Moving Day

 

Picture of a poster of the Port of Vancouver that I saw at the PNE this summer... I imagine this is where our container will be setting sail from.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Often when I see a moving van parked outside a building, and it's dumping with rain, I think to myself... those poor people!  On moving day, whilst darting around from house to car to moving van, I had to smile quietly to myself... I was officially "one of those poor people."  Worrying about luggage weight on the plane, I had packed up my boots and most of my shoes to be shipped in the container. (They are heading into summer in Australia.)  I realized too late that the only pair of closed toed shoes I have are completely non-resistant to keeping the water out.  I had to bring the shoes home at the end of the day and park them in front of the heater.

People have asked how our stuff is getting to Sydney.  I had not actually considered how it happened myself until it came my turn to do it.  Fortunately, I had a friend make the same move two months ago... so I just copied her!  An international moving company packs your things for you.  Australia has strict quarantine rules, so all items must be verified. No wicker (bye bye bike basket), items that would have been in touch with soil: lawnmowers, brooms, etc. Also... anything valuable must be packaged carefully to minimize breakage. All the boxes are loaded into a moving van, then transported to a warehouse where they are loaded into a container. Once the container has been filled up, it is loaded onto a container ship and sets sail across the Pacific. It is my understanding that that journey takes about 5 weeks. Once it arrives in Australia, it then has to pass Customs and Quarantine. The whole process can take somewhere in the vicinity of two months.
The movers took about 2 hours to pack up my things, and about half an hour at dad's place.  Funny... his things were organized and mine were not!  I have no idea where anything is.  Books were packed in with kitchenware, photography packed in with clothing.  My control freak self is trying to let it go!

After the three movers packed up my gear, we all headed over to dad's.  I almost didn't make it.  Some intelligent woman decided that she wanted to be in a parallel parking spot on my side of the street.  Heading in the opposite direction as me, she went to make a U-turn right in front of me.  On the slick, wet pavement.  I could feel the accident happen... that helpless feeling, then the impact.  I could see my front end hitting hers, then sliding into the parked cars down the side of the street.  The boxed items for the thrift store all slide forward as I planted the brakes.  And then the feeling passed.  She stopped in the middle of the road just in time, and squeaked her car into the parking spot.  I could not believe it.  Could not believe someone would be so stupid as to make a U-turn over a double solid line in the rain in heavy traffic.  Could not believe that I did not hit her.  Imagine... totalling the car two days before selling it!  Needless to say, I sat on the horn halfway down the block.  (Good old Honda horn, it gets everyone shaking in their boots!)

I was handling the move alright... though at one point, all three packers were whacking on rolls of tape onto boxes and I was wondering what ever was I doing!  Had a handle on my emotions until I spotted a sticker on one of dad's boxes: "Norman... Destination: Sydney, Australia."  It was the sticker that broke the camel's back and the flood gates opened up - back on the emotional roller coaster again.  This is actually happening!  And again, the words of a wise sibling when I told him... "Yer weird."

It does not not bother me that I will be without my things for a while. So far, I have not got a place to house them in Australia - and to be honest... I am quite tired of stuff.  I have been thinking, allocating and moving stuff for far too long.  I am looking forward to living out of a suitcase for a while... enjoying the sunshine and a coffee or three. (Oh - and finding a care home for my dad. Oh - and finding a job for me.)