When we bought our house in Southern France four years ago, we planned to spend half the year there, and the other half in the UK or elsewhere. We knew the area, having for 10 years owned a tiny apartment in a perfect position overlooking a private beach, where you could hear the sea lapping […]

Working in a profession that one is passionate about can be both a blessing and a curse. A fervent belief in the worth of one’s contribution while immensely satisfying, has the potential to become all consuming leaving little room for other activities such as hobbies and sports that may help fill the days when retirement […]

Betty Lou’s story is quite incredible.  She tells it in the third person and depicts the amazing highs and lows of life.  It reminds us of how suddenly life can change and how we need to be resilient to overcome sudden adversity.  How to pick ourselves back up and tackle the challenges of life in […]

Lunchtime the factory tea-room bustles with activity. Workmen rest and chatter, cutlery clinks, paper lunch bags rustle, steam escapes from the urn. ‘Hey, Bert, I’ve put your container in the microwave to warm up,’ shouts Tom to his mate. ‘You shouldn’t have, Tom.’ ‘It was no trouble.’ ‘It is for me mate, I’ve got salad!’ […]

Nancy Chapman shares one of the stories about her husband Mike who ventured far and wide within Australia and beyond.  We look forward to reading more of their adventures in the coming months.  Nancy is photographed with her grandson Luke. When his one month Holiday came due,   Mike decided to fly from Sydney to Wyndham, to […]

Fifty Five Plus is delighted to welcome Theresa Manning to share her financial expertise with us.  Theresa will write several article in the coming months. Perhaps you’ve heard of the term ‘crowdfunding’ being thrown around, but always thought it referred to some new-age kind of tech speak. Well, think again. Crowdfunding has gained massive popularity […]

  A sincere thank you for allowing me the privilege of gathering your stories and sharing them with hundreds of others each month. ‘Fifty Five Plus’ has a growing readership thanks to the interesting stories you have sent in.  I plan to return next year and I hope there will be a deluge of tales […]

  My husband Brian is an enthusiastic gardener, and very good at it. In between undergraduate and postgraduate studies he worked full-time as a gardener at his old college. When we first met he would tell stories about the exhilaration of physical labour in the depths of winter, and being able to eat two lunches […]