Albys turn!

 So the rest of us have endured the pain of numerous vaccinations in order to be cleared for post. Yesterday was our beautiful dog Alby's turn for his medical. As I have previously posted, it’s a bit of a process to export a dog to Malaysia. We have engaged a pet shipping company who are guiding us through one step at a time. The first official step was to have him vaccinated against Rabies. He will need to continue to have a booster yearly to ensure a smooth transition back to Australia when the time comes. 

Not all vets here in Australia are qualified to administer  pet export vaccinations however my local vet was able to recommend a local who could do the job. I’m not sure who was more nervous, me or him….and he was nervous! All in all it was a painless process with a single shot. (Except for the bill….$230!). We needed to make sure his microchip was working and fill out the required paperwork which I need to send on to the pet exporter who will have an official government vet sign off on it. No side effects afterwards and it seemed no different to his yearly vaccinations.

On a side note the crate training is going well. The top is now on his transport crate and he makes the odd trip onto it to have a sniff around. I put a treat in every now and again  to make it a happy place for him. 

Keep Calm and Carry On

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There are varying degrees of miracles in life. There are some I thought I would never attain. Well, one at least. Alert the media…..I have for the first time ever travelled internationally with just carry on! 

Nick and I did a whirlwind trip to KL for one week to sort out some stuff for the posting. Having a bit of lead in time until we move we decided to purchase our own tickets and do a bit of a reconnaissance mission to check out our future home. A sneaky week to hopefully secure accomodation and to help us figure out what we need to take with us and what we can leave behind and buy in Malaysia. 

I honestly can’t remember when we have travelled with just the 2 of us sans kids. We flew Malaysian Airlines and had a grand total of 7kg each for the trip. Thankfully it’s much easier to travel to somewhere where it is hot. 7 pairs of undies (I don’t know why I always feel the need to pack more, it’s been more than a few years since I have wet my pants), and a few changes of clothes for casual and a few nights out. The biggest problem was the liquids which travelling from Aus you need to keep under 100g and place in a plastic bag for inspection at customs. My sunscreen that was 110ml was confiscated but otherwise we made it through unscathed. I cannot tell you how much easier it was without checked in bags! Straight though at check in with a seperate queue at both ends for those with no checked luggage. Saved us hours as the queues were huge. Best bit was landing back in Aus. Landed at 7.15pm and we were sitting on the couch at home eating a pizza by 8.15pm. 

I felt a bit like a snail carrying my home on my back. Everything was accessible the whole time and packing up was a breeze. We actually purchased a ticket with checked bags just in case but it all went smoothly. Malaysia was much more relaxed with weight limits than Australia. Not sure it will ever happen again but boy was it awesome! Who said I was high maintenance. (Well Nick did but I proved him wrong!)

 

Tall Tales

Thankfully the last of the family medical appointments are done. Gotta love a nurse who thinks on her feet when measuring the 17 year old giant!!