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| 2020 |
2021 |
2022
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| 1.
Mallee & Mt. Gambier |
2. The Flood
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3. Cultured Out! |
4.
Across Arnhem Land - 1
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5.
Across Arnhem Land - 2 |
6.
Vietnam |
7.
Going North - SA
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8.
Northern Territory
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9.
Into Queensland |
10.
Back to the Outback
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11.Going
South Again |
12.
Back Home |
13.
Normal life in Castlemaine
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14.
New_Zealand |
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Looking
back on 2023 - by Alison:
They say when you retire and then think
about working, it is hard to see how you
fitted in work. They say the jobs expand to
fit the time available. They say travel
keeps your mind active. They say a lot of
things.
They can keep saying all those things and I
will just nod sagely.
It has been a busy, fun year for the most
part. We have now caught up all the covid
related delays, postponements and frequent
flyer point flights. I do have a guilty
conscience about air travel and have no more
flights planned at all at present. I also
think we use less power, fuel, things when
we are travelling slowly around Australia in
the motor home than staying home and heating
the house etc over winter. There should be
some credit for contributing to local
economies, be they within Australia
(sometimes op shops and coffee ships were
all we could actually find in tiny places)
or overseas. I still refuse to waste
anything, still plant trees and grasses
along our local waterways to slowly repair
the damage wrought in the gold rush and
consequently. We haven't bought anything new
for ages and ages.
I still feel very, very lucky and spoilt.
The trip to Arnhem land was luxurious, The
chance to sail up the Mekong in the off
season and have it to ourselves was amazing.
The places we saw on our winter trip up the
Centre and home again just make me proud to
be Australian, happy to live in the lucky
country and very aware that I am happy,
loved, have good friends, family, good
health and enough time and money to do these
things.
 As are
our family - Alice and Sidharth are settling
into their new home, waiting for their first
child, been visited by his family. Lou and
Annette are juggling work and two active
small children and we are so proud of the
job they are doing as parents.
Simon's brother-in-law died suddenly after a
motorbike accident and while completely
unexpected and shocking, there is a
recognition that he was active and enjoying
life and doing the things he loved.
Something like that just reaffirms how
important it is not to put off things, not
to delay conversations or actions .
So we will continue to do the things that
are important, see friends, be sociable.
I will try not to be too old and
grumpy about waste or unnecessary things
like new haircuts or avocado on toast, 5
star restaurants, betting on the Cup, big
cars, speeding, binge watching TV series or
any of the things which are known to bring
other people joy. I will try and support
renewable energy projects, re-vegetation,
local food, natural fibres, abolishing
plastic waste. I will walk and take public
transport wherever I can. I will feed my
soul with short trips into the bush near us
and appreciate how important it is. I will
try and be more sociable and see friends and
family more often, rather
than just thinking about them (my natural
state).
Roll on 2024 - I hope it will be a
very good year.
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Our recent life- by Simon:
 We
arrived home from New Zealand, and our life
became a bit too hectic for our liking. In
the Melbourne flat, we slowly got around to
patching the 50 cm square hole in the
plaster resulting from the wasp nest there;
this led to having to sand the plaster,
which led to living with plaster dust for
some weeks. We do appreciate the modern
computer matching of paint colours, meaning
we didn't have to repaint the whole hallway.
In Castlemaine, the annual Corker Orchestra
concert happened, with more intense violin
practice beforehand; our turn came around
for leading a U3A
bushwalk, which meant two trial runs
beforehand to make sure we got it right;
Alison got talked into being part of a
Women's Circus cabaret performance, which
entailed four weeks of rehearsals every
Sunday, which meant many more trips to
Melbourne for it, and then a stay in
Melbourne for the five performances over
four days. Half of our loquat tree broke off
and blew down in a sudden gust of wind, and
we completed the transformation of our old
driveway (well, it was - ~ 10 years ago)
into a garden path by installing a gate.
 We'd
kept the week before Christmas empty. After
getting back late to Castlemaine, after the
last cabaret performance, we slept in and
then packed things into the motorhome in a
relaxed way - and left. To start in a
relaxed way, we drove north for 8km to a
plant nursery / cafe. In for a coffee - only
to find that the cafe wasn't open on
Mondays. And while there, where is Alison's
phone? And - where are we going? - this
isn't the right direction!
So we drove back home again, retrieved the
phone from the dining room table, and went
to a cafe in town which was open.
We had a lovely little trip, going not very
far but going to places we'd not been to
before. We are so lucky to live
here, where finding a nice isolated spot to
spend the night in one's motorhome is
usually not difficult.
(The only downside was the weather - despite
it being almost at the summer solstice, it
became cold! So cold we even had
to use the diesel heater in the van one
evening.)
Now - it's nearly Christmas, and then it
will be next year. With not as much travel
in it as this year has had, I think.
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