AAhhh, finally.... we have a contract on the business. That was the trigger to set us free. After a few false starts and tyre-kickers, hundreds of $$ in advertising and the never-ending questions from customers we had our final night in the restaurant on the 26th Dec 2012. Hey, it was a Christmas present I suppose.
Tears? I hear you asks. No way! The business was great, made friends, money and found that we had put down roots in the community but Carlie had made 4512 serves of salt and pepper calamari and I had smiled a few too many smiles that came from the wallet rather than the heart.
So jump online and get those remaining overseas purchases happening so they get here in time and now we start to think about things like dates. But the list of 'to-do's' is long enough to justify using some till roll. We have the house now to sell, not such a big deal as it is a good time for doing so but all those maintainence jobs have now jumped from the back-burner and into purchases from the hardware store.
It's all on now and the timer has been set, the 14th of Jan 2013! Now, where's that hammer.....?
Friday 28 December 2012
Sunday 30 September 2012
In The Beginning .......
In the beginning there was life. Working 60-70 hours per week in our very own tapas bar, renovating an old Queenslander wooden home, making excuses for a growing waist-line and under-exercised pet dog. Sorry, did I say 'life', sounds more like existence.
We gave up the on-the-road lifestyle over 4 years ago at the unmerciful hands of an epitome while riding bicycles through Central America. The challenge had simply left the building, leaving us a bit 'hollow' at the thought of another amazing Mayan ruin, or delicious road-side taco. Next challenge ---- act like normal people! Skip forward to today, we have a finally completed house, a very successful small restaurant, a group of good friends and ...... yup, you guessed it, itchy feet. The wunder-lust of wanting to know what sits around the next bend, what different spices can be put into the next Indian Biriyani or what new colour will a Mekong sunset throw up never really die I suppose. Without getting too soppy and morose I suppose for us it’s about finding meaning in life from places outside our comfort zone and cultural norms.
The gestation of the current journey could said to have begun while living in the UK around 2003. I had met overland bikers while riding thousands of kilometres by bicycle through Europe and Turkey and the idea just sat somewhere in my head that it would be cool to ride back to Australia by motorbike. And there the thought idled, a distant hum that rarely got above 1000rpm. Many journeys and passport stamps later her throttle was to be twisted in the most unlikely of moments, by the most unlikely of people! While in the throes of setting up the restaurant around two years ago and with a brief glimpse of what our working life was to become Carlie shone the spotlight into the dark tunnel of overwork that maybe, just maybe, when we had had a gut full of the business we could live the dream of circumnavigating the world on a motorbike. The engine had roared to life but so had the sound of our ever-increasingly busy existence.
But true dreams don't fade; they patiently wait until whatever forces are at work line up in a nice neat row. The challenge in life is not lining things up but in having the courage to recognize when they have and the bravery to make bold decisions. So the business is on the market and the house is going to be sold, easier said than done! The bike has been purchased and run-in and hours of dedicated searching online for equipment, prices, ideas and motivations are underway. But before we ride off into the sunset with the whispers and shouts of bon-voyage and be safe from friends and family there is a whole lot of waiting and patience to suffer with a light heart. So stand-by for more about our journey, but you had better get a real comfy seat....!
We gave up the on-the-road lifestyle over 4 years ago at the unmerciful hands of an epitome while riding bicycles through Central America. The challenge had simply left the building, leaving us a bit 'hollow' at the thought of another amazing Mayan ruin, or delicious road-side taco. Next challenge ---- act like normal people! Skip forward to today, we have a finally completed house, a very successful small restaurant, a group of good friends and ...... yup, you guessed it, itchy feet. The wunder-lust of wanting to know what sits around the next bend, what different spices can be put into the next Indian Biriyani or what new colour will a Mekong sunset throw up never really die I suppose. Without getting too soppy and morose I suppose for us it’s about finding meaning in life from places outside our comfort zone and cultural norms.
The gestation of the current journey could said to have begun while living in the UK around 2003. I had met overland bikers while riding thousands of kilometres by bicycle through Europe and Turkey and the idea just sat somewhere in my head that it would be cool to ride back to Australia by motorbike. And there the thought idled, a distant hum that rarely got above 1000rpm. Many journeys and passport stamps later her throttle was to be twisted in the most unlikely of moments, by the most unlikely of people! While in the throes of setting up the restaurant around two years ago and with a brief glimpse of what our working life was to become Carlie shone the spotlight into the dark tunnel of overwork that maybe, just maybe, when we had had a gut full of the business we could live the dream of circumnavigating the world on a motorbike. The engine had roared to life but so had the sound of our ever-increasingly busy existence.
But true dreams don't fade; they patiently wait until whatever forces are at work line up in a nice neat row. The challenge in life is not lining things up but in having the courage to recognize when they have and the bravery to make bold decisions. So the business is on the market and the house is going to be sold, easier said than done! The bike has been purchased and run-in and hours of dedicated searching online for equipment, prices, ideas and motivations are underway. But before we ride off into the sunset with the whispers and shouts of bon-voyage and be safe from friends and family there is a whole lot of waiting and patience to suffer with a light heart. So stand-by for more about our journey, but you had better get a real comfy seat....!
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