We've been in Canberra for nearly 5 years and have been posted back home to Adel as of the end of this year (YAY)! Do whatever you need to to get through the deployments, mine deployed frequently but for shorter periods so we were out of the deployment support loop, which was quite hard. However, if we were looking at 9 months (count 10 as they never get home when they first think they will plus there's always extra trips before they leave) there's no way I'd tough it out by myself! That's just not fun!
I think I will be fine, provided I can find some friends fast hence the creation of this thread
Looks like we will just miss each other if you come back at the end of the year! Oh well, maybe you will get posted to wherever we are before too long but only after all the family stuff is sorted.
Have you ever had a service residence? are they tiny? I have thrown out nearly half my house worth of stuff and have tonnes more to go. Think we will replace our bedding and crockery when we get there but there is only so much you can turf hey
Because of DH's reserve service he only has to wait 18 months for DefCredit, and wants to wait 18 months after he is approved to get it so we can get more. we think we will buy in Brissy so my Sis can rent it if they havent bought by then if we get posted elsewhere. so in 3 years we will be buying a house.
I am sure we are not the only defence families on BB. do you know of any others?
Yep living in a service residence right now. Probably the best we've ever had, I looked the lady in the eye and told her we didn't ask for this posting, we own our own home and there's only so far I'm prepared to go down in standard of living. It worked and they showed us some more houses. We've been with Defence for 18 years and we've lived in some shockers in that time, worst being a house on the RAAF base which was newly renovated haha but they didn't fix the roof so it just leaked torrentially every wet season. It took months every wet season to get them to fix it, and in the meantime everything just grew over with mould. Also the power would cut out for 3-4 hours on a regular basis, the substation we were on was owned by RAAF and it only did about 6 houses so they never bothered to fix it. But Darwin is such a friendly place and we were happy there.
Thinks to think about when you are choosing a SA include storage - not just wardrobes in bedrooms, but also storage for all the extra army cr@p they bring home. So look for things like extra shed/garage space, underhouse storage, etc. If you have good storage, the rest of the house is much more usable. Also when you move around a lot you get used to getting rid of stuff frequently, less junk to tow around.
We already have a pretty big pile of army cr@p! his pack plus webbing and all those bits and pieces. it is in a 128 litre rolling crate ATM and there are a few bits not where they belong.
our biggest problem is hoarding so this cleanout is massive. I think I will hire a skip for when the removalists come and just dump anything that we wont need as soon as we get up there. we can always replace it. we have gotten rid of some furniture and will get rid of more. My SIL will take our futon and whatever else we want new of. I hope The laundry is big enough for my washing machine! I have an 8 KG top loader and it is HUGE!!! we have trouble getting in doorways when we move but it is a godsend when I need to do some washing! 1 Load fills up a hills hoist!
we have had some lovely Defence homes and some shockers!!!! the ones on the barracks are normally the crappy ones as they are owned by the defence so no standards but they are starting to change that.... like I said ( ie Darwin ) we had a really nice 4 bedroom house with big back yard aircon throu out but it was in a really unfriendly area but the houses when we had then on the base's might have been small ( they will store the stuff if it doesnt fit) but the people around you were all in the same boat ( DH's going away alot ) so they were always there to help you out if you asked, ( wish I had done that more oftern)...
There are many ways around DHA they arent very nice or helpful at the best of times, but once we had been offered a house that we just didnt like and were told that it was the only one in our class but I told them that if they didnt want baby vomit all over their house due to my son having reflux then they would give me a house without carpet ( we were in Cairns and the house was fully carpeted wtf) anyway they soon found us a house in the next class of houses we just had to pay the extra $10 in rent so always remember you can ask for an up grade we oftern told them our stuff just wont fit in the houses they were offering they always magically find a spare house... But its a bit different now as you find the houses on line before you move.. But if you have family in the area Tee it up with then to have a look at the house for you even if they just look in the windows...
We are a Defence family in Townsville, newly posted!! We arrived on the 21st December. Luckily Ian is from here originally and his dad still lives here.
DH has been in the RAAF for 22 years or so. Enlisted right out of high school. He is a Flight Sergeant SysTech. I'm currently a SAHM awaiting the arrival for bubs number 2.
We live in a DHA house and it is really nice but storage is a problem. Probably because Ian is a hoarder. He takes up double the wardrobe space I do for crying out loud and that doesn't even cover his t-shirts!
Alioops you must have missed my 1st post I am ex navy wife of 12yrs my BHL got out last year and now works in the mines ( so yes he still goes away 2 weeks away 1 home )
Hope its ok that I drop in every now and then even if I am now on the outside
hence the creation of this thread 
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