Peter's SA Homecoming

So it’s been a couple of weeks since I last wrote here, and what a couple of weeks it’s been! My Australian girlfriend has decided to join me in SA after she moved back to Melbourne and realised that she had made the wrong decision. She’s going to try SA which is great!

Another thing that’s happened is that I’ve packed all my possessions in boxes and got them collected. 1st Contact is doing the shipping.  My 7 boxes have items valued at around £5,000 (which I was shocked by as the high-valued items only contribute around £1,500 – the rest is made up of low-value items). Total shipping came to £770 – ouch! Anyway, it still makes sense rather than trying to sell stuff here for a pittance and then having to buy it new in SA again.

But it’s a big relief having got it out the way!

I’ve also started looking for jobs. So far in Cape Town only. I’m neither disappointed nor amazed by the number of jobs that are being advertised. It’s currently not the limiting factor, rather my time is, as I have to write a cover letter for each of these positions.

It’s still difficult to gauge what salary I will be able to get. Only time will tell.

I’m not yet sure when Elizabeth will be joining me from Oz — probably later in August after I’ve been home about a month. My brother Marc and I have booked 4 nights in the Kruger Park for the beginning of August which I’m really looking forward to. I’ve just bought a new Nikon D90 SLR camera and am looking forward to using it!

The weather’s been really nice here in London for a change. The last nice summer was in 2006. No, the last summer was in 2006. There wasn’t one in 2007. Nor last year! So it’s really nice to enjoy the long evenings, although I’ve been working like a maniac.

On Friday (it’s Sunday today) I faxed through my application form for Discovery Health. I think this is an area that is ignored by a lot of people moving back to SA. There is no mention of it on the Homecoming Revolution site, but the fact is that unless you manage to find suitable travel insurance (which would be very difficult as you’re not going for a defined period), you will have no medical insurance. The NHS doesn’t pay for medical stuff outside of the UK (and to a limited extent in the EU if you have an EHIC card).