Category: Pippa

The Hard Reality of Expat Life!

25/3/2023

This week has been a bit of an eye-opener for me in many respects. After buying a car over a week ago, we have returned it to the garage where we purchased it; It was unroadworthy and a danger. Today, we are still waiting for a reply from them, let alone on the road to getting our money back. In all fairness, buying this vehicle was a big mistake, we know that now. As Expats, relatively new to Perth, we had no idea, just how bad the car market was; had we known, we would never have paid money for it. This place is full to bursting with con merchants, and Darrell really should have walked away instead of purchasing this road hazard. All we can do is just keep waiting and hoping the bank returns our money, so we can buy a new car. Personally, I don't have much hope and certainly have no faith in the legal avenues open to us; we may well just have to write this mistake off to experience!

Now that we are settled in Perth, I have also started the process of moving my life, lock stock and barrel, over to Western Australia. As you can imagine, this is a particularly time-consuming and complicated business. Most importantly, I have begun migrating my British pensions over to an Australian Superfund. Now, this really is where things get complicated. In order to move my pension funds over, I have to do it through an HMRC compliant company here in Australia, or a (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme.) My current Superannuation fund, is with Plum Super, which sadly isn't accepted by the tax office in the UK. This means I will have to find another organisation who will accept the transfer.

Consequently, I have contacted various financial advisers in Australia, who I believe can help in this process. For me, it is necessary to move this money over, and although it isn't worth a great deal, it is important for the powers that be, that I show commitment to my new life in Perth. That isn't the only reason, of course. If I leave my pension pot in Britain, I believe I will be liable for tax. Drawing the money will also be more difficult, especially when one considers the exchange rates and costs involved in converting UK pounds to Dollars. Later on in life it will become a real headache and I feel it would be best to move it as soon as possible.

I do keep a close eye on my UK pension funds, and I am shocked at how badly they are doing. I have been comparing these pensions with equivalent superannuation funds in Australia, and there really isn't any comparison. Any money I have in the UK, would be much better off here than back in Britain.

This week, I also found out more about the UK state pension, which I am still able to get when I reach UK retirement age. It appears that the money I get each week will be based on how much I am entitled to today. In seventeen plus years time, when I officially retire, it will be worth absolutely nothing. With the way things are, my state pension will be worthless, and I should discount this income long term.

I am still at a loss to understand why my contributions are frozen at today's prices. If I stopped working in the UK now, but still lived there, the amount I receive would still go up in the same way everyone else's does. I am being penalised for moving abroad, but more importantly, to Australia.

Australia has no social security agreement with the UK, which does create problems for expats like me. My state pension will remain frozen at the levels they are today for this reason alone; if I had moved somewhere else, where a reciprocal agreement was in place, then this wouldn't be the case. Once again, I am being punished because I am living in Perth, and that isn't right. Not every expat is wealthy; I live on relatively modest income and will have even less when I retire. It is up to me to save hard over the next decade and a half, in order to have enough money when I am older. However, looking at our situation long term, I am not sure if it will be possible to live here in my dotage. It may well be better to sell our home and move back to Europe. A lot can happen between now and then, so the only plans we can make for now, are for the immediate future, a long term strategy is just not possible!

Pippa continues to settle in to her new home with us and appears to be growing stronger by the day. Her life was clearly very traumatic, and it will take some time before she has adjusted to her new circumstances.

Over the last week, she has been suffering with an unfortunate eye infection. Last Sunday, we took her to the vets, after noticing she had a swollen eye. After she was examined, the vet informed us that she had herpes. Apparently the condition was brought to the fore because of the stress she has been under. For Pippa, moving from her foster home was a big deal, and she has been under an enormous amount of stress ever since.

We have stopped visitors from coming into the house at the moment, in order for her to feel comfortable in her own home, and we are sure it won't be too long before she is able to enjoy a full and happy life.

Looking after a damaged animal isn't easy, but we knew that when we took her on in the first place. We wanted to give her a good home, when no one else would, affording her the life she deserves. We are certainly under no illusions about how difficult this process will be, but the reward is to see her happy and content; for that reason, we are happy to keep on trying to bring the best out in her. Like all our other cats before her, she is more special than she will ever know; she is the light in our life and a reason to care!

...and finally, today we had Sunday lunch at The Stirling Arms in Guildford, celebrating my Mother-in-Law's Birthday. It was a special day for all of us, being here in Australia with Mum at this time. She has spent far too many Birthdays alone, but thankfully now we are back, that will not be happening again.

Like us, I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend!

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A house is not a home without a cat!

18/2/2023

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On Monday, we picked up the latest edition to our household, Pippa! Pippa is twelve months old and was being fostered by a lovely lady in Butler, about forty-five minutes away from where we are living in Midland. Darrell and I have always had cats, ever since we got together nearly twenty-eight years ago, so it was only fitting that we should include another one in our life together, here in Western Australia. Ideally, we would have brought our Spanish cats with us in 2018, but at a cost of $10,000 each, to transport them to the other side of the World, it would have been far too expensive for us at the time. After moving into Mathoura Street, it is time to once again have a cat we can spoil and look after; Neither Darrell nor I have children and Pippa will be our baby, as all our other cats were before her.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, Pippa has Hyperreflexia, a congenital birth defect. She was found dumped shortly after giving birth to a litter of kittens; from what I am told, it seems her condition may have been the reason for her abandonment. To be honest, most of the time you don't even notice she has a disability, and she has no problems coping with it herself. The only noticeable trait, is the significant dip between her shoulder blades and back, which make her look unique and slightly different from the norm. The reason we adopted Pippa, was because of her birth defect; it doesn't matter to us at all, what she looks like!

We arrived in Butler, to be greeted by Kerrie, foster Mother to many cats; she was a delight, spending time with us, talking about Pippa and introducing us to her other brood. Pippa was rather nervous and scared, and although she spent most of the time hiding, there were a brief few minutes, when she came and sat next to us on the sofa, as we continued to chat with Kerrie. She told us how affectionate Miss Pippi was, and the story of her rescue, several days after her newly born kittens were saved. It seems Pippa suffered trauma early on in her life, and it will be a challenge helping her adjust to a more normal existence. Having had rescue cats before, we are well aware of the difficulties ahead, but the rewards at the end are worth it. We hope to give Pippa the life she deserves.

Kerrie assumed Pippa would be living with her indefinitely, due to the nature of her disability; it seems people only want the perfect pet, but for us, it was about giving a good and loving home to a cat who needs it more than most. We are able to devote the time and effort to helping Pippa adapt to her new life, hopefully reducing the stress she obviously feels around other people. To see an animal so traumatised is heartbreaking, and we can only imagine the difficulties she went through before Kerrie took her in.

It seems the hyperreflexia Pippa suffers with causes no immediate pain, in fact she manages perfectly well with it, but in the future that may change. She may well suffer with arthritis as she gets older, like all of us, and may require extra care at that point. For now, she is able to enjoy a happy and healthy life, and we intend to spoil her rotten.

Currently, she still spends most of her time under the bed in the spare room. It is taking a while for her to get used to her surroundings. She is however getting far more daring and venturing out when she sees fit, just to let us know she is still there. In fact, she is probably the most affectionate cat I have ever known, and she loves being around me and Darrell. The empty villa we are living in, is a bit of a problem; the echo throughout can be rather disconcerting for Miss Pippi and once the house is suitably furnished and lived in, I am sure that will change.

Darrell and I have had a busy week and just haven't stopped working, so finding time to do anything else has been a bit difficult. We are progressing slowly at Mathoura Street nevertheless, and we now have most of the basics in place. Personally I am looking for retro, antique, bespoke pieces of furniture and art. I am not a 'live, love, laugh' kind of guy, and do not want to furnish my house with the usual Ikea cheap furniture - to Darrell's consternation.

With the front lounge more or less complete, we are turning our attention to other parts of the house. Today Darrell picked up a retro 1960s sideboard, which goes wonderfully in the family room, and tomorrow I am going to Guildford to buy a dressing table for the bedroom. Like the lounge, I want traditional furniture in the bedroom, not cheap flat pack alternatives. I suppose that's the British in me; I love homes with character and despite living in a 1990's build, I am determined to furnish it in individual style. The sideboard is certainly a statement piece and highly fashionable at the moment. Finding suitable 1960s accessories will be a bit of a challenge, but I have a good idea where to start.

Our new house is certainly starting to feel like a home now, especially with Pippa firmly in our life. It will be a slow process getting everything just as we would like it, but Rome wasn't built in a day and I don't have an endless supply of money. This has been an extremely expensive time for us and our anxiety levels are riding high. One has to remember we were travelling across the World just a few short months ago, and now we are back on the property ladder, working every hour that God sends and settling down in a way we haven't since we lived in Spain seven years ago.

It does feel good to be focused again and working towards goals. Yes, we are spending money, but we are also making a home in Australia. I have lost count of the number of restarts we have had, and this is the final one on that list. Only time will tell whether we made the right move down under, or another blunder on a long list of failures. Until then, we will continue rebuilding our life in Darrell's native home, surrounded by family, navigating new unchartered waters, in a country as far removed from the UK as you could get; whatever happens, at least we have tried to live the dream!

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It feels so nice to actually have a home again - After years of travelling, we've finally come home!

11/2/2023

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It has been a long time since we last had our own home, so long, in fact, that I can't remember what it's like to live as a couple. Darrell and I are now settled in a new house, another country and a World away from our life in Portsmouth. Sitting here now, writing this blog, I am annoyed with myself for not doing this sooner. In reality, we could have both emigrated here years ago, but the time never felt right. Today, our current circumstances feel normal, natural and if I am honest, what we have both wanted to do for a long time. Until today, we never really had the courage to take that final leap, today we are glad we did.

Official settlement occurred on Friday, when the house officially became ours. The last eye watering sum of money left my account and both of us became homeowners once again. Despite spending thousands of pounds over the last few months, there was no regret or bitterness from me, just a desire to rebuild our life and work hard to pay the bills. This is 'normality,' what most people do, but it isn't something we have done before, certainly not in recent times, and it really does feel like my life has gone full circle. At 51 years old I may well be getting older, but this new adventure into suburban living in Australia, has given me a new sense of direction and the will power to succeed, where similar endeavours have failed in the past.

The villa, as they call it here, is big, bigger than anything I have lived in before. There are three double bedrooms, one with walk in wardrobe, a lounge, family room, kitchen, laundry room and small garden - just what we wanted. This house is my dream home, something I never believed I would live in, let alone own, and it finally gives Darrell and I the space we have craved, for so long. Unlike most people, we have not begged, borrowed and stole, we have both worked hard to get good, well paid jobs, and a beautiful house, unlike anything we could afford in the UK.

So far, Australia has opened doors and given both of us opportunities we wouldn't have otherwise had. Both of us are just waiting for the first thing to go wrong, yet everything seems to be going our way. I hate feeling positive, but I actually have nothing to feel negative about and that has to be the first time I have felt this way in many, many years, if at all. I like to think I am in the right place at the right time, but only time will tell if that is correct or not. Traditionally I have never got on in Australia, so this is a new experience for me; like Darrell, I am getting used to the success we are now both enjoying. As the saying goes, nothing lasts forever, so we will ride this wave of satisfaction for now.

Last Sunday we began the process of moving into our new house, by once again going for Sunday lunch at the Stirling Arms. This would be our last meal there for a while; now we have a roof over our head, it isn't so important to get out. Nevertheless, we had a lot to discuss; although settlement occurred on Friday, we were actually given the keys on Monday, after the previous owner agreed we could move in early. This was a blessing is disguise - we both had the day off and literally threw everything into moving our belongings in. With both of us at work the next day, it was important to make the most of the time we had.

In the morning all the lounge furniture and new bed was delivered, later that morning, the white goods arrived and in the afternoon, the antique furniture I ordered from Guildford's Antiques were delivered. After all the cleaning, arranging of furniture, and shopping, we were both shattered by the end. In fact, I am still tired now, and we have a long way to go yet.

Like most moves, there are a few niggling issues that need to be sorted and on Wednesday we had the taps replaced in the laundry, and arranged for an electrician to come out this Monday and put in some extra sockets in the lounge. This is a house that was built in 1995, at a time when there was less technology in all our lives; consequently the electrics are not up to present day standards and will have to eventually be replaced completely. For now, installing extra plug points will suffice until we have the money to do everything we want.

Once the electrics are sorted we want to buy furniture for the family room, finish the bedrooms and finally get to grips with the garden, which needs a complete overhaul. All this will take time and a lot of money; with this in mind, we will have to take things slowly. As we are beginning to discover, it isn't cheap being a homeowner in 2023 and with all the utilities in place, we are looking at a substantial outlay each month. Like everything, it is all doable though, leaving us with plenty of money to spare for increasing the mortgage payments and saving money each month.

With settlement now complete, we are both officially homeowners again, able to live our life as we would wish. Living in a detached villa, we can make as much noise as we like; not that we are rowdy party goes any more, but it's just nice to be able to drill a hole in the wall, without repercussions from irate neighbours. This is what freedom is all about.

On Monday, we will pick up a new addition to our household, a rescue cat called Pippa. Pippa is one year old and will finally make our lives complete. She is also different from the other cats we have had in the past; she has a congenital birth defect called hyperreflexia, which causes problems with her back. In essence, her shoulder blades sit higher than her spinal cord. This makes it impossible for her to jump like other felines, but to us, it makes her even more special.

Darrell and I have always had cats in our life and when I saw this beautiful girl, I just knew I had to have her as part of my family. She needed a home, and we could give her one. It was unlikely anyone else would give her the opportunity we have, but after losing both Lily and Precious in Spain, we decided we would like to adopt a cat with special needs.

Despite the difficulties she faces, it is clear from her foster carer, that she is perfect in every way - loving, affectionate and well-adjusted. Now we have Pippa, it looks like we have everything we have ever wanted and couldn't ask for more.

Australia is the final stop for us, on a life journey that has taken us to nearly every corner of the World. It is important for us to keep travelling, but now we will have a base to call home. Pippa will likely keep us grounded for the most part and with both our careers now taking off, it is time to do the right thing and settle in a place we have both grown to love, and a country that has always featured prominently wherever we are. This is home, this is the future, this is where our journey stops for now!

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From a new life in spain, to an old life in britain, 'roaming brit' documents uncertain times!

The Hard Reality of Expat Life!

A house is not a home without a cat!

It feels so nice to actually have a home again - After years of travelling, we've finally come home!

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