling quite tired, but managed to get up early before Caroline went off to work for several hours.

The plan for the afternoon had been for us all to go to the city and enjoy one of the jetboat rides around the harbour. However, the weather wasn't looking good, with thunder rumbling around at lunchtime, but we decided to go and see what it was like later on. We arrived at Cremorne to catch the ferry, but the one we expected didn't stop as it was jammed with people coming back from Taronga Zoo. We had to wait for another 30 minutes but as it was cool and windy we decided to head home and try another weekend soon!

Spent the evening playing some games, eating and going to bed early!

NSW business sponsorship

I received confirmation of renewed sponsorship from the NSW Dept of State and Regional Development yesterday. This is the first stage of applying for a full residency visa, and the sponsorship is required for the visa I will now be applying for, as I've reached the required targets for turnover, net assets and employees over the past 12 months.

This latest process was similar to that which I went through 4 years ago when we started the whole visa application process and it took about 3 months to get the confirmation, which included a site visit last week to my office - just to confirm that the business did exist! I think the guy who came to see me was very impressed by the shiny modern office building that I'm now based in.

So I can now start the full visa application to the Federal Government - let the multiple form and paper collation begin!

Dog sitting

Only 2 days to go before the dog goes home! I must admit, I’ve grown quite fond of him as the days have passed, but not really to the point of not wanting to let him go – there have been too many ‘accidents’ for that!

He’s a lovely puppy though, and has made us all laugh with his antics, especially when chasing his tennis ball and forgetting to stop at the wall, or barking outside each girls’ bedroom door to wake them up in the morning! At the end of the day though, it’s like having another person to look after and be responsible for, 24 hours a day, and that’s what we remember from our dog-owning days. We’re not going to miss the early-morning walks too much either!

The weather has been improving this week and we’re back to complaining about the heat. The sea’s warming up nicely too and Clive and I will probably go for our first dip of the year this weekend. The girls have all been in already, of course!

Clive’s coming to the end of his first week back after Christmas, and is ready for a break already, and I’ve done a couple of unpacking jobs for the company I have been working for since November. One was for a lady who told us her husband was a chef and therefore she didn’t know where anything should go in the kitchen, she’d leave it up to us. I was working in the study initially, unpacking what must have been 100 cookery books, including Larousse Gastronomique, so I decided that this was no fast food restaurant chef!

Then I came across his name in a book, and although it sounded very familiar, I still didn’t recognise it. It was only when I’d moved on to the bedroom and saw their wedding photo that I realised the man in question was a judge of Masterchef Australia, a program we’d all lapped up last year! He didn’t appear before we all finished for the day, but I felt like I was unpacking the house of a friend – didn’t tell his wife that though!

I’ve got a job tomorrow in the new home of a business magnate. I don’t think I’ll ever need to hire an architect in future, I know exactly what works and what doesn’t in homes now!

New Year's Eve

We've had a good holiday week at home - the weather hasn't been great but we've been able to relax and also get in some bike rides and walks along the coast. The walking will be a higher priority over the next week or so for all of us, as we've agreed to look after a friend's dog while they go away - a small black and lively puppy called Ozzy, who is some sort of spaniel / poodle cross.

We weren't sure how well he'd settle in the house and therefore we had turned down 2 invites for NYE drinks to look after him (and all the girls had other plans), but in the end Ozzy seemed worn out from the day's exertions and went to sleep about 10.45 and so the two of us decided to head down to the harbour to watch the fireworks.

After a wet start to the day, NYE turned out warm but overcast. We drove to Cremorne and parked about 20 minutes walk away from the harbour, but there were quite a few other groups heading there. We arrived with about 15 minutes to wait and it didn't seem as crowded as previous years, either due to the earlier weather or the higher level of police and banning of alcohol this year.

However, there was a good atmosphere and the fireworks didn't disappoint - after quite a low key start, the last half of the 12 minute display was very impressive and some great effects along the bridge. We then walked back to the car and were home by 12.45 to a sleeping dog - and fortunately there aren't any local fireworks to have woken him up as you can't buy them in the shops here.

Christmas 2009

As hoped for by the girls, the weather changed at the end of last week, just in time for Christmas Day, with some cooler air from the south and clouds as well as rain by the end of the day, which continued through to Boxing Day. As a result, they felt that it was more like a traditional Christmas and as it was cooler Sue opted for the roast turkey dinner instead of the barbeque and salad! We had a lovely family day at home and only ventured out to feed the neighbour's fish....

As Boxing Day was wet and cool we decided not to go and watch the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race this year, as did many others according to the lack of crowds on and around the harbour. The rain continued for most of the day, so we had another lazy day at home with a short and blowy walk around Long Reef in the afternoon, between the showers.

Preparing for Christmas

It's the build-up to Christmas but we're feeling unseasonal as always with the sun and warmth! Sue participated in an open-air carol concert in Manly last week, as she had been singing in a mass choir of about 150 people for the past few months in preparation. I went along to watch with Laura and Rebecca plus several thousand others and it was an entertaining evening, finished off by fireworks.

We bought a Christmas tree on Saturday and put up the decorations, while the girls were all reading about (and seeing photos of) the heavy snow in the UK via their friends on Facebook! So we're starting to feel a bit more seasonal now, helped by the girls starting their school holidays that go through to the end of January.