Thursday, 11 September 2014
A new chapter is just beginning. It is with mixed emotions that we have just sold QuickStar in Australia. We have been blessed spending the past seven seasons sailing across the wild blue yonder. Although we could have continued to do this for the rest of our lives, we have been called back to terra firma thanks to our growing stable of amazing grandchildren.
When we started out our goal was two years. I figure we got pretty lucky squeezing another five years of sailing.
Who knows what exactly we'll do now. We live 5 months of the year at Silver Star Mountain in Vernon, B.C. Canada. For the other 7 months of the year - we'll have to see where the wind blows us and the fancy strikes us. We do have a little "castle" (fondly named by our granddaughter) - in reality a little trailer that we have on 25 acres of our son's 80 acre hobby ranch. Makes it easy to see two of the grandkids whenever we drop anchor here.
We run a very busy reservation business for Silver Star properties which you can check out at www.silverstarstays.com. I continue to sell and promote my book www.financialfitnessbooks.com and am still overwhelmed that it became a #1 Amazon best-seller. Just so we don't slack off too much we also continue to manage our real estate portfolio and are also launching a new online retail store to sell Back on Track products. That website will be www.wonderwear.com. The beauty of all of this is that we can do it anytime, anywhere - so we are as free as the wind to travel at the drop of a hat.
My name could be "no fixed address", so to this end we will continue to travel at whim and create new dreams and memories. We've done a last minute 2 week Alaskan cruise this summer and will be heading to Ontario for six weeks this coming weekend.
Thanks to all of you who have faithfully followed us across the ocean. May you also discover your dream and do whatever it takes to make it happen. There will be obstacles and set backs and naysayers each step of the way. Keep walking. You may well be your biggest enemy.....move aside.
Whatever you do - set a date - you won't be ready - but cast off your lines anyway. Wishing you all the best as you live your dream. If you need some motivation - email me at svquickstar@shaw.ca. My personal saying is "money is a renewable resource - time isn't". Live life today!
Saying farewell for the time being......Diana Young & Peter Bruckmann
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Our final QuickStar post of the sailing season!
Leaving QuickStar in Pittwater, Australia
It’s hard to believe we have
been back in Canada for almost a month now.
I have been meaning to do my final QuickStar blog of the season, but we
have been in a whirlwind since we’ve arrived back home, and I have been
procrastinating on what might be my final blog posting.
We have left QuickStar in
Pittwater Bay on a mooring ball. It is
being looked after by David Bray Yachts in our absence. We are also thinking about importing our boat
to Australia and selling it, so this could be our last season on QuickStar. We started out in 2007 and had intended on
spending two years cruising. Instead we
have had 7 wonderful seasons, sailing further across the South Pacific. We have made it to our goal destination of
Australia – thanks to my awesome Captain.
Taking the bus to the airport to fly home
Because we are not sure if we
are going to sell QuickStar, the last week aboard was bittersweet. I was driving Peter crazy by saying things
like “this may be the last time I use the power winch”, “this might be our last
dinghy ride”,
“this might be Peter’s last sandwich” (and you all know how he loves his sandwiches)
“this might be our last game
of bridge with a gin and tonic”
“This may be our last dinner”
This might be the last time I'm ever on QuickStar
We arrived home in time to
spend Thanksgiving weekend with Danny, Ashley, Addison and Ty, Kylie &
Taylor and about 20 other great friends and family. It was a very special weekend. During the weekend everyone helped out to put
in an underground water line at the ranch.
You can see why we want to be land-based and closer to the family.
We also spent this past
weekend at Danny and Ashley’s again, and loved seeing the kids in their
Halloween costumes and romping in the first snow of the season. Addy turned three on November 3rd and we were
thrilled to share it with her. Lots of fun with the first snow of the season.
Kylie and Taylor are expecting our next
grandchild on Feb. 15th,
so we are all very excited and making it even harder to want to set sail again.
These last two weeks Peter
and Taylor have spent renovating our rental house in Kamloops. That’s now complete and fully rented, so
Peter has finally come home to Silver Star to join me for the season. He is thrilled to be cheering on the Vancouver Canucks for another season.
So without getting too
maudlin – this could be my last QuickStar Blog.
Thanks for coming along for the ride and sharing in our highs and lows
over the past seven seasons. I will
report in that either we have sold QuickStar or that we will be returning to
spend a season in Australia next Fall. So,
I guess this won’t be my final farewell! (I hate goodbyes)
Have a great winter
season. We will be at Silver Star for
the ski season, with Peter snowplowing and me running my rental accommodation business. If you want to come to our winter wonderland,
check out our website www.silverstarstays.com
Until next time…..Celebrate
life!
P.S. If you are looking for a Christmas gift idea
for someone special on your list, check out my #1 Amazon bet-selling book
at www.financialfitnessbooks.com
Monday, 7 October 2013
Loving being a tourist in Sydney, Australia
With QuickStar moored at
Pittwater, we are an easy 45 minute bus ride to downtown Sydney. We’ve enjoyed being tourists, getting to know
Sydney. It reminds us so much of Vancouver
(although much larger).
The obligatory Sydney Harbour shots of the bridge and Opera House
The delicious Aussie pies...I think I've gained 10 pounds because of them!
We’ve gotten a kick out of
the many different signs and sayings there are here. The half man walking sign is a crosswalk
sign…but we can’t figure out what this one means. Any ideas?
What is somewhat funny is
when I spent my week at Coff’s Harbour, I went on all the walks that I could
fit in, but one eluded me. It was called
Refuge Island and I saw lots and lots of signs to access it, but I could never
find it. Once we started on our road trip,
I noticed many cities had Refuge Islands, but none of them were on the ocean. I couldn’t help but laugh when it clicked
that Refuge Island is what the Aussies call the meridian in the middle of a
road where pedestrians can safely stand before crossing over to the other
side.
Sydney at sunset
We love so many of their
sayings. When we went to a museum and
bought entry tickets the lady asked if we had any concessions. We thought she meant popcorn and drinks, as
we call concessions at movie theaters.
In Australia, it means are you a student, disabled or senior. Peter
was meeting up with a local here and Rod said “okay savo”. After getting the translation we learned that
means see you this afternoon. Peter is
also starting to say “shift” in place of “move”.
One thing that we can’t
understand is the grocery carts that are in Australia (as well as in all the
other South Pacific islands we’ve been to).
The carts have all four wheels turning instead of just the front ones
that we have in North America. This
means that their carts cannot go in a straight line, so you are constantly
pushing them sideways. Just don’t get it!
The museum that Peter really
wanted to see was the Maritime Museum (how do you say “booooooring”?). I, of course, have to walk the talk and stick
to my frugal financial principals. As
always we use a discount coupon and it was still a $28.00 entry fee…so I
decided to take one for the team and pass on going…instead I went to Margarita
Ville where Happy Hour was in full swing.
Wine for only $5.00 a glass – so instead of spending $28.00, I only
spent $10.00 and had WAY more fun.
It was great timing to be in
Pittwater for the final race of the America’s Cup. The American’s won against the New Zealanders
(although there were only 2 American’s onboard – the rest were Kiwi’s and
Aussies). The Captain is an Australian named
James Spithill who is a member of the Royal Alfred Yacht Club right here.
(He was also the skipper in 2010). Lots of excitement!
(He was also the skipper in 2010). Lots of excitement!
They do lots of racing from this club and
they are just starting a disabled association, which I was very interested in
as I am a volunteer for the disabled ski association at Silver Star.
The Gold winning disabled boat in the London 2012 Olympics that sparked
the yacht club to create a disabled component to their club. They had a
big fund raiser while we were there to purchase more boats to modify.
The mooring area, marinas,
and yacht clubs in Pittwater are lovely.
The area is surrounded by parks on one side and nice houses on the
other.
Great dog-friendly parks and beaches
We explored in Newport, which is close-by and
has a beautiful beach.
Another highlight was going
to the local pub to watch the final match in the Aussie Rules Football League. It was packed because there was a power outage
in the area, so the pub was running the game with their generator. We have been
following it everywhere we went in Australia, because the locals just love this
game.
View from the Newport Arms sports bar
We bought a 7-day public
transit pass which includes all buses, trains and ferries – all of which we have
used extensively. On the first day we
went in to Sydney on the bus, the bus driver had to slam on his breaks suddenly
– this was a two-car bus which was packed with many standing in the aisle. A little girl was thrown into the front of
the bus and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. No one else was injured. It was just a reminder that some of our family
members are worried about us when we are out at sea, but it is usually the
everyday things that cause most accidents.
We went to see the movie
Gravity on what is billed as the largest IMAX theatre in the world. Terrible movie, but great to see the 3D
effects.
The other “good timing” event
was the 100th year celebration of Australia’s Navy. This was a massive event with up to 16 tall
ships, 40 warships and 8,000 naval personnel from more than 20 nations – plus
Prince Harry as the honoured guest. We
went in over a 3 day period and took in the events from different vantage
points. The first day it was pouring
rain, but the next two days were good.
On the second day they closed
off much of the park at Bradley Point because the Governor General was onsite
to do the official Fleet Review. Most of
us climbed up to sit on the rocks in the bush so we had a great view, until the
Ranger came and told us all to get down.
The Australians held their ground though and said there were no signs
saying we couldn’t be there and also, in the program it said the park was a
prime viewing location. Many of them got
quite vocal about it, with the Rangers calling for “back-up” by the
police. Some of the people were old, but
steadfast. The police ended up making an
arrest of one man, who for sure is going to be taking his case to the
Minister. This all made for great
entertainment.
The Governor General's car with gold license plate emblem
The first day of the event was the arrival of the tall ships in to the harbour.
Pleasure craft were invited to accompany them.
Pleasure craft were invited to accompany them.
After all the tall ships had arrived, and we were thouroughly
drenched we took the ferry from the zoo right to downtown.
Enroute we saw lots of the tall ships and tons of activity on the water.
Note the sailors aloft in the rigging.
Until next time….Congratulations to our daughter Kylie for getting the Teacher-On-Call position in her school district. Lucky, lucky kids.
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The journey begins.....
I update this blog every Friday, so that you can share in our adventure and learn about new places and cultures.
Only the most recent blog shows up on this page. To see former postings, please click on the Archives below.
Thanks for dropping in to visit. Hugs from Diana and Peter.
Only the most recent blog shows up on this page. To see former postings, please click on the Archives below.
Thanks for dropping in to visit. Hugs from Diana and Peter.