Leaving Alice

John and I are currently living in one of the Manly marinas in Brisbane on our boat Summer Breeze. It's great living on the water. We expect to leave with the southerly winds at the start of June with some new friends.

Life in the marina is very social and yes we are social distancing . Everyone is happy and very helpful. Since the first chapter in this diary the Covid situation has improved somewhat in Australia and we are feeling quite positive.

A Little History: John and I met in Alice Springs in 1985. We left to travel and returned in 1988 staying a further 31 years. We love Alice and what it allowed us to have – two beautiful children, many wonderful friendships, a long and exciting career for me and a long and successful partnership with Clinton Ghea for John. So sad to leave but it’s time.

The year spent in France, our Senior Gap Year, convinced us to take an early retirement. We felt we were well set up for the third stage in life. What could go wrong? Well, funny that, quite a few things happened that we really weren’t expecting.

After owning an “investment” boat in the Whitsundays we decided to buy a catamaran. After short holidays on the boat we always felt healthier, more physically flexible and more mentally focused. We put a deposit on a Seawind 1160 Lite and planned to live on-board

permanently going where we felt like and where the wind would allow.

In Alice Springs we set retirement dates and planned retirement parties. Whilst excited about our new life Alice Springs has been wonderful for us and we would miss our friends, colleagues and the lifestyle – no more Finke, no more Master’s Games (or my favorite the Master's Mile). After 31 years in Alice we continued to meet new friends – such a great town. On the positive there would be no more alarm clocks, rosters, procurement systems or friendly flies.

We would quit our jobs, sell our house and unit, get rid of most of our worldly possessions and leave everything and everyone we had known for the last 3 decades in Alice Springs. We packed, sold, “lawn-saled” or gave away all our possessions. We sold our unit. We

spent weekends taking photos of Alice although that was a bit of a challenge with the long drought and flies.

We had our going away party at the Gillen Club. It was wonderful to see so many people that we had met over the years. That is one of the great things about Alice – the feeling of support surrounded by friends, acquaintances and familiar faces.

I finished work on 8 November – unbelievably now over 6 months ago. The last day was really surreal ending with a ward party and a hospital party. I wonder how many people we will catch up with in the future.

The following day I had another going away party at the Gapview Hotel – they must have been really happy I was going.

Delays in the house and business sale meant a delay in our departure (damn I could have stayed at work longer!!!) That meant that I would fly rather than drive to Bundaberg for my father's 90th birthday celebration at the start of December. The changeover in Sydney was really freaky as we flew over bushfire smoke for an extensive period of time. The runway had limited vision and the terminal smelled like smoke.

Dad had his do at the Brothers Club and it was great to catch up with all the family who could make it. We tried out Kalkie Moon on Margaret's advice, they have some great products. Meanwhile John and Georgie were having a meal at the Golf Club in Alice.

It was amazing to see how dry Bundaberg was - it is normally a green and productive area. We had a little look around town before we left. Lots of yachts in the Burnett River!!

Back in Alice we finalised our packing and prepared to leave. The weather was very hot, many days over 40, there were sand storms and so dry. We hope the drought breaks soon and the rivers and waterholes return to the beautiful places they normally are.

John and I wanted to spend Christmas in Brisbane after a long relaxing sight-seeing tour catching up with all our friends and relatives down the Queensland coast. Due to the failure to sell the planned 6-week trip became a short, hot desert dash to Brisbane. We finally departed on the 17 December. Oh well, one has to be adaptable.

Today’s Reflections
What’s good: sunsets over the marina, we are healthy, we do not have to worry about losing our jobs, the curve is under control.

What’s bad: everyone’s plans need to change (might be a positive in some instances), Tallis won’t pee on the boat and we can’t go to the pub.

What we have learnt: Ikea sell $1 hot dogs that are delicious, we are enjoying the simple life, the noise the pump makes when there is a water leak in a pipe.

Photos:
P 5 Summer Breeze arriving at Manly Trailer Boat Club Marina
P 6 Alice Springs
P 7 Our House
P 8-9 Gillen Club Farewell
P 10-11 Work Farewell
P 12-13 Bundaberg Visit
P 14 Empty House
P 15 Best friends on our last day in Alice
P 16 Sunset over the MTBC Marina

Next: Journey to Brisbane