 |
| We “borrowed” today’s photos from Bob, our landlord here in Fairlight/Manly. Last night, while dark and cloudy we spotted two cruise ships leaving Sydney Harbour heading out to sea. |
With our current immigration issues in Australia (see yesterday’s post here for details) we are doing everything we can to maintain our usual optimistic attitude.
Today, we’re heading back to Sydney, taking the Manly Ferry for more immigration handling and to meet with old friends Linda and Ken, from Marloth Park, South Africa for lunch at a popular pub near the port of Sydney. We’ll be back with photos tomorrow.
 |
| The house from the lower road. We entered the property from the upper road to facilitate hauling our heavy bags. |
Yesterday, the entire day was spent attempting to resolve another unexpected business matter, a technical issue with PayPal which prevents us from being able to send payments to property owners (who don’t accept credit cards) since we don’t have a US phone number that receives texts.
Our phone number with Skype doesn’t allow the use of texts. Without a phone number, we can’t use Skype when their new identity check requires the use of a text to confirm identity. We’ll share more on this in tomorrow’s post when we see what rolls out today after trying for another solution again later today.
 |
| The master bedroom is spacious with en suite bath and suitable closet space for our needs. |
With space at a premium in this fabulous holiday home and our stuff cluttered about, we decided to use our landlord’s photos which we’re sharing here today. Once we encountered the immigration and PayPal issues we were too busy to clear all of our “stuff” in order to take our own uncluttered photos.
 |
| The house is newer and in impeccable condition, a pure delight for our needs. |
We couldn’t be more pleased with the “apartment” although it’s not an apartment in the typical sense. It’s a large home, converted to include a separate apartment on the ground floor level which we’re currently occupying.
The upper street level is where our kind and thoughtful landlord Bob lives which also includes a bed and breakfast which he offers to tourists coming and going for long or short periods visiting this beautiful area.
 |
| There are no bug screens here but there are few insects. Bob said we won’t see the dreaded Funnel Web Spider in this area of Sydney. Few mozzies and flies enter during the day with the door fully open as shown. |
We’ve never rented a bed and breakfast space when we prefer not to share living quarters with others, whether it’s a landlord or other guests. In this lovely lower floor unit, we have total privacy and all the necessary amenities and more; great WiFi, flat-screen TV with HDMI plug-in, washing machine with a portable hanging rack, full kitchen and en suite bath with spacious shower, and more.
Please click here for more details on this special property which we highly recommend for either short or long-term travelers. For those comfortable with a bed and breakfast, this link will also direct you to that option by contacting Bob Reed, the kindly owner. How did we get so lucky to have yet another amazing property owner determined to provide us with an outstanding experience?
 |
| A comfortable Italian leather sectional and coffee table is located at the end of this room, beyond the table and chairs, all the space we’ll need during this relatively short stay, should we be allowed to remain in the country. |
Today is the fifth year anniversary of our first post on March 15, 2012. Please click here for our first post on this date. We can hardly believe it’s been so long. By next week, we’ll hit our 1700th post which is comparable to writing 1700 chapters in a book with photos.
Seeming to be a daunting task, for us, it continues to be a labor of love. Even today, with so much on our minds, we’re happy and grateful for the opportunity to share our journey with our many worldwide readers, whose numbers continue to grow each and every day.
 |
| With Bob living upstairs, he’s happy to supply any kitchen items or anything else we may need while here. |
We continue to maintain the philosophy that as long as we’re safe and healthy, challenges we encounter along the way such as the current immigration issue, always have a solution one way or another.
Sure, the solution may be costly or inconvenient but we’ve planned for such potentially unexpected scenarios. If we end up having to leave the country, lose money for this rental, pay for a new rental and airfare to another country and miss a portion of the upcoming cruise from Sydney since we can’t stay in Australia to board the ship, we’ll survive, won’t we?
 |
| Only stepping outdoors from the kitchen to the lawn we’re provided this amazing view and private yard. |
We never fail to be grateful for one another, our loved ones, good health, and the ability to fulfill our dreams of world travel. Please continue to follow along with us as the story continues to unfold.
Happy day!
Photo from one year ago today, March 15, 2016:
 |
| The beautiful tree clusters created a pleasing scene for our photos at sunset in New Plymouth, New Zealand. For more photos, please click here. |