Working with another Plan B

For those of you wondering why there has been no blog updates for the past week, another ‘Plan B’ came into play last week. We have had our properties in Whangamata on the market for about two years now. As a result of the tightening of financial markets in New Zealand, there has been very little movement in the ‘holiday home’ market some time.

However, as always happens, and when you least expect it, a few days before we arrived in Darwin we were advised that our front house had been sold and the rear property had a conditional deal over it. Based on that information we made a snap decision to fly home last Saturday, pack up the houses and put everything in to storage until be can get around to buying a new home. Our plan is to buy back in Whangamata and not be out of the market for too long.

It has been a frantic four days trying to pack in the rain and be ready for the removal truck yesterday. The job is now complete and we can look forward to returning to Darwin on Sunday and getting back to the journey.

Sunset at the Mindil Beach Market last Thursday night

Prior to coming back home we did get a couple of days to look around some of Darwin. Last Friday night we visited the Mindil Beach Sunset Market. Food is the main attraction − Thai, Sri Lankan, Indian, Chinese and Malaysian to Brazilian, Greek,Portuguese and more. Colourful arts and crafts vendors peddle their wares – handmade jewellery, buskers, bands, natural remedies, artistic creations and unique fashion statements. As the sun set into the Arafura Sea it seemed that most of Darwin descends on Mindil Beach – tables, chairs, rugs and eskies in tow.

On Saturday night just prior to catching our flight home we visited the DarwinTrailer Boat Club for dinner. The boat club is Darwin’s oldest seaside Club and commenced trading in 1954. The club’s westerly aspect is ideal for witnessing Darwin’s famed tropical sunsets and its absolute water frontage makes it an ideal dinner venue. We had a lovely meal before heading out to the airport.

We depart New Zealand at around 4pm this Sunday afternoon and arrive in back in Darwin at 1am on Monday morning. We then have a 30-minute drive to our motorhome which is parked up on a small farmlet at Humpty Doo, a small town in the Northern Territory, situated just south of the Arnhem Highway and 40km from Darwin itself.

Our sincere apologies for not being able to catch up with all our friends while we have been home. Unfortunately we have had very little time to socialise. We look forward to maybe catching up with everyone when we are home for Xmas.