Kia Sportage & Kitchen Table & Chairs (© Vilis Nams)
Moving days are legendary for complicating life, and ours threw us a few curves, too. The first strike came when we arrived at The Rental Managers at 8:30 a.m. to collect our keys and were told we couldn’t have them until 1 p.m. because the exit condition report hadn’t been prepared yet. The second, a real doozy, slipped past in slow motion while we spent an hour and an half at the bank arranging the purchase of contents insurance.
The purchase episode actually became rather entertaining after a while. Vilis and I answered endless questions posed over the phone by a stilted insurance underwriter and were grateful for Alex, the banking consultant who went to bat for us and eventually cleared up the whole mess. By then, she knew about our home in Nova Scotia, the kids’ nature magazine articles I’ve published, and my blog about our time in Australia. When I mentioned the last, her eyes danced and she quipped, “And today I went to Commonwealth Queensland to buy contents insurance.” She in turn, told us that the best place to buy ice cream on The Strand is at Juliette’s and that she’s from WA (Western Australia). When she arrived in Townsville, she couldn’t believe she couldn’t go for a swim (no stingers in WA) and that the sand is so gritty here. “Best beaches in the country are in WA,” she said proudly.
Eventually, Vilis and I were the only customers left in the bank and the doors had been closed for fifteen minutes. The other banking officers had gone to their offices to peruse the day’s accounts. “I’m really sorry you’ve had to wait so long,” Alex told us for the fourth or perhaps sixth time as she escorted us to the side door through which regular customers do not exit.
Somewhere during the day, in between the two drives to Thuringowa to The Rental Managers and to the mall for banking and buying basic household maintenance articles and groceries, we collected the fridge and couch we’d bought from Salvo’s and moved our garage-sale purchases to our rental home – all done under a bald, blazing sun. When we returned to Richard’s for the night, we couldn’t stand the thought of doing one more task associated with moving.
