Autobiography of Nigel Gordon Nicholson
Chapter 4
2000 - 2004
Late 2000 saw us leave Perth and come back to Exeter in England for a few months, still deciding what to do. I had ceased working full time for the car rental company. A recession was affecting Australia too, and my employer Phil had downsized the business, getting rid of a branch that had a big mortgage and too costly to run. The business was now fully operational with better software for car rental agreements, so one operator could issue agreements more quickly and virtually work twice as efficiently. All the end of day reports etc were the click of a few buttons, not a laborious addition with a calculator etc. I had studied and implemented a full car rental program based on Microsoft Access, which was no mean feat for a beginner. It was all the company needed and used from its implementation around 1998 right up until Phil sold the business in 2016. Every car rental agreement ever issued, every customer etc. was retrievable at the click of a button. Improvements to the company meant Phil did not need to continue employing me full time and I was happy to take an 'as needed' consultancy role for anything as needed, say 1-3 days a week.
So we were back in UK at the end of 2000 for several months, for a short time we thought we might even settle in Spain, but a visit to our chosen areas did not result in taking that idea any further. Our UK property was being managed by an agent, so that did not occupy much of my time. It occurred to us we still liked Australia, and I still had a visa to stay for another 2 years. Obtaining extensions to a 'temporary' visa was not straightforward, but we had a visa until around mid-2003. Bear in mind too, that the cost of living in Australia was much cheaper than UK at that time. I could also still do some consultancy work for Phil. So in June 2001, we went back again. We rented a very nice 4 bedroom detached house with a pool and double garage for around $220 Australian a week, about £80-£85 a week at that time. Other prices were cheap, I leased a new car for 2 years at not much over £100 a month. Overall it was relatively cheap to live there. My consultancy income was supplemented by the fact I was now making a profit in my property portfolio so we were comfortable. However, over the ensuing years, things changed remarkably. The British Pound at one point was worth nearly 3 Australian dollars, that dropped to around 1.50 in later years, at the same time prices were going up. My house at $220 a week went up to say $400 rent a week, at 1.50 Australian dollars to the GBP, works out at over £250 a week, or 3 times what it was costing a few years before.
The next 3 years were relatively easy for me. I had a day or two here and there in the car rental business. We had our 2 young daughters, they were around 6 and 9. In the warmer months, we would be in the pool daily, when the girls came home from school or at weekends. Also at weekends, we could have days out, to large public pools with water slides etc, the girls thoroughly enjoyed it, as Linda and I also did. Perth has plenty of spacious suburbs with parks and cycle tracks. Flocks of wild parrots were common.
However, I also wanted a hobby to fill my time. I had pondered on learning to fly a plane, it was very expensive in UK. However, at that time in Australia, with a good exchange rate and relatively cheap prices, the cost of learning to fly was under half what it would have cost in UK. So around August 2001 I took my first flying lesson in a Cessna 152. There is a fair amount of study involved too, for various exams, including such things as Radio Communication, Navigation, Human Factors, Air Law, Meteorology etc. I went on a full-time 2 week course as well as a lot of study and practice at home. I flew solo for the first time at around 16 hours, and by the time I had around 25 hours in my log book I took a GFPT a " General Flying Progress Test" and after passing that I was entitled to fly either solo or as Pilot with passengers, within a defined area that I was familiar with. The second phase of the course was done in a larger plane, a 4 seater Cessna 172, with the emphasis on navigation. In summary, the first phase of learning is how to actually start, taxi, and fly a plane and get it back to base, the second phase is being able to fly the plane while reading maps, set further instruments in the plane etc, to enable the pilot to plan a route to a different destination, fit in with any other arriving traffic, and land the plane. Not long after I qualified in Januarry 2003, my club had organised a trip to Melbourne, a distance of 2,700 kilometres, about 14 hours flying. I said I would like to go, but stated "Only if you can put me with an experienced pilot who is aware I have only just qualified". So I arrived at Jandakot Airport ready for a first light takeoff. Our first leg was to Kalgoorlie about 600 kilometres, a 3 hour flight. I was Pilot In Command ( usually called P1). We got airborne and as always, there is a bit more to do in the early stages of flight so we were both concentrating. However, as we relaxed into the cruise, and conversation became a bit more casual, my co-pilot said he had only qualified 2 weeks before and this was his first flight since. That made my heart rate go up, I thought I was with an experienced pilot! However, although it was quite intense, with a lot of flight planning and very little time for any sightseeing, we successfully made it to Melbourne and back. After that, I did further trips going down South or up to the North, usually with other pilots or friends as passengers sharing costs.
In 2003 I applied for another visa, but was reminded that temporary visas are just that, and there is no automatic right of renewal. I did not have grounds to stay as a resident. In conversation with Immigration, I said how difficult it would be for my family if I was ousted at a couple of months notice, due to schooling etc. So I 'negotiated' another year but was gently informed not to request any further stays. So that was it, we had to plan to return to UK. However, we had ample time to organise the move, and find a house to rent in Sidmouth, and we moved back in 2004. I had decided on Sidmouth to live, thinking it would be easier for my daughters' schooling, and a pleasant area and a short walk into town. We rented for about 8 months, while looking to buy a property, which we bought and moved into in early 2005. My property investments were beginning to pay off, and with a bit of financial planning, I was pretty much able to support my family from my property income.
I had a full review of my property during 2004, as I had not visited some of them for a few years due to my time away. It was clear some needed upgrading one way or another, e.g. a new bathroom or update a kitchen etc. I made a program to update as needed and as time and funds permitted over the next couple of years, I organised the works, often doing the plumbing etc, working in with carpenters or other trades as needed.
However, what I had not considered, certainly not to any degree, was how things would develop over the next several years.
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Chapter 1 - 1951-1985
Chapter 2 - 1986-1990
Chapter 3 - 1990-2000
Chapter 4 - 2000-2004
Chapter 5 - 2004 onwards
