JULIE AND PETER HUME ARE NOT ONES TO SIT AND WAIT FOR ANYTHING, EVEN A NEW HOME AT GEMLIFE PACIFIC PARADISE WHICH IS SOMETHING THEY ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO AND VERY EXCITED ABOUT.
Living life to the fullest every single day is what the couple strive to achieve, so instead of just twiddling their thumbs and waiting for their new home, due to be completed around October, they decided to head off to Spain and take a cruise to Norway.
“Peter, who is an architect, is still working so he had to take some time off to do the trip, but I’m recently retired. As we hadn’t travelled since Covid hit, I was very keen to spend some time overseas. Travel is, after all, one of our first loves,” said Julie.
Having visited Norway about five years ago and loving it, the couple decided to set off on a 22-day cruise, departing from Spain, and taking in Barcelona, around the coast, stopping in France and then sailing up to Norway and as far north as the Arctic Circle before heading back down the coast to Amsterdam.
“There were so many exciting things to do in Norway and cruising the fjords was just magic, as were the amazing sightseeing opportunities. We got off at every stop.”
Julie was extremely proud of her success at fishing for king crabs which are huge and because they are encroaching on the local Norwegian cod farms, people are encouraged to catch them without limitations.
“You aren’t allowed to throw them back, so we just had to eat these huge crabs which were delicious – there were no complaints from us,” said Julie.
Despite it being summer and daylight 24-hours a day, the couple were exposed to extremely cold temperatures wherever they went.
“We caught an inflatable boat up into the fjords one day and had to wear all this gear to safeguard against the cold. I looked like the Michelin Man,” laughed Julie.
“It was worth it though because we were able to hike up to the waterfall at Flam where there is also a scenic railway. It took some getting used to the continual daylight but I’m sure I’d prefer that to the six months of darkness they experience in winter.”
Julie said the couple enjoyed every moment of the overseas adventure and would do it all again in a heartbeat.
“We are interested in architecture, and I really love history. I could spend days in galleries and museums. We also love to do our own adventures which I call `Julie’s walking tours’ where we can stumble on things that are not on the tourism schedule. We always seem to get lost, but we have such fun doing it.”
Being back on Australian soil hasn’t slowed down either of our intrepid explorers. Peter is back at work and Julie has found a relatively new hobby in watercolour and fashion illustration.
“It takes a lot of focus, and I can lose hours undertaking the art with my teacher Kerry Hess, but the finished product looks amazing, and I’m hooked,” said Julie.
Peter and Julie are looking forward to settling at Gemlife Pacific Paradise, but they are determined they won’t be sitting around counting the hours or minutes before it happens.
“There are so many things to do both before and after we move into GemLife, including a host of half-finished craft projects I want to finish. Once we are in our new home, there will be even more activities and interests to pursue. Life is too short to waste time worrying about when things will happen. We just like to do them,” said Julie.