Moving from SA to UK

Seeing as my track record for posting here is so abysmal (once a year?? Really now!) I’m going to try to post several items at once, catching up on... many events... more for info, if anyone is interested in reading!! 

Moving to the UK was an experience- mostly as I organized it all on my own. Most of my life hinged on my mum’s next scan, so when we received good news in the April, we started moving forward with the plans. I had been working on it for two months, since we first decided it was an option. 

And I’d like to say: the gov.uk website is an astonishing resource! So much of what I needed was there- even listing approved pet transport agencies. You just need patience to sift through the information to find what you’re looking for. 

One thing that I have always been hyper aware of, is that people think in odd processes sometimes. A process that seems obvious and straightforward can be made weirdly complex when someone else’s brain makes different connections. (Naturally, that’s why teamwork is so important!) 

(Complete aside, one day some non-English tourists asked me to explain “mind the gap”- took me far too long to realise that it was “mind” causing the problem! It would translate differently!!)

Back to the process of moving our 2-person, 4-dog, 3-bedroomed full household from SA to UK...

My spreadsheet was amazing, if I say so myself! I had the budget of required money, the time frames, the quotes, lists of items we’re keeping, items we’re selling, items we’re giving away - even a list of electrical items that would need converter plugs!! 

Naturally the first thing that happened was the dogs blood testing! It was the longest waiting-time as they needed an update rabies vaccination (thankfully they were all nearly due for their vacs) then wait for that to take effect. Followed by blood tests sent off to the one and only testing facility in SA (so imagine *that* cost for four dogs!) and the dogs could not travel within 3 months of that test. Plus, their results had to be over a certain level. 5 months of stressing over dogs’ blood tests...

Their schedule for transport was also started- as we keep saying, the dogs were ready to travel before we were! Global Paws were amazing- they were so patient with me, I had changing info and addresses. We hadn’t even listed the house yet so didn’t know if it would all happen that year even! Honestly, that side of things was seamless. I am forever grateful to Global Paws for getting my babies safely across- and  no quarantine!! We all left SA the same day and arrived in the UK on the same day! It was over 24 hours since I saw them but better than quarantine for 6 months...

The only worry I had with that was when the aircraft was changed and they had to fly with SAA. (Otherwise they would be split over two flights) Part of my plan was that we all travelled on the same plane- we needed to fly Premium Economy to get the extra luggage allowance and SAA doesn’t have Premium. No way could I ever afford Business on SAA!! 

My morbid thinking was that if anything happened we’d all go together. I couldn’t bear if something happened to their plane or something happened to ours and they didn’t know where we were... 

Next step was getting the house ready. That was heartbreaking trying to get it finished. Many shoulda-coulda-woulda’s at the end of it and I can only thank dear Noogs of Warrior Construction for coming to our rescue! (I’ve always known her by her full name because my mum insisted on using her proper name- because she thought it was a lovely name- and it’s so odd using her nickname!) 

She really was a lifesaver when I was losing my mind. 

Part of that was help from the most incredible, generous friends who had stuck by us through everything with my dad and now the move. But they have their own post! 

We also had to sort through over 40 years of accumulated memories of three people. My parents were married for almost 40 years- it’s a long time to keep things. And a substantial portion of things we brought with us were wedding presents/purchases!!

Admittedly, my mother was not in the frame of mind to be sorting things. When the container finally arrived in the UK, there were no clothes in there... I have no idea what she did with them.  

I was working as I didn’t want to take advantage of my employers’ good nature and take leave at random times- which meant that I wasn’t home while my mother was making odd decisions! 

The most frustrating part about getting the house ready for showing, is that I finally managed to get everything set up "just right"!  Technically, we had a "library" and a guest suite and a dining room and computer room and nicely decorated bedrooms... 

Then the showings started.  I had I-don't-know-how-many arguments over the price of the house.  The key was that I needed a specific amount to move and if we didn't sell at that price, we wouldn't be moving.  It was pretty straightforward!  Overall, we didn't have too many Sundays where we had to clear the dogs out for Show Houses.  There were some viewings during the weeks and my poor mum would sit out the front with the dogs yapping at everyone and anyone.  I'm sure the monkeys all found it very entertaining! 

Nothing happened - no bites, no second viewings. We made the decision to take the house off the market and wait until the following year. (I say 'we' and I really mean me...) 

So end of August, the house is taken off the market, show houses stop and no more viewings.  I spent a week finishing off my cloud decoration around a Winnie the Pooh quote (I was so proud of it!) and we get a sudden phonecall pleading to allow a viewing on Sunday. 

Turns out I did know them, they had corgis of their own - so immediately we liked the sound of them!!  They bought the house.  Signed the documents first week of September.  They had to have their bond approved so we had to wait for the deposit to be paid across.  

While we're waiting for that, I start confirming the movers and packing days and looking for somewhere to live in the UK.

Mid-October, I find out that the deposit has been stolen. Basically someone intercepted the email that had the bank details, changed them and sent it on to the buyer.  It wasn't discovered for 10 days, so by that stage the money was long gone. I was sitting with no back up plan, nothing to do, nothing that could be done.  It was out of my control and I could do nothing about it.  So the following week was a significant depressive period in my life. 

The buyers managed to make a plan - they were able to convert an investment and paid a second deposit. It felt like a miracle. Overall it was an entire month later than expected for the deposit, but we all lost out and there was no reason to reject the sale by that stage. 

That's when everything actually moved forward another step. Deposits were paid, flights were booked, I paid for my visa application (and that was another chunk of funds going nowhere!). Dogs were confirmed on their flights, they had to have final checks with the vet and choices made about all the dog baskets around the house!  Transport company was confirmed and booked to pack up at the end of November/beginning of December.

We had to find somewhere to live and trying to conduct house searches over skype is something else entirely! Not to mention trying to find somewhere that would allow us to keep the dogs and was still affordable. Without a presence in the UK, we were required to pay upfront for the 6 months' lease.

Once I had the visa appointment, I was then at work for the whole month working out my notice. While trying to sort the things we still had in the house and make decisions about what to do with the items we definitely did not need to take with us. 

I would say to people who have family/friends moving and if they offer for you to take something, please don't treat it like a shopping expedition. They will probably have an idea of what they would like you to take and if you have a friendship where you can ask upfront, do so! 

Part of my planning included shipping things to the UK that I knew we would need within the first 6 months (while waiting for the container). 8 bags/boxes were sent over with U-Bag to my cousin, including the Christmas decorations. 

When I think, now, about the level of planning I did, I am amazed that I managed to get it all done. I had researched replacement costs of items to decide if we needed to take something with us. Anything we would be replacing would need cash-in-hand. The transport companies and UK Customs needed value of items, one based on actual value and one based on replacement value. Imagine trying to decide the actual value of a wooden chest that has been handed down 3 generations and I don't even know what wood it's made out of! And then converting into £ - that was super-depressing... 

So I had lists of what should go in the container for "long term" living in the UK; what we needed within 6 months, but didn't need before arriving in the UK; and what we needed on a daily basis and would take with us. This is probably where I should have made a note about my mother's clothes, but it never occurred to me that she'd give them all away! 

Bearing in mind that 8 boxes/bags had already been sent, my mother and I flew to the UK with 9 pieces of luggage... the flights booked allowed us 2 pieces of checked luggage each and a piece of hand luggage each (trying to keep to weight limits when you're carrying all your computer gadgets and jewellery is not fun!) - everything else was excess luggage.  Also planned for in the budget. 

The movers were due to start packing up two days before the end of November - my last two days at work had me going home to more and more boxes and fewer possessions visible. Finally everything was packed up on 1st December and sent off to storage. I had to actively work to not think of the final event in "The A-Team" where they destroyed all those containers... 

While the movers were amazing and they packed everything extremely well (one broken cake stand - that's it), I would suggest having someone keep an eye on things. When unpacking, we discovered that one guy had been eating a very colourful lunch one day and managed to stain several pieces of the very precious dinner service... 

It was so weird being in the house after that.  I think one of the most noticeable things (and usually the first thing to happen) is when everything is taken off the walls. That often strikes me as the most significant part of packing up. Plus I dislike empty wall space! So my fingers itch to do something about it! 

My poor aunt - we stayed with them until our flights and I ended up asking her if I could rearrange the pictures in her hallway!  She very generously agreed and even listened quite calmly when I suggested a new lounge layout...  Admittedly they did eventually make the change I suggested, but I was only in her house for a week!!

So in the same vein, my aunt and uncle were taking several pieces of furniture so they brought their trailer and SUV and packed up all they needed, we packed ourselves and 4 dogs up and all 8 of us squished into the vehicle for the 6 hour drive to Joburg. I have photos of the dogs peering through headrests and my mum laughing over the situations the dogs got themselves into! 

I think one of the hardest moments was leaving the house so completely. We couldn't take organic things with us, so all my dad's roses had to stay. My strelitzia which was possibly due to flower had to stay, my hibiscus! Which flowered semi-regularly had to stay. I knew the lady moving in enjoyed gardening, but it is sad to leave all that behind. 

Compounded with that was saying goodbye to our family friends who were there to help tidy up, clear the things for donations and hand the keys over the next day. My parents met them when they moved to Howick, as Uncle Dave was the High School headmaster and therefore my dad's boss! I've never had a day when Aunty Sylvia and Uncle Dave weren't in my life and I was really scared to leave them in that moment. 

Back to the trip... we survived the 6 hours in the car with minimal space and unloaded in Joburg. First thing dear old Sandy did was get loose and wander the neighbourhood. I thought she'd done it again - right before being collected by the transport people! - but she was actually just locked in the workshop... 

After all the planning and scare of the deposit being stolen, the final travel was relatively easy.  Direct flight across to London. My mum had a wheelchair booked, which meant that I got a lift too! And of course, had help in London when having to grab all 7 suitcases off the conveyor! 

Our taxi transfer was waiting for us and he loaded everything into his van, quickly and drove us across to my cousin's. 

I had to wait for messages from the pet transporters to say the dogs had cleared their immigration, so it was a bit tricky making sure that the phones worked and trying to log on to email. But it all worked out! My cousin had collected the keys and set up the flat for us, putting the decorations up and making it feel homey. My aunt (on the other side) met me at the Quarantine site (great big yellow Q on the side of the building!) and we waited for the madhouse to be released. And we were shuttled back to the flat and the dogs explored everything while we tried to settle in. 

I do think it helped that we had so many of "our things" around us.  It definitely helped the dogs settle more quickly and as soon as I had rearranged some things and unpacked the cases we had with us, it felt like we had been there for years. 

We made it. We had moved to the UK and were in our new home for Christmas. 

When I think back on it, I think my mum often had moments where she couldn't believe we were really here. Her sister could pop across from Spain at any time and we were having celebrations together. 

I'm glad she had this time with her family being so close and so present. And my mum had no demands on her time - she was retired and could enjoy the visits :)