Well, it's been a while since we last posted on this blog (2 months exactly - I just checked), but things have been happening!
The sale of our apartment is going to be finalised on 8 January 2014. That's the day the title is transferred and when we are no longer property owners (or mortgage-payers) in the Netherlands. We had intended that day to be the day we left the Netherlands, but something came up!
Yes, after spending over a year umm-ing and ahh-ing over our cat, Ferry, we finally (and REALLY finally) decided that we couldn't bear to leave him behind and therefore he should come to Oz with us. For those in the know, his emigration is more complicated than just about anything else (I thought the car was bad), but it means he needs to hang around in NL for six months, so that he can satisfy the Australian Quarantine Service requirements that (amongst others) he does not have Rabies. See the photo below, which (as far as I'm concerned) shows a totally healthy cat. But, hey, we all have to jump through hoops to satisfy bureaucracy.
So, the reason for the delay?? Our cat-sitter, the fabulous Vera, cannot take Ferry into her home until 12 January 2014. We need to ensure our Ferry is safely ensconced in Vera's apartment in Amsterdam, before we can head out of the Netherlands. The timing is a bit off (with us being kicked out of our apartment on 8 January), but fortunately our very generous friend John is providing a place for all three of us (Craig and Ferry and me) to call "home" for the days when we are homeless, until we can drop off Ferry with Vera. Yay John :-)
We've also jumped through (too many) hoops to get our visas done. Who would have thought it would take so much time and effort (and money). Incredibly, the Iranian visa was the easiest to get, and the cheapest!! Now we've got our visas for India and Iran and we are collecting our passports (with visas) from the Pakistani embassy on Friday. I've never had so much trouble getting visas before ...
Our vaccinations are complete (but Ferry still has a few to go). The final bits and pieces for the car have been fitted (or will be soon - we got 3 AluTec boxes delivered today, so just need to be fitted to the roofrack). We took our final trip to the UK at the end of November, and visited Flatdog UK for some extra bits. We now have the most sophisticated battery monitoring system ever (we have an Oddysey leisure battery and a Varta starter battery).
The removalists are coming in less than 10 days, and that's just scary. Fortunately we decided some time ago to just take everything (in a 40 foot container), so we don't really need to sort out stuff that's not going (because it is all going). However, we do need to sort out what's going with us in the car, because once it's been packed by the removalists, we won't be seeing it again for a while. And considering that what we have in the car once it's packed is what we'll be living on, in and with for who knows how many months, that's concerning. We usually live by the principle of "have credit card, can buy", but this is not 2 weeks or even 4 weeks. This is months and months. So we're hoping we won't forget too much stuff!! And we hope to goodness it will all fit in the car .... yes, that is the big question!
Mirne had her eyes tested (because she wasn't seeing as much as she used to) and found that her eyesight had worsened significantly, so that meant getting new lenses in three pairs of glasses - unexpected expense! We got our GP to prescribe all prescription drugs for a period of 6 months, so we won't be looking for a GP in Pakistan or Turkey ... Mirne got her Kindle (thank goodness), so we won't be dragging 100's of hard-copy books with us! Our Carnet de Passage is being collated as we write this, and will soon be couriered (yes, Royal Mail wasn't good enough for RAC UK) our way. We need to finalise expedition car and expedition travel insurance - hopefully tomorrow.
Craig had the brakes checked on the Beast last week, and during that process found that a crucial part needed replacing because it was failing due to being full of Sahara sand (instead of grease) ... oops! We may not have made it out of the Netherlands if Rob hadn't caught that one! Thanks Rob! Our air conditioner was also given the once-over by a very helpful and friendly airco guy -- the system is now operating at 100% (as opposed to 30% ... oops). I don't understand that there are still people out there who believe that air-conditioning is a "luxury" -- when you have a big BLACK car, air conditioning is a necessity!
We got the bill from the removalists which seems a lot higher than the original quote ... typical. When we converted the amount to Australian dollars, the amount was high enough to give Mirne heart palpitations ... I (Mirne) could see our as-yet-unbuilt-house-in-Australia getting smaller and smaller (one less bedroom). But, yes, moving to the other side of the world is very expensive, and driving to the other side of the world is just as expensive. Importing a car and a cat into Australia adds more costs still ... sometimes I wonder if it will all be worth it. Craig tells me it will be :-)
We got some legal documents finalised today, by going to the Australian embassy in the Hague to get our signatures witnessed (for a fee per signature). So if we get blown up in Pakistan, at least our assets will find a good home :-) I wonder about Ferry though ... mmm ... must speak with Vera about that!
What else??
The weather here has been deceptively mild. I'm hoping it will stay that way until we're well away from northern Europe, although we'll be carrying snow-chains in the car anyway, as it is a legal requirement of various countries we'll be driving through.
Oh. And we moved the rooftent to the back of the car. Third time moved. Also final time.
Can't think of anything else at the moment. Will update blog as and when anything of interest happens.
