Beach side Blog'n

Written Friday Jan 13th

So I guess it would be rude of me to write my first post for 2006 and not wish everyone a happy new year ... but its my blog, and I'll be rude if I want to. Perhaps my reluctance to wish everyone a happy new year stems from the fact that my new years eve was spent huddled in a tent, cold and wet, on the south coast of Tasmania, with rain pelting down and only a single dry t-shirt to wear. Like just about all inhabitants of the camp site that night, we all went to bed by about 9pm. What else can one do when your four days into a hike, its raining, you have no music, no dry clothes to wear and you have four more days of hiking left ? .. Perhaps worst of all is the fact that you still wake up the next morning exhibiting all the basic symptoms of a hangover, despite not having touched any alcohol (actually, that is not strictly true - Aff pulled out the Rum'n'Raisin chocolate for the special occasion). It was, of course, so lovely to hear that the remaining 99.99 percent of the nation enjoyed a balmy, 25+ degrees New Years Eve while we were huddled up, trying to cope with the near hypothermic conditions of our predicament -just lovely. I will of course, provide the full excrutiating details of our hiking adventures in some up-coming posts on this blog.

And what of this blog - well, after a few weeks off, I must say, its good to be back. I have to admit, as last year grinded to a halt, I was somewhat lacking in time and energy to post much on the blog. It is a time consuming exercise, particularly when you are as vobabularly challenged as me, but sitting now at my parents beach house down in Cape Paterson (SE coast of Victoria, about 120km from Melb), with time and energy resources back in the black, it is indeed a pleasure yet again to be writing, and the words are flowing - "is summer, is good!". Such is my jovial mood, that I may even be looking forward to getting back to Canberra. I am generally very supportive and positive about living in Canberra, but I must admit, every time I leave the place, my thoughts of the place tend to be less enthusiastic. Canberra is a pleasant place to live, but it is not a place I think I can call home in the long term. My enthusiasm to get back now is as much about getting stuck into a new year of work, and just getting back to our place in Belco, which does feel like home. I am also anxious to see whether my rather hastily installed watering system and timer has successfully kept our three lettuces and four carrots alive. I am also interested to see just how much of our stuff has been burgled (particularly given Aff and I forgot to arrange someone to pick up the bloody mail).

Aff and I drive back to Canberra tomorrow, which should suitably deplete any feelings of being refreshed and relaxed - it usually happens at Albury, just after negotiating the unavoidable maze the Hume Hwy paves through greater-Albury. It is for this reason that I believe Albury holds the title of Australia's least-livable rural city. If you want country living, Albury surely is the worst possible choice - you could get more peace and quiet living on the corner of Alexander Parade and Hoddle Street! - but I digress.

Anyway, as I mentioned, the next series of posts will be dedicated to telling the story of the main event that occurred over the summer break - namely - The South Coast Tassie hiking trip. This turned out to be quite an adventure, as indicated by the fact that we emerged from the wilderness almost 4 days later than we had originally planned. The hike had everything - sun, rain, mountains, planes, beach walking, mud, brown creek water for drinking, and a whole lot of vomit (not due to the water though). It was by far the most difficult hike I have been on, not so much due to the terrain or the landscape, but more so the track condition itself, illness and the duration of hike (the longest I have spent without a shower, and only three pairs of underwear!) itself. So over the next few days, please indulge me as I tell the full hiking story in all its unrelenting detail. Bare in mind that blog posts may be a little thin as I try and catch up with other things and attempt to tame the monster that is my inbox.

And yes, finally, happy new year to one and all