Wednesday 29 June 2016

(We've Got Too) Move It, Move It !

Today, Wednesday, 29/06/16, South Yunderup House, Settlement Day !

Goodbye SY House thanks for the wonderful ride, team wiljen, 2005 to 2016.

Steve, Bill & Will, enjoy the last sunset.

Our last night ever, Stacey enjoys the view one last time.

Firstly, let me take you back a few days-
Monday 27th of June: "Hey Jen, are you ready for this" ?
The big move begins, in rolls the Mandurah City Removals (MCR) truck, Paul & Angelo (both look older then me) jump out & spend the next 8 hours loading and shifting our worldly "Stuff".

Come on Paul, lets get this show on the road.

Loading up.

Let's load up the big hallway at South Yunderup, one last time.

Our big hallway comes in handy once again, we were often told it was to big...what would the doomsayers know about bike expeditions & furniture removal !

Due to a miscommunication problem we were under (& still are) the impression that the quote for $1050 was for packing & moving our "Stuff". So not overly impressed with the MCR Management. Next time we deal with a Furniture Removalist we'll request a clearer quote and ask more questions.

Apart from having to spend the weekend packing all our own "Stuff" the rest of the shift went reasonably smoothly, only one broken pot plant.

First drop off was the Shed at the Mandurah Reno House, where we dumped "Super Duper Important Stuff" that maybe used or sold in 6 months time. Then over to our new home for the next 6 months, 2kms away in Coodanup (outskirts of Mandurah, WA).

First furniture drop off at Reno House.

Then it was a case of spending our first night sleeping in our new place, that had been hurriedly cleaned. It smells faintly of pet dogs & cigarettes.... Oh Dear, Jen & I have quite high expectations ! Help get us ready for India I guess !

Dixybus has a new home. Typical rental home back yard, nice looking lemon tree.

Jenny relaxing at our former Mandurah rental property. Now our Home, it feels small compared to the last place, good preparation for our future housing expectations.

Tuesday: what can I say, I spend 10 hours cleaning & packing the SY house. Jenny had a Doctors appointment up in Subiaco, Perth, so could only help for 6 hours with her sore right knee. Come the end of the day we jammed everything leftover into our Landcruiser, piled the Trailer sky high, even had to chuck Jen's bike "Black Betty" (BB) onto the Landcruiser's roof rack.

It rained heaps on house cleaning day... bummer.

"The Grand Room" empty now.

Paul from Mandurah ABC Carpet & Window Cleaning was invaluable, we use to use him at the Roadhouse as well. Top Bloke.

Our bedroom carpet after the clean, came up a treat. Oh nice mood lighting:-)

How many times have I mopped this humongous floor in the past ??? Last time !

Job Done......! Goodbye to our old trusty family canal home !

We smashed out this job, time to put on my bike riding gear & blow this place.

Just after 5pm I jumped onto my Yamaha Super Tenere 1200, while Jenny piloted the Landcruiser/Trailer combo and we both raced a big thunderstorm the 20kms to the "ex Investment Rental house".
I just beat the storm home on my big motorbike, but as Jen pulled up in the Toyota Cruiser, the heavens opened up. Jenny quickly found a tarp to chuck over our "valuable stuff" in the trailer. While I quickly got BB bicycle off the roof rack.

"No photos, absolutely shattered, went to the Silver Sands Tavern for dinner "

Today: What can I say, feeling minimal emotions, we head out to South Yunderup on a road we have driven many thousands of times. Wow this is the final trip out there. Anna & Stewart, rock up half an hour late, we spend 45 minutes doing the settlement/handover, me the paparazzi King can't even feel the motivation to do a final photo, here's the keys guys, see you later !

Ariel Photo of where we use to live. Gave the pic to the new owners.

Ok, Will & Jenny will miss this view. But we only have one life so onwards !

So that's how you do it folks, to sell a house, fix it up, advertise it on the Internet, sell it, get your cash & do it again....sounds simple hey ! I'll tell you all right now it's NOT !!!

Stopped by the Reno House today (Wednesday 29th June) north fence has been removed....great !

This next part wasn't in the initial plan for 2016 but since our tenants deserted us we have decided to now tidy up our investment rental & sell that as well. Obviously Jenny & I will try to time it with our future "Home Base" being completed first, so we aren't left homeless......yeah righto, that's not how Straya Animals, team wiljen operate.....catch ya all soon :-)

That's right, Dixybus the VeeDub Kombi is finished & copped a new "Road Warrior" scar.



Tuesday 21 June 2016

The Struggle for Change.

21/06/16 Tuesday, Blog Update, Final Week at SY.
By Will.

Last Canal Boat Ride to the Boat Ramp.

When did this transformation begin ? Was it when we had children ? What about when I was made redundant by Rio Tinto ? Was it when the kids flew the coop ? How about, when we sold the Roadhouse business ? Or after our first 4.5 month unsupported Cycle Touring across Europe, last year ?

It's difficult to identify a defining moment, possibly, Jenny & I have always been this way !

After spending about 8 months living on our bicycles last year, it really hit us once we arrived home last December, just how wrapped up in the conformity of society we had become ! 

Buy a BIG house, fill it up with stuff, "consume". Take out another mortgage, struggle to make the repayments ! Work 12 hour days, 7 day weeks, buy more stuff to make yourself "happy". Exchange your youth & living life for money & stuff that you don't really need. 
Let Big Business, Government & Banks, lock you into "Golden Handcuffs".....What a con job !!! (That's our opinion these days).

Don't get me wrong, we have both had some fantastic experiences & met the most amazing people during our working lives. 
I just hope that people can consider some of the consequences of what they do, whether it's buy, borrow or interact with the environment. Most new things that we all embark on are fabulous in the beginning. Just make sure you consider the real overall cost & have a future exit plan.

First time I've put the boat on the trailer in about 2 years.

Noel & Mike, hand over a bank cheque & take the old boat away.

I know it's a cliché, but everyone is different and the "Consumerism Lifestyle" is no longer working for us. We still have a long way to go, but the first tentative steps have been taken, surely it will become easier as time goes on ?

I take more "Stuff" over to the shed at the Reno House. It seems every trip into Mandurah I'm towing a trailer load of crap.

So Jenny & I are into our final week of selling, packing & shifting from our large family home on the canals of 11 years. Over the past week we have sold the heavy glass/steel TV cabinet, our 8 seater dinning table, "My Boat" (ouch that one hurt), the Boat Dock. All our ex-stuff has gone to new homes. We also did the Final House Inspection, with the new home owners, Stewart & Anna, they are extremely excited to be moving out here.

Damian & Jason drove down from north of Perth to pick up our Dining Table. 

I wonder how it will look after 1.5 hours riding in the back of this trailer. Goodbye Table.

In between trying to shift, we've had to deal with Jenny recovering from her knee operation, complete the VW Kombi refurbishment, our tenants vacating our Investment Rental House & finally the Builders beginning the renovation of our future small "Lock up & Leave" Home Base in Central Mandurah.

Jenny & I hash out some future easy care Garden ideas at the Mandurah Reno House.

The Builders now have the permit, construction commences tomorrow 22/6/16.

Whoah it's enough to make you breathless, certainly enough stress to make me enjoy a couple of extra beers at the end of the day !!!

The whole downsizing process is starting to feel a lot more difficult then we both first anticipated, though I'm sure it's easier now then in the future when we are in our 50's or 60's & your whole life has just past you by !

"Deal With Reality, Before Reality Deals With YOU " !

We have made good progress so far, but there is still a way to go. It took us at least 25 years to dig this deep hole, so it stands to reason that filling it in will take some time. The next "Big Ticket" item on the "wiljen hit list" is the sale of the investment house (after we have finished living there for the next 4 to 6 months ?). 

Also we are taking back control of our Superannuation (some other countries call it pension plan, USA know it as 401K) and creating a Self Managed Super Fund, this is a big time consuming task but we are about halfway through the process.

2016 is really turning into a year of massive hard earned change for Will & Jenny. We are missing the open road, India is now on the horizon & we are both looking forward to that tour on motorbikes.

Our International Drivers Licences arrive, just the Indian Visa to sort out now.

Come this time next week we'll be sleeping in another house ! Below are a few more photos of our past weeks antics. Definitely won't have another chance to Blog until after the house move, until then take care everyone !


My good mate Andre needs my legal tyre/wheel combo to pass his Motor Engineering Certificate.

Andre has managed to "Shoe Horn" a Toyota 4.5L V8 into his 105 Series Landcruiser, which use to be exactly the same as our Cruiser. This is one of the "Holy Grails" of engine swaps, apparently the wiring is diabolical !

Lots of 4WD's (ours now is sporting illegal bigger tyres on loan) where are we ?

A secret location close to Jarrahdale WA. It's been a long time, well about 8 years, but we catch up with a few of my cousins. Great day out, nice to meet their spouses & children, my second cousins..? Left to Right, Dennis, Corina, Kylie, Will, Steve (my youngest brother) & Sarah.

The new owners, came and did a pre-sale house inspection. They wanted to make sure the Spa worked. Once they left, Jenny decided to top it up with hot water & enjoy one final spa bath. We never used it very much anyway.

I look out the window this morning & some Bloke is stealing my boat dock.

He paddles it down a few houses to Sid & Sheraines place, they bought it off us about a week ago. Now it's being installed to accept "Squid" their boat.

Looks like the neighbours have their "new" dock all sorted, good luck to them. I did them a very fair deal !

My last job for the day was to remove 3 fibro fence panels so the small excavator can access our yard, via our future neighbours property tomorrow. Then they will remove a couple of palms, dig a trench from the house to the shed & commence work on the sand pads for the new extensions. It took me about 2 and a half hours & OMG so many roots to chop through.








Wednesday 15 June 2016

New Life Chapter About to Begin !

15/06/16, by Will.

2 Weeks Before the SY House Sale Settlement.

As you all know the Kombi is as good as done, for awhile there I thought Jen & I may have to live in the old bus over the next few months.

Hi Everyone, let the move begin. See you after the shift !

In a couple of weeks we have to move from the home we built, raised the kids in & spent the past 11 years enjoying. It's been fun, but now it's time to farewell the Dolphins, Pelicans, Shags, Gulls, Easy Boating, Great Neighbours & Driving Everywhere (won't miss all the driving!).

Jackie & Jenny enjoy the view.

Goodbye Dolphins & Pelicans !!! See you in Mandurah.

Meet the proud new owners of our SY house, Stewart & Anna, enjoy guys...

I'm a little nostalgic, it's the longest both Jenny & I have ever lived in one place, as children or adults ! You need to continually remind yourself that it's all just "stuff".
Houses are just another consumable item in our busy lives that hold you back from doing other adventurous things.

I fix the leaking SY house toilet in preparation for the hand over.

Time to start shifting the gear out of the Workshop & Garage.

The second load ready to move.

We have the family over for one last dinner at "Home".

But it's really cold outside.

Last family dinner in this house at this table.

Our good friends Muz and Jo also come over for one last session in South Yunderup.

Muz rolls a ciggy. Is it the good stuff ?

The last two cycling tours have demonstrated that you really don't need much. The time has come to simplify & selling our large family home is a big part of the process. We have also been busy selling or giving away other household items, like TV Cabinets, Tables & anything else that isn't used.

Hayden decides to take The Beast for a ride, he picks up the technique straight away. "I want one" says the Hayds !

Not much luck selling the boat yet, some interest out there, but the potential buyers all want it for way under it's value, like $10000. I'll probably wait until summer & try again.

So if we aren't having to live in the VW Kombi parked in the new Shed out the back of the Mandurah Reno House where are we going.

Rear add on room at the Mandurah Reno House is demolished by Rohan & Pete. Where will the mice live now ?

All cleared away & ready for the new additions. Still waiting for the Building Permit from Mandurah City Council. This week apparently !

I thought this may be our view out of the Kombi for a few months.

Well at least we have some free storage space now during the house juggle.

As lady luck would have it, 10 years ago Jen & I bought a small 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom spec home, investment property located in one of the outer Mandurah suburbs. It has been rented out to various people during that time. 

About 2 and half years ago Fiona, Darren & family moved out & we gave the place a full freshen up. Paint, Carpets, Kitchen, Lighting, nothing structural or to major. 
The current tenants, Heather & Gary are in their fifties & have been living there for the past 2.5 years. The  house is a credit to them & presents pretty much in the condition it was after the total revamp. Thanks guys. (Found a few pics on my phone from the time of the 2014 Reno).

May 2014, Hayden rips up the floor at the Mandurah Investment House.

Kitchen with no flooring.

New Kitchen & Flooring at Investment House. Didn't realise we'd end up living here. Welcome to the weird life of team wiljen !

Heather & Gary advised us about 2 weeks ago that they will be moving out at the end of June. For once this is perfect, we have somewhere to live that we own for the next 4 to 6 months until the Mandurah Reno House is completed. Ha ha, no rent for us !

We will then try and sell the investment house as well, failing that I guess it will be back on the rental market.

So it's been a busy time for team wiljen, the knee surgery Jenny had, has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works & she has more surgery happening it early July. Jen is busy dealing with all her health issues now, so we can continue to enjoy future life to the fullest. 

Jenny's sore knee a few days after the Op, it looks worse then it is. Hurry up and recover Jen we have heaps of traveling to do. 

This and the house juggling are the main reasons we haven't been able to escape the winter in Mandurah. Jen should be good to travel by mid August, so we'll go for a camper tour in the Kombi up north along the Western Australian coast, where it's nice and warm. Then our 2 month Indian Motorbike Tour starting in mid October. I'm not bored yet !!! 

Hot off the press: We have sold our boat !!! I should be excited but I think I'll miss old "MV Noname" the Stacer Sea Master, 10 years of good memories & history there. Anyway, try to keep positive the money we get for Noname will keep us on the road traveling for at least 3 months, see ya, you old fat dingy...! Noel & Mike will tow Noname away on Friday. This changing your lifestyle is harder then I thought !

The sunsets one last time on Good Old "Noname", thanks for the good times !