At Belswan Pinjarra we have an eclectic mix of residents from all walks of life and experiences.

Pinjarra residents Kevin and Kerry share some of their life story. How does your journey compare?

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In 1996 our two sons, then in their 20’s decided to take working holidays around Australia, the youngest, with two best friends and the older with his fiancé. We thought, why can’t we take off as well. So at 50 we sold our house and business. (Friends thought us quite mad, but what did we have to lose?) We still had a factory and the 10 acres in Toodyay and each other, so off we went in the caravan for ever how long it took.

What a wonderful year, and topping it off, we caught up with the boys on several occasions…the highlight being we had previously arranged to meet up in Kununurra and for the five of us to go on a 17 day camping trip doing the Gibb River Road experience…such a wonderful, magical time to share.

We returned home in 1997 after such a great time…our youngest son not returning for three years and the eldest and his fiancé returning also in 1997 to settle down.

We then lived in the shack in Toodyay while we literally built our house ourselves taking 6 months. Now, sort of retired, Kevin did volunteering work with the ‘Work for the Dole Scheme’, training those without skills to give them hope of a job, It was a great success in the Town, they disassembled a shearing shed on a farm and re-erected it in town as a tourist attraction and the trainees were so disappointed when Kevin left.

While there, I volunteered with Meals on Wheels and the Senior Citizens and also worked part time at a Doctors Surgery in Northam.

In 2000, our eldest son and his wife wanted a change, so asked if we were interested in buying a Caravan Park with them in Harvey…something we had thought about doing ‘one of these days’!

So we sold Toodyay, they sold their house, and we moved to Harvey. The younger couple also had part time jobs. We built the Park up to the point of having 28 Caravan Clubs, visit each year.

After 6 years we sold the Park in 2006 and both couples bought properties and settled in Harvey. Kevin then spent 12 months helping our son and his wife build their house in Harvey, as well as establishing our new house, keeping him out of mischief and I worked part time for a few years. We enjoyed 19 good years in Harvey…a lovely community and area.

We have travelled Australia over the years quite extensively and have a great group of friends with caravans sharing trips expanding over 40 years. We have also visited New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and spent an amazing month in China when our youngest son and his family worked and lived there (with our two wonderful grandchildren) and now they are in Wales, we have visited twice and sadly we must miss out this year.

In 2019, we thought it time to downsize, to have less maintenance and responsibility, giving us free time to do what we wanted… mainly travel again.

We visited many villages, finally deciding on Belswan Pinjarra…seeming the best by far and also halfway between family and friends in Harvey and the same in Perth.

We have now been at Belswan just over 12 months and feel it was the best decision we made and at the right time…finding a very welcoming and friendly community and are  hoping once Kevin is feeling up to it, to dust off the cobwebs and spiders in the van and get-away hopefully ‘sooner than later’.

 

Kevin & Kerry