Went to see Jethro Tull play at the majestic State Theatre in Sydney on Wednesday night.
It was a great show, he still stands on one leg whilst playing the flute! Not bad for a 63 year old.
The audience was an OAP convention, but a few of them were bopping away.
The State Theatre is a lovely old theatre and a magic place to watch a band in a more intimate mode.
It was such a brilliant night - so great to see an old band who are still, truly GREAT !
Friday, April 29, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Why we want to leave OZ and live on a narrow boat
About 5 years ago we started to think about retirement and what we would like to do when we reached retirement age. The first thing we decided was that we actually wanted to stop working full time well before I reached 65, so we decided 60 would be a good age and then quickly brought that down to 58!
We both knew that we would have to find something to do rather than walking along the beach and hanging around in cafes and bars etc; we needed to keep active and do something different.
We considered the 'Grey Nomad' lifestyle cruising around Australia - the only problem being it is a bloody huge country and there is an awful lot of nothing in between something! Don't get me wrong, Australia is an incredible country with a very beautiful, but harsh, landscape but when you go seriously outback it's all a bit too well....boring. We have both travelled to all parts of Australia so I think we can comment. So - that was the 'Grey Nomad' angle ruled out!
We are very grateful to have lived her for the past 31 years, for me, and 17 years for Elaine.
We have made a good living in Sydney and, in my humble opinion, it really is the finest city in the world!
Next we considered living and travelling around on a yacht, but that was quickly ruled out as it is very difficult to live on a day by day basis, could easily turn to disaster with cyclones / bad weather and a we would have a reasonable chance of being killed, also we just aren't that adventurous! So - that was 'Grotty Yachties' ruled out!
In May 2007 we ran away to Vegas and got married, we then went to New York and then Mousehole in Cornwall, which was just magic. Next stop was an Alvechurch hire boat and this was that was the Eureka moment!
So what did we like about the narrow boat holiday that made us realise that we could do this in our retirement?
1. Stress free living at 3mph and never far from a village, town, railway station, pub etc.
2. Being close to family: Elaine has 2 brothers and 1 sister and I have 5 siblings - plus millions of nieces and nephews, all living in various parts of the UK! Also, Elaine's step Dad lives in Cheshire and my Mum lives in Milton Keynes.
3. Constantly changing scenery and never knowing what is around the next bend.
4. Keeping active by walking and operating locks, plus keeping the boat shipshape.
5. Living a simple, lifestyle - cooking from scratch and chopping firewood etc.
6. Living on a 200 year old system - which we think is like a 'parallel universe' ! (When we did our holiday in 2007, Elaine felt that we were like Hobbits - occasionally venturing out to civilisation and then quickly scurrying back to our 'boat-haven' !
I am sure there are a lot more reasons but that is enough for now.
PS The retirement age has now come down to 55! and Elaine is a fair bit under that!
We both knew that we would have to find something to do rather than walking along the beach and hanging around in cafes and bars etc; we needed to keep active and do something different.
We considered the 'Grey Nomad' lifestyle cruising around Australia - the only problem being it is a bloody huge country and there is an awful lot of nothing in between something! Don't get me wrong, Australia is an incredible country with a very beautiful, but harsh, landscape but when you go seriously outback it's all a bit too well....boring. We have both travelled to all parts of Australia so I think we can comment. So - that was the 'Grey Nomad' angle ruled out!
We are very grateful to have lived her for the past 31 years, for me, and 17 years for Elaine.
We have made a good living in Sydney and, in my humble opinion, it really is the finest city in the world!
Next we considered living and travelling around on a yacht, but that was quickly ruled out as it is very difficult to live on a day by day basis, could easily turn to disaster with cyclones / bad weather and a we would have a reasonable chance of being killed, also we just aren't that adventurous! So - that was 'Grotty Yachties' ruled out!
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| Getting married in Vegas |
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| Behind Mousehole village |
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| Our Honeymoon boat |
So what did we like about the narrow boat holiday that made us realise that we could do this in our retirement?
1. Stress free living at 3mph and never far from a village, town, railway station, pub etc.
2. Being close to family: Elaine has 2 brothers and 1 sister and I have 5 siblings - plus millions of nieces and nephews, all living in various parts of the UK! Also, Elaine's step Dad lives in Cheshire and my Mum lives in Milton Keynes.
3. Constantly changing scenery and never knowing what is around the next bend.
4. Keeping active by walking and operating locks, plus keeping the boat shipshape.
5. Living a simple, lifestyle - cooking from scratch and chopping firewood etc.
6. Living on a 200 year old system - which we think is like a 'parallel universe' ! (When we did our holiday in 2007, Elaine felt that we were like Hobbits - occasionally venturing out to civilisation and then quickly scurrying back to our 'boat-haven' !
I am sure there are a lot more reasons but that is enough for now.
PS The retirement age has now come down to 55! and Elaine is a fair bit under that!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Anzac Day Lest we Forget
- They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
- Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
- They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
- They fell with their faces to the foe.
- They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
- Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
- At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
- We will remember them.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Plane Spotting
We went for a drive today and ended up at the back of Sydney Airport under the East-West runway. When the planes use it you can get some pretty good pics from all angles
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| Air New Zealand |
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| Qantas |
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| Qantas |
Bonnie Going
My beloved Triumph Bonneville is off to a new home, she has been sold (deposit taken) to a Lady that hasn't got a bike license yet! Her boyfriend has, and I think the bike is more for him than her! He collects classic minis, so it is going to a good home and I think they will look after it as much as I did. Sad day but another step closer to our ultimate goal....The Canals of England and Wales.
Elaine's pushbike has also been sold on EBay, all in all a pretty good weekend as in a Caravan, motorbike and pushbike all sold
Friday, April 22, 2011
Caravan Sold
We sold the caravan this morning at 6.00am ! We were up at 5.30am! He wanted to come last night but I said it really isn't good practice to buy something like a caravan in the pitch black. So he came at sparrows this morning, he had to drive 2.00 hours to get here. One hour later he was off up the coast to catch up with his mates for the Easter and Anzac extra long weekend.
Next to go is the motorbike..nnnnooooooooooooooooooooo!!
Next to go is the motorbike..nnnnooooooooooooooooooooo!!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Bugger !!
As we thought would happen has happened, our perfect buyers for the house have dropped out, the main reason being the delayed settlement till November (as Jaffa the cat failed his rabies vaccination)! Even if he hadn't failed the date was still late September early October.
So after a couple of bottles of Australia's finest red we have decided to put it on the market in the new year 2012. I think if we had put it on the market again later this year we would be arriving in the UK right at the start of winter and probably would not be the best start to life afloat. Now we will aim to be there by the start of spring which is a much nicer prospect.
So in the meantime we will carry on disposing of various pieces of crap that one builds up over the years. Plus we have to get rid of some good stuff as in my motorbike and our caravan which will both be advertised this weekend ...
It's been great to have the caravan but we have only used it 3 times since we got it last June - it gets harder and harder to find places we can take the dogs, so we are giving up !
Looking forward to this Easter weekend as we also have a day off on Tuesday as it is ANZAC day. 5 days off in a row, feels like retirement!
Happy Easter Everybody ! Paul and Elaine :)
So after a couple of bottles of Australia's finest red we have decided to put it on the market in the new year 2012. I think if we had put it on the market again later this year we would be arriving in the UK right at the start of winter and probably would not be the best start to life afloat. Now we will aim to be there by the start of spring which is a much nicer prospect.
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| Paul's Triumph Bonneville (I think there may be tears when this one goes ... Elaine !) |
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| Tata Caravan .. we've had fun in you ! |
Looking forward to this Easter weekend as we also have a day off on Tuesday as it is ANZAC day. 5 days off in a row, feels like retirement!
Happy Easter Everybody ! Paul and Elaine :)
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