Don't do it! You have been warned

I have crawled up off the floor and clawed my way onto a chair to write the final chapter in this, the Cowra Prowse's DIY removal job from dry old Cowra to moist and green Lismore. At great personal effort and racked with a variety of aches, pains and stiffness I will attempt to describe the last fortnight now that the molecules of my body have finally caught up with my mind.

Firstly, let me say to those of you who are entertaining the idea of transporting your worldly goods 1000km away in a rented trailer to save a few bucks - DON'T! And, dear friends, I will tell you why. Mind you, it was not me that voiciferously and with great enthusiasm made the fateful decision to not bother and get quotes from a removalist or three. Ho hum....

So, 6 weeks to go until settlement and we had a look around the house to see how much stuff we had that we really wanted to take with us, how much could be donated to the salvos and, since there was just the two of us and two dogs (they don't really have a lot of stuff) we thought, yeah, a couple of trips in a large trailer with those cage sides should get it all there - two trips over the next 3 weeks - then we will have a couple of weeks to relax living in the caravan in the back yard and waiting patiently for settlement to occur on 9 December. I have now learned that hindsight has perfect vision and of course - as you do - we underestimated the volume of the contents of this 2 bedroom house with two middle aged retiree's collections of bits and bobs.

You will have by now read the previous post describing in gory detail the first hair raising trip with the heaviest load of precious possessions and no doubt were amazed at our good fortune to survive that nightmare drive in the dark and pouring rain down the Bruxner Highway (goat track).

Ok, so two weeks ago we rented the trailer again and no matter how hard we tried, we just could not cram everything in for that second, and initially final, run north. I should say at this stage that as we are driving 1000km each way, it takes roughly 13 to 15 hours depending on how many food, fuel and pee stops you take. Having a couple of dogs you have to factor in at least a few more pee stops. And of course, it is prudent to stay a few days at our destination before the long drive back to soak up the delightful atmosphere of the lush green countryside and to catch up with our gracious host and our niece and nephew.

The realisation dawned on us as we gazed around the living room at the rest of the stuff that was not already in the trailer was that yes, we would have to do a third trip and settlement time was fast approaching. We were discussing the idea of borrowing a trailer and saving the cost of 5 days rental, but the club's trailer was not large enough and by the look of the bulging tyres once it had been packed by he who is most optimistic, it was doubtful that the old thing would get us there and back (coff, wheeze) and the potential cost of a breakdown far outweighed the cost of renting the tried and true trailer for a third time. Quickly he looked at his watch and it was 10 to five so he jumped on the phone to the rental place and begged to rent the large trailer once again but he was told that it was not available until 2 days time. OMG, that left only 7 days until settlement. We'll take it, we said.

And so it came to pass that we did collect the trailer last Wednesday, packed the bejesus out of it, tying dining chairs in a most ingenious jigsaw fashion so that their legs did not poke holes in the covers, threw in all the bits and pieces we could find and wrapped the whole darn lot in three layers of blue tarp which were then tied decoratively with a multitude of coloured ropes (he he - did you like that???) It took the best part of 6 hours such was the difficulty of packing odd shaped items.

Wednesday night was spent at the in-laws house in Mudgee so we could get a 3 hour head start on the trip the next morning at 6am. A brilliant idea (he does have them sometimes) as we arrived in Lismore while it was still light. We spent Friday and Saturday relaxing and doing a little shopping in town then drove back to Cowra yesterday in record time of 13 hours. Thank goodness we were actually driving at the speed limit when we passed the two highway patrols. Phew!

So dear readers, we now have until 3pm the day after tomorrow until settlement takes place and in that time we need to clean the house, pack the caravan and do all things necessary to vacate the premises first thing Thursday morning. So much for my week of R&R.

I am so excited, our new life begins in 3 days. We will be debt free with a modest sum in the bank, a roof over our heads (on wheels that is) and a lovely place to park it for as long as we like (thanks Letty, we love you xx) and the possibility of doing anything that takes our fancy. I am looking forward to those organic veggies that my dear other half is planning to grow and anything else that life has to offer.

The moral of this story? Just get at least 3 quotes from reputable removalists to have the bloody job done once, and for all and just pay the bastards to do all the lifting and carrying. Oh, my aching back.........ooooooohhhhhh ........