6/09/16

Version 1.0 of wiljen’s adventures is over at Blogger, wiljen’s adventures 1.0

Hi, if you have been following us on wiljen.blogspot.com.au I’m glad you have found our new site. If you are new to wiljen’s adventures then welcome aboard. Jenny & I will do our best to amuse you all with our antics.

Why the change from Blogger to WordPress ?
Well after 2 years of battling with Blogger on the iOS platform of our mini iPads I finally give up. Really difficult to use & now that the Blogger App is no longer supported or even in the Apple App Store the glitches are to difficult to workaround.

If we were using Android or Windows it may be ok, I guess we “backed the wrong horse” when we entered the world of Blogging on iOS . Time to try something new, so WordPress it is. Hang in there with us during the early days while we figure out how to utilise & manipulate the WordPress program.

Introduction:
Jenny: the brains of the outfit. Mother, Wife, Manager, loves to travel & thinks outside the box. Very loyal & tenacious, Jenny doesn’t like to give up. She has exceptional computer skills & doesn’t like spending money. Jenny is quite frugal. Lucky for me she is great at navigating as well. Jen cares a lot & likes helping people, she loves animals, especially puppy dogs.

Will: guess that means I’m the brawn of the team. Turned out to be a part time Dad due to work commitments (regret that a little). Loves seeing new things , happy to try most things. Doesn’t mind a bit of hard work. Bit of a wanderer & dreamer.
Still I get things done & do my best to avoid the “Gunnadoo” that one day attitude. Like to spend our money bit more often then Jenny, doing my best to be frugal.

Team wiljen: We ran away together as teenagers, traveled & worked all around Australia over 5 years. We then had 3 beautiful children so settled down a bit. Our previous combined work history is a combination of Mining, Automotive, Warehouse/Supply, Hospitality, Business Owners, Education & a scattering of other jobs. It’s been interesting. We are best friends & lovers, we enjoy our marriage & hanging out together.

Now the Kids have flown the coop & we have found ourselves only in our mid-forties we have decided to downsize our lifestyle & travel. We want to travel in an alternative way when possible. It may be by bicycle, motorbike, VW Kombi Camper or Off-roading overland.

The last time either of us “Worked for the Man” was 2010 & the last time we did any paid work was 2 years ago while running our business, a Roadhouse.
Are we retired ? I don’t think so, but we now do things on our own terms. Being out of debt has been very liberating & I don’t think we’ll ever be totally locked into a work situation long term again. I do think we will be employed again, but at the moment there is no rush. Fixing & selling houses, with some travel thrown into the mix is keeping us busy enough !

For those of you who don’t wish to spend the time & read up on our past 2 years of “Adventures” over on Blogger here is a brief review of our past exploits from wiljen’s adventures 1.0, on wiljen.blogspot.com
Starting with the most recent:

2016, the year of Health Fixing, Downsizing & Consolidating. Some small trips away, stacks of house repairs, selling & renovations. Looking forward to an upcoming 2 month motorbike trip to India, so lots of motor bike training.

2015, the second half. We cycle about 3650kms from Mandurah Western Australia to Adelaide then Kangaroo Island South Australia, via the Eyre Peninsula. Yes we rode bicycles across the Nullarbor ! Drove back home in a hire Camper Van.

2015, the first half. Team wiljen ride the bicycles from Alicante in Spain to London in the U.K. The distance ended up being about 3800kms. We followed the Mediterranean Coast via France around to Genoa Italy, then over some mountains in Switzerland through Belgium, back to France then on the ferry across to Dover. We finished the ride in London, then spent a further 6 weeks looking around the UK. It was great & the cycling bug now had us both hooked.

2014, Jenny gets her restricted motorbike licence,  we sold our Roadhouse business in October, ride about 550kms along the Munda Biddi cycle path on our bicycles in an effort to regain some fitness. The real adventures are about to begin.

2013, the Cranetruck business is folded up & assets sold, sailed around the Whitsunday Islands on a Bareboat 35 foot yacht, self skippered. Most of the year we spent our time just doing long hours running the BP Placid Ark Roadhouse.

2012, Busy running the Roadhouse & Cranetruck Businesses, somehow found time to go over to the UK & pick up our expedition bicycles, did a quick trip across to Denmark.  Also went to Los Angeles, California for a BP Conference then spent a week hanging out on Venice Beach.

2011, Will finishes up with Maersk Drilling & we start the Cranetruck business. Also purchase the Roadhouse halfway through the year.

2010, Will’s busy working offshore on a drilling platform, Jenny quits the Office Manager job at Mandurah Holden that she has done for the past 3 years & becomes a Console Operator at the Roadhouse. Soon after she moves into a manager role there. We go to the Melbourne Cup to celebrate Jenny turning 40. The kids are all busy at high school.