Ron and I met through an Australian online dating site in 2007, and from that moment, there was a spark, a tingle of excitement, one that has lasted to this day. (You can read about my adventures and how I landed on Australia’s shore in my memoir, No More Cups of Tea.)

     Born in Glasgow in 1951, Ron grew up in a challenging environment, this meant he knew how to look after himself. It was only through his tales of Glasgow’s Saturday night clashes that I became aware of how volatile the city was.

     In his early twenties, Ron sailed to South Africa, where he worked for two years before returning home to Scotland. Unable to settle, he left for Australia in 1982, arriving in Victoria before settling in Perth, Western Australia.

     When we first met, Ron had plans to travel overland to Scotland by motorbike.

     And that was our connection. I wanted to travel too.

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     I celebrated my sixtieth birthday in September 2008, and became eligible for my UK pension, a regular income to bolster my savings. It meant that if I wanted to, I could retire.

     At the time I held a management position with an international road surfacing company, overseeing three teams of men, totalling thirty in number. The job was tough, the men tougher and, being a woman in a man’s environment, I had to be able to stand up for myself. Road surfacing crews followed the good weather; from Broom and the Gibb River Road in the north through the months of November to February, storms permitting, down to the wheatbelt of Western Australia from March to September. It was a 24/7 job, finding accommodation, ensuring equipment and products were in the right place at the right time.

     The thought of no more work, of being a lady of leisure, had its attraction, but after such a busy work life, I wasn’t sure I could handle doing nothing all day!

     Ron had suffered a workplace injury and, following surgery, could only carry out light duties.

     One evening in October, we were watching a television travel programme about South America. ‘That’s where I want to go,’ I exclaimed as a shot of Iguazu Falls appeared on the screen.

     ‘Then why don’t we? There’s nothing to stop us, now you’re a pensioner!’ he exclaimed with a grin.’

     And that was how the germ of an idea started; a chance to travel, to see the world and to share the experience together.