29th of May 2024. By Will.

“We live in a Cult, Two Years of Feeding the Corporate Machine & Paying Tax to the Government, Completed”.

Has this life upheaval and shift been worth the effort and pain, are the rewards there ? It hasn’t turned out as we hoped. Progress is to slow so time to do something about it !

Feature Photo: Camping at Kwolyin Rock near Quairading for a couple of nights. April 2024.

It’s been awhile but finally I’m back for a long overdue blog post. Summer & Autumn has been and gone now it’s time for the long cold, wet, South West winter, Aarrgghh. Working during the winter months is mostly a drag. Only the benefit of hindsight will reveal if all this effort has been worth our time and energy. So far I have my doubts but we will change up our plans and see it through to its inevitable conclusion. 

Work why do we do it when we don’t have to ?

A lot has happened since early 2022, we have shifted house twice, relocated to a different town, Jenny had a falling out with the Collie Shire after 10 months there, she is now well into her second job role as a casual courier driver for Clinipath.
My full time job has become monotonous, the pay rate is average and the night shift knocks me around badly. The first day off is what I call “Zombie Day” 4 hours sleep in the morning and an afternoon of sitting around. The second day off feels like a recovery day & by the third day off I feel somewhat alive again. I have no idea how I managed night shift for around 10 years in my 20’s and 30’s. 

New shed and Retic trenches.
We bought a house and have made significant improvements to the backyard. That has been a challenge, it took us 4 months and $35k to get a shed, reticulation, fence, concrete and grass. With the exception of redoing the reticulation system and laying the roll on lawn ourselves, contractors did all the other large jobs. There are still other tasks to complete but Jenny and I can manage them ourselves when free time permits.

Alby from Amaxx working his magic in our yard.

Tight fit for the concrete truck, path and rear driveway is happening. Thanks Clint

Lawn prep, concrete path, and boat shed drive all happening, lots of scheduling and organising to make it all come together.

The Lawn Crew, ready for a big day tomorrow.

Two Pallets of Kikuyu Kenda, tough AF.

Mum & Son halfway there.

Hayden was a huge help, team wiljen would have folded after the first pallet of lawn rolls. Each roll was 25kg+.

Job done, surely it’s beer time now 🍻

Front fence being sorted out.
Our immediate family dynamics have changed quite a lot over the last couple of years. With the exception of some work colleagues we haven’t made any new friendships while in Bunbury and struggle to maintain old friendships. Jenny and I are still part of the Warm Showers network and have hosted a few international touring cyclists who have past through town. It is a bitter, sweet gig hosting them. They are all fantastic individuals but it just reminds us on what we are missing out on in life.

Deutsch couple Sabine & Uwe (www.glorypedalling.com) . Adrian from Birmingham UK . All on epic cycle tours .

Jenny got motivated to do her own 2 day cycle trip to Mandurah along the 10th Lighthorse Bridle Trail for 115kms. Not very bicycle friendly. Lots of sand.

It was Jenny’s first ever solo trip.

A huge positive is we finally have our hybrid camper located at our house in Bunbury. This is a permanent arrangement and means we can once again escape for 2 or 3 night mini get always. Since it arrived here last April we have been away in it twice. Both nice little trips, the first one was to Kwolyin in the Bruce Rock Shire to catch up with our friends Barry and Nicole from Kambalda. The second trip was just out the back of Capel to Ironstone Falls for a relaxing couple of nights with just Jenny, Rodgie dog and I. Our friends Annie and Keith came up from Donnybrook for a couple of drinks on the second day.

Finally a decent safe spot in Bunbury to park our camper trailer.

14th of April, I’ve turned 55yo. Trip out to Kwolyin Rocks to catch up with our good friends Barry and Nicole. It was about 370kms from home. Roughly halfway for all of us.

Second camping trip in early May, Ironstone Falls, roughly halfway between Donnybrook and Capel. A very relaxing 2 night stop.

Keith and Annie popped up from Donnybrook for a couple of drinks.

A nice quiet night at Ironstone Falls (& free).
Probably the biggest headache I’ve had to deal with over the past couple of months was organising the repair to my Yamaha Super Tenere after it fell over in the garage at home. Jenny’s Honda fell onto my bike, my bike fell over knocking it’s light/instrument cluster on the rear of the Sportster. The bracing, stays and brackets that support the cluster was destroyed. Nothing happens quickly in the world of vehicle repair and maintenance anymore so 6 weeks and $750 later it was finally back up and running, ready just in time for winter. Really not a big deal as no one was hurt and money fixed the problem.

Whoopsy , shit happens and it was nothing money couldn’t fix.

Not easy to see in this pic but main support stay is shattered on the Super Tenere.

I’m starting to find myself regretting not seeing the grandkids as often as I thought I would on this work roster, (2 days, 3 nights, 4 off, 3 days, 2 nights, 5 off, 2 days, 2 nights, 5 off & repeat). It’s a big effort getting up to Fremantle after 5 x 12.25 hour shifts and during the week the kids are on a tight schedule so the weekend is really the only option. Not too sure how to do better but will keep trying. They are both coming to Bunbury next weekend to spend a couple of nights with “Nan” and Granddad.

This was actually today (2/06/24), amusing the two grandkids at the Apple Park Playground in Donnybrook. They love it.

Annelise (nearly 4yo) and Charlie (2.5yo) pretty wet winters day.

The first of the winter cold fronts has just swept across the South West bringing much needed rain (70mm) but also strong winds and hail. Just 2 weeks earlier a genuine tornado hit near the Bunbury CBD and caused quite a bit of damage. Neither Jenny or I enjoy winter much and when we have our choice we would head up north or go overseas for a few months to avoid it. I can almost guarantee that we won’t be seeing another full winter after this one. Those cold wet days are done.

Millars Creek in flood, no photos but Rodgie Dog 🐕 lost the plot and chased a poor kangaroo 🦘 across the creek, they both had to swim, then she swam back to me. Crazy mutt.

What is next for team wiljen you may be wondering ? Next October we have booked to fly to Brisbane and also do a drive up to Bundaberg. It is just a 2 week trip. After that we both reckon it will be time to seriously explore some other lifestyle options. Plans are forming, finances are being sorted out and as usual both Jenny and I are very close to being on the same page so finding the compromise will be a simple task.

This working life is not all it’s cracked up to be, just had to give it one last go to be certain our ideas of living a life free is on the right track. As always thanks for stopping by.

Will, Jenny & Rodgie Dog.