I write this post from the armchair of our new home in Singapore, hard to believe it was only 3 months ago that we were entering Australian waters on the final stretch of our Pacific journey. I best fill you in on what has happened since we decided to list Orion for sale…
Orion was sold back in December to a lovely Kiwi couple with 3 kids. They intend to spend a year doing her up whilst continuing to work, then they plan to start cruising her full time, heading North. We couldn't have asked for Orion to go to a better home, young family, keen to keep Orion in good shape and out on the waters. Although it was sad to let her go, knowing the people we were handing her over to made it that little bit easier to walk away.
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| OK so maybe I shipped a few things too! |
So then we were homeless. We moved our worldly possessions off the boat (2 duffel bags!) and took a flight to Singapore to catch up with friends and start the process of getting back into the corporate world. We shopped for suits, squeezed our salty tanned feet into shoes, washed in fresh water and presented ourselves for interview. Expecting the transition from sea gypsy to corporate monkey to be a difficult one, I swotted up, read all the financial news we had missed on our travels and got Dylan to mock interview me. It was all in vain, despite being out of the game for over 2 years, as soon as I put a suit on and got into work mode, it all came flooding back to me. Twenty four months of sailing, sunbathing, adventure and adversity and I could still remember in great detail the finer points of a business case and how to set up a Command and Control centre. It's quite amazing how our minds work.
Singapore really appealed to us. It's modern, clean, a fantastic hub for travel in Asia, a financial powerhouse for business and did I mention that tax is only 10%? We were hooked, dug our claws in and decided we were going to make it happen. Singapore was going to be the place we moved to next to become landlubbers.
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| Singapore skyline |
With our CVs out there and interviews completed, Dylan and I flew home separately to our respective families to spend Christmas and New Year. I saw in New Year with two old school friends in Disneyland Paris…Dylan spent it in the Singapore Changhi Airport baggage claim.
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| Smooching Mickey |
On to Singapore! Whilst we were home for Christmas, Dylan accepted an offer to work for BHP Billiton and I accepted an offer to transfer with my current company that I had been on a two year leave of absence with (Accenture) to their Singapore office. The fiancé started work the beginning of January and I am due to start mid February. In the meantime, I'm making the most of being in a new country with no job to occupy my time. My days are filled with seeking out weird and wonderful foods to eat, stocking my wardrobe with new clothes now I've dropped a dress size (the cruising diet) and furnishing our new place. Life isn't too bad!
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| Dried sea slug. Not long ago we were poking these on the sea floor! |
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| A Hindu devotee at a festival called Thaipusam |
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| Bubble tea. Iced tea with tapioca balls. |
Three months have passed and thanks to being kept busy with this move, we are yet to reminisce on the 'good times'. I am sure in 6 months when we are thoroughly entrenched in the world of work, the photo albums will be out and we will be dreaming of the 'next boat'.
What an adventure we had, what wonderful people we met and what memories we shall cherish forever.
So what next? We plan to be in Singapore for at least two years, get married (wedding venue has almost been chosen!) and travel…via plane... to far flung places in our spare time. Joining a sailing club is on our to do list, keep that plate spinning whilst we pursue other things, living vicariously through our sailing friends still out there doing it.
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| Day trip to Indonesia |
This will be our last ever blog post but we shall keep the site online for other cruisers doing the 2014 Pacific Run. Best of luck, you'll have a blast, we sure did :)
