Graham has a small folding electric bicycle which he uses when he’s camping, usually to go to any shops that may be nearby rather than lugging it all the way home on foot. My first time riding an electric bike and I did not know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised and might even have to move from analogue to digital.
I’m actually contemplating on purchasing one, however I think that the cost will be the deciding factor.
The feeling of being pulled along as you go up a hill with minimal effort is just weird. Some strange force, maybe it’s the hand of god?
Very cold here last night, but slept OK. The sun is shining, however there is no heat which is no bad thing really because it won’t be long until we are all complaining about how hot it is.
Graham drove to one of the national parks, I forget the name but it’s hard to forget the view that you get along the coast. It’s simply stunning, the seas crashing on the rocks as they have done for millenia have made for some interesting shapes.
Fish and chips to follow for lunch, a crumbed piece of Barrimundi with a beetroot salad…. How exotic.
Left Forster this morning and took the scenic route south to get to Bateau Bay to catch up with Graham and Sandy. I stopped off at Seal Rocks and then walked up to Sugarloaf Lighthouse which sits on a headland between two very beautiful beaches. It was cold but the sun was shining and the sea and the sky wore matching blue in contrast to the white sands.
The beaches were popular this morning and many had braved the waves, I on the other hand was wrapped up as I strolled the last 2km to the lighthouse.
It’s a lovely part of the coast and well worth the visit, although I still can’t understand why you come here to just lie on the beach to grow skin cancers.
When I got back to the car is was time to set sail for Bateau Bay.
I came through here last year and stopped for the first time and that was to catch up with Val and I thought to myself then that if I had the chance I would come here again and stop to explore. I arrived yesterday and this morning I headed out to stroll along the ever changing coast line. This morning was also blowing a gale, apparently the winter is trying to come back, a last final hurrah before spring is here to stay. The wind was cold and it was not long before my specs were covered in salt spray from the crashing waves. Lovely to watch.
I tried to capture the waves crashing into the harbour entrance but to no avail. Crossing the sand was giving my ankle quite the workout and it began to complain slightly but as I stepped back on solid ground all was well.
Between the beaches there are steep headlands which give you commanding views of the coast. At one point I got an escort from a Bush Turkey before he took off into the undergrowth.
It’s a pretty part of the world, however the local old population world drive me utterly insane with the level of their driving skills. They are so slow, hesitatant and they can not park in a car space perpendicular, most of the time there not even between the lines and to make matters worse some bastard took a chip out of my rear offside door and looking at the damage they have opened their door with no due care and consideration…. BASTARDS!!!!!
Left home around 8:30 this morn and headed for Forster, which is 648km away. I was going to buy gas at Coffs Harbour but they had run oot and so I had to switch to petrol for the last 200km.
I pulled off the motorway at Urunga for lunch but it seemed to be on holiday and after a 5 min wander around the town centre I jumped back into the Ford and carried on till I reached a service centre and stopped for caffeine and a chicken wrap. Definitely hit the spot, first food I’d eaten since breakfast.
I got to my motel at 5pm and bought a few supplies at Woollies and then Schezuan chicken for tea, retired to my room and took it easy…. I’ll explore a bit more in the morning.
The sun was shining as usual, it’s now spring and they are predicating more sun and more sun and very little rain which suits me just fine. I got on my bike gear, old business shirt, new hat, long socks, and gloves and filled in the gap on my legs with factor 50. I look like some old guy riding his bike and I guess I am.
Sunday mornings are always the best time to venture out on the bike and the earlier the better, but for me 8.30 am was just fine. In my head I had an idea where I wanted to go; but I knew that there were many hills to overcome which of course my cycling app refused to count for some reason, but I know that the total climb of all the hills is more than 47 m and my legs are testament to that. When I got off the bike and walked up the stairs it felt as if I was dragging a dead body.
I usually do this run anti-clockwise but today I went clockwise and I think that is a bit more challenging the way the hills work out. But after some lunch and a quick siesta out on the day bed I feel remarkably fresh, although I’ve still got a shower to look forward to.
I’m heading to Sidney this week, another road trip and looking forward to it. I’ll catch up with friends along the way and do a few walks in the lower Blue Mountains this time. Looking through the Alltrails app it seems that there are many to choose from and fairly long at that. Due to the lack of rain I might be able to walk the Glenbrook Gorge which can only be done in the dry season and I haven’t walked it for over twenty years and so hopefully that will be on the cards.
I went down to Sydney this time last year but didn’t manage to see everyone but I think everyone is in town so it looks like I’ll be wining and dining a few times…..
Still working around the house, made a step for the retaining wall which is long overdue and continued the painting of the front fence. I definitely think that the Woodland Grey paint looks so much better than the Cottage Green, it just seems to give it a more classy look…….the green was always a bit too cheap looking and a bit too loud also.
We hear a lot these days about Mental Health and I guess at some time or another you will succumb. As I reflect about my own life I can now see certain times where I certainly wasn’t the full quid, and I’m sure there are a few that would say I’m still not the full quid. However when I compare my mental health as of today, then it’s way healthier than this time last year or for that matter a couple of months ago.
At the beginning of last year the rains came and just did not stop. There was flooding in many parts of the country, in all the usual places but the rains were so persistent that the devastation it caused was catastrophic. Ipswich flooded too, but the flooding was different to the 2011 floods which was caused in some respects by the dam operators not controlling the water releases and then they had no choice but to let it go causing extensive damage, my house had close to 3 meters of water through according to reports.
The court case took 12 years to resolve and when the rain came last year it brought back all the same emotions that surfaced in 2011. My mental health was not good. I really struggled and I just wanted to run away, anywhere would do. My house did not flood this time but the garden got a bit of water through it. You feel as if you are falling into a pit of shit with no way out.
I put the house on the market, a knee jerk reaction in hindsight. Who was going to buy the house knowing that flooding was a possibility, although a minor one at that.
I still have the dilemma of what to do with the house in the future. As I said my first thoughts were to sell up and buy in Rockhampton, which is something that I am sure will happen but I don’t think that time is now. My worry is the house insurance increasing to a point where it is too expensive to insure against flood and of course that will put the hems on selling it, if flood insurance is unaffordable I might be stuck here for good.
Driving the school buses has just about destroyed my will to live and it was turning me into a lethargic miserable bastard that felt was killing time before the grim reaper came a calling, I gave it away and told them that for my sanity and my Mental Health I need a break. I will never go back to doing that amount of driving again for them; mind you if they are stuck I will help them out from time to time with a day here and a day there. I feel so much better not being there. I’m free! I do want to work though, and intend to get a job as it would help the hip pocket.
So for the last two months I have been working around the house, getting jobs done that need done if I want to sell. I’ve had the retaining wall fixed, that was $6500. The paint for the house so far has cost $400 but the labour for that has been free, all done by me and it has been great therapy. I am not a fan of painting but I have enjoyed painting the house and doing something useful and seeing a result at the end of the day, honest work where you work hard and sleep like a log at night. I’ll move on to the garden and do a few more repairs and then do a bit of landscaping…..make it look all pretty.
On a side note…..I signed up to YouTube Premium and the best part of this is that I can listen to unlimited music. Just like Spotify, YouTube Music gives me access to just about anything I want and I have been using that way more than watching videos and so I have been blasting out all sorts of wonderful music over the last few weeks…….Good Mental health therapy……….
I finished the high sections of the house last week and everything else can now be done at ground level apart from two downpipes where a small ladder will suffice. I feel that the pressure is off slightly and so for the last two weeks I have been going for long walks around the Ipswich city centre. There are many hills here and walking around many of the old streets is rather enjoyable and so I get up early and start around 7.30 am in the cool of the day. One reason for this is to strengthen my ankle and ligaments that I damaged at Petra, I still wear the compression bandage at night but I can feel that it is very close to being back to 100%.
Just when everything is cruising along hunky dory like, I get the news that I have a BCC (Basel cell Carcinoma) a very common cancer but if left untreated could be an issue. That sobers you up and puts life in focus real quick. Not good for your Mental Health. And so with all this in mind I am currently living my life as if I am retired, although I don’t have the bank balance to retire and I’m currently on the Brew which at least keeps the food and roof over my head.
The running costs of the house apart from insurance are cheap and the house is comfortable. It’s insulated and I like it and it’s easy to maintain…..usual story, if I could take the house to Rockhampton I would be very happy. And so with all this in mind and trying to get me shit together and focus on what to do in the coming months, and I think I might just be coming to a conclusion.
And what does that look like? Well I will go home at the beginning of the year and try to get another Chinese visa and return to china for two years. Rent the house out, surely the insurance shouldn’t rise too much while I’m away and if it does then I’ll put it on the market and sell it while I’m in China and then come back after two years and buy in Rockhampton.
And of course I can only be enthused by the words of Rabbie Burns to realise that no one knows what is around the corner and to just get on with life, these words are taken from one of my favourite poems “To a Mouse”
“The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men Gang aft agley,”
Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie, O, what a pannic’s in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, Wi’ bickering brattle! I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee, Wi’ murd’ring pattle!
I’m truly sorry man’s dominion, Has broken nature’s social union, An’ justifies that ill opinion, Which makes thee startle At me, thy poor, earth-born companion, An’ fellow-mortal!
I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve; What then? poor beastie, thou maun live! A daimen icker in a thrave ‘S a sma’ request; I’ll get a blessin wi’ the lave, An’ never miss’t!
Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin! It’s silly wa’s the win’s are strewin! An’ naething, now, to big a new ane, O’ foggage green An’ bleak December’s winds ensuin, Baith snell an’ keen!
Thou saw the fields laid bare an’ waste, An’ weary winter comin fast, An’ cozie here, beneath the blast, Thou thought to dwell- Till crash! the cruel coulter past Out thro’ thy cell.
Thy wee bit heap o’ leaves an’ stibble, Has cost thee mony a weary nibble! Now thou’s turn’d out, for a’ thy trouble, But house or hald, To thole the winter’s sleety dribble, An’ cranreuch cauld!
But, Mousie, thou art no thy-lane, In proving foresight may be vain; The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!
Still thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me The present only toucheth thee: But, Och! I backward cast my e’e. On prospects drear! An’ forward, tho’ I canna see, I guess an’ fear!
Finally got out on the bike and gave my modified bike helmet a try and I like it, however if you go too fast then the large brim acts like an aircraft wing and you have to fight to keep your head down… Then again I don’t tend to ride that fast these days, I’m just happy to plod along and stay upright 😁
Ipswich has many hills and although I did under 20km my legs feel as if they have had quite the workout and so it’s going to be pizza for lunch 😜
The trestles are finally packed away back in the shed which is good news. I’m not finished the painting yet, I’ve still got the downpipes to do and after I clean the deck I’ll also paint the pipework under the deck. It’s quite fiddly but I think the end result will be worth the effort.
I bought a new circular saw yesterday as I have a few lengths of hard wood that need cut and although my wood hand saw is sharp I thought I’d move with the times and it’s an excuse to have some retail therapy 🤗
I’m going to start on the garden shortly and part of that project will be to repair and modify another section of the retaining wall that’s looking a bit sad. I didn’t get the guys to fix this part as I think I have the grunt to fix it, I guess I’ll soon find oot.
Oh I forgot that the front fence still needs painting, I’ve put on one coat on one section and it’s come up fairly well. Hopefully two coats will be enough.
The tree I planted about eight years ago has actually flowered this year and I still have no idea what kind of tree it is , however the birds don’t seem to care about that but they do like the flowers…
