With thanks (and maybe a small apology) to Lewis Carroll.
But the analogy is very apt because Pamela and I feel just as Alice must have as she stood there in wonderment at what she saw through the looking glass........ The great Unknown.....Retirement
The house is sold and the wrench from Avalon will be felt for years. In thirty years we have brought-up two fantastic children and enjoyed every day, here on the peninsula. But, our babies, as all others will, have grown and flown. Katie lives in Melbourne, works for Australia Post as an Injury Management Officer and is buying a unit in Maribyrnong. Michael is buying a unit in Dundas and has recently gone into partnership and started a new locksmith business. He completed his apprenticship as a locksmith many years ago.
The plan was to have no plan!! But anyone and everyone knows that you must have a plan. A plan is like a road map. And I suppose that life is like that too. You start where you are and end-up where you want to be. So the plan was evolved. Sell the house and invest the capital in our super- annuation. Keep as little as possible and travel light. And travel and travel.
We want to SEE and EXPERIENCE Australia. We have given ourselves two to five years to get the bug out of our system. But who knows, we might hate it within a month.......... But then again, we might not want to stop.......Ever. A while agoI met a guy in a service station in Narrabeen. He was an older guy, maybe sixty five to seventy five years old. He was refueling his Hi-Lux ute. On the back of his ute was a fibre glass canopy and inside the covered section he had all the gear for a long trip. Looking at the tow bar I asked what he pulled with his ute. He told me a tale of having been on the road with a caravan and his wife for fifteen years!! But she's getting a bit clucky now, she wants a nest so I guess I'll have to give this all away, he said with a far-away look in his eyes.
Having been interested participants in camping and caravaning for many years we took ourselves off to every caravan and camping show for the last eighteen months and decided on a Coromal Princeton. It seems to just fit the bill. Full en suite, Queen size bed, great kitchen and a great lounge area. All the usual bits and pieces and much more. So the order was placed and our older caravan traded.
But what to pull it with?? Our 1982 Hi Lux ute, while fitted with a Holden Commodore VP V6 motor and auto transmission would do the job.... just. But I had a much better idea. If I change my mechanics licence from stationary to mobile mechanic and keep the company going, I could legally work anywhere. But that would mean a far bigger vehicle. So we started to investigate what we would need. Nothing to big. A ten tonne truck was out of the question. But a 4.5 tonne Mitsubishi Fuso extra long wheelbase
with a 21ft pantech on the rear would fill the bill very well. That would mean the workshop AND our trike would fit in the back and there would be more than enough power to handle the two tonne caravan that would dangle on the tow ball.
So. What are we looking for?? If we had an easy answer for this question I'd tell you, but we don't! Adventure comes to mind, so does solitude, the bush, long open beaches, soft warm breezes, balmy nights listening to the animals, shooting stars in a sky of a billion jewels, the deserts, the road stretching out in front of us, freshly caught fish for dinner. I could go on and on. So, where do we want to end-up?? Fundamantally, we feel that what we would like to find is Avalon as it was thirty years ago when we moved in. In the days when you could park a semi-trailer outside the cimema and kids used to walk to school in safety. When you could stop at the pedestrian crossing and have a conversation with a friend who was crossing without horns blowing from the rear. When graffiti was never seen. We feel that Avalon is full to overflowing now and that there is no room to move!! Sea change?? Maybe. But we both feel that it's the journey that's important, not the destination.
So. We're off!! Pamela and I officially retire on my 64th birthday.
21st July 2007. Excited? You bet. Scared? Just a little. But looking forward to the journey and the company of other Grey Nomads along the way. We wish all our friends on the Northern Beaches, good health, good company and happiness.
Pamela and Terry Hughes.
PS Anyone else leaving Sydney mid August and going North??
Hi Pam and Terry Its Elaine up at Gorokan (I used to work with Pam at Warriewood). I could not believe that I saw your message today when I looked at the site at lunch time. How exciting to be up and ready to go!!!!! Has Pammy finished up at work yet? Have you picked up the van yet and if so are y0u happy with it? and where are you parking it till u are ready to go? Where are you off to first? We have sold the house in Sydney so now we are looking at cars etc. The van we like (17'6'" ensuite van Concept Ascot 2) weighs 1870kg unloaded so we cannot buy a Holden crewman as planned and its back to the drawing board. We looked at a Holden Adventra which is all wheel drive but still did not have the towing capacity! It takes quite a bit of homework to get all this stuff right as you cannot rely on dealers and its hard to get correct info from the net. Looking forward to a reply, Cheers Elaine and Garry
Great to hear from you Elaine. Well it's true. Pamela is a special lady. So many people I've spoken to about our plans have been in awe, not just at the plans but the first thing I hear nearly every time is- Sell the house..... My wife would never be in that!! Yes we're still working but the last day will be Sat 21st. If you're in Sydney come on down to the workshop, we're having a farewell party from noon 'till.....!???
Nothing has arrived yet....No caravan and no tow truck, so we're holding our breath. We gave the suppiers to mid July for completion so we will be ok if all goes to plan. We don't have to be out of the house 'till August 10th, so we still have a bit of time up our sleeve. But there seems so much to do!!!
Where to go first was a bit of a dilemma but was resolved when we sold some household "stuff" to a friend in Alstonville and agreed to deliver. So North is the go. So be prepared to have a "BIG RIGG" in your front lawn at some time mid August.
