I’ve been getting out and about on the bike lately because I have plenty of time and of course the weather has been quite good even although we are heading into winter.

The other day I went out to Dumaresq Dam, but it was a cold and windy day and not very nice once I got there and so today I thought I would challenge myself again by going to Dangars Falls which is a bit further out.

What I didn’t realise of course was that I would have to cycle on a gravel road for half the journey and I nearly turned round but as I had no where else to go so I decided to carry on.

Riding on the gravel road was challenging and a little bit dangerous at times due to the ruts and the thick layers near the side of the road which I went into a couple of times and I nearly came off. My arse wasn’t very happy either.

When I reached the falls I went for a short walk to the lookout and was not surprised at the trickle of water running over. Because of the drought everywhere is dry. You’re up a fair height when you’re at the top of the falls and if your lucky to be here when it’s in full flow it’s very impressive.

After half an hour I got back on me bike and headed home. Leaving the car park and climbing the first hill was not easy, I had to stay out the saddle and work the bike up the hill and at the same time try not to spin the wheels.

The gravel road didn’t seem to be as long on the way back and I soon reached the turnoff for home after coming through this wonderful colourful honour guard. As I turned onto the main road I also got a very strong head wind which was the last thing I needed. 10 kms home and every one covered was at quite a high cost. My energy was being whittled away and my legs were feeling the full effects. As I climbed the last hill home I was in the lowest gear, head down and thinking of food and before I knew it the house came into sight and I could get off me bike.

I enjoyed the ride, but it was nearly four hours and my arse was happy to get off the saddle and my stomach was glad to get some food.

Procrastination will lead to disappointment I fear and that has been brought home recently due to Covid 19. How many folk were gonna do something, go somewhere, try something new and now can’t. We never know what is around the corner and this has been driven home to all of us with a huge dose of virus. It could of course be a lot worse, most of us are just merely inconvenienced and will make it through this, but many will die and end their days.

For me I tried to shake myself out of this behaviour a few years ago and it’s really because two very good friends died within a very short space of time and they had the money to do lots of things but instead always put things off until tomorrow and as we know tomorrow never comes.

Jan died on the 21^st Feb 2013 on the way to work, she skidded broadside into a truck and that was it. I’d know her since I was about 20 years old. It was such a shock and incredibly sad for those she had left behind. She was only 48 years old………her husband Greg died of Leukaemia the following year.

I miss Jan a lot, she had been my one true friend here in Australia that I could talk to about anything, even those dark secrets you keep hidden from most. The loss I felt was palpable and it threw me off kilter for some time but it also set into motion a series of events that allowed me to face some of my fears.

I was not working and I didn’t really care all that much, I had a few bob in the bank and I was happy to sit on the dole and just chill for a bit. I then thought that this would be better done overseas and I headed off to Malaysia where I sampled some of the best food ever. I jumped on buses to get from A to B and it was great. I reached Penang in the north and then I jumped on a short flight to Guilin in China, the beginning of a month long adventure which was to wet my appetite for more. After China I went to Cambodia to meet my friend Pete and then we both headed to Singapore for a few days before returning to Australia.

I got back around July I think, I’d been away for a few months. Judy sent me a Facebook link for Teach In China, advertised as a cultural exchange agency where they would introduce you to a school in China, organise the accommodation and it was all free………….all you had to do was get to Shenzhen and Isabelle would meet you and look after you.

I called Kevin on Skype for an Interview. Kevin was not what I expected, he was this wiry, nervous drug dealer kind of guy and he had a generous glass of red in his hand when he came into view………it was only 10 am UK time when I called. I knew there and then that this was a dodgy scheme but if Kevin could get me a visa to China and give me the opportunity to see somewhere new I was up for it.

We chatted for at least two large glasses of red and then said our goodbyes. I got my letter of introduction within a few days and sent off for my visa and before you know it I was jumping on a plane heading to Shenzhen where I met Isabelle, who was also a dodgy individual. From the start I knew I had to be on guard with this lot but it was an experience that I was up for.

I was going to a city in the north of China, I can’t remember the name, but guess what? Change of plan and instead of heading north I’m heading east to Chenghai which is a district of Shantou, near the Tropic of Cancer. This was not what I was expecting, instead of a nice new metropolis I had ended up in a backwater with filthy chaotic streets running with people and rats.

I was well out my comfort zone, I have never been a fan of kids and here’s me now working is an English Teacher for bed and board in a place that is well off the tourist trail, mind you it is the toy capital of China. I met a few other foreigners there, Angelika who was working there was a breathe of fresh air. I stayed for 6 months, the length of my visa and headed to India before returning to Australia.

In 2015 around May I got a call from an old friend asking me if I wanted a job for a year with Bondor, I said yes and then started to plan for my next trip which was for July 2016 when I gave up work, rented out the house and went for a wander and once again I ended up in China where I have been for the last three years.

I would have still been there if it had not been for this bloody virus, I was planning to go to the west of China this month and I’m kicking myself because I didn’t go last year…………………and why was that? Procrastination……………..I rest my case and now I’m back in Australia stuck in lock-down.

Lock-down is not all that bad, it can give you an opportunity to break routines and do something new or if you think it about it, bring to the fore the thought of what happens to your choices if you don’t take the chance when you can. Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today, money is not the be all and end all in life and experience can stay with you longer and can be more refreshing and rejuvenating. Start planning today for your freedom and take a step out of your comfort zone for a change, go somewhere new, push yourself and live a little………

Today we managed to go for a short bush walk to a place called the Blue Hole, I’m not sure if I’ve been here before but I’ll be honest it does not look familiar.

It was maybe twenty minutes or so to drive there and we surprised that it was quite busy and we met a few others as we walked the six km route. There were a few birds out and about and we even managed to capture a glimpse of two kangaroos, although they were a bit far away for the camera to capture.

It is an easy walk and if you come to Armidale then I would recommend coming here as I’m sure if you go off the trail you would be able to explore a lot more down in the gorge. It was a nice way to spend o couple of hours.

Seven years ago this month I made my first trip to China and I was hooked, the culture, the food, the language and the people although sometimes I also found of all of this confronting and disgusting. China is full of surprises and it is really quite difficult to sum up this world power in a few words.

A few years before, I had met some Chinese friends and gained an interest in all things Chinese. Up until 2013 I have travelled throughout South East Asia but had never ventured to china because I thought it would be too difficult because of the language, the logistics but I was totally wrong. I had learned a few phrases of Chinese before I went there and they came in very useful and to my amazement I eased into my month long trip with no effort at all and was surprised at just how friendly the locals were to an old white guy and also how curious they were. Everywhere I went I was able to find someone that spoke English and if not I would have a laugh with the locals as we tried to understand each other.

I started my journey in Guilin which is in the west of China and then I headed to Xian, Beijing, Suzhou and then Shanghai. I have recently returned from Suzhou after being there for nearly three years. I want to return to China soon, but I now have more of an interest to go to the west of the country to the more remote areas and also to some of the city’s that don’t get advertised as often. In recent years I have found that my level of Chinese increases when I am away from the big cities, when there are not many English speakers and this for me is much more fun. I hope to return to China but I would love to spend time in another part of the country.

My understanding of China and its people has grown over the last few years and I now feel as if it is my second home to some degree, but I am also torn between there and Thailand which has always been my favourite destination. The difference between these two countries is striking but my heart is still with Thailand. I think I’m still too young to go there to live yet. I think I would like to spend another couple of years in China and then maybe I could retire to Thailand or at least spend a fair bit of time there. Australia has become too expensive to live in now but Thailand is still very affordable and is easier to adjust to than say living in China, plus the fact getting a visa for China is way more difficult. Thailand does encourage foreigners to retire there and so you can apply quite easily for this. The biggest problem with Thailand of course is the heat; it’s too bloody hot most of the year round. In Thailand I could have a more normal life and by that I mean I could afford to rent or buy there, buy a car and live in a country that is more environmentally aware and generally easier to live in as a foreigner.

In China I could teach English and make enough money to live, however it is way more difficult to do this in Thailand and this is really because the Thai people do not have the same amount of disposable income as the Chinese, so it would be hard to subsidise my living expenses: but I think Thailand in generally cheaper by comparison.

But I guess until all the travel restrictions are lifted I won’t be going anywhere and so for the time being at least I can make a few plans and then decide what to do when the time is right.

Well the sad news is, that I did not win the lottery this weekend which is disappointing to say the least……. But I will not be put off and I will try again next week when the prize pool is somewhat larger. At $4-30 a ticket I think that for the price of a coffee then I shall indulge once more.

Covid 19 has put paid to our plans and our normal everyday life for a while. It’s not all doom and gloom because circumstance and attitude can make each of us have a unique experience, however most folk are not enjoying it one bit. I am one of the luckier ones indeed.

I returned to Australia on the 15^th March and I came to stay with my sister and brother in law in Armidale NSW. The initial plan was for me to do my quarantine here and then I would head north to stay with a friend in Queensland. Shortly after my return the travel restrictions came into force and this has prevented me getting back to my home state, not that I am too bothered by that because I am enjoying staying with Catherine and Stuart and getting to know Armidale using Shanks’s Ponies every day.

Armidale is a small country town and the infection rate here is almost nonexistent but we still have to abide by the rules and so apart from the neighbourhood walks and trips to the shops we have not been anywhere at all. Yesterday however we managed to go for a run in the car and it was really good.

The travel restrictions have been eased slightly which is allowing us to go a bit further afield but not too far. Yesterday we went to Uralla and grabbed a coffee and then we went out to see the old church at Gostwyck where you normally see and abundance of colour at this time of the year. The surrounding elm trees were a little bit bare but the old church still retained a presence.

It’s a private church which was built in 1921 to the memory of Major Clive Collingwood Dangar who lost his life during World War I. The small wall was built to protect it from flooding from the nearby creek. I have come before when the elms were in full colour and the Virginia Creeper which covers the church was resplendent in red, but due to the current drought the trees have been put under immense pressure.

We all came here years ago with my Mum and so it holds a special place in all of our hearts. It’s a very famous landmark which draws folk from all over to admire this small family owned church which was constructed so many years ago sitting in such a wonderful location.

The weather turned cold today, the winter woollies are on and doing their job, although as usual my feet are cold. The overnight temperature fell to around 2c which was quite a shock. When I went out this morning it was around 8c but the wind was blowing a gale and it felt very fresh indeed. I still wore my shorts but upgraded my shirt and jacket to suit the brisk conditions.

Yesterday a storm came through and it brought with it cold weather from the south of the country, it’s brought winter to Armidale. On my walk this morning there were signs of its passage. Broken branches and leaves piled up under cars and in hedgerows and of course the trees are becoming more naked by the day. The sun was shining, but there was not too much warmth in the shade, the wind blowing against my body gave me a shiver but as usual my bare legs were feeling OK.

As I stroll along I often don’t have anything in particular to think about, I’m usually just looking around being a voyeur of life. I was listening to Don Letts on Radio 6, this morning he was getting in to some Reggae. The colours of the leaves are vivid and with the sun shining the combinations of light and shade coupled with smoking chimneys make winters arrival almost complete. I passed one house that was covered in solar panels, it was a huge array but it was facing east. Beside it there were more solar tubes which were for the hot water system and they were standing proud looking north. There was also a satellite dish on the roof which can only be for Austar TV which is owned by Foxtel.

Suddenly my mind jumped to another time, another place many years ago. At the start of this century I was living on the Gold Coast in Australia and I ended up working at Austar on the help desk in a call centre environment and it was by far the worst job I have ever had. It was soul destroying, both from a customer point of view and management. From the moment you arrive at work your time is monitored, everything you do has a time code and if you stay in one of those codes too long you get grief from the management. The constant complaining of customers was also a drain on the senses and put murder to the forefront of one’s thoughts.

I was in technical support and I had applied for a job on the Internet helpdesk but I got put onto the Pay TV helpdesk for 6 months and that was just purgatory. The team leader was a dope head, I can’t remember her name but she was a lazy bitch like most of the team leaders there. Very few gave a shit about their staff; they were just concerned about KPI’s and stats. So if you actually helped a customer then your KPI’s would look like shit , other “team members” would pick up a call and transfer it within seconds to make their KPI’s look better. If they could take 100 calls a day and help no one in the process then praise would come to them in gallons, if on the other hand you helped a customer resolve a problem your KPI’s would look like shit by comparison and you would feel the wrath of Khan. The whole system is skewed.

My blood pressure was up, I was angry, I was depressed, I was many things and I just wanted to leave but I had just bought a house and my budget was stretched to the hilt and I could not afford to leave. Money was so tight that one hiccup could have made my whole world collapse and so I desperately looked for another job and then one day I saw a job jump out of the computer with my name all over it. It was for a sales estimator in a drawing office with a company called Stratco. Long story short I got the job.

I got a start date and decided to use up all my leave with Austar, I got granted leave ok and off I went to celebrate. The new job started in just over two weeks so instead of handing in my notice I took my holidays that were owing to me. I had about two weeks leave left to take so that worked out perfect. I put in my notice that afternoon and told them that I would not be returning. I got a reply telling me that I would need to work one months notice and not two weeks as I had given them. I said nothing.

I returned to work after my break and got in a bit early so that I could speak to the supervisor Sasha and explain to him that I had a job and I was leaving. Sasha and I often argued but we respected each other and so this is why I went into see him as a courtesy. He told me once more that I would have to stay for two more weeks to see out my notice; I said that I will go home sick for two weeks.

He smiled and laughed and shook my hand and told me to clean my desk and wished me all the best and I left shortly afterwards.

Most days I go out for a walk and sometimes a distant memory reveals itself, triggered by my surroundings or maybe the music I’m listening to at that time. Memories can be wonderful and painful both at the same time but without them we would not be the person we are today; they have made us, moulded us and sometimes they can haunt us but we can control them and use them if need be. We have plenty time for reflection under the current circumstances and for me I’m glad to remember such terrible times because I can see just how far I have travelled since then. And life now is so much better…………

And so today I decided that I will win the Golden Casket Lottery on the weekend, it’s around $4 million Australian, which is just about enough to buy some fish’n’chips in the UK. Nevertheless even although the Australian dollar is pretty weak just now I’m thinking that I could still buy many things here and so as I was walking back from town I was preparing a list of what I think I should buy after the weekend, after the money has been deposited into my bank.

So what is on my list you may ask, well I think I would need to get a car of course because my old Ford is lying in a garage about 600 km’s from here and it is unregistered, so she is of no use to me just now. In the future I’ll hang onto her, and refurbish her to make her brand new once more and I want to do some of the work myself. A new coat of paint, a new gearbox and a complete engine overhaul and she will be ready for another 500,000 km’s.

I will also buy a few more cars in the down the track and I’m thinking of a 2.8 Injection Ford Capri if I can get one. An XD Ford Falcon, Daimler Double Six, XJ Convertible, Range Rover (as new as possible because a new one is around $450,000) A Daimler Coupe XJC,  Granada Ghia Coupe and a Bentley, possibly a convertible, but I’m not sure I’ll just have to see how I feel at the time and of course the price tag.

I will of course have to buy a house or two because I will need somewhere to keep all my cars, but where will I go. I’m in Armidale in NSW just now and I think I would buy a house here and maybe live here for a while until all this virus fiasco dies down, but I would also buy a place up in Queensland closer to my own home where I should be able to find a larger property for the million dollar mark which would be suitable for keeping my new car collection. But I would also like to have a small place near Brisbane city which should be possible without spending too much money. So I’m hoping that by the time I buy the three houses I will have spent no more than $2 million. I would love to buy the Range Rover sooner rather than later but I think I will buy a second hand Mazda or Hyundai in the meantime as a runabout.

Well that leaves me with around $2 million left and if I were to convert this amount into £’s then it would be around £1 Million currently. Most of the cars that I want come from home and so I will have to be in the UK for a while to source them and so I will buy a wee hoose somewhere, maybe in Kilbarchan or Bridge of Weir or one of the smaller places near Johnstone. Most of my friends still live in this area and it would be great to reconnect with everyone and at the same time base myself here for a few months and it looks like I would have to spend around £100.000 to find a nice wee place but that still leaves me plenty to buy my cars, but I’ll need to get them back to Australia.

Then again, I might have to rethink this through a bit more because I seem to spending money at a hell of a rate and before I know it, it may soon all be gone so I’d better hang on to a wee bit because I also want to buy a place in Thailand although I can only buy an apartment there because they do not allow foreign ownership of land. If I wanted to buy a house I would have to buy with a Thai national and they would own 51% and me 49% but I can buy an apartment no problem, but where would I buy?………..Good question………….so many wonderful places there and I can think of three places that come to mind. Number one would be Chiang Mai in the north of the country, number two would be Hua Hin in the south west and finally Nakhon Phanom, which is on the banks of the Mekong River in the north east.

But you know as I write this I’m thinking to myself that the first part of my plan might also be a little crazy, I mean why spend all this money in Australia when I would not be living here most of the time. If I had the means to live in another country then I would be out of here as soon as the virus allows and so I will maybe reduce the allocated budget for the Australian expenditure, however buying a couple of properties would be a good investment and I can rent them out for a little bit of income.

So here’s me thinking that it would be quite easy to start spending this windfall but I think I’ll have to sit down over a few whisky’s and think this through a bit more, but at least it will be fun doing so. All I have to do now is wait until the me boat comes in…………

Another weekend has come and gone and yet it makes no real difference. For months now it has been one long continuous break with no definition between days and so they all just meld together and each day is then punctuated with eating, ablutions, washing and the hunt for food or toilet paper, oh and I do go for a walk every morning which is great because the weather is fine and Armidale is beautiful at this time of year and the autumn colours are just spectacular.

In this state of limbo and as one of the many that are not working or have a regular schedule I sometimes feel guilty that I am basically getting money for nothing and my kicks for free as I lounge at home, but I also know that I am one of the lucky ones and I don’t take it for granted.

I should be doing more, maybe learning a new skill or brushing up on my Chinese language or even begin to write that book that I have always wanted to write, but I think because there is no pressure then I struggle to get motivated for such things and instead my mind wanders to a time when I can once more jump on a plane and travel the world. Or my other great plan is to win lotto, which I may add would be a great thing to do now because I could then buy myself another house and move into it and give my sister and brother in law back their privacy. I have also considered the kind of car I would buy to go with the house and of course this would have to be a Range Rover, British Racing Green of course.

If I could get my inspiration for writing again then I would also be happier because right now my mind is basically a blank. In China I would often find the words beginning to flow over the slightest of triggers. It might be an incident I witnessed, going for lunch or the day the wee cockroach paid me a visit. I started writing about him and the words just kept flowing like a river effortlessly one after another. My friend Peter sent me some of his writings to have a look at and I am always amazed by the colour of the vocabulary that he uses especially since his native tongue is Russian. I really need to find my writing mojo once more and you know I don’t care if anybody likes it because it is not for anyone else anyway.

In some ways I have become used to having so much time on my hands and there is no need to feel guilty because the choice has been taken away from me along with my guilt. I would love to go for a drive but I have no car and due to the current lock down we can’t go anywhere anyway, although there are some folk not really listening to this advice. Maybe I’m beginning to go a little bit stir crazy, who knows…………..

If I had been able to do my last visa run I would have still been in China where life is slowly returning to normal and where my good friend Sissi has decided to go on a Chinese adventure to many of the places I was planning to go to myself this year. I was supposed to be heading off to the north west of China for a few weeks just around this time and so I am a little bit jealous of her. I will definitely return to China next year even if it is just for a holiday and if I am lucky I will get another two year visa. After being back in Australia for 6 weeks now and having time to mull things over I think that I will return to the Orient for another stint, partly because I don’t really know what I can do here in Australia or what I want to do here in Australia. My house becomes available to me in August and if I knew what I wished to do in the future then I would begin my plans but I still have this itchy feeling in my feet and gut that tell me that it is not quite the right time to give up my Oriental dream. My interests lie elsewhere and part of me would really like to experience more of China but I don’t want to go back to the life that I had because in my previous life there I was beginning to fall into a rut and that of course can happen anywhere you lay your hat.

So technically the world is still my oyster but at the moment it is closed for business and I will just have to wait for it to open once more and in the meantime find my mojo.