The age for a mid-life crisis is listed on one website as occurring between the ages of 40 and 60, and I am well past that! So, that is a relief, but it doesn’t mean I’m safe. And this is the ‘project’ I was working on while Mick was in Japan.

I have taken the odd step to write a post (or maybe a few) about something that is going on in Mick’s and my life at the moment that does not fit with the usual ‘topics’ of housesitting, travelling or wine tasting.

But I definitely believe it can be classified as an adventure. Although, our children might describe it using another word. Madness!

I have to make a small confession first, and that is that I am not a very patient person. Once I get an idea about something, and Mick would say I get way too many ideas, I spend a lot of time examining options, researching information, checking our finances if the idea is going to involve spending money (and it always does), before I convince Mick that it is a good idea.

I certainly married the right guy, because after more than 50 years since we first met in high school, he is usually willing to let me have my way. This photo was taken in our first year of university in Armidale – and neither of us knew how lucky we were.

For the past 20+ months, Mick and I have been waiting for an apartment we bought off-the-plan to be built in Brisbane. We have been told that it is getting very close to being finished, but we still don’t have an actual completion date, let alone a move-in date.

I did mention that I am not very patient didn’t I?

Well, this waiting has tested me. I have spent a lot of time searching online for items for our new home, while resisting to buy too much until we are “in”. And, sometimes this ‘searching’ has led me in unusual directions.

One direction was “Electric Vehicles” or EVs.

We have test driven a Polestar 2. Twice. And, loved it. But, we cannot get information about access to power in our soon-to-be underground carpark which would allow us to charge an EV. I believe that from this year, all new apartment ‘builds’ in Queensland must have charging points for EVs. But does ours? We do not know. Can it be retro-fitted? We do not know. So, I just have to be patient.

There will be more electric cars appearing on the market in the next 12-24 months which will give us a better range from which to choose. We have both agreed we do not want a Tesla – something to do with Elon Musk I’m afraid. And even if we picked an EV we wanted, the waiting list can be up to 12 months. The latest EV from Renault has caught our interest as well. It is made in France (which we love), and it will include some revolutionary (currently 300+ innovations under patent) designs for electric cars. So, we will wait for its release later this year, before we make a firm decision about what to buy.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t come up with other ideas, or indeed, haven’t come up with other ideas.

As we can’t purchase an electric car just yet, I started to investigate other options and found this article about the Fonz Arthur 2 . I did some further research and found that the company selling these electric scooters / mopeds is Australian, started by a women after she returned from riding bikes around somewhere exotic in the world. She initially designed and made electric motorcycles (the NKD to be precise), and then turned her mind to mopeds. The only downside for us, is that they are made in Asia (as most retailers tell you), while really meaning China!

This photo caught my attention as it looks a lot like a Vespa. Stunning!

After our first trip to Italy in 2009 I really wanted a Vespa, but told myself I was an idiot. But while Arthur looks like a Vespa, it is 100% electric. And for some reason I am no longer listening to my inner self.

I found a distributor for these electric ‘scooters’ in Tewantin, just 10 minutes from where we are currently living with our son and daughter-in-law, and convinced Mick we should go and take a closer look, plus take a test drive.

During our introductory session with Darren (the salesman) in early December last year, he explained how Arthur works. I had read that we would be able to ride the Arthur 1 (the smallest of the models) without requiring a motorcycle licence (in Queensland anyway – but this is not true for all states). But Darren explained we could also buy the Arthur 2 (which is more powerful) but have it fitted with a restrictor to make it also qualify as a moped not requiring a motorcycle licence.

We spent a few days ‘thinking about’ purchasing an Arthur 2. And, funnily enough, “we” decided we would order one. One just like the photo I saw online – Moon Blue with a vegan leather seat in a colour called ‘Sand’.

We paid a 10% deposit in early January and then went back to visit Darren for a second look and a second test ride. This time we were both much better.

I even got the indicators under control on the second ride.

I then had another good idea which Mick agreed with as well. And that was that we should both do the two-day compulsory course for anyone in Queensland wanting to get their motorcycle licence. The course is called Q-Safe and Q-Ride.

After quite a few emails and phone calls, we have been enrolled into a two-day Q-ride pre-learner course, where will not only learn about the rules of the road, but we will learn how to ride a ‘real’ motorcycle – a 125 something or other. This will happen in just over a week, which should be in plenty of time for Mick to recover from his trip to Japan.

Now all we are waiting on is Arthur!!!