Bill Grainger 0411 877 499 (or +61 411 877 499 from overseas) bill_grainger@acslink.net.au
90 Barrenjoey Road
Mona Vale NSW 2103
Australia
19 December 2011
Greetings family and friends,
2011 was a mostly a quiet year for us, (until the last quarter, that is, but we will get to that later.)
We didn’t do a lot of travelling in 2011, only short trips to the Nelson Bay area (about 2 hours north of Sydney) in April to check out the real estate there. Also to visit a friend of mine who purchased a motel at Hawks Nest, just north of Nelson Bay. Very pretty area, nice beaches, and much less expensive than Sydney, but apparently there is a shark nursery in the area and a number of Great Whites were tracked there so it loses some of its appeal.
We preceded our stay in Nelson Bay with a few days camping at near Gloucester on the Barrington River. This was a kayaking trip that the Mona Vale Surf Life Saving Club used to do annually, but had fallen by the wayside. David Murray resurrected it last April, and a beaut weekend was had by all.
We also caught up with cousins Janet and Jimmy Gutowski who have been spending more time in Australia since daughter Darlene gave birth to their first grandchild in June.
Bobbie kept up with her work at Bunnings, a large hardware chain in Australia. She was also involved in a project that acquired a government grant to rebuild an old boatshed as a workshop for the jewellery group, Silver Plus, that she has been a member of for many years. The project floundered due to an incredible change of mind by the local council who first supported the project, then decided to tear down and not rebuild the boatshed. Luckily, about early November it appeared that there was another building that might be a possible site for a workshop for the group, so the work may not be in vain.
Bobbie took part in the inaugural “Pittwater Artists Trail”, two week-ends a year when artists open their studios to the public and sell work. She figured she broke even selling jewellery on the event, but it was a lot of work.
Bobbie also “retired” after nine years as volunteer secretary for Mona Vale SLSC. She and another long term member and sometime secretary Skye Rose were made the first female life members of Mona Vale SLSC, quite a surprise and certainly an honour.
Bill continued with his sailing, and his Zone Commander role with Marine Watch (like Neighbourhood Watch but for boats). Don’t you just love the title “Zone Commander”? Sounds like something out of Star Wars. He was also busy with working bees at the Pittwater Aquatic Club, a sailing club he had been on the waiting list for many years and finally got membership. He also served on the Pittwater Users Group, a government panel of volunteers commenting on plans and development by the State Maritime Services for the Pittwater (a large bay near Newport). Regular golf on Wednesdays and bush regeneration at Mona Vale dunes one day a month also kept him busy. Both Bill and Bobbie sailed on friend Chris’s boat “Farr Trek” in the Monday evening twilight sailing races in the summer.
Bill worked at the Bunnings stocktakes again this year (guess who got him that job?) and also worked as an Area Supervisor on the Australian Census managing nine Collectors from June until September. I think it was more work than he realized, but the money was much appreciated, and he saw it from a different angle than five years ago when he worked as a Collector.
In September this year, however, everything changed. Despite the world financial situation and dour predictions of pundits and real estate experts, we decided to put our house on the market. This involved a huge amount of clearing out, garage sales, trips to the tip, painting, fixing up, and generally putting the best face on our property. We also employed a consultant to help “stage” the house. Although we did not follow all of her precepts, some of which were downright weird, she asked if she could use our house for some of her “before and after “photos, a thought I found a bit bizarre.
For example, she told us to get rid of all the drapes and curtains to make the house look bigger and lighter. Quote:
Consultant: You should only have curtains if they drape down and puddle on the floor looking “rich”.
Bobbie: That sounds slovenly to me, like someone was too lazy to turn up the drapes, which would quickly get very dirty.
Consultant: I don’t think you would like my house very much.
Bobbie: Not if it has drapes “puddling” all over the floor I wouldn’t!
Despite this, our house sold in three weeks. I was very glad of it, as I couldn’t have stood keeping the place so tidy and “unlived in” looking for months. Bill then said he wanted a short closing so we had four weeks to get out.
Since that time Bobbie has “retired” from Bunnings, we have moved out, put our furniture in storage, upgraded our truck with cruise control, new front springs and shocks, built in storage drawers, improved the lighting and wiring in the slide on camper, and hit the road for the next year or so. We are now officially homeless, and will be travelling around Australia for the near future. We decided that if we find the perfect spot we might settle down, otherwise we may end up back in Sydney. Who knows?
This letter just had a short break while two arborists employed by National Parks came to trim a large tree overhanging our camper. It was quite exciting as they did a good job, but missed our camper by only about a foot with one of the branches. Bobbie decided discretion was the better part of valour and vacated the camper while they worked overhead.
We are looking forward to more adventures, including Tasmania in February, and Kangaroo Island after that. Hope you have a great Christmas and many adventures in 2012. We will keep you posted on our travels.
Bobbie and Bill
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