2008

This has been a very traumatic year in for our clan. 2008 surpassed 2004, and then some. The second week of April 2008 was particularly bad:
-Carina’s mom passed away after a short intense fight with Cancer
-My sister Lena’s youngest son Barend was killed in a car accident
-A friend Jani was shot and killed in the driveway of their home
-Bruno our lovely Staffie drowned in our pool

Some of the other things to recall and forget:
-Our 15 year marriage nearly crumbled under the stresses of moving
-The financial downturn hit early when I couldn’t get my house or vehicles sold before leaving RSA
-My project was terminated early
-And to top it all off my brother Rassie was brutally murdered in December

These Lows make the highlights seem few:
-We moved to Oz
-Michael is in a good school and is settling in nicely
-We have 2 neighbours that are great
-It is safe enough that I can ride motorbike again
-It is good to feel safe and relaxed

Tonight we are having a BBQ at John and Di across the road. Tomorrow we are going camping with Michael’s friend Jasmin (his girl!). We are really looking forward to it. I just miss my Double Cab Nissan very much as we cannot get much in the little Hyundai Accent. I can’t even use my Engel Fridge as it doesn’t fit and the site doesn’t have electricity.

To all my friend and family out there: Hope that you have a wonderful and blessed 2009. May your dreams come true and you be blessed with good health. We miss you all terribly. Hans, Carina & Michael.

Dec 2008 News

A few new and interesting things to get used to:
Which company would have a name like Booby Trap? (answer at the bottom)
Tea=Dinner
Lolly = Any sweets not just a lollypop
Flat white is a type of coffee like Cuppachino, short and long black
No Fanta grape or Grapetizer but Solo which is Michael’s new favourite
Paper advertising in the mail is over the top, we receive around 2kg per week
Specials are “really specials” and when the time expires, the normal price applies. Sometime over the weekend the meat and perishables are marked down by >50% in some cases when the “sell-by date” is reached.
Petrol fluctuates from day-day but on Tuesdays petrol is cheaper by 10 -20c (>R1) per liter.

We had drinks and snacks (not tea) with the neighbours the other weekend and Erika (Hungarian) made Hanosh which is nothing more than the good old boere vetkoek. You eat this with strong garlic butter and cheese on the top (not inside, just like Cremora). Very rich and nothing gets close to you for days.

We visited a Fresh fruit market on Sunday which is held at a working drive-inn where stuff is nearly ½ price. You actually need some sort of a trolley as you park miles away and tend to buy lots. I was already impressed with the fruit in Oz but this fruit is even better: Ripe, juicy and tasty.

We started our herb garden. We have to plant stuff in loose plastic pots sitting in the flower beds. Check the pictures on Picasa.

Carina got her Oz driver’s license first time: I am so impressed! You write a learner driver test (like anyone else here but they remain learner and provisional for 2 years!), attend a driver’s lesson and then do a drivers test before you can get a license. We had to ask why we from RSA, driving on the same side of the road as Oz, had to do a complete drivers test and the Americans are simply issued with one: Tit-for-Tat was the basic reply: RSA doesn’t honour Oz licenses so why should they! It was like anything else here, quite an expensive exercise (R3300) but Carina’s license expired yesterday so we didn’t have a choice. I don’t have to do it for another 4 years but may do so as this license is a very useful ID document.

Children are very precious in Oz society: Parents with children got a Xmas bonus of $1000 per child (residents only) and you get a $5000 bonus when your child is born. This is from the driver’s handbook: “Children under 16 must be given a seat belt before any other passengers.”

Michael is starting to talk like the Ozzie kids: They don’t pronounce the “t”; what becomes wha, what is the matter becomes wha is the ma-u. I can’t say that I am very impressed with this bu that is the way the kids talk and he (we?) will be talking like them sooner or la-ur.

We had the company Xmas party at the Greenhills Adventure Park, a very impressive venue near Victor Harbour. The weather didn’t play along and it was quite cold and wet at times but we still had to be chased out at closing time. Only kids were on the water slides. There was plenty to eat and drink and the kids all got presents from Santa. (www.greenhills.com.au)

And so the holidays are upon us. We will be staying home and doing stuff in and around the house and Adelaide area:
Building a workbench and 2 tables for computer and sewing
Swimming, Cycling, Lego, Scalectic Cars, Radio controlled cars and boats, fishing,
Computer/PS3 games

Booby Trap is a Company selling bras; brilliant name!