The one thing we have learnt in retirement is to keep busy, learn new
things and be prepared to try and challenge yourself. I will admit there
are a lot of things we have done in the last 6 years (yes we have now been
retired for 6 years - how fast that has gone) that I would never have
imaged doing much less love doing them, if you have read some of my other blogs
camping and caravaning was one example but there are many more. Our
retirement journey has been quite different to what I would have thought it
would be, it was not what I had envisaged.
We seem to find new things that keep us
not only occupied but learning and taking on new challenges. Last year we
bought a 4WD and I did blog on our I-Venture Club trip to Moreton Island where
we learnt how to use a 4WD properly and get the value for money out of
them. So this year has seen us do a lot of beach and bush bashing, it has
been a fun new adventure for us as we discover not only new areas but also some
old ones with a new vantage point, but it also has helped us to think more
about where we go and what sort of driving might be available to us.
I don't suppose I realised just how many beaches there are that you are
able to drive on - let me tell you there is just nothing more beautiful than an
early morning beach drive it sure beats the motorway run each day!
Originally we have bought the Isuzu in
case we wanted to do some 4WDing, when we traveled around Australia we did feel
there where a few places that we would have liked to explore, but because we
didn't have a 4WD could not go to. It also helped in our reducing our
cost of living by getting a diesel, (we are spending significantly less on fuel
these days) however it has turned out that we get a lot more from this
purchase and it has given us a whole new interest and reason to get up and go
and as I have said, in some instances they are new places we have never been
to, and in others places we have been many times but seeing only from a Street
view.
It is fun to go back on old maps and see where there are national parks
with 4WDing tracks and of course beach drives. We felt very confident after our
I-Venture day to tackle these drives and knew what equipment we needed and must
say we are loving it.
We did the Moreton Island course in
August last year (I-Venture Day) and felt
we really wanted to give this a better go, so in September we headed for one of
the iconic beaches in Queensland - Fraser Island, having a few lovely days at
Rainbow Beach and doing the Cooloola Coast beach drive as well. Yes at
first it was a bit nerve wracking but we started on the small run first -
sussed out the area to get on and off and you know we took our time, we probably
did look like silly old farts but we checked and then double checked and felt
quietly confident as we put our toes into the waters. That week was
exhilarating I must say and of course the beauty of these areas driving right
on the beach is so incredible, we all traveled around the world to see beauty,
but here it is just a few hours from home and most people in the world would
love to experience our vast beaches without a person in sight and nothing but
water views. Most beach drives generally include a bit of bush driving to get
on and off the beaches and these are particularly lovely as well. We love
Rainbow Beach and in the few years since we have started going there we are
really seeing change (not sure if that's great but most of it is being done in
consideration of the place itself).
After the success of our beach drive we
started to look for day trips we could do from the Gold Coast - not a lot of
beach drives here but a lot of good national parks on the dirt side of 4WDing,
these are great for those beautiful Queensland days where you can just pack a
picnic and be back by dinner. We specifically loved The Border Ranges
National Park and the drive to get there was lovely - again places we have
driven through and by, but we have never done the national park because you
need a 4WD to do so - and of course the views did not disappoint. These
are great to fill in a day here and day there and we have enjoyed quite a few
now.
Since we
bought our Isuzu 4 others from VMR have as well so we decided to create our own
little VMR MUX Venture Club and took off to do the 14 River Crossing of the
Condamine - now this wasn't arduous in any way at the time we did it because at
that point we hadn't had a lot of rain, but for all of us it was the first time
we had done river crossings and it's nice to do things like this in a group,
another wonderful picnic by all and we did a little bit of bush trecking
through Queen Mary Falls so just a lovely day and the 14 Rivers track was just
so picturesque.
Other drives have included North Stradbroke Island - just beautiful,
Bribie Island, Foster/Toncurry Beaches and National Parks as well as Port
Macquarie region - making it both a NSW and Qld driving experience. All
of these came with a few lovely nights accommodation, and a discovery of new
places and beautiful scenery - as one of my friends put on a Facebook post of one
of our drives - "So Good for the Soul" and that it is. We have just finished the long beach drive from Bribie Island, Noosa to Rainbow and Rainbow to Fraser which is just a fantastic few days driving and a week or so away. So it
has been a bit of a hectic year with many new and lovely experiences for us.
In line with learning new things - Derek has continued on his VMR journey and is now a Skipper - such a fantastic achievement and this has given him so much confidence in both study, learning and mentoring - in a great mateship environment. At times it was hard and at times we both could have just thrown in the towel, but we hung on and he continued to push himself and now is a MSQ Coxswain something he would never have thought he would do.
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I have always wanted to paint something
(no not a house) but artwork, with You Tube now you can sit in the luxury of
your own home and taking online painting lessons and while I am definitely no
Van Gogh I really have enjoyed learning how to paint, how to create and being
creative it's a nice past time to fill in rainy days, days where it is just dam
hot and those days when you don't have a lot going on and you get a bit of
original works around the place. It is very cathartic and I must admit it makes my dreams more colorful. I have improved a lot over the last 8
months and enjoy finding new art classes to do - these are free and there are
some really great step by step lessons so if you have ever wanted to learn but
like me not really all that artistic and feel a bit embarrassed by your lack of
ability - use You Tube and google how to paint a flower or how to paint a house
etc you may well be amazed at how many there are and how good it is to produce
something.
So thats our learning this year and it does go to show old dogs can
learn new tricks.
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