Author: Mr A
Location: Coromandel Valley, Adelaide
Distance cycled: 18km
Today was going to be a corker – 35 degrees – so we set off reasonably early for a ride to beat the heat. Kim was tour leader taking us up and down the significantly undulating paths of the Coromandel Valley. It was a pleasure to have cars behave so respectfully towards us. A pleasant change from Sydney.
The girls were turning a few heads of course…
Kim had the advantage of skinny tyres I must add in my defence:
Catherine just powers along: 
And the most common view for me was from the rear: 
I finally got them ease up for a lakeside stop:
And with not a scrap of lycra to be seen we had a great ride!
After some food shopping (we seem to go every day!) we had a Skype call with our financial planner, Paul Brady. Now I am going to unashamedly plug this guy as he and the amazing team he has hired at Brady and Associates have just been life changing for us. In an industry with its fair share of charlatans, Paul has been a standout quality advisor, who we now call a friend, and has helped us making some smart choices with our finances. But much more than that, we feel we share some common values about living and loving life that have made him so easy to work with. Having a safe pair of hands to help you plan your wealth creation is one of the most important decisions to be made I reckon.
So we talked through our two year plan for how we ideally want to live our life, and yes we can make it happen. Oh what a feeling. I know luck always plays a part in how your life plans out, and we have had some very good fortune in our work lives, and some not so good in our health, but even that could be so much worse. We have taken some risks, both leaving family and friends and our comfort zones in the UK, and both pursued very different careers, but shared a value of trying to do the right thing by our respective customers, and that has been the key I think to how rewarded we have been by our jobs. Clients have turned into friends, friends into customers, it’s too connected a world to not do the right thing, and yet many businesses don’t seem to yet realise that.
The day ended with a lovely long birthday dinner for Mike, fresh seafood, salads from their garden, a beautiful aged Grenache, neighbours dropping in.
These last few days with our hosts have reinforced the importance of being part of a community. The way neighbours help each other out, as some age or lose their partners, this is how people are meant to live. Mutual respect and a sense of belonging.
We miss our friends and the identity that comes from being part of a team at work, travelling does bring some challenges in that regard, but the mobile community of grey nomads (in which we have made so many new friends) has helped offset some of the potential isolation.
We appreciate your efforts at reading this blog and sending us comments, keeping us connected. Thank you!
Neighbours,
Everybody needs good neighbours
Just a friendly wave each morning
Helps to make a better day
Neighbours,
Need to get to know eachother
Next door is only a footstep away
Neighbours,
That’s when good neighbors become good friends! 😘
Wise, thoughtful words. So nice that you can make your dreams come true – we are looking forward to hearing all about your plans over Christmas.
“it’s too connected a world to not do the right thing, and yet many businesses don’t seem to yet realise that”
Indeed. the secret to many a successful career.