CHAZ AND MAZ DOWN UNDER 2012

INTRODUCTION

In 2012, Charlie and I took a gap year. I was 62, and he was 60. We were both retired and had the freedom and money to go travelling, something neither of us could have done when we were young. We spent six months in Australia, starting off in Perth, Western Australia, where Charlie’s brother Jim and his family live, then moving on to Victoria, South Australia, Northern Territories, New South Wales, and Queensland. Although we did touristy things, we also worked as volunteers in homesteads using Helpx, an internet site where hosts advertise themselves and where volunteers apply to work. They didn’t pay us, but in exchange for about four hours of work a day, we received free board and lodgings. The hosts also undertook to help volunteers experience the local culture.

It was the best thing about our time in Australia, as it allowed us to go off the tourist track and find places we would never have gone to. We also met lovely, generous people who welcomed us into their homes and treated us like part of the family. We spent the rest of our gap year in France doing the same thing, but these blog extracts are from our Australian trip. I had hoped to write a memoir about our experience, but only managed the first chapter. I also wrote a short piece for my creative writing course. You can find them in my book Wherever You Go, which is a collection of memoir, travel writing, short stories, and poetry which I compiled for Charlie’s 70^th.

Next time, our first volunteer placement in Victoria.

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