Moving to Cardiff UK - Let the fun begin

[Myrna]

T-13 Hours the dreaded call from a Qatar number pops up on my phone....
Sorry to inform you sir but your flight is delayed to depart at 1AM meaning you''ll miss your Manchester connection..... NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
Screws everything up, the pooch is on the same flight as us with Qatar cargo which doesn't make our connection Manchester in time which means the animal reception centre is closed until Monday. Currently looking at re-booking options for the pooch and she'll likely travel on Monday now to arrive on Tuesday morning in Manchester after getting another vet health check and department of agriculture export cert.
Meanwhile Qatar is looking to see if they can re-route us via Adelaide tonight to catch our connection to Manchester.
If this week hasn't been stressful enough. ok, time to vomit somewhere quietly...

So sorry to hear of this. Not just stress for you but for pooch as well. Keep fingers crossed tightly that flights will sort out for the best option.

 

[kelvedon]

I feel for you. Take a deep breath, one day you’ll look back on this as an achievement, not a stress.

 

[yld200]

Sitting in QR Doha lounge now. We ended up re-routing ourselves via Adelaide to make our original connection to Manchester but the pooch unfortunately had to stay behind. She’s been re-booked to depart Melbourne on Monday evening on the same flights with her arrival on Tuesday. She’s safe and comfortable with the in-laws and she’ll be fine travelling on her own.

 

[yld200]

After the initial drama last Friday morning, we've made and have settled into our Airbnb comfortably. Yesterday was our first full day here so we wandered around the city in the morning but nothing actually opens til 11am which we found a little strange. Still a bit jet lagged but I think we can say the journey officially begins now. The wife has left for her first day at work and although I'm not officially starting work until Wednesday, I've been catching up on a few emails this morning.

Have also had word from the in laws that the pooch has been dropped off in Tullamarine and all looks on track for her to depart on QR905 tomorrow morning with her arrival in the UK Tuesday lunch time. My wife and I both miss her already and we'll be much more settled once she arrives.

With our re-routing last Friday, Qatar booked us onto QF697 MEL>ADL in K class according to the booking confirmation I received from QR. On my QF activity statement, that flight has already shown up as an ineligible fare giving 0 points and 0 SCs. Does anyone know if I have any rights to claim the SCs for this flight?

 

[Myrna]

Welcome to Cardiff, yld200 - your new home for a few years? Glad to hear that you & mrs arrived safely.

I know you both are looking forward to see your beautiful pooch tomorrow. She will be so happy to see you for sure. When we brought our 2 pooches to London, we were both excited to start life with them but anxious about their travel until we got them out of the quarantine facility at LHR. We had to wait for more than 6 hours after the flight landed before they were let out. I was terribly upset when I saw them, they were extremely happy to see us, but they were covered in urine. They had been in their crates for more than 3 days

You will love living in the UK - a very dog friendly country, unlike Australia. You can take your pooch into pubs, on trains, buses, ferries and even the tourist cruises on the Thames in London, to most parks, beautiful gardens of castles and grand estates, on ferries to Northern Ireland (3 hours from Scotland) and Isle of Wight (less than an hour from Bournemouth) - so many places to mention, and of course there are many dog friendly accommodation places. Our Chloe travels all the around the UK with us. We don't take her to the continent as hubby does not like taking the car there.

Hope you will settle quickly and find a nice place to call home in Cardiff. Please let me know if you visit London with your pooch, we can meet up to say hello.

 

[VPS]

The like was for you arriving safely and good luck. I do like Cardiff. I'd ask for ORC

 

[yld200]

Thanks @Myrna and @VPS

 

[yld200]

The family has been reunited =)

 

[get me outta here]

She looks very pleased to be there. Will she need a new set of collar tags reflecting her new status in Cardiff?

View attachment 156340

The family has been reunited =)

 

[JessicaTam]

I am just catching up with your move, @yld200. I am glad that pooch has made it safe and sound.

I was in Cardiff a few weeks ago, so sorry I was a bit early for you.

The only other thing you have to do now is to change your AFF profile from MEL to CWL!

Oh, @Myrna, I toured the MEL quarantine facilities soon after they opened a couple of years ago. They really are excellent so worth a look if you want to consider bringing pup back. I don't think the wait is as long any more, either.

 

[Myrna]

@yld200 - Awe! Lily is absolutely cute. Looked like she was very happy to be re-united with her "parents". She reminded me of our neighbour's dog in Sydney years ago - a black miniature poodle, looked very much like your Lily, also named Lily. Whenever my neighbour went out she just dropped Lily over the fence and Lily would bark at our front door to be let in. We had our first dog then and the 2 of them got on really well.

 

[Myrna]

Oh, @Myrna, I toured the MEL quarantine facilities soon after they opened a couple of years ago. They really are excellent so worth a look if you want to consider bringing pup back. I don't think the wait is as long any more, either.

Hi JT, we would love to take our Chloe back to Sydney where she grew up and lived the first 8 years of her life. She is now 15 and has had a few health problems. One of her front paws was broken (hubby carried her and dropped her as he walked through a train barrier ). The other front paw had 4 operations (each cost over £3K - yes, each!) a few years ago due to cancer. She now limps a bit. She is mostly deaf and partially blind. However, she still has plenty of energy barking at other dogs She used to love travelling on London public transport - I would take her to many parks, but now she would fret, pant, shiver and cry when we got on the trains. So, we don't think she would survive the 2 long plane flights. She enjoys her short walk along the river Thames and around Canary Wharf each day - it is her exercise. We will stay in the UK after hubby retires as long as we have her, then back in Sydney permanently.

 

[yld200]

She looks very pleased to be there. Will she need a new set of collar tags reflecting her new status in Cardiff?

She's been very tired but I think she's just getting used to the change of scenery.

We'll need to get a new tag with our UK contact number but there's no requirement to register with the local council. We'll just add her to one of the animal databases with our details and that's it.

 

[yld200]

@yld200 - Awe! Lily is absolutely cute. Looked like she was very happy to be re-united with her "parents". She reminded me of our neighbour's dog in Sydney years ago - a black miniature poodle, looked very much like your Lily, also named Lily. Whenever my neighbour went out she just dropped Lily over the fence and Lily would bark at our front door to be let in. We had our first dog then and the 2 of them got on really well.

Thanks Myrna, we love her lots and hope to spoil her and take her on many adventures in her new surroundings.

 

[cove]

I loved Myrna’s photo of Chloe the dog sitting in first class on a train to Scotland I think it was. The UK is quite dog friendly.
My brother says he cannot take his dog to the South Melbourne Markets alone and leave him for 5 minutes tied to a post outside as so many dogs get stolen.

 

[Myrna]

I loved Myrna’s photo of Chloe the dog sitting in first class on a train to Scotland I think it was. The UK is quite dog friendly.
My brother says he cannot take his dog to the South Melbourne Markets alone and leave him for 5 minutes tied to a post outside as so many dogs get stolen.

Here was Chloe in Virgin first class lounge in London Kings Cross and on Virgin train to Edinburgh for the day