Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Moving House (Part 1)


Finally, after having their  house (where I resided) in Stanley on Tasmania's far North-West coast up for sale for almost 3 years the house has sold. This was promptly followed by the purchase of a new house approximately 80km east to the city of Burnie. The major reason for the move was to be closer to my children; something that I have been waiting patiently for almost 5 years. 

The odds were against them from the start. 6 months after my parents put their house on the market, house sales across the coast had dropped by over 30%. It was a sharp drop which fell directly in line with the global economic crisis. It was most certainly a buyers market as far as real estate went. Added to this was the remote location of Stanley. It is a small village of only 450 residents which relied heavily on tourism, agriculture and to a lesser extent, fishing. 


Amenities are also limited to a great extent due to the town's location which no doubt played a part in an even sharper drop in real estate than elsewhere. Having said this, when I moved back to Stanley from Burnie in 2007 due to my raging alcoholism at the time, I soon re-adjusted to the 'shortfalls' with no problem at all.

To cut a long story short, within the space of 8 weeks, my parents and I all contracted influenza, someone made an offer on the house that just had to be taken and, due to illness, we had under a fortnight to organise the move and get the house, sheds and my recording studio ready to be whisked away by removalists. We also had to find a house in Burnie to purchase. Three days later, a more than suitable place was found and 'settled for.' There were also numerous phone calls between banks, lawyers, etc. etc. and more than a few trips up to Burnie to sign legal documents regarding the house sale(s) and house removal plans organised.

Under normal circumstances, from experience, moving house is stressful enough. The fact that the 3 of us felt and looked like death on legs didn't help. People were calling us to wish us well as new travels fast in small communities. To be totally honest, there was not a single ounce of excitement or anticipation about moving house.


Finally, the time came. We secided to rent a truck to move what we could the day before we had booked a removalist. The truck that we rented was packed to the hilt. We were even worried about opening the doors on our arrival in Burnie. This load consisted mainly of 'regular' shaped boxed and cases. Because of their shape they could be packed very tightly, making it a touch back-breaking....but we had the job done and the truck was returned early Friday afternoon.

The next day the removalists arrived at 7.50am despite saying they'd be there at 8.30am. I took this as a good sign and I was 90% right. When booking the removalist, we were advised that all of the house, shed and outdoor contents could be taken in one trip. Unfortunately this didn't pan out. This is in no way a bad reflection on the removalists. They were outstanding. They were continually advising us not to do any lifting, manouvering heavy and awkward pieces of furniture through equally awkward doors and archways. All of this was done with the greatest of care and plenty of joking when time allowed both in Stanley and on arrival in Burnie.

After this, we decided to rent a truck again to clear the last of the items at Stanley. I volunteered to pay for this rental as my recording equipment took up space and time for careful handling. It is only money, after all. It didn't look or sound like much but on commencing the final removal we realised that all we had to load into the truck were 'odd' shapes. It was as frustrating as it was back-breaking. This would be the last time that I would see the inside of the house that my parents had lived in since emigrating to Tasmania from Scotland in 1979. I had envisaged having 'one last farewell' to the house but it ended up being nothing more than a passing gesture as we drove off. This was the exact same way that I left Scotland.

On arriving back to Burnie with our last load, 99% of our enthusiasm had gone. Things were literally dropped wherever they fitted.

The first part of the house move is now over. Watch this space for Part 2.



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6 comments:

  1. Moving out requires effort and money spent in boxes and people we hire or trucks. Planning should be the first thing to do. Tiring situations like this makes us unending stress for us until we finish and settled to a new locations. It is important to ask advice to our friends about this stuff. Check websites for cargo movers services that can do this job.




    Joseph @ furniture removal Sydney

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    1. Thanks for your hard-hitting comment, Joseph. You've nailed how much effort is involved in moving house. You guys are terribly under-rated. You deserve every accolade that you get & I wish you & your business well. :)

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  3. A proper boxing and packing is highly essential before shifting the goods to a new house so that there is no problem in unpacking the boxes. Hence it is to be done by highly skilled staff.

    Furniture Removal

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  4. I saw how moving and packing is done, and its not easy as you might think, you have to learn how to properly seal cardboard boxes, fashion them into shape to accommodate different things.

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  5. Thanks for your hard-hitting opinion, John. You've nailed how much attempt is engaged in shifting home. You people are really under-rated. You are entitled to every honor that you get & I wish you & your company well. :)
    AnitaGrace @ Surry hills removalists

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