When did we ever get time to work?

This month marks our 3rd anniversary of our retirement journey, when I look back I wonder how did we ever get the time to go to work.

Are we bored yet?  Short and sweet answer to that is NO.  Sorry to all you doubting Thomas's who went you are too young to retire, you will get bored, you will run out of money etc (the list of things everyone said is way too long to put them all here, but I am sure you get the picture).

Anniversaries are a good thing to sit back and reflect on things and if you have spent your time wisely, and achieved the goals you set out to.  I don't know if we had a plan ,in fact I know we really didn't have a plan as such - yes there was travel we wanted to do, yes we knew at some point we would want to downsize, we knew we wanted to do something more meaningful in our lives - not just make the man richer but help the community - although we didn't know in which form that would take, we knew we wanted to be with like minded people - how all of those things transpired was the fine tuning of life the suck it and see type thing, but no real plans as such.

Those 3 years have gone by so fast and outside of the years of having babies and staying home to look after my beautiful little girls,  these last 3 years have probably been the most enjoyable days of my life.  Sure there are days where we are a little bored, but its those days that make you take stock and make you re-evaluate things - without them you may miss something new and exciting to do, see, participate in, but generally these days have been few and far between.

We have been in our new home now for 9 months - this time last year we were still away eagerly awaiting the completion of our home, now we are truly settled in with a long term plan for living here.  We always knew we would sell our last home - it was the when and where would we go that we didn't know so some days it was hard to settle down because you where always looking for the next move opportunity, watching the real estate market etc - so its nice to be somewhere without that cloud over your head.  Its also nice not to have a mortgage and heaps of bucks in the bank - it helps you to really plan ahead better.  We live somewhere where there is always someone to talk to, people to do things with so those days when you have nothing on your plate can be filled in easily by taking a stroll around, sitting in the boat shed and chatting to others.

Buying our caravan provides with a quick, cheap way of holidaying when we feel we need to get out or away and even though we have only had it since April, we have been away 4 times now taking up about 7 weeks of our time - sometimes you just have to get away, but heading off overseas is expensive and we have been lucky enough over our time to have traveled extensively so right now we are happy with the lets go now and travel in our van.  We have had some great times away and our last trip to North and Central Queensland was heaps of fun, very relaxing, we saw things we haven't seen before - like the Undara Lava Tubes (where I had my birthday) what an incredible place, we caught up with friends in Port Douglas, we hired a mini moke at Magnetic Island, and caught up with the Crocs in Cairns - all paid for by Dereks metal detecting, it was a good way of escaping the cold. 

We still look for other holiday options as well, and recently took advantage of a standby rate for a house boat for a week - just like camping but on the water, we hadn't realised how much we had missed a week long boating trip - but with our use of our free boats here, and the standby rates for the houseboat, it is significantly cheaper than owing a boat.  We try to use the boats here at least once a week for a days escape to the beach and we love it.

With our new found freedoms, our new found lifestyle we have also now been able to decide how we volunteer, something we had wanted to do since we retired - give back to the community, do something for others, be less selfish - so we are now Marine Rescue on Monday and Tuesdays from 6am to 6pm, those first days where tiring but now we have gotten our energy back, have learnt to wake up earlier again and its great to be learning new things, getting new skills and being apart of yet another group of like minded people and be a part of team.  Yes it is tiring, yes it really takes it out of you, but it is so rewarding when you rescue someone who is in trouble, and learning true boating skills is exhilarating.  It took us a while to find the exact right thing for us, we don't spend any money on these days, the week just seems to fly by now and we feel like we are being useful in a way that is interesting for us.  Volunteering was always in the long term plan, but the first 2 1/2 years just didn't fit in, now it does in the exact right way for us.

I  now also doing Tai Chi on Wednesday and we both do a walking group on Thursdays so our week is fully booked up and it all goes too fast, so we now have a routine that provides us with a good array of things to do, keep fit physically and mentally as well as enjoying the company of fantastic new found friends.  

Not so long ago someone said to me "You haven't really done much since you retired", and it got me to thinking about what we have done, so with our 3 year anniversary here are our stats (of the things I can think of - no doubt have left something out), but I am not sure if we really could have fitted more in to be honest.

Days Retired:  1095

Days spent travelling:  440 (and they are the ones I can remember) 80 days overseas 14 countries, domestic about 300 days (including our around Australia camping trip) and about 60 days on boating holidays

Moving:  180 days - 90 days moving out, and about the same moving in (by the time you go out and buy new stuff, rearrange things and really settle in) 

Day trips/lunches etc: about 100 from the things I can remember - but probably more

Yes there would have been other things, but that accounts for about 65% of our retired life so far, at some point you have to be home and attend to the mundane as well as recuperate so overall I feel we have not really stopped.  It will change now for us a bit, as we do our volunteering and have set things that are done regularly each week - but that is also good, and a stage we were wanting to get to.  We are already planning our next camping trip for after the school hols and I must admit, I am hanging for a nice cruise holiday so I doubt the next 12 months will be boring as we look forward to some more new adventures.

A camping we will go

Just 3 short years ago if you had said that I would find pleasure in camping, or that as a part of our retirement journey I would be camping I probably would have laughed and said "you have to be joking".  I hadn't had a lot of experience with camping in my life except the school trips and the really cheap tent experience in my late teens, and to be honest I hated each and every one I went on. I had made it my life's ambition never to camp - to me 3 days in a 5 star resort was more of a holiday than 3 weeks camping.

So it's a strange feeling in my mind that here I am less than 3 years into retirement and I find I love the camping experience and now look forward to our next trip and spending money on being able to camp in a better environment.

We did start our retirement with a relocation van (looking for cheaper ways to travel - and this sort of set the ball rolling)  if you missed my blog on that here's the link  The Relocation Van Blog, at first I thought I enjoyed it so much because it provided just so much freedom and given we had only just retired it was such a great feeling to just be on the road, no plans other than to be in Cairns in 7 days and travelling with very little - just shorts, t's and thongs - it felt so good after years of constraints.

Now being settled in the new home and after our big trip around Australia  we started thinking about what we really want to do, yes we love the overseas travel and we love our cruising holidays, but you can't do this type of travel on our sort of self funded retirement money all the time - and we want to be able to pack up and go when the desire strikes, not planning for something in 3 months time, be more spontaneous in our adventures and to be able to do things more regularly.  So you have guessed it, we have bought ourselves a new pop top camper van.

Our first set up - well nearly setup!

Given we have limited space in our new house to store a van we had to be quite succinct in what we wanted ie:  we only have a limited width and a limited height we can go to - in our travels the most common van we saw were the Jayco Pop Tops - more than any other type, brand or style and those that had them seemed to have the best of all worlds - not too big, but with the convenience of internal sinks, beds, lounge areas and dining areas,off the ground, easy to tow and easy to setup.  So a few months ago we started on the journey of looking for our new home away from home.

Like all buying decisions these days, we try hard to take our time and do our homework - looking at as many possible options we can see - to ensure we are getting the best bang for our buck - so given we knew exactly what we were after (we hired one for a weekend first to make sure we did like them) and also to ensure it would fit into the limited space we have, and yes it was for us.  We searched for second hand ones to begin with and then soon found that most of these where of a similar price to a brand new one, so we did elect to buy a newbie (beautiful).

We have spent the last 2 months now just packing and going when the weather appears to be good (although that really hasn't worked out so well given our current weather patterns of late), but this hasn't fazed us at all, because one of the reasons we wanted a pop top caravan was so we were not limited by rain like we were on the soft floor/roof camper and it would appear we could possibly hire ourselves out as drought busters.

So yes we have experienced a lot of rain (in 3 trips over 300mm), but at the same time we have been comfortable when it was raining, we have had the luxury of being able to get inside and keep dry as well as be off the ground (which was a great thing in these types of situations).  We have been learning how to get the van up and down quickly, getting everything in its rightful place and establishing our living while away - so while the weather hasn't always been on our side (although in some places it was perfect), we have learnt about our new van which has been great, and so far we love the thought and of course the doing of just going - lets go!.

Our first trip was to South West Rocks - about half way between Brisbane and Sydney and we had a great camp site on the mouth of the river - it was a fantastic camp site with a ensuite (we always try to get an ensuited site if we can), on large sites and in a beautiful environment.  It took us a bit longer to setup than we originally anticipated that first time as we had to remember how to do everything and of course it was all new - but we got there and the first day was magnificent - sunny and warm and just so lovely to be sitting under our annex in the shade having a chat to people feeling pretty chuffed, but that night the heavens opened to 140mm of rain - but guess what - we didn't care and not one drop of water in the van and the site was still dry around us because of the annex (the things we didn't have before).  Overall it was a great first trip and we really enjoyed ourselves.  We did only have 3 days here though because of the rain - but that is what this is about, we don't have to be away for weeks now, more regular trips for shorter periods of time.  Derek of course continued on his winning way in the metal detecting stakes and had a fantastic time.

Next we decided to head into country NSW at this time of the year the Armidale area is so beautiful with its Autumn leaves and we had another lovely camp spot and after a few lovely days here we headed for Stanthorpe - I love Standthorpe and there is so much to do there at this time of year with the wineries, lovely town center, bush walks etc (check out my Stanthorpe Blog for more info on this area).  We headed to Storm King Dam rather than the town parks because we wanted a more bush camp site and the caravan park here didn't disappoint, with exceptionally large sites complete with fire pits (absolutely necessary in Stanthorpe this time of year as the days are beautiful, but boy can the nights get cold), right on the dam and boats, bikes etc to hire - we will be going back here again.  Once again our trip was cut short by RAIN another 200mm in 2 days so it was a wet pack up which was also good to experience.

A few weeks back home - still getting things in their rightful places in the van so each time we go out the experience gets just that bit better, more organised and easier to setup, then we headed off to Rainbow Beach (I haven't been there for probably 35 years), again the Rainbow Beach caravan park is fabulous with views to die for, the weather was glorious for the 3 days we were here - but unfortunately we had to pack and go because we hadn't booked and on the 4th day we were told they where fully booked - bugger.  Headed up to Bigara Beach just of Bundaberg for a few days there (probably wouldn't go back here again, really not much to do and no beach as such so a little disappointing), but again we got to do the pack up and set up in one day and this is so helpful in learning how to use your van so we were not really all that upset.

We are now getting ready to take off for the Winter though, heading North for the sun and hope to be away for 4-6 weeks (this is sort of what we want to do, short trips during the year and then 1 longer trip in the Winter months).  We feel we now have everything in the right spot in the van, have all the things we need for a comfortable trip and we feel confident in the setup and pack up process.  At this point in time we feel this has provided us with a lot more travelling opportunities at a more affordable price and while we love where we live it is still nice to get away.

We are loving the Jayco Eagle, it suites us to a tee, it has all the comforts of a big van (sink, stove, fridge, lounge, dining and 2 beds - one queen and one double as well as an electric awning - we are hopeless with annex setup so with a push of a button we have our awning up and out with no fuss). Its easy to tow and you can still do the normal speed limits and now we have setup a few times we are doing this in about an hour from pull in to sitting down having a coffee under the annex, we could probably do it faster but we like to get everything out properly first up.  We are enjoying our small jaunts when we get the urge to move which is good, and yes we have been taking Teddy (but he really doesn't enjoy himself all that much - but we can take him if we want to so that is nice as well).

Dereks Metal Detecting Finds 2014

So I have tried in my blogs to show the photos of Dereks Finds - but thought I would do one small blog with all the photos he got.

Now we all know he loves his metal detecting and this year with a new pin pointer has made his finds significantly more and easier to come by, he had a great time while we traveled around Australia detecting, and to be honest must have found at least $2000 on the way - it was a significant contributor to laundry money and meals out.

On our return he has been busy around the Gold Coast as well and again is doing so much better now than he use to as he really works out the best areas to detect as well as using all his new tools of the trade.

He is now in the throws of polishing all his bits and pieces up and making a collection in his garage cupboard.

While probably not a photo of absolutely everything he has found this year, its not a bad collection of photos and worthy of its own blog

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This is Australia - As a Grey Nomand: Part 13: Ayers Rock, The Olgas and Kings Canyon Northern Territory

Another big drive from Coober Pedy to Ayers Rock over 700km’s leaving South Australia and back into the beautiful Northern Territory roads, with open speed limits.  It was funny you went through towns where the signs said slow down to 130kms/hour – that meant we had to speed up 10ks/hour lol.

You drive for so long and don’t see a car, then you get to Erldunda which is a cross roads type place and all of a sudden there are tourist buses, camper vans, motor homes, tents everywhere, this is the place everyone stops before getting to Ayers Rock. We got a great camp site, and of course everyone is excited around you to see The Rock – and we had a look out right behind our site, so it was good to see the sun set here on our first night without needing to get in the car.

Now I have spoken on red dirt in WA, but let me tell you this is the reddest dirt and its everywhere so not for those who don’t like dirt – to be honest I am now use to it, and not quite so anal about it being in the tent thank God, otherwise I would have been driven nuts (so maybe it was a good thing we changed courses months ago).  One of the things I loved about this camp ground was it was the first in all our travels to date that had open fire pits, which was so great to sit around at night with a drink and tell yarns with others – we really enjoyed this every night.  Although it was crowded at this time of the year, the best nice days not too hot and nights while cool, not freezing, so there are people everywhere.

I Climbed Ayers Rock

The next morning we were refreshed and keen to get out and see this place, we bought our 3 day pass and Derek immediately headed off to do the climb (not for the faint hearted let me assure you), and not really appreciated but still allowed.  He made it though and I enjoyed trying – but thought better of it, and talking to all the other peahearts like me that were awaiting a love one to return with their tales of making it.

The view from the top of Ayers Rock

We spent the rest of the day doing the various walks around the base which was beautiful it really is magnificent.  We also went to the proper night viewing area for the sunset – took our drinks and nibbles for a sunset happy hour along with 1000 others, but we got there early and secured a beautiful spot .

Next day The Olgas, they are also just fantastic, and in fact look better I think from a distance than the Ayers Rock.  Another big day of walks, and it was very cold and windy here unlike the day before where it was hot, we are in jumpers and freezing, but the views are spectacular.

The town center here is lovely as well, nice cafes, restaurants, galleries, souvenir shops etc, and Derek also began doing some metal detecting in the camp site – he found heaps here, with all the groups coming in with their swags, lots of money and jewellery being lost – he quickly found $50 plus a few rings and a beautiful opal pendant, couldn’t stop he after that – he was gone for days – I didn’t mind it was nice to sit, relax, read under the views of the area, and there was always someone to talk to as well.

After 5 days here, we finally decided it was time to head off to Kings Canyon – and WOW this is in my books even better than Ayers Rock – it’s a fabulous camp grounds with a 5 star resort and all the trimmings with it, in the middle of nowhere.

Climbing Kings Canyon is hard work though, something like 500 rock steps to get to the top – lots of huffing and puffing from us, but we made it – the rest of the walk isn't as arduous though and the views are to die for, magical in every way – such a lovely day walking up and through this area – make sure you take some water with you, at this time of the year they don’t police this so much, but apparently later in the season you are not even allowed to go up if you are not carrying enough water – it was hot up there. 

Our camp site with a view to Kings Canyon

What I loved about Kings Canyon is it isn't as restricted as Ayers Rock, you are encouraged to walk it, climb it, take it in so at the end of the day it feels like it is significantly more incredible than Ayers Rock as you truly get to experience it – there are good walking paths and steps throughout the entire area but it does take a full day.  For those who don’t have the energy or ability to climb, there are heaps of helicopter flights at reasonable prices (unlike at Ayers Rock), so I think generally people who experience King Canyon feel like its got a lot more to offer.

Once again Derek found heaps at the Kings Canyon camp grounds, in fact enough for us to have a beautiful meal at the resort all paid for in $1 and $2 coins hot off the camp ground (but I did wash them first, but it was funny counting it all out and them saying where did you get all of these from  and us laughing saying just outside).

Some of Dereks finds in Ayers Rock and Kings Canyon