Have we enjoyed it? Absolutely
Are we doing the right thing? I still think so – I really
can’t think of anything better to do
with the next few years.
Do we continue? You bet
Highlights:
The solar eclipse, whales at the head of the bight, dolphins
at monkey mia, the wineries, the oceans, the sugarcane landscapes.
Vindications:
Buying Tigger worked well. It was comfortable and allowed us
to live a lifestyle we were happy with and see what we wanted to. We bought it
for what we had planned, and sold it again more quickly and easily than we had
thought may be the case. And just the few days we spent in motels driving down
to Sydney
convinced me that we could not have toured the country like that without going
nuts. We have learned a lot that will stand us in good stead for the US
Renting the house out has worked well so far. Initial
tenants moved out last week with no major disasters, and the agents found us
replacement corporate tenants seemingly quite easily who moved in 4 days later,
so no major periods with no rent coming in.
Regrets:
Despite Maria wanting to be here for her birthday we should
have started somewhere else. The Oz dollar was so strong when we started
everything has been so expensive, and our worst fears have been realised in that
the dollar dropped to a 3 year low last Thursday just as we started
transferring money to USD, so we’ve lost another 15-20% of the money we had
tied up in the rig due to devaluation. It would have been cheaper to fly her in
first class for her party and out again. Oh well, live and learn – next time
somewhere’s currency is so out of whack we postpone that destination.
It’s a lonely life – we met lots of new people but it’s all
superficial, and I miss talking properly to old friends. The timezones don’t
help and poor internet coverage makes it almost impossible to keep up on skype
and fit in with UK
schedules. It was great to catch up with the visitors – Kevin, Knees &
Clive, Tony & Yvonne – and the locals – Jenny & Harry, Rob & Vicki,
Sam & Gav – but in some ways that drove it home how solitary it has been.
oh well, must fly...
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