So we’re going from a house back to a “townhouse” when we move. We only have neighbours on one side. The rent on these townhouses is not cheap, they are considered executive so hopefully we will not end up with neighbours like..
Plympton, Adelaide – we were the middle townhouse in a block of 7. On one side we had an elderly lady who owned her townhouse, who was lovely and very quiet and cooked the most amazing smelling food but on the *other* side we had the teenagers just moving out of home for the first time. Loud music, parties every weekend, cars coming and going..
Seaton, Adelaide – we lived in a block of 20+ townhouses on a main road. The road was a terrible neighbour but we got used to it pretty quick. Again with the quiet people on one side, noisy on the other. The noisy were a group of young lads who used to sing along to their music and we got to enjoy it, NOT.
It was in Seaton that I woke up one morning to hear The Other Half on the telephone while Iron Maiden played so clearly and loudly I thought it was in *our* house. At 4:30am. I thought I must be dreaming because The Other Half had called the Police (not the band, the law enforcement types) on a neighbour for the first time ever waking up to that racket.
You know it is bad when The Other Half voluntarily calls the Police – he suffers from what we in the call centre industry named “call reluctance” – a complete inability to make a phone call. He will tolerate pretty much anything – and tell me to call if he can’t handle the noise.
Woodville, Adelaide – We lived in a villa which was attached to the villa next door. I remember Easter Weekend 2005. It was bizarre. Jesus Christ Superstar played at very high volume. I had to hide the Metallica so The Other Half would not scare the neighbours into moving out on the spot.
South Coast, NSW – I’ve spoken before about the noisy neighbours, the barking dog, the screaming kids across the road etc. However last night we had a new adventure. I woke up at 5am to the sound of the car across the road. When I looked outside suspicious goings on were.. well. going on. Cars were being reversed into the driveway. I swore I saw the man across the road carrying what looked to be an upside down tree. He was holding it by the trunk. I figured I might be hallucinating and went back to bed.
This morning, the neighbours across the road have double the amount of plants in their garden. Given all the driving that was going on, I can’t be sure they didn’t steal it from somewhere. Why else would anyone choose to plant things at 5am – in the RAIN? I am not joking!
I will admit, I had just finished an Agatha Christie novel before bed, the other thought was that they’d murdered someone and had to reverse their car in to load a body into the boot. Yes I agree, no more murder mysteries before bedtime. ;)
So today we went to take measurements and the electricity was on and I’m crazy about this place. We get the keys on the 3rd of September. We also measured the distance from the house to the beach – 1km. We’re the first people to live in it. Ever.
We took my Mother, who wasn’t too impressed with the idea of us moving until she saw the place, and now she’s on board. She keeps saying it is very far away – it is 19kms from where we are now. Pretty close by in Australian terms, and we did used to live 1600kms drive from her, and being down the street hasn’t inspired her to walk down here very much so I’m not sure what she’s on about. We’ll probably see more of them when we move! ;)
So for those of you new to the blog who don’t know, today marks the end of three months of searching for this place to move to in our dream location. Some previous posts with photos –
Beach Walk(s) With Photos
My Heart Is Broken – With Pics
This has been a Hump Day Hmmm post – the topic this week is being good neighbors in the world. Please join in, if you feel like you have something to say on this topic. ;)
Good luck on the move. I know how much you’ve wanted this. I move on Saturday. It’s so stressful.
Ah the neighbours! I hope you get good ones. We’ve had a mixed bag since I moved in with my Hubby. First there was the gay couple who didn’t hear when our duplex was broken into, nor the police arrive at 3am after we called them after getting home at midnight. Apparently there was a crime spree that night.
Then there was the townhouses up here, 180 in all, and ours backed onto the exhaust for the roast chickens at Bi-lo. I was pregnant. I still can’t eat a roast chicken from a Supermarket – 4 years on. Oh, and did I mention the domestics? I remember one night calling the police, becuase there was not one, BUT TWO, one on each side, and apparently there was doors smashed and things thrown. Glad I had the sense to stay in bed.
We had a couple of good ones then, a couple we’re still friends with, even though we lived next door to them with a newborn. Then the old duck who stopped by every Tuesday with cookies.
The latest was the wife of a copper who abused me in the street and threatened me. I rang her husband’s boss. They moved 6 weeks later.
I’m hoping for some good luck now for a while :) Maybe there’ll be enough for us to share?
Dude. Seriously, I thought the same thing when you wrote about the upside down tree. I was sure it was a body, and I haven’t read a murder mystery in years.
Who in the heck gardens in the rain at 5 AM?!
Uh oh! In the hottest part of summer, I have been known to garden at 5.00 a.m. LOL
Seriously though, neighbors can make all the difference in our day to day living experience.
(And most of us, truth told, would be smart enough to bury the body *away* from home. :)
Peace,
~Chani
http://thailandgal.blogspot.com
Ah, so you used to live in Adelaide. Thank goodness I’ve never lived in any of the areas you mention, so it couldn’t have been me being the bad neighbour!
Congrats!
10 minutes to the beach? that is a score location! Find me a pretty shell. . .
Here’s hoping you get good (not creepy late night gardeners!) neighbors!
Uhh what’s up with those neighbors and the plants?
I hope your new location is all roses, no pun intended. All great neighbors. I know you’ve been working towards this so GOOD LUCK!!
Hope everything is going well for you.
Our neighbours are all crazy. And they have young children who play on our lawn and kick soccerballs next to cars and DRIVE ME CRAZY WITH WORRY.
Sigh.
Cugat – But there are rewards to your move also ;) Once the stress is over, it’s all good. ;)
Kin – I am so sorry about the roast chickens. There’s a chicken shop very close to our new place. I do hope it does not make me not eat chickens, because that is really the only meat I eat. :)
Emily – at first I thought it was an arm or a leg, but then I realised it had leaves hanging from it. I don’t know how many children they actually have but I think someone should count and make sure it’s still the same amount of kids they had last week. :)
Chani – In summer I could understand it. I usually do my planting as the sun is going down because it’s supposed to be better for the plants and I can’t get up early enough to do it as the sun is rising. ;) It was under 10 degrees celsius and raining, though! ;)
Jaycee – Yes, I am an ex-Adelaidian. :) hehe I do miss the city and the trains and the trams and the zoo and the museum and rundle street and leaf and ladle and sushi train and barnacle bills and Mamma Carmelas.. hmm. I could keep going.
On the other hand, the south coast of NSW is absolutely stunning. But the food is nowhere near as good as Adelaide. So next time you’re having Barnacle Bills.. think of me! ;)
Christine – I’m not allowed to pick up shells anymore but I am going to ask for a review of this rule when we move. I don’t know if it was made law in our household because the other half thinks I will rob the oceans of all the shells if he lets me, because I did have a HUGE collection of shells.
He has a saying – leave only footprints, take only photographs – and anytime he sees me pick up a shell he is quick to say it. ;) So even if I can’t bring it home, I can photograph it. And I did really get into taking shell photographs for a while there, so I’ll get back into it.
Julie – It is wonderful to be within reaching distance of a goal knowing you’re going to make it there. :)
Alyndabear – that is exactly what the across the road neighbours do. So glad to be not their neighbours anymore soon! ;)
Thanks for the comments all :)