We had another open inspection today, and STILL no offers on our house. :( So, we aren't having any more opens for a while, just inspect by appointment only; and now we will concentrate on getting ready for our Volendam New Zealand cruise, which is not far away. It felt like it would never come, as we booked this cruise nearly 2 years ago.
I think once all this financial turmoil settles down a bit, our house will sell. The thing that is most worrying is if we fall into a recession we are likely to be stuck here for a few more years, and our dream of travelling around Australia might not eventuate. We are not alone of course; many more aspiring Grey Nomads are in the same situation. Not to mention all the people who might lose their jobs if things get worse.
I suppose one good thing could come of a recession; people will learn to be more frugal, and maybe help each other more.
Well, that's my little rant for today. Have a safe day, and good health to you all.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Global meltdown.........???
Well, we have been watching the financials for a while now, as it affects not only our retirement funds, but also our future plans. Today the RBA (Reserve Bank of Aus) reduced the interest rate by a whole percentage point, and there is BIG pressure on the big four banks to follow suit. Hopefully this will create more confidence in the housing market, and our (prospective) purchaser (wherever they are) will sign on our house, and then we can realise our dream.
This global meltdown affects ALL areas, including families with mortgages, businesses, Baby Boomers preparing to retire, self funded retirees already retired...................................
Who now has the $130K of our superannuation that has vanished??? And the funds of all other super holders??? Someone out there is getting VERY RICH from our funds. Aussies have lost billions of retirement funds in this debacle, and it seems us Boomers need to put our plans on hold and work for a few more years. Bugger!
That is my rant for today.
Hopefully tomorrow, or very soon, I will be able to report that we have a sale on our house.
Fingers crossed. Prayers to my improvised St. Joseph statue. I know we have a lot of very nice people pulling for us. Thanks to you all; you know who you are. :-))
This global meltdown affects ALL areas, including families with mortgages, businesses, Baby Boomers preparing to retire, self funded retirees already retired...................................
Who now has the $130K of our superannuation that has vanished??? And the funds of all other super holders??? Someone out there is getting VERY RICH from our funds. Aussies have lost billions of retirement funds in this debacle, and it seems us Boomers need to put our plans on hold and work for a few more years. Bugger!
That is my rant for today.
Hopefully tomorrow, or very soon, I will be able to report that we have a sale on our house.
Fingers crossed. Prayers to my improvised St. Joseph statue. I know we have a lot of very nice people pulling for us. Thanks to you all; you know who you are. :-))
Thursday, October 2, 2008
I guess I should explain the cruise @ddict bit. :-))
Back in August 2002 a family member tragically passed away; we were all devastated. Rick and I felt we needed to get away, so we thought why not go on a cruise, as it was something we had always wanted to do, but time and money constraints hadn't allowed it. We thought why not, it will be the only one we ever take. (little did we know)
So, off I go to a local travel agent, who showed me the brochure for Pacific Sky. Yep, book us for New Year please. Travel agent phones back and says sorry, all booked out. A couple of days later she phoned again; a new ship to Australia, Pacific Princess, is arriving in November 02. Goody, please book us for the New Year sailing. So, our first cruise was approaching, and we were very much looking forward to it.
We had to get passports, as we had never travelled out of Australia before. However, as Rick was born in England and came here when he was only 2, he needed to get a British passport and a re-entry visa. (he has since become an Aussie citizen, and now has an Aussie passport)
The date for our cruise was fast approaching, 28th December 2002..............
While anxiously awaiting the day, I searched online for information on "our" ship. I came across cruise @ddicts, a community of people who love cruising. (obviously, LOL) A wonderful, supportive and caring group, of which I am a member.
Finally, departure day arrived, and we flew to Sydney to join the ship, which was waiting for us in her gleaming white glory at the dock by Circular Quay. We joined the throng of passengers in the check-in line; finally we got to the counter where my passport was scanned and approved. Rick was next, but for some unknown reason they had a problem with his passport. Scan, shake head, scan again, and again...............this went on for what seemed an hour, but was probably only a few minutes. I was getting very nervous, as I could see "our" ship just outside the window, and was worried we might not be able to board. Finally, Rick's passport was approved, whew! and we boarded our home away from home for the next 10 nights.
And what a wonderful time we had! The first 2 nights the ship rocked and rolled, and everyone was staggering trying to keep balance. Some people were seasick, unfortunately for them, but Rick and I were fine. We squeezed in every activity we could, and never had time to lay on a deck chair at all!
When we arrived home, we needed a holiday to recover from our holiday, we were worn out! LOL
Our ports of call were Noumea, New Caledonia; Isle of Pines, New Caledonia; Port Vila, Vanuatu; then back to Sydney.
Thinking this was a once in a lifetime trip, we were wrong. Cruising is addictive, and we became addicts. LOL Although we can't afford to cruise much, we have sailed twice more, and have a New Zealand/Aus cruise scheduled for November 08 aboard HAL Volendam. We booked this one 2 years out, so it has seemed the time would never arrive, but here we are, only 50 days to go.
Our second cruise was a 2 night quickie from our harbour to Melbourne, aboard Superstar Leo in January 2004 (or was it Feb? can't remember the exact date)
My daughter wanted to go on a cruise, so we booked Pacific Princess again for January 2007. My mum shared a cabin with my daughter Lisa, and Rick and I had the cabin next door. This was 9 nights, same itinerary as the first cruise. We all had a wonderful time, now mum is a cruise addict too! She is joining us on the next one, and is really looking forward to it. She has also booked a 4 night cruise from Adelaide next February.
A bit about Pacific Princess: Renaissance Cruises built 6 small ships to sail around Tahiti and South Pacific, but the company folded and the ships were sold off. Princess Cruises bought 2 of the ships and re-named them Pacific Princess and Tahitian Princess. In conjunction with P&O Australia, Pacific Princess sailed the summer season DownUnder for a few years. We were on her first season in 2002-03, and her last season in 2007.
She is a smaller ship than most of the mainstream ships regularly sailing UpOver, carrying about 680 passengers.
Photos from our first cruise are in my webshots link, and photos from our last cruise are in my third cruise link. Unfortunately I lost the Superstar Leo photos when my computer crashed. :(
Back in August 2002 a family member tragically passed away; we were all devastated. Rick and I felt we needed to get away, so we thought why not go on a cruise, as it was something we had always wanted to do, but time and money constraints hadn't allowed it. We thought why not, it will be the only one we ever take. (little did we know)
So, off I go to a local travel agent, who showed me the brochure for Pacific Sky. Yep, book us for New Year please. Travel agent phones back and says sorry, all booked out. A couple of days later she phoned again; a new ship to Australia, Pacific Princess, is arriving in November 02. Goody, please book us for the New Year sailing. So, our first cruise was approaching, and we were very much looking forward to it.
We had to get passports, as we had never travelled out of Australia before. However, as Rick was born in England and came here when he was only 2, he needed to get a British passport and a re-entry visa. (he has since become an Aussie citizen, and now has an Aussie passport)
The date for our cruise was fast approaching, 28th December 2002..............
While anxiously awaiting the day, I searched online for information on "our" ship. I came across cruise @ddicts, a community of people who love cruising. (obviously, LOL) A wonderful, supportive and caring group, of which I am a member.
Finally, departure day arrived, and we flew to Sydney to join the ship, which was waiting for us in her gleaming white glory at the dock by Circular Quay. We joined the throng of passengers in the check-in line; finally we got to the counter where my passport was scanned and approved. Rick was next, but for some unknown reason they had a problem with his passport. Scan, shake head, scan again, and again...............this went on for what seemed an hour, but was probably only a few minutes. I was getting very nervous, as I could see "our" ship just outside the window, and was worried we might not be able to board. Finally, Rick's passport was approved, whew! and we boarded our home away from home for the next 10 nights.
And what a wonderful time we had! The first 2 nights the ship rocked and rolled, and everyone was staggering trying to keep balance. Some people were seasick, unfortunately for them, but Rick and I were fine. We squeezed in every activity we could, and never had time to lay on a deck chair at all!
When we arrived home, we needed a holiday to recover from our holiday, we were worn out! LOL
Our ports of call were Noumea, New Caledonia; Isle of Pines, New Caledonia; Port Vila, Vanuatu; then back to Sydney.
Thinking this was a once in a lifetime trip, we were wrong. Cruising is addictive, and we became addicts. LOL Although we can't afford to cruise much, we have sailed twice more, and have a New Zealand/Aus cruise scheduled for November 08 aboard HAL Volendam. We booked this one 2 years out, so it has seemed the time would never arrive, but here we are, only 50 days to go.
Our second cruise was a 2 night quickie from our harbour to Melbourne, aboard Superstar Leo in January 2004 (or was it Feb? can't remember the exact date)
My daughter wanted to go on a cruise, so we booked Pacific Princess again for January 2007. My mum shared a cabin with my daughter Lisa, and Rick and I had the cabin next door. This was 9 nights, same itinerary as the first cruise. We all had a wonderful time, now mum is a cruise addict too! She is joining us on the next one, and is really looking forward to it. She has also booked a 4 night cruise from Adelaide next February.
A bit about Pacific Princess: Renaissance Cruises built 6 small ships to sail around Tahiti and South Pacific, but the company folded and the ships were sold off. Princess Cruises bought 2 of the ships and re-named them Pacific Princess and Tahitian Princess. In conjunction with P&O Australia, Pacific Princess sailed the summer season DownUnder for a few years. We were on her first season in 2002-03, and her last season in 2007.
She is a smaller ship than most of the mainstream ships regularly sailing UpOver, carrying about 680 passengers.
Photos from our first cruise are in my webshots link, and photos from our last cruise are in my third cruise link. Unfortunately I lost the Superstar Leo photos when my computer crashed. :(
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
With this blog, I hope to keep family and friends up to date with our future travels around Australia. Our house has been for sale for 5 weeks now, hopefully we will get a buyer soon. Then we will buy a motorhome and take off "around the block", no time constraints, just enjoy this beautiful country of ours.
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