The road wasn’t too busy as we cycled down the bike lane. Most semis, vans and cars giving us the newly regulated one metre clearance as they drove past us on Burns Beach Road. Not that I was paying particular attention to them, I was focusing more on staying well to the right of the white line and casting the occasional eye over the native bushland three metres or so to the left of us.
The highlight of our day was going to visit some long-time friends for morning tea. There’s no doubt that one of the advantages of house-sitting around WA is that we get to (temporarily) live close to all kinds of friends. In fact, at our previous stay we’d been only a stone’s throw from our daughter... which had led to more than the occasional morning tea!
This time round we are only a few minutes away from a gorgeous couple who became dear friends over twenty years ago when Steve and I physically built a kit home next door to them in Beverley (a rural town, just outside York in WA’s wheatbelt). And yes, I did say ‘physically built’! We put up the exposed beams, attached the Western Red cedar cladding, put down the slate floors, and everything in between… we did the lot! It still amazes me what we achieved… and the fact that the house is still standing!
Living in the country (on four acres), surrounded by wildlife, was so different from the life we have now. We haven’t been back though, not since we left twenty odd years ago, and I have little idea of how our house is fairing. Part of the reason we love catching up and reminiscing with old friends I guess.
These were the thoughts flowing through my mind as we cycled down the semi-main road.
Thoughts, suddenly interrupted as a wild kangaroo appeared from the nearby bushland, and hopped beside us for about half a kilometre before heading back into the bushland.
And, funnily enough, thoughts that were starting to resurface an hour or so later when an unexpected friend (a stranger to us, but friend of our friends) called in and interrupted our morning tea. Who was she? Believe it or not… the current owner of the house we built in Beverley! The person who is currently living under our exposed beams! On our uneven slate and behind our Western Red cedar!
Who’d have guessed?
Certainly not me.
I guess no business exists without cancellations. Although, for us, they can be a little bit more awkward than they are for other businesses - primarily because we can end up homeless!
In our time we’ve had a few (especially this year), but more recently I have to admit to being unsure as to whether I’m more amazed with the final outcomes or amazed that I’m amazed. After all, I’ve had enough synchronistic events in my life to know that they happen. But (during our time as house-sitters) getting a cancellation then all of a sudden finding out that somebody down the road needs a house-sitter for the exact dates that we’re free? What do you think the chances are of that happening? Once off would be a surprise. Twice might be too, but three times or more? What do you think the chances are? That has to be synchronistic, right?
Last month we suddenly found ourselves with a free ten days. So I went to the promotional house-sitting website we belong to and… believe it or not… just a few hours earlier somebody less than twenty minutes away had put up an ad saying they needed somebody for the exact same days! What’s more, they liked us and booked us almost immediately.
Then a few days later we got a cancellation for the majority of February! One that we still hadn’t been able to rebook by late January - primarily because nobody seemed to be going away for the same days. Chances are I could have covered the three weeks with a collection of bookings, but it would have meant a lot of moving and short stays. Not ideal and not particularly relaxing. Then when we only had a few days left, I decided a decision had to be made, and… all of a sudden, when I looked at the website… there was a new ad. Not only was it not that far away, for days that suited perfectly, but they liked us as well!
That’s just this year, too.
We did have a few cancellations last year (rebooked equally as smoothly! Thankfully!) but not two in two months. This is why we’re not taking bookings more than six months in advance. Whilst it’s reassuring to have homes booked a long way in advance, it does seem to increase the chances of cancellations and changed plans. Something we accept, but not something we’re keen on... for obvious reasons!
