Location, Location, Location??

Now that I have decided to move, the next question is where to????

How did I pick the location I'm going to move to? For a number of years, I toyed with idea of moving but had no idea of where that could possibly be. I have really enjoyed living in my current town but my house is old and even though in good condition will soon need maintenance, that as a 66-year-old woman I can no longer do. I thought about staying in the area but financially I just couldn't afford to get what I want for the price I want. So, I started looking further afield and I started asking myself some questions. 

1.     I really don't want to be any further than 2 hours from my daughter Rachel and her family. My son lives a full day’s drive from me so I'm always going to have to drive to him. The village I have chosen is 2 hours from her. ✅

2.     If I'm going to really challenge myself and move away, why not move closer to the water. Whether it be ocean, beach, river or lake? 

So off I went on a bit of a reconnaissance mission to various townships to see which ones sat comfortably with me. The township I decided on sat well with me straight away. While driving around, I took notice if people kept their gardens and houses neat and tidy. I think that says a lot about the type of person that lives in a village. I checked what facilities were available. How far was it to drive to major supermarkets, Doctors, hospitals? I felt really comfortable there and on each subsequent visit I felt more comfortable. Right from the beginning of this journey I have been consciously listening to my intuition and my intuition was telling me this is where my next home would be. OK, now that the location was decided do I buy and established home or do I really challenge myself and build a new home? 

This will be the pier I sit and fish from.

This will be the beach I paddle in. 

Goodbye January

Well here we are at the end of our first month of 2017 and hasn't it gone fast? How was your January, hopefully it's been all you could wish for. My January has been filled with family, love and FUN. Those who know me well know my life word is FUN and I try and it is included in each and every day. My January started off looking after my two granddaughters Clare (5) and Mikayla (3) while their Mum and Dad holidayed in Vietnam. With help from their Nana and their Papa we all survived. We didn't head out too much as the weather was extremely hot, but we certainly were very creative while we were indoors.

Clare and Mikayla did have a lot of FUN creating their very own Fairy Garden

Beautiful Clare

Beautiful Mikayla

 Anyone that follows my blog also knows I am a Gypsy, with my regular travels throughout Australia. But for 2017 we have decided not to do a big trip where we will be away for months at a time. Instead the plan is to travel to a different location for about a week or so each month. So January's Aussie Adventure was spent a place called Broulee on the mid New South Wales Coast. It is also just happens to be where my son Shane lives and the beach is at the end of their street.

Off we head to the beach

Family FUN at the beach

Handy for Shane who has just started surfing

O'Shea seems to be getting the hang of it too

I travelled up there with my daughter Rachel and her daughters Clare and Mikayla to spend a wonderful family beach holiday with my son Shane, his wife Stacey and my two adorable grandsons O'Shea (5) and Finn (3). We visited Mogo zoo which is a fantastic privately owned zoo, lots of time at the beach and having lots and lots of FUN.

Mogo Zoo is certainly somewhere I would recommend everyone visit. 

Icypole time at Mogo Zoo

The last week of my January has been spent doing some home maintenance, setting and keeping my 2017 goals and planning where we will head for our February Aussie Adventure.

Gold Coast, Queensland

Well I've now been on the Gold Coast for about 2 weeks now and this is the first time I've logged on to do a blog update. It's not that I've been very busy, I have been out and about but just not on my laptop much. I have been having a few IT issues and it seems the new iPhone update doesn't want to allow me to upload any of my photos - grrrrr.  I have been to the Gold Coast many many times and still enjoy coming here, although I choose to stay in the less touristy areas now. But I think everywhere on the Gold Coast is now touristy and very busy.

Surfers Paradise in the distance

How have I spent my days so far, well there has been shopping at the shopping centres, warehouse outlets and a few markets. Walking along the beach, catching up with friends, eating some yummy food and most of all relaxing.

Amazing fruits at the farmers market

My type of mini golf course - Buddha theme

I have been lucky enough to have my cousin Sue staying for the week. We are extremely close but don't get to spend a lot of time together so this is a very special week.

Suzie and Davine 

One day we headed south to the very spiritual,amazing Crystal Castle and Shambala Gardens. I have been there before and just knew Sue would love it, and she did. Crystal Castle and the gardens is a privately owned property filled with the most amazing crystals, statues, sub-tropical plants, labyrinth and a walk to the most beautiful stone Buddha I have ever seen. We had a glorious spiritual day of meditation and relaxation.

Lakshmi - The Goddess of fortune, prosperity, wisdom and fertility.
She is also the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm.

Avalokiteshvara - embodies the compassion of all the Buddhas

The Great Buddha

Australia Day 2015

Hope all the Aussies out there and all the honorary Aussies have had a wonderful Australia Day. I have had a lovely day, spending time in the lovely seaside town of Batemans Bay with my son Shane, daughter in law Stacey and my two adorable grandsons O'Shea and Finn. We put up lots of Aussie Flags, had a lovely BBQ and listened to the JJJ Top 100 tunes. Most of the songs were not my cup of tea, but it was still music. The boys (including my son Shane and the dog Bosco) had hours of fun with the bubble machine. I think Bosco could have a tummy ache tonight after all the bubbles he ate.  We finished off the evening with some yummy cakes.

Even on an overcast day the beach still called the Aussies on Australia Day

All the boys - Finn, O'Shea, Shane and Bosco enjoyed the bubble machine

Finn was just waiting for them to come close enough!

The day finished off with lots of colour

My week in Lilli Pilli

Well my week in Lilli Pilli (outskirts of Batemans Bay) comes to an end tomorrow morning. I have had the best time hanging out with my son Shane, his wife Stacey and my two adorable grandsons O'Shea (3yr) and Finn (9mths). I don't get to spend a lot of time with this half of my family because we live in different states so it is really special when we are together. One day O'Shea and I went for a walk to the beach which is only about 300 metres away. We had fun exploring all the nooks and cranny's of the coastline.

There was lots of exploring done at the beach

Little Finny boy decided to stay home and have a snooze 

Then there was the day we went to the park for a picnic and a play

Most of the week was just spent just spending time with the boys although today we all headed off to the Mogo Zoo. Strangely I had never heard of this zoo but I was more than pleasantly surprised. It was really well set out and had a pretty good range of animals for a small seaside are. Finn had a happy day as usual, he is such a happy little man.

The big Silver Back was spectacular

This guy was having a bite to eat but kept his eye on me

O'Shea should sleep well tonight as he hasn't stopped running around all day. He just loved looking at all the animals even the huge Burmese Python that had a full belly of something large.

These guys also kept an eye on me

I am really going to miss these guys when I get back home, luckily I have Skype  so I can see their beautiful faces.