Search Results for: Margaret River

Is it really a week since my last post? They say time flies when you are having fun. Are we all having fun? Even when the world is as crazy as it currently is, we need to keep our collective spirits up, and keep looking out for, and after each other.

How are we all holding up? What is it that is getting you through all this social distancing, and self isolation? Whether it is making a scarecrow to brighten up your community, practising your Tik Tok skills, or just going on 3 hour walks, tell me your top tips. How are you keeping a positive outlook in a time when we can’t go to the pub to let off steam over a few cold ones.

Since we last spoke, 7 more days have passed, which means we are 7 more days closer to normality. Whatever version of normality we end up with after the last few months. I ask what you think the future looks like, and of course, none of us know.

Will companies realise that working from home is a good thing and that they can drastically reduce their real estate costs? Will managers learn to trust employees that they can’t keep their eyes on all day? Will employees demand that they have more work from home days as part of their working week? And one thing that I am currently writing an article about is, will we be glad to have our commute back?

For us, we have started the job hunt this week, and we could be in for a bumpy ride. Perth is very different from Sydney, where we previously lived, in that it is not a financial centre. A place where the big banks have a large presence. So, already the market opportunities have reduced. And now, fold in the COVID19 situation, and the job market looks even worse.

With more time on my hands I find that my mind jumps around a lot. About “that” career that I have always wanted, rather than the one that I fell into. The thing is, I still have not landed on what “that” career is. Being in Australia, and so close to world class vineyards, I have long wanted to improve my knowledge of wine, and the wine industry. Now might be the perfect opportunity to do just that. Slowing life down even further, moving to a wine region such as Margaret River, and getting a job at a winery. I could be on to something!

What you will know if you have been following the blog, is that right now our outgoings should be a lot less than we are currently paying for our new apartment. By this point, our plan was to have been in South East Asia for a couple of weeks, with our greatest expense being a beach bungalow on the coast of Malaysia.

The biggest factor that would determine how fast our travel funds depleted would be whether to have one beer, or two. Now, living in Australia still, our current cost of living can not be sustained on our travel budget. And, perhaps more importantly, we don’t want to spend all our travel funds, as we see this as a hiatus, not something permanent. We still plan to do some long term travel, just as long as the world returns to normal.

Reading the news from around the world, I think that we will be well into 2021 before we get any semblance of normality. In Australia, the message being pushed is that we should all consider domestic travel, and that will be quite some time off yet. In terms of the international borders reopening, well, I’m not holding my breath.

For now, we will continue to explore Perth, and its wonderful wildlife. Currently, we are still on foot, and I am chipping away at convincing Victoria that buying an e-bike each, out of our travel funds, would be a good investment. It is proving a lot harder than convincing her that we needed 6 bottles of sparkling chenin blanc from Voyager Estate in Margaret River. Yes, she didn’t take much convincing at all for the wine that we are hoping will get delivered today.

We may not have jobs, but we are supporting the local wine industry, which is just as important. Isn’t it? I could be knocking on their door for a job one day.

Well, only 8 weeks until Santa comes down the chimney. How did this happen? Winter came and went, seemingly in a flash. Six months ago, as autumn was turning the leaves in the trees to a burnt golden colour, we thought our rented furnished apartment in East Perth would be home for the winter, and then we would be off on our overseas travels. Six months later, and the only travelling we are doing is across Perth, to a new suburb. We have moved home, had our stuff trucked across the country, from Sydney, and yet the borders still show no sign of reopening.

Reframing – Taking a new perspective

This is where reframing comes in. A psychological term to reimagine your present state. We are not locked in to Western Australia. We have been given a great opportunity to explore the best of what WA has to offer. That is reframing. And with practice I am getting better at it.

Spring has sprung here in Perth and as I say, we are now on the downward slope to Xmas. We are rather excited at the fact that we now have our Xmas summer holiday locked in. A campervan trip north from Perth, all the way up to Exmouth, some 1,252kms away. Yes, it is quite some drive. We will be doing it over 2 weeks, making lots of stops en route, so any recommendations you have would be greatly received. We have even “splashed out” on a slightly bigger campervan than we usually get. It will almost be luxurious, but for the 40 degree temperatures. 

The Staycation tradition continues

Ahead of this we are continuing our tradition of staycations, with a weekend at the Ritz-Carlton down at the beautiful Elizabeth Quay in the city. A sunny day saw us following up a good bike ride by laying out by the pool with a cold drink and our books. November promises to be a big month, with another staycation, this time in the port city of Fremantle, followed the week after by (another) visit to Margaret River, to celebrate Victoria’s birthday. You can never have too much wine. Right?

We have also booked a holiday to Broome, in the far north of the state, for early next year, but that will be for a different blog. So, as you can see, we are sustaining our love of travel with micro vacations. Whilst our internal border remains firmly closed, meaning we are still unable to even visit other parts of Australia, we are fortunate in that Western Australia is the size of Europe. There are lots of pristine beaches, bush land, breweries, and vineyards to explore. And we are doing our best to get around as many as we can. 

There are rumours, here in the state, that the internal border could be lifted in April 2021, post the election. A political move? Stop being so cynical. The hard border closure has been a highly effective strategy in dealing with COVID. As of writing, there have been no locally acquired cases of COVID in Western Australia since April. There have been just over 700 cases in total. 

The internal border is one part of the jigsaw. Currently, the Australian international border still remains closed. You can only leave with express permission from the government, if you meet some very strict criteria.

The temporary adventure continues

This means that our 6 month Perth adventure will continue for (at least) another 6 months. Our new lease runs through until April 2021, and we will have to assess the state of the world at this point. Until such time, we will enjoy summer in our new home. I now live in a house for the first time in almost 15 years. We have a great back garden, and have already unpacked the BBQ and spent a wine filled, sun soaked Sunday afternoon settling in. I can see this becoming a regular occurrence.

Getting back on the treadmill

And with the regularity of double cheeseburgers and bottles of Margaret River’s SSB (Semillon Sauvignon Blanc) comes the need for increased balance from a health perspective. And with this we have rejoined a gym for the first time in 6 months. When we arrived in Perth we massively increased our step count. However, the need to work, and be sat in front of laptops for large parts of each day seriously impedes our progress. 

This is where the gym comes in. We will revert to our long held routine of going to the gym a number of times a week, walking more at the weekends. At least that is the plan. The challenge I already see is that our new suburb, Mt Hawthorn is reminiscent of Mosman, our old home in Sydney. Great cafés and restaurants. Lovely little spots for a cheeky glass of wine, or two. I will keep you posted on how we get on. We have baselined our Perth weight, on the scales in the gym, so I will be able to track our success, or lack of it.

On the personal front, I have started my training to be a professional coach. Three days of intensive, virtual training, with a great bunch of leaders from across Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. Follow on activities include continued practice through coaching circles, and a written assignment, detailing our reflections of what we have learnt about ourselves, and what we have learnt about coaching. It is proving to be a very rewarding process and I am already offering pro bono coaching sessions to my colleagues at work. This is a journey of personal discovery that I feel I will be on for quite some time yet.

Paying for the lifestyle

Holidays, gym, and professional development, don’t pay for themselves. Unfortunately. On the work front, Victoria blazed the way for us, easily securing a job in our early weeks in Perth. She was able to bring the bacon home until I got a job, which was quite a few weeks after. With me now also bringing home some bacon, Vik was able to look for a job better suited to her level of experience and skills. And again, she hit this objective out of the park, moving organisations to a larger role, with more responsibility. The bacon has turned into gammon.

All this talk of bacon is making me hungry. I think I will cancel this morning’s planned trip to the gym, and head out for breakfast. 

Until the next time.

Transitions

Transitions are difficult. In whatever sphere of life. Adjusting from one way of being, one way of living, to something very different is hard. It is a process. As humans, we usually avoid change. Our brains see it as a threat to the status quo. Our amygdala kicks in. And we resist. Try to cling to the relative safety of the “known”.

If we don’t move out of the “known”, explore new things, we don’t grow. We stagnate. And I don’t like stagnating. With this in mind, I like to throw everything up in the air and see where it lands. Chart a new course every now and again. And this is what we chose to do when packing up our lives in Australia in June last year to explore the world.

Our travel journey

Many of you came along on the journey. Reading the blogs we shared of our trials and tribulations. The amazing ups and, relatively few, downs of long term travel. You will have seen our pictures, and maybe got a sense of what we saw, and maybe how we felt. It was truly a life changing trip. It changes how you see the world. How you come to realise that we are the same. Part of one big family. Granted, a family with almost 8 billion family members.

You come to realise how arbitrary the borders are. How much of what we take for “geography” is just a social construct. Some countries we have to get visas for. Others, we just jump on a train, leaving one country, and entering another. A bus takes us from France to Spain, with no discernible demarcation of the border between the two countries. In Switzerland we could look across the river in Basel, looking into the windows of apartments on the other side, in France. Look in the other direction and you could throw a stone into Germany. Nothing but a river separating three countries. 

Arriving back in Australia

Ten months later, we flew back to Australia. A country with very strict borders. A country that forbids you to even bring in an apple, woe betide it introduces a threat to the ecosystem. And with our return, we have to re-adjust to a life where we don’t move every few days. Where we have more options of what to wear other than what we have in our backpacks. Deal with the reverse culture shock.

“How much!?”, became a common refrain as we converted the price of a pizza from Australian into Indonesian rupiah. 

The biggest shock was the price of accommodation. In a rental market that is crazy beyond crazy, we had to start out bouncing between AirBnBs. And the cost was killing us. With no money coming in, and lots going out, we needed to find a rental. Fast. This was no easy feat. For each of the four viewings we had in the first week, there were an average of 20 people showing up to view. With a viewing window of only 15 minutes, for everyone, we were like rats running around a maze. Bumping into each other as we all raced to get a good look around, and take a few photos.

Finding a home in Perth

One viewing number five, or was it six, we managed to turn up early and got to view an apartment in relative quiet. It also allowed us to use our well refined stakeholder management skills, chatting to both the owner and her partner. Showing an interest in them and not just the apartment. Asking a few questions and showing our genuine interest. This apartment was above our budget, but with our options dwindling, and with this being a great apartment, we wanted it.

A phone call whilst we were at yet another viewing brought very good news. We had secured the rental. However, as neither of us were working, our offer of paying the full six months rent up front was accepted. A large chunk of our savings gone, temporarily, but we had a home for the immediate future. A huge milestone in our “settling back into normal life” plan.

Whilst we were looking for a rental, we decided to review our priorities for settling back into Western Australia. And what came out on top was a visit to Margaret River. The wine region that we hold close to our heart, more so we got married there in 2021. We spent a great few days, hunting down new wineries, and checking out a few recent additions to the brewery scene, before heading back to Perth.

In Perth, we are now in a modern two bedroom apartment in a great suburb called Leederville. A suburb full of cafes, bars, and restaurants. And on the bus, only 15 minutes into the city. When we left Perth last year we were living just up the road in Mt Hawthorn. So we know the area very well and love it. If only we weren’t doing “dry May”. It is a killer walking past everyone enjoying a glass of full bodied red wine, or a hazy pale ale. Roll on June!

Transitioning back to work

Our life plan hit top gear when shortly afterwards, Victoria secured a full time job. Again, at the first time of asking. She has a perfect record of applying for a job, and getting it. Other people must also see how special she is. For me, I had already been back working, albeit part time. A friend runs a consultancy in Perth and I had been partnering to deliver training to some of the companies in Perth. This work is now expanding, and I will be complementing the training with some dedicated coaching and consulting for one of the clients.

My new life involves me trying to work Monday through Thursday. I am keeping Friday free to build up my private coaching practice. To that end, I had a call with a previous client in Sydney and we are having discussions in further developing our working relationship. I hope this could be the start of a new chapter and a new approach to work and life.

As I shift more in to coaching and mentoring I continue to see the benefits that are brought to others. Having a coach, holding the space for you whilst you think through a challenge. Be it professional, or personal, having a thinking partner provides immense benefits. I would love to share more, and even have a coaching conversation if anybody out there thinks they would get value from this.

Is the travel itch scratched?

If you are wondering whether travel features in our new life chapter. Yes. And I would be off again today if I had the money. In fact, if I had the money i would be on the road more than I would be at a “home base”. The experience of travel, the “grabbing life by the balls”, the making the most of every minute becomes ever more important. You never know what life is going to throw at you. When you least expect it. As a family, we have all experienced this over the last year.

Seize the day

If you have a bucket list, what is stopping you from doing the things on that list? Tomorrow might never come. Take steps today to get you closer to the things in life that you dream of. We have a short time here, and we never know when the bell is going to ring for us, telling us to come back in, our time is up. Tell those around you that you love them. Tell them every day. You don’t know when your opportunities to do this will end.

With this, I love you. I love you for reading this blog. I love you for sharing our amazing journey over the last year. And I hope you will continue to follow on as we transition back into life in Australia. 

Memento mori.

Hello again folks. How are we all doing? Managing to get through all those toilet rolls you panic bought? Yes, you know who you are. You are the reason people had to wipe their bum with old copies of the Daily Mail. And who has cupboards full of flour rather than bread bins full of fresh sourdough? 

So, we made it to May. I’ve been reading that people have felt time is going slow. I can’t believe we have been in Perth for over 6 weeks already. It really is a mystery where the days go. Although the long days are giving me a chance to read the books that have long sat on my “to read” pile. One such book that I had been meaning to read for years was Nelson Mandela’s “Long Walk to Freedom”. 

I finally finished this amazing book and was immediately struck by how easy we have things. Even in the age of the coronavirus. Yes, we miss family. We may even miss friends. Well, some of them. But essentially we are being asked to stay in our comfortable homes. With all our home comforts surrounding us. Want a fish finger sandwich? Go and make one. Fancy watching just one more episode of “After Life”? Oh, go on then. A beer? Well, it is 5 o’clock somewhere. 

Mandela was incarcerated for 27 years. 18 of which he spent in harsh conditions, on Robben Island. Whilst locked up, he lost his mother, and not long after, his son to a car accident. He wasn’t able to go to either funeral. Regardless of how you view the politics of Africa, or Mandela’s role prior to his arrest, what he and his comrades were put through was nothing short of shocking. I have written about visiting Robben Island, last year. I’ve seen the cell he was in. I’ve visited the quarry where he was made to crack rocks all day long. 

And this puts a lot of things into perspective. For me at least. As long as my family, friends and those closest to me remain healthy and well, then how hard can things be? Our situation will improve. We will be reunited with our loved ones. And one day, in the not too distant future, the pubs will reopen. Just this weekend, the Premier of Western Australia has announced that cafes and restaurants can reopen. Starting with a limit of 20 diners inside at a time. And regional travel restrictions have been lifted, meaning we are able to visit more of this beautiful state, should we want to. I can hear Margaret River calling. 

But before we think too much about holidays, we need to get work. And here I have some positive news. In a job market that is flatter than one of my sister’s Yorkshire Puddings, one of us has found themselves a job. Guess who now has the role of house husband? This domestic god better learn how the washing machine works. And I am told dinner will be expected on the table at the end of each work day. 

Outside of domestic duties, I am filling my time with learning stuff. At the moment I am learning more about wine. And not just drinking it. I am part way through the WSET Level 1 Award in Wine course. The first step to a diploma in wine, should I wish to continue studying. The level 1 course is just 4 weeks long, but I am enjoying the experience. Learning more about the actual production of wine, the differences in the wines regions around the globe, and how to properly taste wine. The practical aspect is great fun.

Whilst Vik hasn’t yet got a start date for work, we are taking the opportunity to explore the local area. We had a great day out last week to a little historic town called Guildford. A short train ride from the Perth CBD, Guildford is a heritage town, referred to as the gateway to the Swan Valley wine region. It is home to the second oldest pub in Australia, the Rose and Crown, and other quaint buildings from a bygone era, such as the Mechanics Institute, and the old town gaol. Being so close to both the city, and the vineyards, we have even started looking for houses that would suit us.

Longer term, I don’t really expect that Australia will open up the international borders until at least 2021. This keeps our longer term plan of travelling the world on the back burner. Which therefore keeps my dream of publishing my very first travel article bubbling away in the background. With travel collapsing, with it went the travel writing market. Hopefully it will bounce back once we are all able to visit places both local, and overseas again.

In the meantime, I’m off to see if I can buy some flour. If the boss wants sourdough with her dinner after work, I am going to have to get my pinny on, and learn how to make it.

Adios amigos!

Recently, we reached a milestone in our lives in Perth. Somehow, we passed the 100 day mark. Not that we were counting. Not really. But the 100 days in Perth have slowly crept up on us, tapped us on the shoulder, and whizzed right by. 100 days that have perfectly aligned with the global timeline we have all been working on with coronavirus.

We boarded a packed Qantas flight and departed Sydney on the afternoon of 23rd March not knowing what the immediate future had in store for us. And not just because of coronavirus. After 8 years in Sydney we were stretching our wings. Off to explore the world, and have some new adventures. At least that had been the plan. I should have known better. 

At work I am always extolling the benefits of planning, but stressing the need to remain flexible. The oft quoted Dwight Eisenhower is resurrected. 

Or as the rather more eloquent Mike Tyson put it, “everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth.” So I coach people to expect the punch in the mouth. Or in professional terms, to “inspect and adapt”.

And this is what we did. The fabled spreadsheet didn’t quite get consigned to the garbage, but it did get mothballed. For now. Full disclosure? I have a new version already prepared, and cleverly renamed “Travels 2021.” Because as the stoics taught us, this too shall pass.

So we find ourselves entering the second half of 2020. A new financial year, the adverts in my social media feeds keep telling me. We may have only been in Perth for just over 4 months, but pausing to reflect, over my ice cold pint of Guinness, which is bloody good by the way, I remember that we have a lot to be grateful for. And gratitude is one of the practices that will get us through this. A practice of daily gratitude has been shown to improve our mental health. And mental health is something that has been climbing up my personal agenda of late. 

Uprooting a life of 8 years in Sydney was a deliberate choice. A choice that I own. 100%. But even our choices can bring consequences. Intended, and unintended. Expected, and unexpected. Personally, I have found it harder than I thought. And I am not sure whether this is as a result of mentally knowing that we are not where we planned to be. That we left Sydney with only a backpack because only a day before we thought we were travelling to Asia.

Whatever the reason, I have felt adrift. A feeling that is slowly dissipating. I was struggling to find my connection back to life. Drifting in a land that I didn’t recognise. I felt liminal. On the threshold of something. I am managing this. Meditating, when I remember. Leaning on Buddhist teachings. Knowing that our thoughts are not reality. And thoughts, if left to run amok, can drive you mad.

Which brings me back to mental health, a topic that interests me more and more. And for this reason I have recently undergone training, and become an accredited Mental Health First Aider. I want to help. Wherever I can.

Besides keeping myself busy with learning, we both have a lot to be proud of. We arrived in a new city, with no jobs, and nowhere to live. An apartment was the easy piece of the puzzle, with the jobs being much harder. But I am proud of how we have both thrown ourselves into it and are both now working. And due to coronavirus we are both working from home. Which has its own challenges. I forgot to put myself on mute one day this week, and the call I was on suddenly went silent. 

“Who was that?”

“Did someone say something?”

“…”

“It was a Scottish lady speaking. How weird.”

The “Scottish lady” was Victoria, in the other corner of the lounge, chatting on another call. 

Apartment. Jobs. Trips to beautiful places such as Margaret River and the Swan Valley. Continuing my personal growth. I know we have plenty to be grateful for.

I read something from a friend the other day, that I think is advice that everyone should be following right now. In the days of homeschooling. Working from home and interrupting each other’s calls. In the midst of all the stress, we should all “just do what we can”.

It’s worth repeating, as we head into the second half of 2020. Just do what you can.