Flying the coop

It's been a long time coming. Almost two years since I retired from work I have at last been able to cut the ties with my home in Australia to be able to travel as and when I want. I realised last year that not only were house sitters not a great option, but I actually needed to start making a little money from renting my house out.

House sitters come in all categories, from awesome to terrible. Luckily I've never had terrible house sitters, but it's very hard to leave your house and possessions in the care of strangers without expectations that they will look after everything to your liking. I realised that I needed to dispense with that expectation by downsizing and renting my place so I could dispense with the worry. Hence the renovation of the garage and ridding myself of all excess possessions.

I am gobsmacked at how much stuff that I have managed to stuff into a 42m2 space, plus the cellar, but that doesn't detract from the amount of crap I managed to offload as well. In between a garage sale, online sale sites, a pile out on the verge with a big free sign on it, and one trailer full to the tip, I did a pretty good job. There's still a good deal of gardening paraphernalia that I've tidied away for use by the tenant if they wish, and I didn't manage to sell my large dining table, but otherwise the place is all set for its new tenants.

As luck would have it, a friend of mine got interviewed for a job in Geraldton, which she landed, and needs to relocate. In order for her to rent my place I needed to make the yard safe for her two golden retrievers so they can't wander whilst she is at work. So I simply fenced the backyard, a job I'd been meaning to do for some time anyway. It was a surprisingly easy job, especially as digging holes in a sand dune isn't too onerous. And I had most of the fencing paraphernalia already from old projects.

I got a neighbour to create a fence and gate from materials lying around. The pallet came with my new kitchen, and the gate used to cover the cellar. I only had to purchase one post and some quickset concrete.

I even found time to build a shelter for the firewood, a cover over the pump (which I took in for a full service) and to finish a little stone work on the rockwall behind the watertank. And paint the front verandah wall! Yeah, I've been busy!!

I also did a bit of maintenance on the camper trailer. Derusting, bogging up and repainting. Both the car and trailer have gone into long term storage in a shed in Geraldton, and the chooks have gone to live on a rural property in the Chook Hilton. Thanks Kate.

I took the bus to Perth, a cab to the airport, and next is a plane to Christchurch.

And so the next adventure begins….