Two Drifters

Buenos Aires (pronounced Irez; not Aries) was amazing – crazy weather whilst we were there. We both also suffered from jet lag for a few days so our sightseeing was sometimes a bit foggy but we enjoyed Buenos Aires for the cosmopolitan city that it is.  BA is a contrast of neighbourhoods, architecture, colour and weather! In a few days, we had both    searing sun and drenching rain. We saw suburbs of grey and suburbs of vibrant colour, Parisian-style chateaux and brightly-painted timber buildings, grand buildings and boulevards and narrow, cobblestone alleys. We lucked in with Jacaranda in full blossom so there was a beautiful sprinkling of purple everywhere.  We learnt that Argentina had been a very rich country but is now in real danger of “going broke.” Inflation is crippling and the new President has some big challenges to face.   We stayed in a wonderful hotel which opened in 1922 – the Alvear Palace. The central lobby was inspired by the great Ocean Liners...

June started off with a funeral and by weddings. The funeral was for the father of one of my long time friends. The man who died was 87 and in poor health but I was fascinated to hear the story of him packing his suitcase at 17 and coming to Melbourne from Italy to live with his older brother. I relayed this to my Mum and she reminded me that she, too, had done this at 17.  Mum and her older sister came from Malta to Melbourne to pave the way for the rest of her family – her parents and four other siblings. She and her sister flew (never having been on a plane before) and the rest of the family followed a few months later by ship. The plane trip took about 45 hours and there were various stops - Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Karachi, Singapore, Sydney and, finally, Melbourne. The trip on the ship took 4 weeks and my grandmother was apparently seasick the entire voyage.  My Dad is also a migrant but from Ireland. He moved to Dublin as a teenager and then London where he saw an ad for the...

I should start by revealing another love of my life and my family’s – the Collingwood football team. For non Australians reading this, Collingwood play in the Australian Football League (AFL). AFL is played from March – September and is the water cooler topic for most of that time at least in Victoria where I live. I decided to barrack for Collingwood when I was about 6 (a story for another day!). When I started going out with Andrew, I joined a Collingwood-mad family which reached back a few generations. For our kids, there was no choice. In fact, I remember our eldest son coming home from school and saying, “Mum, you never told me there were other teams!!” Arguably the biggest game outside Finals is played on ANZAC day* - 25 April - between Collingwood and Essendon. Whenever we are in Melbourne, we go and it is a wonderful day! Collingwood won this year too so an extra wonderful day!! On the morning of 26 April, we flew to Tokyo for a two week holiday. Andrew has wanted to go to Japa...

March has been split between Palm Cove (Far North Queensland), Melbourne, Rye (Mornington Peninsula, Victoria) and South Australia. Something a bit exciting happened to me which was that my first piece of writing (other than letters to the paper!) was published -  https://www.australiandoglover.com/2023/03/motorhoming-adventures-with-two-golden.html This is a story and some photos of a trip we had in December with our  Golden Retrievers, Albus and Harry, when we hired a motorhome for a few days in country Victoria. We thought that the motorhome was a bit cramped so we are trying something else this month with our trip to South Australia (SA). It’s an experiment of renting pet friendly accommodation and also towing our boat. Andrew is a very keen fisherman so he hoped to fish a lot whilst we explored a part of Australia we had never visited.  One of the reasons we organised this holiday was to give our adult kids a break from looking after the dogs full time. Ironically, ...

I have been lucky enough to split February between two of my “happy places” – Rye on the Mornington Peninsula and Palm Cove in tropical, Far North Queensland. I am writing this from my balcony in Palm Cove overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is the wet season so we have had some rain most days but the weather is constantly warm – approximately 30 degrees Celsius – and it is warm overnight too. The long sleeve jacket was worn on the plane here a week ago and has not been worn since! The sea temperature has fluctuated between 27 and 28 degrees! Coming from Victoria where the sea is cool (to freezing!) on the hottest days, this is a real treat. The pool temperature at the apartment complex is decidedly chillier than the sea! It is stinger season (ie large box jellyfish swim freely in the ocean) but our apartment is opposite the stinger net. There are also full time lifeguards so it is a safe place to swim. My view from the balcony is through native Paperbark Melaleucas which are over 500 ye...

Christmas already seems ages ago.  The last many Christmas periods of small children, manic present buying, Christmas social functions, kinder graduations, school concerts, school booklists and then a business which scaled up before and after Christmas were so hectic. Our business was conveyancing and everyone seems to want to buy and sell and move before Christmas. With the business sold, I looked forward to a leisurely Christmas in 2022 but, even without work, the pre Christmas period still seemed hectic.  As always, though, Christmas was also lovely - full of family and food :) Christmas rolled into the Boxing Day Test. I snooze through Boxing Day as my post Christmas recovery day! Then our Summer at the Mornington Peninsula started. Andrew and I have spent many Summers on the Mornington Peninsula and always loved them. To be honest, we both love the Mornington Peninsula all year round. I love it over Christmas and January as well - to me, all the extra holidayers are just ...

Retired at 54? Does that mean I will be retired for 20 years? 30? 40? My Husband (Andrew) tells me that most people in the world would envy me. Having enough money not to work again unless I want to is a privilege I know but do I want to not work again? Honestly, I don't know yet. After a lifetime of being busy and "pushing the envelope", retiring early is a strange concept and one I am getting used to (or not, we'll wait and see)... I am Leonie Jarrett. 54 and living in Melbourne, Australia. I have lived in Melbourne all my life and I love mostly everything about it. Yes, the weather is not always wonderful (especially at the moment courtesy of La Nina, a wet and cold weather system which is keeping Summer away). Mainly, though, I love this city. Loads of trees and beautiful gardens, cafes, restaurants, coffee, theatre, sport, so many different cultures with all the wonders they bring...you name it, we have it in Melbourne. I am lucky enough to have two homes - one i...