We Are Back!
After a long period of blog neglect and some time spent back in Australia off the boat, it is time to recommence our adventures on Red Roo.
So where have we been and what have we been doing?
After 10 years on Red Roo it was time to head back to Australia for several reasons;
1 – Health, Maree had some health issues that needed addressing (pleased to report after several surgeries and some time recovering all is now very well).
2 – Work, it had been many years since we had used our professional credentials and we wanted to revalidate them (make sure we still had what it takes to earn a dollar, dipping into the workforce every now enables us to leave options open for the future).
3 – Time & Money, we never planned on 10 years away, so in order to continue it would be sensible to do some work (above) and top up the bank accounts.
4 – Red Roo Upgrades, this enabled us to return to Red Roo last year and invest some money in her to do some upgrades before setting off again.
So, how it panned out was Maree left the boat in Croatia in late 2022 and headed back to Australia as she had secured work, and she got busy setting up a temporary home base.
Phil stayed on Red Roo whilst this was in progress and sailed her out of the Mediterranean through Italy & Spain to Gibraltar and finally onto Portugal where he hauled her out and prepared her for a long stay on land, before joining Maree in Australia. Stay tuned for more detail on this (Phil has promised to write a blog about this – so watch this space, but don’t hold him to a time to complete).
We worked a lot, worked hard and saved all our pennies. We both really valued the time working, we worked amongst some fabulous people doing great things, we learnt a lot (we had been gone a while) and we also contributed a lot due to our previous experience. It was really humbling to be taken back into the fold (our old company re-employed us – albeit at a different location) and it felt empowering to be accepted immediately back into successful professional teams in the mining industry. We made some new life long friends from work, and in our new little home town.
We were based in New South Wales, in the Hunter Valley, just 1.5 hours in from Newcastle (3.5 hours from Sydney) on the East Coast of Australia. Our time in Australia was wonderful and allowed us not only a break from the boat, but time with our families and friends.
Denman was where we lived, a small country town – we loved it. Over the back fence was a pony club (more kangaroos than horses), the local footy ground, a golf club (again, more Kanagroo’s and wonderful bird life), a short walk through the sports fields across the rail way track (just 1.5 km) got us to main street where the town consisted of; 2 pubs (opposite each other), a service station, a chemist, a butcher, a corner store, a small IGA supermaket, and the worlds best cafe – The Kookaburra. It only took 2 weeks of living there and we were friendly with the neighbours and had joined the local Lions Club. A group of amazing people we now call friends who did so much for the local community, it was a pleasure to be part of the club.
We also did several trips to Queensland & Victoria, and of course Tasmania, to see family & friends. We were also very lucky that many of our nearest and dearest also came to visit us in NSW (well, we were in the wine region of NSW and our loved ones love a drink!), some even came more than once along with some international guests from UK and USA! We are forever grateful for those who travelled to see us – thank you.
Then finally two years later in December 2024 Phil returned to the boat and started the work to get her back in the water and complete the upgrades. Maree continued to work until all this was done and we were finally ready to set off again.
Again, I will let Phil write in detail about the boat upgrades but very simply they included, upgrade to lithium batteries, solar upgrade, new battery management system, new radar and chart plotter. Most of this work was completed in Gibraltar which involved sailing from Portugal to Gibraltar to do the work, then taking off north again to continue our journey (back past Portugal) and further north. Once all was tested and confirmed in working order the call was made back to Maree – time to resign and get back to the boat.
In May 2025 our journey recommenced.
Read about it soon, as we catch you up via the blog, getting you up to real time.
So much to tell.
Red Roo 
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