We follow the Sun

Like most older travellers Arthur and Irene Hancock from Fremantle in Western Australia are unapologetic sunseekers. When the cooler weather arrives in the Perth area, the couple is ready to hitch up its 19-foot Jayco Discovery and head up the coast. The booming town of Exmouth on the doorstep of the iconic Ningaloo Reef is their favourite destination.

"We've got a good group of people we know up there and we see them every year," says Arthur. "It's lovely having the company just there and we have some pretty lively happy hours and some great conversations. The fishing is normally good up there, too. We'll spend a couple of months up north and we just love it."

The Hancocks also like to spend a month or so each year in the increasingly popular southwest destination of Busselton, only a couple or hours or so south of where they live.

"It's a similar story," says Arthur. "We've found a nice park there and there is a group of us who always get together. It's just a good time. We like to spend at least a month there each year and just relax.

"I suppose one day we'll summon up the energy to head across to the east coast and do the big one but, for now, Western Australia seems to have pretty much everything we want.

"We've got things set up the way we like them now and there are a lot of things which just live in the van so we are ready to get up and go whenever we like. We just have to stock up the freezer and go. I just love being retired and if anyone is retired and unsure what to do with their time, I'd say 'just saddle up and hit the trail'. You won't regret it."

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