The cyclonic season is officially finished (however, weather patterns don’t really mind official dates!) and the sailing migration started about a month ago. Our sailing friends who spent that time in New Zealand have left or are in the process of leaving, most often to Fiji. The ones who stayed in Australia are cruising North along the East coast, on their way to the Great Barrier Reef. Nevertheless, Merlin is still tightly attached on the pontoon, and it is not without some sadness that we see some boats and even friends stopping at Dockside Marina on their way to some more cruising adventures.
News on the blog has been rather bland recently, for different reasons. It may be time to tell you some more, but not yet all. This blog shows mainly the bright side of our days as everyday still brings a smile. However, it is easy to filter our emotions, our deceptions or our frustrations. We’ve been in Australia for 6 months and these last 6 months could be described as quite hectic, with lots of lows, lots of decisions to take, problems to solve.
Knowing that we had to fill up the kitty again, we decided last year to head off to Australia, mostly because Australian and New Zealander cruisers convinced us that the Australian economy was still booming or wasn’t as badly affected by the world financial crisis. The economic results and unemployment rates were supporting that. We were also advised to put the boat on the market in Queensland because it represents a significant cruising area, close to the Great Barrier Reef and the famous Whitsundays.
So, we signed up with different boat brokers in Australia. Apparently the boat market is unusually bad. So, Merlin’s sale hasn’t been a positive issue, yet. We are still convinced Merlin is a great boat and a potential buyer will think the same soon. So the voyage will hopefully continue for Merlin.
Once in Brisbane, the job hunt started. Many CVs were sent and the hunt wasn’t as promising as we thought. The work permit represents an important issue with its numerous difficulties and hurdles (to say it very briefly).
We have been very patient during these last 6 months, trying to keep the optimism alive and to cheer up whenever our mood was swinging the wrong way, sometimes with the help of some financial pressure or demanding kids. We are confident that each day we take a step closer to completing the transition back to land life. Regrets about our experience are never raised because we don’t have any.
Hard comments and criticisms were heard but incredible support was also shown by relatives and friends. Issues are not solved yet, but we feel strong and positive. We would like to thank those who believe in us, without judging. Being far away, this support is immensely appreciated.
Our personal cyclonic season might finish soon. We keep steering, holding the course which will bring us to calm waters again.
We’ll keep you posted, so keep reading the blog!