We’ve been here in Canberra for a little over a week. It has been very hot all over Australia in recent days, and Canberra hasn’t been spared. This has meant extra challenges in settling down to our new home and surroundings.

The little fellow for example, did not want his dinner last night. We had taken him to Kiddo’s home in the arvo. Kiddo and Mic had a date on Sunday and took in the Wicked movie, and Mic’s mum had little Abby for the arvo. This is a wonderful respite for them, as the new bub is due in under 5 weeks, when such restful and rejuvenating pleasures would be like hen’s teeth. I’m so glad they could go this.

We had lunch with them after SBC (Southside Bible Church) finished just before noon, after which we came home as they went on their R&R. We changed into garbs that we thought would deal with the heat more sensibly, swapped cars (from Tress’ hatchback to my CX60) and headed to their home. We took the little fellow there to reacquaint himself with Milo.

The bigger job was to transport their Weber Family Q to our home. We maneuvered and pushed the barbie and the trolley stand it was sitting on, out from their deck through the side gate around to the car port, We then discovered that the Weber was inseparable from the stand, unlike the Q we had back at Vicki Street. So the unit has to be carted intact, which presented a greater challenge, not least in the heat that was slowly but surely building up.

Tress found some cardbox remnants that we thought Mic had cut up from a rocking/nursing recliner they recently bought and we made full use of them as we heaved, hefted and applied elbow grease liberally and finally carted the unit into my car. We took the barbie and the trolley stand back to our home, and left the little fellow at their home with Milo. We then headed back and played with both pooches for a while, let them out to the yard, before we headed back late in the arvo.

Back home, we rested a bit and then got on with the job of getting the Family Q ready for use. After more elbow grease that greased not just the elbow, the barbie is ready for the summer now. I think. It looks the part as it sat on our patio, along with the Weber kettle that we brought with us from Vicki St.

The heat has made the weekend a blur in some ways. What pulled into focus, for me, were a couple of things. A couple of affirmations.

One, the affirmation that springs up, every time I said “hi” to little Abby, and see her face light in a smile that would brighten up any room. The affirmation that lingers and takes hold when she lifts up a hand, to ask that I hold it as she shuffles off somewhere. The affirmation that wells up when she tires and lifts up both hands to ask that I carry her, and when I do, gives me the gentle hug that says she knows who I am and accepts me. An affirmation that says whatever the sideshows that can threaten to overwhelm, we have done the right thing to uproot and leave Vicki St and head up north to this the capital city to be with this family.

The second is less convincing but has probably started to be one. It is the slowly building affirmation that perhaps Southside Bible Church is where we should be. We still want to visit another – one that is, on “paper”, very similar to St Alf’s – but the idea of being in the same church community as Kiddo, Mic and Abby is one that is hard to knock. I thought its DNA is of the prescriptive persuasion and that is a dissuasion but I wonder if that is what I need at this point in my walk with the Lord. I don’t know. It’s a work in progress and I’m giving it time.

It’s just over a week to Christmas. Last Saturday morning, as we had coffee and pastries in a bakery in Kambah Village with Kiddo, Mic and Abby, I wandered into the butcher’s shop and placed an order for a pork loin roll for Christmas lunch. We’ve planned to do it in our new home and adopting the Family Q from Kiddo and Mic was part the grand scheme for this. Mic’s parents and one of Kiddo and Mic’s good mates from Sydney will be coming along. It will be a relatively small and hopefully pleasant Christmas lunch. One that I trust will provide yet more affirmation, that we haven’t wondered too far off the reservation, in this journey of ours.

Tress and I walked the little fellow together through our neighbourhood, once more before we left. We did some last minute packing and tidying and went for an early lunch at the FHC shopping centre. We then decided that I should start my drive first, and not wait for the removalists to first arrive. Tress was to wait for them, who had a good reputation for being punctual.

I took off, in my car that is packed to the rafters, and slowly made my way out of Melbourne.

I arrived to a bucketing Murrambateman, and then made my way to Kiddo’s home for a bite. I then went to our new home in Duffy and slowly unloaded the boxes. It was the first of several late nights.

The next day, I went for a walk, bought a coffee and then exchanged messages with Tress and Kiddo. Tress was keeping me updated of the removalists’ ETA, and Kiddo asked if I wanted to get breakfast at a cafe before they took little Abby for her weekly swim class. I caught up for brekky, and then got home in time for the removalists to arrive. Our new home was being filled with stuff from the old home.

The process went on for the whole day and I spent the next several days unpacking… and each day, I caught up with Mic, Kiddo and little Abby. It was very satisfying.

Early on Sunday morning, a little car pulled up in front of our new house. It was my Uber ride. I was grateful it showed up on time (just a little after 5am). The Bhutanese driver and I had a good chat as he took me to the airport. I caught the first flight out, and landed at Melbourne airport a little before 8am, where I promptly headed to the wait area where Tress has been parked, with the little fellow on the backseat. Tress jumped out, I got into the driver’s seat and we began the last leg of our move. We drove up (back up for me) to Canberra, and arrived a little after 3.30pm.

When we got home (yes our new home), I tidied up the lawn, Tress unpacked and tidied up and we teed up a dinner with the mob we did all this for.

Last night as we sat around the dining table having dinner, the odyssey this has been, clicked again. It all made sense.

This morning, as Tress, Oreo and I walked around the area to take in the new surroundings and familiarise ourselves with the area, I said to myself that we’re in a great spot. I am, again, ever so thankful to our Lord for having blessed us so abundantly through this time.

The weather often dictates our plans. Last Friday had a forecast of fine weather, and it was the only dry day for a little while. So I took the day off, for the lawns, JS hedges etc, to be given their final trims, before we leave. It was a thorough job and I was spent when it was all done. That night, we caught up with our “St Alfred’s Hot Pot” group – a bunch of Asians, who are a small minority, that had spent time over nice meals. Mainly Malaysians, a couple of Singaporeans and bloke from HK, we share many things in common, of about the same vintage, and allowed the court jester (Warren) all the time and spotlight he wanted to share his tales. We had a lot of fun and we will miss them heaps.

Earlier on Thursday night, there was the Growth Group breakup/farewell dinner at the Longs’. A more serene, sedate and quiet group, it was also a group with loads of fun and blessings. I had to miss the dinner however, as I was running a bad cold and there were some more senior members in that group who have had bad runs of infections in recent years so I didn’t want to run the risk and stayed home. We caught up on WhatsApp video however and it was really nice. We will miss them heaps too.

Saturday was to be a wet day but I used those intermittent drier spells to duck in and out of the shed, and cleared out, packed and cleaned the place. Tools etc all bundled up, hose carts cleaned and bundled with all lengths of hose, stuff hard rubbished or quickly sold, the shed is now cleaned out. I felt washed up too…

Yesterday at St Alf’s, Helen Petering did the community notices and pointed out that it was Tress and my last Sunday there (at 26:32). She asked us to stand where we were and acknowledged us. That was nice (slightly embarrassing too but what the heck). After the service we spoke to numerous people to say goodbye. We had also arrived earlier than usual, to also speak to more folks. We will miss the people we have come to know and share journeys with.

We then went to our usual lunch spot and enjoyed a hefty and hearty meal, said goodbye to Ann and Ben the couple who own and run the place (Ben is also the chef) – yet another of those people we will miss.

We have said to goodbye to many. We are walking away from a life we have built and loved. We trust we are making the right decision (although often we still question it). The ongoing lesson is that God leads and we are to wait on Him. I hope this simple mantra doesn’t become too difficult to live.

On Sunday arvo we continued the process. We packed, dismantled beds, took stuff out for hard rubbish, had Warren pick up our old washing machine, and generally plugged away to get the move ready. Last night, as I crashed onto our floor ridden mattress and nursed my sore back, I fell into a quick and deep sleep. I woke this morning, to a message on my watch that said to me I had a “100% body battery”. I hope it lasts long enough for us to see this process through.

We continue to pack, and say our goodbyes to our friends in Melbourne.

On Friday night, we caught up with Nicole and Jon for dinner in Clayton, probably the last time we do so in Melbourne for a little while. Nic shouted us to a delicious meal in a place called “Modu”, and we chatted about our plans and aspirations.

On Saturday, after our routine of brekky and walking the little guy, we spent the rest of the day packing. The sound of the packing tape being ripped as it unrolls and gets applied to the boxes, rang in my ears for much of the day. We ducked into Bunnings too, to pick up more boxes, when we realised we needed more.

Later on Saturday night, we met up with Ing Tung and Chin Moi, our contemporaries from our UNSW days. They too, have been moving and had just moved into their new home in Knoxfield so we caught up in a little restaurant in Knox, before adjourning to their new home, to see their new home and a bit of a chat. This couple have been warm, loving and long time friends from the first week of our arrival in Melbourne, back in 2004, when we renewed our friendship that was forged in the mid/late 80s in UNSW. It is a friendship we treasure and cherish. It was heart warming to see them settling into their lovely new home, with all 3 adult children having left home at various times, but still near enough to return for a weekly family meal. We spoke too, about our plans and aspirations.

On Sunday, we had our last communion service at St Alf’s, and continued to say our goodbyes. Later that arvo, after our usual lunch at Donvale, we returned for more packing. This time it was to unplug and sort of out the messy snaking cables behind the TV and cabinet. We unplug most of the cables, cleaned and labelled them, and got them ready to be packed. We left only a skeletal TV, radio and clock for easy last minute packing, early next week.

Later that Sunday night, we went and had dinner at the Hipos’. Gerry and Jesslyn had invited us to have their delicious homecooked Sarawak Laksa. We had known them since they were a young couple and saw the arrivals of both their girls. The older one is now a head taller than Tress and the younger one is almost as tall as Tress. They have grown in the years we have known this lovely family.

When we got home, we got a message from U Seng, asking if we could catch up over dinner. We continue to tee up goodbyes, even as I get increasingly excited about being closer to Kiddo, Mic, little Abby and the latest addition to that family. Kiddo had continued to send us videos of Abby and her wonderful toddle shenanigans. Mic continues to work hard and I’m just glad we can soon be around them to provide whatever support we can, to make their family growth and journey even more enriching and blessed. I continue to be grateful to our Lord.

We rented a space in a storage facility a few months ago. We kept lots of our stuff – stuff folks who helped with the sale of our home didn’t think would help sell the property. This facility offers use of a van and over a week ago, I booked this van. Tress and I were going to clear out our stuff from this hired space.

On Saturday morning, after a quick brekky and a walk for our little friend, we headed to the storage place and over the next 3 hours and in 3 repeat trips, cleared out our stuff, all of which now sit in our lounge, bedroom and dining room. Our home is slowly but surely resembling a home being moved. After returning the van, we headed out to Knox for some lunch, and then headed home for more work.

I mowed the lawns and gave the outsides a bit of a clean up, as well as working on the long process of clearing out the shed. At the end of that day, I was pooped and was glad that at least the storage unit chapter is now also, behind us.

Earlier in the week, we had caught up with more people to say goodbye. We met with our old friends, Ronald and Cat, for dinner at Balwyn on Thursday night. It was good, as always, catching up with folks from Klang, even more folks who also went to KCMC. Ronald and Cat were both my Sunday School teachers – that’s how far back we went. The next day, we got together with folks from the Bob Saker Oval. We’d known a lot of these folks since when we first moved into the area. We went to Sofia’s as it was a convenient spot for this group. I had the worst salmon steak I had ever had in my entire life – the food is always very ordinary there – but the company was always good. They gave us a collage of the dogs we’d come to know and love over the years – as much as the owners themselves.

On Sunday at St Alf’s there was the annual thanks giving service, where members were encouraged to share their experience of gratitude. I had prepared to say a quick word (at 31:24) of thanks and praise, so after the service, we had more conversations of farewell…

Yesterday arvo, we continued packing and clearing out. The process continues, and I kept my thoughts and envisioned when we’d be close to Kiddo, Mic and little Abby, along with her sibbling. It will be quite the ride, and I remain excited.

This popped up as a memory in my social, a couple of days ago. I’m no Trump fan but these are, no matter how much you hold the man in disdain, historic moments – all the more when you have an encore moment.

Yesterday at St Alf’s we spoke to Ben Clements, the minister for the service we attend. We told him our plans to move north so we’d be leaving St Alf’s early Dec. It was a sad moment for us. As we were waiting to speak with him, we spoke with Ruth McIntosh, a long time member of St Alf’s and we told her too. The goodbyes will go on for a few more weeks I guess.

We said goodbye too, to a couple of eateries in downtown Melbourne. Two well known ones. One amongst Malaysians and the other, more generally well known. We trekked into the city late Saturday morning, after walking the little fellow on our usual extended weekend walks. We took the train in, which had numerous well decked out folks – in suits and fancy dresses – all heading to Stakes Day, the last big event of the Spring Racing Carnival. We never took to racing which is a bit of a shame in a town that is crazy about horse racing like Melbourne. We stopped at Flinders Station, and walked up Elizabeth Street to look for Hardware Lane, where Lulu’s Char Koay Teow is.

It would be our first time there. I had a plate of very good Char Koay Teow that is topped with succulent cockles. Tress had a normal plate of Char Koay Teow.

After the very delicious plates of noodles, we walked around the city, and went into Emporium and took in the Melbourne downtown atmosphere, before walking towards Flinders Lane and Russell Street, where the famous Lune sits. There was the expected queue outside, and we dutifully lined up for our share of the delicious croissants.

The almond one we had was really good, and we took away a couple of others – a cinnamon bun variety as well as one with lemon curd. We had both for brekky on Sunday morning and they were really good.

We left the city mid arvo, and got back home for more work to clear out the shed. The mezzanine level of the shed is now completely cleared, and we also put out a few items on our nature strip, which were promptly picked up by passers by. We then went to FHC to drop off yet more cables and chargers that we retrieved from cupboards, and Tress placed numerous stuff on a FB neighbourhood “Buy Nothing” page that were also picked up quite quickly. I then gave the smaller car a wash – the poor hatchback hadn’t been washed for a while and it looked much better when we drove it to St Alf’s on Sunday morning, to continue our goodbyes.

We stayed in an AirBnB home in a place called Chapman, back in March 2023. We came to Canberra to welcome our grandchild (who promptly arrived 2 days later). Chapman was a beautiful spot. It is a beautiful spot. Tress and I would spend mornings and noons walking through the pathways and footy ovals. We liked it there. Little did we know, that some 18 months later, we’d move into the area.

We slept in our new home in the Weston Creek area, a couple of nights ago. We’re only here for a few days, for the Cup Weekend. We return to Melbourne soon, for a final push of our relocation sojourn. We’d be making the final move before too long.

We liked Chapman. We like Weston Creek. It’d take some work to make it as homely as Forest Hill has become, but we think we’d like the journey.

Tress and I have stepped up on our more detailed planning process. We’re now eyeballing what we’d probably cart up to the capital city and into our new home, and what we’d leave behind.

Leaving behind is only a concept. In practice, whatever we choose to not bring with us into the new home, must be given away or sold. Tress has been giving away numerous stuff and on Sunday, I put our outdoor furniture on the FB marketplace page and it got sold within a few hours. A guy from Rosana rocked up, tried to fit the table into his Kia Sportage, failed, and Tress found some tools for us to dismantle the table top from the legs and so the sale was done. Our deck now has just the one Weber which is the charcoal one. The other, the Weber Q, was gone on Friday and now, the furniture too is gone. The deck looks larger now, Tress said last night…

Yesterday arvo, in between selling furniture and going to the storage place to retrieve more stuff, I did what was probably our last working week meal prep cook. It was a last minute thing – with many utensils and other kitchen stuff already packed away – and we managed to rustle up a few meals to be stuck in the freezer. So for the next week and a half, we’d not have to think about what’s for lunch, on a working day.

The day before (Sat) we drove up to Woodend. Andrew and Jasmine were headed this way and asked to catch up. They were going to see Ruth and Jon in Woodend so we agreed to catch up there. We had wanted to see Ruth and Jon before we left Melbourne anyway, so we left late morning, bringing the little Padawan with us. We had lunch there, and it was a nice catch up between cousins.

At St Alf’s yesterday, I did a quick mental countdown and realised it would only be about 4-5 Sundays there to go. So I soaked it all in and took in every moment of the service yesterday, including copious notes from Rene Pfitzner’s sermon. I will miss St Alf’s quite a bit.