In my old age I find my memory is not as it used to be, but this date is significant because it’s the day I arrived in Australia. I’ve been here for 35 years and at times I wish I had not spent so much time here.

Don’t get me wrong, coming here was a good idea at the time and as the years went on I made some mistakes and wrong turns along the way but I’ve managed to buy a house and lived a relatively stress free existence with moments of madness.

Mum passed away in 2004 and I went into hibernation for a while, but I did manage to change career shortly after returning to Australia so I’m thinking me Ma helped me to find a new path.

I moved house too, in fact the house sold on the day of Mum’s funeral and 6 months later I bought a new place which unfortunately got flooded in 2011 which really made an impact on my life and mental health.

The flooding was so bad that people lost their lives and hundreds of houses were affected. Some houses were lost completely and many people lost everything because they had no insurance or they had trouble getting paid.

12 years later the court case against the dam operators has finally concluded and not everyone has received compensation, in fact a few have only been given a couple of thousand dollars because after a survey it was suggested that their house would have flooded anyway even if the dam was not at fault. I however should receive a small amount but not enough to cover me for the stress, hardship and the ongoing legacy of the flood. Insurance premiums are high and the house prices have fallen but I will try to sell it again next year.

Since 2012 I have wandered in and out of the country, I guess I was looking for something. In 2013 I went to China for the first time and I was captivated. I love Thailand and have been there many times but for some reason China got under my skin and through a few serindipidous meetings I ended up going there in 2016 for four years, however it was with a heavy heart that I returned to Australia in 2020 due to Covid. Three years of hiatus, three years of life wasted because I never wanted to return in the first place.

I’ve kept in touch with most of the close friends I made while living there and I really hope to return in the future although I think it will be early 2024 at the earliest before I return, mainly due to visa access. I need to go back to the UK so that I can once more apply for a two year business visa, Australia can only offer me one year and anyway I would rather travel using my British passport.

My passports run out in three years from now, so I’m thinking I’ll get a new British passport before I apply for the Chinese visa. All going well I’ll head home in January via a few other destinations and if I am successful in getting a visa I’ll come back to Australia and rent the house once more.

Between now and then I’ll do the jobs that need to be done at home and that incudes the retaining wall that’s looking a bit sad and this is by far the most costly repair.

So the next six months will no doubt fly by, however next weekend I’m going to head to Rockhampton for a few days before I begin all the jobs that I need to do and I’m looking forward to that and when I get back I’ll start with painting the house.