We have now left our home behind and started a year of travel,
beginning in Canberra where we are spending time with our daughter and her
family. It is very good to have an extended time with them rather than the
usual rushed visit before Anne has had to return to work. This allows us to know our two Canberra
grandchildren a little better, and they us.
During our stay here, we are house-sitting, looking after someone’s
dog and garden while they are away. We organised this through a
house-carers’ website.
In terms of our Brisbane house, we have rented our home ‘furnished’,
which means that we had to pack-up only our personal belongings. We have stored
these in our spare bedroom. Packing up these possessions was a very valuable
exercise – realizing just how much we own – but how little we really use and
need. We also discovered that some of our possessions are valuable because of
their very personal meaning while many items are just ‘baggage’. I’m sure that after we have lived out of
rucksacks for nine months in Europe, our perceptions will be further refined.
Anne is adapting well to a less pressured existence
and has not had any trouble filling her days. It is only two months until we
leave for Europe, and we are aware that there are still a number of preparatory
things to do, achieving greater fitness and endurance being one of them.
Canberra’s environs provide a perfect place to extend our walking capabilities.
We notice and appreciate the different climate of the
southern states to Queensland. The bush, the gardens, the clear sunny skies and
the smell of a southern summer are all very obvious to us, and reminiscent on
our earlier lives in South Australia.
