As my years in the Military went by, I knew that at some stage my service would come to an end and I would have to settle in a location, and a house, not owned by ‘the system’. But I had never, (for about 30 years anyway) ever really given it some serious thought.
At one stage I looked like setting up to retire in Lake Macquarie (near Newcastle) as there was an Army Reserve Band in that location and would have suited my career transition. Long story short: a heap of stuff changed. Apart from the manning of that unit, my personal circumstances changed, and I went to Canberra where I met Ankie. That’s another story and a moment in time for which I will be forever grateful. I digress, although that moment is important to this story.
(Ankie in her studio focused on her Design Work).
The difference that Ankie made coming into my life is that she was also quite focused on the future and where we might spend our ‘twilight’ years. From the outset she had told me that to really make her happy (it’s ok bloke’s…….it’s still a work in progress. I haven’t worked out ‘the secret’) she would like a house at the coast. You see, she had spent many years as a ski instructor and running ski schools in Austria and Australia, so she was keen to spend her latter years somewhere just a little warmer. The coast was also quite significant to her as her late Father LOVED the Australian Coast (and who could blame him) so that added to the attraction. So it looked like the coast it was.
I’ve checked with my mates, and apparently I’m not alone. None of us seemed to be really bothered about where we were to end up. As long as it was dry and we could get a bite to eat and a beer (make mine Dutch or Belgian) then we were happy. I’m pleased to say, that apart from the difficulty of getting good Dutch or Belgian beers (at a reasonable price) I’m warm and get a good feed (well…….that bit would be obvious, but enough of that for now). So no hardship here.
Australia, for those that aren’t aware, has quite a decent sized coastline: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastline_of_Australia) So the challenge now was to whittle that down to a more exact spot. We didn’t know it, but help was to come in the form of our very close and wonderful friend ‘Onie (Leonie). As our 1st Anniversary was coming up (2008) she suggested that we celebrate it at Bannisters (http://www.bannisters.com.au/)
WOW! It was brilliant, although I was lucky to get the very last room……..and I booked three months out!!!!!!! (Keep that in mind travellers).
In fact, Ankie enjoyed it so much she insisted that we stay every year on our Anniversary. So we stayed again in 2009. Now two things became obvious to me (the bill payer) very quickly.
- Ankie and I loved the area (Narrawallee: Mollymook: Milton: Ulladulla), and
- It was going to be cheaper to buy in the area than to keep staying at Bannisters. 🙂
(I would like to stress that point two is meant to be light hearted, however it isn’t cheap: but stay there and you will see why. Trust me……we would never have stayed twice if it wasn’t THE spot to be, and I still highly recommend it to friends as somewhere special to take your loved one!!
So the house hunting began. Tada!!!!
That has some laughs of it’s own, but that’s how we got here…..Narrawallee.
How terrible is that!!!
Anyway guys, would love to hear if there is a story behind where you ended up (or currently are) and if there’s a story to it.
Love to hear your stories!!!
@inspireme_G #inspireme_global #BannistersHotel #narrawalleebeach #mollymook #dolphins #beachsunrise
Stephen Hladio, OAM 