The Big Unpack

Nearly 10 weeks after our container was driven out of Amsterdam it arrived back with us.  Into Sydney, then transported to Canberra for customs checks, then back to Sydney. Several boxes contained a note from Customs to say it had been opened for inspection but all that scrubbing and painting paid off as everything cleared customs without any issues. So another huge thank you to my amazing Amsterdam friends who helped in the final weeks of the big pack up.

We have been in our long term rental for 2 weeks and although the hallway and garage are still full of boxes, we have a home. It's amazing the sense of ease felt coming home to 'home' rather than a temporary house. The kids are noticeabley happier to be amongst their own belongings and sleeping in their own beds.

We have been very lucky to find a house that ticked nearly all our search criteria. With the bonus of a small pool to keep us cool over the 9 months of summer. Even luckier to have built an instant rapport with the lovely landlady. 

The arrival of our container was split into 2 deliveries, 2 days apart. Typically the bed and mattresses were on the second load. 

I thought the Dutch relocation company who packed everything had done a good job, until we started unpacking. 

I'd shared with my best friend and nephew the total number of boxes I had, which left them in tears of laughter given it was a couple hundred more than they guessed, but, in my defense, there were a lot of boxes that hardly had anything in them, or boxes that just had empty storage boxes in them with nothing in the boxes within the boxes. Same for the bins except for 1 bin that still had rubbish in it. We had 1 vase broken which had no tissue paper around it to protect it and a souvenir baseball that was wrapped in several sheets of paper. Our 1 antique piece came with 4 broken legs and the bed parts were spread over 3 different unmarked boxes. A lot of the contents didn't match the box label. The legs to the kitchen table were in a box marked pictures. We still haven't found the screws to the legs of the football table. 2 boxes have already gone to the charity shop and baby things given away. 

We ticked off the boxes 1-by-1 as they were unloaded. At least we tried to. You may think that language isn't a barrier when it comes to numbers i.e. 1=1, 2=2 in Dutch and English. Not when it came to our packers. There were 3 of us trying to decipher the numbers scribbled on boxes. It actually offered a light relief to the unloading and carrying but did add an additional task of 'find the box' when we finished unloading and not all boxes were ticked off the sheet. 

Setting up the TV took several people several attempts over a week. The house is wired for sound, delivering cable to every room, unfortunately we went with a company that doesn't support it. No matter, we have enough channels to keep us entertained. 

We have good friends who not only gave up a whole Saturday to help us unpack but brought along dinner too. 

The removal company only take the boxes that they unpack. They don't come back and collect. I put an ad on Gumtree offering free boxes and packaging and got over 10 responses. 

Next task is to complete the claim form for the damaged items. 

Another few weeks and we should be ready to entertain. Another few months and we should be ready for our first oversees visitor.