Our Gap Year in Australia

Noreen Hynes  19^th Jan 2016

Updated May 2026

My husband and I retired in 2014. We live in Dalkey, County Dublin, Ireland. We decided that life is too short to spend too much time thinking about what we want to do in retirement.

Our daughter, who was living in Sydney, had given birth to our first grandchild in November 2013. She was expecting her second child the following July, so our decision was easy, and we did not hesitate to put our plans in place to travel to Sydney to be with her and her family. Our other two children, who were single at the time, are now grown up, both are married, and settled in Dublin. We applied for and received a subclass 600 visa, which entitles us to stay for 12 months.

Our two children came to the airport to wish us Bon Voyage. Seeing them hug each other as we mounted the escalator, waving goodbye, made me a little sad to be leaving them. There were some tears, but both of them visited us that year.

We checked all the logistics for the trip, including house, health, and travel insurance, and contacted a rental agent to rent our house. There were a few hurdles we had to overcome regarding housing and health insurance, but we managed to handle them with relative ease. Clearing out our house to make it ready for rental was not easy. I compromised and kept some of the items. I promised myself that when we return to Ireland in January 2016, I would do a more thorough clean-out. That never happened.

I suppose the decision to rent our home was not that difficult when we thought about it. It allowed us to declutter a little, and it brought home to us that we are now entering the fun time in our lives, when we can travel without a worry in the world. We could not let a few possessions stop us from enjoying life. I think a lot of people don't travel like we did because they feel tied down by their possessions, and that's a pity. We have no regrets, and I am so glad we took that trip.

If you don't want to leave your home, children, and grandchildren, that's fine, but don't wake up in 10 years when the grandchildren are no longer calling to see you, and you are no longer physically able to travel, and regret it.

Deciding to take a gap year in Australia has been one of the best decisions of our lives. My husband loved it there — the outdoor life suited him, and he spent most days playing tennis, cycling, swimming, walking, or taking our grandchildren to the beach and the park. Now he has a permanent tan and looks so healthy.

Rents are high there, so we could not have afforded to spend a year there without renting our home in Ireland. If you prefer to visit big cities and a few different countries rather than stay in one city and make it your base, then you can save yourself thousands of dollars by booking your accommodation with a home-stay company, Airbnb, or Booking.com. There are also websites where you can find cheap, comfortable accommodation with local families.

As Irish people living in Coogee for a year, we knew we needed to take part in some activities because we had free days when we would not be minding our grandchildren. I went to the local library in Randwick and saw an advertisement for various classes, including drawing, creative writing, and yoga, so I joined and met some lovely Australians. I also got involved in the book club, but their sessions clashed with yoga, so I could not attend consistently. I met lots of people of different nationalities in the different classes. They were all very nice and friendly, and together with my co-writers in the creative writing group, we produced and published a book of short stories and poems. That started me on my writing journey.

We did lots of travelling during our time there, including visits to Melbourne, Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Bluey's Beach, Bali, and Perth, where we visited several tourist places including Margaret River, Rottnest Island, and Fremantle — and I held a koala in my arms. Before we left Australia in January 2016, we flew over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and I did a skydive in Cairns after my husband took me up on a comment I made that I would love to do it while looking at a window at a skydive booking office. He said, "Go on, book it now before you change your mind" — and I did just that. I hardly slept that night, thinking about jumping out of a plane at 14,000 feet the following morning, even though I would have a guide. Not bad for an over-60 gran.

Noreen taking a skydive in Cairns, Australia, in 2015

This gap year, which sadly drew to a close, gave us a lot of confidence to continue our travels — something we could not do when we finished university in the mid-seventies. We have traveled every year since our trip to Australia, and since then, I have continued to write.

The big day for our departure came, and we found it very hard to say goodbye to our daughter, her husband, and our two wonderful grandchildren. We left all our possessions in storage in case we decided to return for another year. We flew back through Los Angeles and spent a wonderful week with my first cousin, Jack Wallace, in Laguna. He was a very gracious host. We never returned to Australia, and a year later, our daughter and family returned to Ireland. They now have three children and live in Wicklow town.

We now have five grandchildren, and our lives are full of travel and visits to our children and grandchildren.

First published in Starts at 60 in 2016 and updated in 2026.

Noreen Hynes B.Comm, FCA is a Chartered Accountant, retired CEO, and serial entrepreneur with 40 years of financial experience. She is the author of the award-winning Start-Up Checklist for Success and the forthcoming Rich Start: The No-BS Money Guide for Your 20s. She writes on AI, economic policy, and personal finance at noreenhynes.com. Follow her @noreenhynesauthor.