This morning I realised that it was just over a year since my retirement, on December 7th to be precise. I remember that many at work said I was too young to retire … I’ll be bored …. I’ll miss work, what are you going to do everyday, etc etc.
Well guys, if any of you are still reading this, I have not missed work, not once. Too young ? well, I feel younger now, as I am not getting sore knees every day from standing on a hard kitchen floor ! Bored ? Not once.
As for what was I going to do ….lets see, how about a 10 month road trip around Australia and then move overseas to a new country ?

Manta Ray

Anyway, I started thinking about this past year and the highlights of it, so here are some of my favourite experiences that I’ve written about.
One of those near the top would be swimming with the Whale Sharks and Manta Rays at Ningaloo Reef, Exmouth .. a simply unforgettable once in a lifetime experience that had been on my wish list for years, now it is ticked off.

Million star accommodation

Also near the top would be simply being in the outback, sleeping under the stars or driving endless kilometres along dirt roads, realising just how small we are in the big scheme of things. I was doing it in an air-conditioned 4WD, but only a few generations ago the shearers and stockmen travelled many of those same roads by horse, bicycle or even on foot.

Driving the Gibb River Road across the top of the Kimberley was another “bucket list’ item ticked off, with unforgettable scenery all the way. Parts 1 and part 2 have more photos of this incredible landscape. Of course it’s not just the travel but also the people you meet along the way, like the living legend of Fred Brophy at Birdsville, or fellow travellers that you meet along the way. Sometimes they are headed your way, and you keep bumping into them, like Mike and Trice ,who are still on the road. Or sometimes it is just an overnight stop with a few beers around the campfire with people heading the other way, such as Rich and Sophie that I met at a beachside camp in WA, en route to England via Africa !

The legendary Birdsville Hotel

Yet another item on the bucket list to be ticked off was to get to outback Birdsville for the legendary races … a great weekend well worth the wait (and the long drive to get there !)
And then came the big move to Thailand a couple of months ago. So far I’m not having any second thoughts about it, I would n’t say that every day is an adventure but I see or experience something different or interesting most of them. Will I still feel the same way in 12 months time ? who knows ..check back then !