Monday, July 04, 2011

The countdown begins

It's time to move back to Oz and so the countdown to leaving Dubai has begun.

Like so many people we decided to come for two or three years but stayed longer. Six years in our case.

To be honest, I was ready to move back at least three years ago but Mrs Seabee got totally involved in her work and didn't want to leave. I wanted to go, she wanted to stay - so we made the compromise that so many couples make, we did what the female said.

If I remember correctly my first posts on Life in Dubai were about the fun and games we had with bureaucracy and I'll round things off with what we have to go through to close the chapter.

The first task is to transfer the car ownership and I'll let you know what's involved in that when I find out.

So far I've been told by my insurance company that the new owner of my personal mobility solution has to have insurance in place before we can do the transfer. I'll do a post with the full story when it's all done.

Flight's booked for mid-August and the container with our belongings has just left Jebel Ali. You have to allow for Customs and, particularly, Quarantine (Australian Quarantine & Inspection Service) to take at least three weeks to check and clear stuff coming into Australia and we've tried to time our arrival as close as we can guess delivery of our belongings will be.

As for blogging, I'll simply stop posting here - as I won't be commenting on a Life in Dubai any more - and I'll move to a new blog. I'll give you the details when I finish up here in about six weeks.

9 comments:

Dutchie said...

Will u be taking ur blogrolls to ur new blog ? They r good reads n I shall miss them if they r not on record in future.

nzm said...

I had an inkling that this time was a-coming for you.

Good luck with all the moving and closing down what you need to in Dubai. Are you keeping the apartment or selling?

Keef said...

Oh, SeaBee - we'll miss your Blogging About Dubai Solutions. And flogging a car, well, what fun. Be prepared for the possibility of having to pay for a new MOT test, even if you have a current one.

Rupert Neil Bumfrey said...

Many years ago I termed Dubai "traffic light city" and here you are on the green, good luck for the future.

Looking forward to following the new blog via RSS.

AdelDu2 said...

I've been following your "Life in Dubai" blog for about 3 years and will miss your postings. They have been very insightfull and a number of your postings have had a particular resonance with me (and my wife) from the time we too lived in Dubai (March 2008 - June 2009). Good luck with your move back home to Oz and I look forward to your new blog in the future.
FYI, I too had some interesting experiences with insurance, loan payouts, registration cancellation/transfer, vehicle safety check, etc when I sold my car in Dubai and can tell you now that the Dubai bureaucracy (both goverment and non-government) will be set to test you!
Cheers!
Daniel, Adelaide, Australia

Seabee said...

Thanks folks.

Dutchie, I hadn't planned to transfer the blogroll (because it's reciprocal with people who've linked to 'Life in Dubai') but I think I may change that decision.

NZM, keeping it for the time being.

Daniel, I've been dreading the battles with bureaucracy since we made the decision to go back. Today was car transfer day - I'll post about it tomorrow...

Anonymous said...

I just found your blog a few months ago,too bad I found it just before you bid goodbye to Dubai!

Lived here from '78 till '07 and was nice to read about your observations, especially those I had taken for granted after living there for so long!.

I've never visited Oz, but I hope your observations will be as astute as they were in Dubai, as to life down under!

Alexander said...

You will be sore missed...

Unknown said...

Ouch! I used to check my favourite 'Life in Dubai' blog anywhere in the world I might be on vacation: it was a nice way to keep in touch with happenings here from a layman's/ citizen's viewpoint.
I'm devastated. You and your blog will be sorely missed.
Of course, I do understand that one needs to move on, so wish you all the very best back home in Oz, and hope to follow your new 'Life in Oz' blog as well!