Changes To Our Plan

Back at the start of June I posted our plan for the next 12 months but a few things have changed since then.  Some of these changes put a bit of pressure on us especially as we transition to parent hood so I am trying to be as prepared as I can.

I have put the original plan in italics so you can see what has changed.

August - We will be heading home on our road trip and Hubby will be heading back to work.  I will be working with our builders and planning for our new house.  There will be a few Peanut related related baby appointments to catch up on and I have plans to do a further cull of excess belongings that will not go to NZ with us.  I also plan to do some craft, catch up with friends we don't see very often and have a rest before the Peanut arrives.

This all went to plan but other than finishing up my crochet blanket not much else happened on the craft front. I am not really surprised.

We have been having a big clean up on return from our trip as we do not want to have to just leave behind or sell all of our camping gear.  But as you can imagine it is exactly the sort of thing that customs will be worried about bringing dirt and bugs into the country.  So everything has been cleaned.  Tents were vacuumed then mopped out on the inside, hosed down and scrubbed on the outside, left to dry then flipped over for the bottom to be scrubbed clean. Camping chairs, our gazebo and tarpaulins all got the same treatment to make sure no dirt was left on them.  Thankfully I am have had an easy pregnancy and am not very big so spending a few hours on my hands and knees scrubbing was not too much as long as I took breaks.

Hubby doing the mopping after I vacuumed

The garage got a big sort out with lots of cardboard and polystyrene boxes that used
to house home brew getting the heave ho.

The last of the garden pots set aside for recycling and the back shed got cleaned out too.

Everything that is going to to be moved to New Zealand needs to be sorted through to make sure we are not taking with us anything that will cause us issues with customs and so that we can get rid of all the bits and pieces that are not going with us.  We have cleaned all of our furniture that is going and been through all our cupboards. we have also moved our futon couch and second chest freezer to Hubby's brothers house as we need something to sleep on when we stay with them and we still have meat to get through between now and when we leave.  So we will transport all the meat to their house when we move out so we can clean out and dry our other chest freezer that is going to New Zealand with us.  

September - Much like last month but I am guessing I will be slowing down a bit more and finalising baby prep.  We will also have a baby shower of sorts that will include all friends and family both male and female.  And of course there is a chance the little guy could turn up early.

This is all still happening. 

October - Peanut is due on the 5th so nothing big planned this month.  Mum is coming over from NZ for a week from the 9th for a week and it will be great to have her here in the early days (or for the birth if he is late).

Well this is going to be the month where things change the most.  We had originally been told by our agent that extending our lease for a month would not be an issue but it turns out the owner had not been consulted and was not agreeable to this.  So now we have no choice but to be out by the 20th.  Yes with a baby due things are getting tight this month and we have had to make some significant preparations to accommodate the change.
The month will start the same with the arrival of Peanut and then mum will be here.  But the day mum leaves on the 16th will also be the day we move to Hubby's parents house to live until for a few weeks.  
The international movers turn up on the 17th and start packing all of our things to be shipped to New Zealand and will finish the packing on the 18th then collect everything to go into storage on the 19th.  We then have the afternoon of the 19th to clean the house ready for the carpet cleaners to arrive on the morning of the 20th after which we will have to finish any cleaning and hand the keys back that afternoon.
So this means that anything we want to have with us between the October 16 2016 and February 14th 2017 (approx) has to be packed before October 16.  It also has to be within our luggage allowance to take to New Zealand when we fly in January.  Since we have to live out of suitcases for so long and we will have a bit of baby gear to cart around we have paid in advance for 2 additional bags (it is much cheaper to do this even if you do not use the full weight allowed, than pay for excess baggage if you go over). So we will have 4 x 23 kg bags, 2 pieces of hand luggage, a laptop bag, a nappy bag and a pram for the flight, plus a few odds and ends that we will leave behind when we go.

We have also arranged with the moved that we can keep a few things aside to be dropped of with the ute at the last minute.  Most of this will be food containers from the pantry as we will keeping and eating what ever we have left until the last minute then clean all the containers and pack then to be added to our shipping container.
We will also keep our 60 litre car fridge out so that we can use that in addition to Hubby's parents fridge which is generally full all the time before we try and add anything extra.

November - Will be the beginning of the end as we introduce Peanut to friends and family here in Australia and start to say our goodbyes.  It will take time to make sure we see everyone and we will try and have a farewell party at some stage during the month.  At the end of the month the international removalists will come and pack all our stuff and store it for a few weeks before it gets shipped to NZ.  We will move out of our rental and stay with family over the Christmas period.

This month we will relocate to my brother and sister in laws until just before Christmas to give Hubby's parents a break from having us and a new born in the house.  I will also be taking Peanut on an introduction trip up to Tin Can Bay for a week to see two different lots of friends and say goodbye to them.

December - We will hand over our 4wd to the removalists and sell my car. More of the same from November but we will be living out of suitcases and making the most of time with family.

Just before Christmas we will go back to Hubby's parents for our last 3 weeks in Australia.  We will get rid of the futon and the freezer from my brother and sister in laws.  We will also be hanging on to the ute and dropping it off just a few days before we leave.

January - Jessie will be having all of her final vet visits before the move and will be dropped off with the pet movers the day before we fly.  Jan 12 is Moving Day.  We will say good buy to Australia and set off to start a new life in NZ.  I am sure this will be a busy month as we start off staying with my parents, find a house to rent, get building underway on our new house and show off Peanut to our NZ friends and family.

Other than now dropping off the ute this month everything else stays the same.

The rest of next years plans may change but at this stage it is a little far off and we do not know of any changes yet.