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Sydney-2011-farewell-Australia
Sydney-2011-farewell-Australia

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

This is not a travel blog just my personal photo collection

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia 

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

 Sydney 2011 farewell Australia is about my life changing event when on October 18 I left my home, friends, relatives and country to live in Thailand. I had two trips to Sydney in September & October and stayed with my cousin Debbie at her home in Balgowlah before jumping on a plane to Bangkok on October 18.

Dinner at Manly

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

I had many friends to farewell including Paul Slaughter and his lady Clode who was a flight attendant for Air Canada.

Richard aka 003 1/4

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

Richard & I have been friends since 1976 and had many great times together over the years. Obsessed with luxury cars and women on a scale far higher than I.

Richard’s latest jigger

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

From memory he also had a beautiful restored red E-Type jag at his Gold Coast home and a 911 turbo Porsche at his Sydney apartment. The Porsche he has owned since new in about 1977, it was fitted with some unusual modifications similar to some sort of secret agent. 🙂

1999

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

My home in 1999 and our two toys, Rick’s E-Type and my Mercedes Sports.

My brother Bryan

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

Lunch at Mosman with Bryan & Rick a couple of days before flying to Bangkok.

Old friend Peter Hesky

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

Another friend from 1976, (WOW! 40 bloody years) Sadly I don’t hear from Peter anymore, from what I’m told he has turned into quite a recluse and rarely ventures out of his home in Castle Cove.

Some well built lads here

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

Holly, Bolt & Al and not sure of the ladies name. We are at a very good Japanese restaurant opposite the Oaks Hotel.

Talking about the Oaks, here it is.

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

One of Australia’s great pubs, was my local for many years from 1977 to 1987.

My gorgeous niece’s

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

Drinks at my favourite pub with my favourite two girls, Elyssa & Laura.

Sydney Swans V Brisbane Lions.

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

Australian football aka AFL at the Sydney Cricket Ground, watching the game from Peter Hesky’s private box. 

Dinner with friends

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

Fortuna Court Chinese restaurant in Crows Nest has been a favourite restaurant for over 30 years, & I must say it has not changed one bit in that time. The guy I’m about to put to the sword is Warwick Robinson who I have known for over 30 years. He never did pay the ransom to me for not taking his life. 🙂

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

Leaving Australia was a huge decision, two major factors came into play when making the decision. First was purely financial, I had not worked since 1997 instead I travelled the world like a man possessed. Consequently I spent a huge amount of money in the process and I always knew it had to come to an end. My only regret was the timing of the Global Financial Crisis in 2007/8 which coincided with me needing to sell my home to pay off the huge mortgage created by my travels. My home took me 3 years to sell, had I have sold in 2006 I would have realized around $250K more than I finally got in 2011. Oh well them’s the breaks and I have no regrets because those years of travel were wonderful and irreplaceable.

The second reason for my decision to move to Thailand was triggered by the first. I found myself in a position where I could no longer live at the same level in Australia that I was accustomed to. However I could live to that level in Thailand which was only around 1/3 the cost of living in Australia.

It is now 2017 my 6th year living in Thailand and the move has turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. I plan to stay another 5 years before moving back to Australia to live out my final days. At the moment that’s the plan but plans can change. 🙂

Here is my view in Pattaya

Sydney 2011 farewell Australia

 

There are many people around the world who regularly criticize Pattaya, my message to them is simple, stay where you are because we don’t want you here.  Our stress free Pattaya life has no time to waste on the knockers and whiners, having said that thanks for visiting my Sydney 2011 farewell Australia photo blog.

           I’ll leave it to the late great Glenn Frey to explain how I feel right now.

     

                     Here are some more posts to check out                            

       

     Life 2015                     Family history                   Life 1982

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  Adelaide 1972                 Iron Bar Freddy               Sydney 2006

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Thailand 2008                Gold Coast Babes               World trip 2003

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             Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book
                  through these links below.  Book now & pay later.
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 That’s all folks
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Pattaya live webcam 
 
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 Soi Cowboy                  Nana Plaza                    Patpong

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 That’s all folks

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Counter only started June 16 2020.

Author: David Herd

My history, particularly over the last 30 years is dominated by overseas travel. I sold my home in Australia October 20th 2011 and have have been living in Thailand since then. I don’t know where the time has gone? It seems like you go to sleep one night, wake up the next morning, and 20 years have flashed by. Not sure how many years I have left, however I have enjoyed a wonderful charmed life, and if it all ended today I would leave this world with no regrets. I was born in Sydney halfway through the last century, started my travels in the 60s with the usual U.K. Europe adventure at the age of 20, back to Australia and worked in Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide in Sales & Marketing with multinational companies including Sanyo, Canon & Remington. Engaged to be married 3 times and never quite made it to the alter, finally realized by the mid 90s I was not cut out for "long term relationships" so I moved to the Gold Coast in Queensland in January 1987, worked for a couple of banks as a Financial Planner, I took a year off work in 1998 to travel and never went back to full time work again, after 25 fun filled years on the Coast I packed up and moved to Thailand. What is the purpose of this blog? Well I really want to use it to record my travel experiences & to display my photographs, give and receive travel tips, comment on places I visit, restaurants I eat in and use it to replace the autobiography I intended to write, apart from all that it helps me fill in my day. :) I moved to Thailand mainly because I wanted to keep travelling while my health allowed me to, there are huge advantages being closer to all the places I want to visit. Cost of living in Thailand is around 35% of the cost in Australia, plus flights are 50% cheaper because you are much closer to everywhere. ???? Consequently I am able to travel to many more places compared to living in Australia. Having said all that, it is & has always been my intention to return to Australia when my travelling is finished, I predict this will happen around 2021.

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