An Official Tourist!!

Hi Readers,

Trying to ensure that I'm not bludging about and staying occupied and busy.

I woke up on Sunday feeling like I had been run over by a truck and could not understand why. Once again, it wasn't Covid (I've still managed to dodge that little sucker!!🦠😷)

Then I remembered what I wrote last week and went back in detail in my mind all the things I had been doing and what I'd been eating to see if that could give any answers.

And it worked!

I'm convinced that it was what I was doing that was leaving me so wasted.

Because I have been so concerned that I don't want to turn into a sloth, I had actually been doing the complete opposite, and overworking myself. I still get up early in the morning and do all the exercises that I need to do for my legs and shoulders to stop them from completely going on strike. I was also having my nightly ride on the rollers in the shed watching 100% trashy tv. This is what I've been doing all year, no worries at all.

As I still have the rest of the day to fill in between, I was going for a morning bike ride, nothing serious distance wise, but I always pump things pretty hard every time I go out.

Then later on I've been going out for a paddle in the kayak for an hour or so at a lake that is too conveniently close!!

This was okay for the first two days, but on day three I could feel the effect on the body, and by Sunday I was just totally knackered. I did try and get out on the bike, but I struggled to even complete 20km.

Back in the day when I was running, I'd pump out that many k's around twice a week, along with smaller ones on every other day.

My problem is that I continually overdo things, much to my own detriment, which is also partly why my body is stuffed in many ways now.

Not complaining, that's just how it is.

So I spent Sunday forcing myself to rest, and that was just about the most stressful thing I have endured in the past year!!

Even while 'resting' I just had to be doing something else so I looked around online and decided to head off in my caravan again for a few days. This was especially good for if I found myself at home I'd probably fall back into some bad habits again and overdo things. 

I've got some garden work to do, and history shows that even when I do that I go as mad as a cut snake and try to do everything in just one day. Even Jen would try and put the brakes on me at times, saying "We've got two weeks to do this".

I'm a victim of my own excesses it seems.

Now, back to the topic of this post.

I rocked up to this caravan park at Nagambie (Overseas readers, google it. A beautiful place!!) and managed to back my van in first go! So far that is always the most stressful thing that I feel when taking the van somewhere..."Will I look like a total dick backing it in???"

In like Slim, and the setup was complete in less than 30 mins.

I know my setup doesn't look as flash as all the other ones around me, but it has all I need and I'm happy with it.

So this morning was a gentle ride around town, then a relaxing coffee and cereal under the annexe contemplating what I'll do today. Keeping in mind it will be in the high 30's again, I need to be smart.

After not rushing around trying to do things, I just hopped in the car and drove into town and had a casual walk around the place, poking my head into various shops just to see what was going down. When I drove into Nagambie yesterday I saw a bakery that looked good and thought to myself "I should try that place", but usually that's as far as it gets.

Well today Readers I bit the bullet and made myself go in there, and wasn't it worth it! 

One of the best egg and bacon pies was had under a tree in the shade by Lake Nagambie!

Normally in these situations I'd rush into the bakery, grab what I need, wolf it down and keep driving. But today I found myself just casually walking along the street, browsing the windows and just taking everything in.

Then it hit me.

I'd become a tourist!!!!!!

When I was first thinking of buying the caravan, my plan was to go and spend a night or two in lots of smaller towns and just get the feel of the place, and now it is happening and it's as good as I had hoped it might be. So far!

So after supporting the local bakery I drove back out to the Goulburn Weir, where I went for a bike ride this morning.

When we were kids, mum and dad would load the 8 kids into the Holden station wagon every Sunday when they could and we'd just "go somewhere".

And the Goulburn Weir was one of these "somewheres". Back then it was just a weir with no fences or gates or safety barriers. Remember Readers, back in the 70's, safety and kids were not always considered at the same time!!

My initial excitement at rediscovering one of my childhood favourite places was quickly tempered when I realised that due to all the safety measures, all the places where we swam, played and fished were now people free zones, with warnings akin to being burned at the stake and thrown to the fish as food if trespass was to occur!!

When I was a kid I thought of this Weir as our own version of Niagara Falls as it had so much power and water on display. How deflated was I many years later when I actually did visit Niagara Falls. Today pales by comparison significantly!!

This is all fenced off. Back in the day we would be "Piffing yonnies"  (You might need to look that one up, very localised language used from the time!) into the water and actually paddling in the water as far up as we felt safe to do so.

The edge of one of the spillway gates where fish (huge European carp) were congregating)

Looking down from the spillway. We'd often be paddling close to the white water.

Side view of the weir, only one gate open.

Readers, once again I just found myself not rushing as I explored the weir again after perhaps 50 years of being away. At one point I found myself just leaning on the rails watching the water and the fish and thinking "This is what tourists do", before coming to the conclusion, This is what YOU are doing, so you're now a tourist too!"

For the next 30 or so minutes I paid attention to what I was doing, and this included just not rushing, taking time to absorb the smells and sounds and sights.

And I even stopped to read the visitor information boards...And I enjoyed it!!!

If I back track to Sunday, where I felt like I'd had a double dose of sloth syndrome, compared to today is remarkably different, and a definite antidote to the dreaded S.S. (You can work that one out I'm sure!!)

Well Readers, people in the caravan park are starting to walk around with beers in their hands, so you can guess what time it must be?

But I'll hold off just for an hour or two more as something else beckons...

This post has been somewhat of an epiphany for me Readers as I enter into a new phase of my life on my own. I just checked in my diary and I see that school goes back in about two weeks, so normally at this stage of the holidays my mind would start wandering out of holiday mode, and into school mode, and I'd be making plans to go in and start getting my classroom organised.

Not any more, and it is actually the complete opposite.

I'm now shifting out of holiday mode and into permanent holiday mode!!!

And I haven't even gone back and checked for typos today!!

Who knows what the future holds...

Until my next post,

Cheers😁

 I'm Watching You!

Hi Readers,

No starting with excuses for not writing for so long or banging on about retirement. Straight into it today!!

So why a post about this topic I hear you wondering about?

Over the past week and a bit I have finally got back onto my road bike and have started road cycling again. I'll admit that I have been on the roller frame in my shed on a different bike during the past year, but the legacy of operations on an ankle, a shoulder and my hands has kept me off the road as I just haven't felt confident, safe or able to tackle the road in this time. And after the first 30 minutes on the road I realised how much road skill I had lost in this time.

Rather than just go out once and leave it for a few days, I have been forcing myself out on the road every day for the past 12 days ( except for two days while I drove back from QLD) and only now am I feeling that I have my 'bike legs' back.

While I'm out on the bike I don't have much else more to do than pump the legs and enjoy the scenery. Usually I might have the earplugs in and listening to music, but while I'm focussing on getting familiar with the road again I have decided to ditch them for the time being.

So I find myself looking at things more intently, and surprisingly, I'm noticing even more things, particularly on routes that I may have ridden countless times.

This has now had me thinking, how much do we really pay attention to as we are out and about? There would be an unimaginable amount of things that we notice and don't pay any attention to and only remember them if something else triggers the memory of them.

Try this little activity.

Try and retrace your steps from the moment you left your house this morning. It might mean that you suddenly remember that you had to go back inside to check that the iron was turned off, or to lock the back door. As you backed your car out you had to suddenly stop as you saw your neighbour's kids out on their bikes. Then you had to give way to a taxi as you left your street. And so on.

It's only when we really slow ourselves down that we remember the little things that would otherwise be lost forever somewhere in our memories.

I remember doing this recently when I had a hire car while my Pajero was being fixed after someone kindly parked their ute into the back of it. When I was returning the hire car, I had it in my mind that I was given two sets of keys, which has often happened with other cars I've hired over the past two years. Despite looking everywhere, and in the obvious places where I would normally store the spare key, I could still not locate them. I then tried the exercise that I just asked you to do. I retraced every moment from the time I picked up the car, and what I would normally do once I got home. At no time can I recall having another set of keys, but there was this continuing nagging thought that i DID have an extra set.

So, I gave up and gingerly hauled my sorry arse down to the hire company to return the car. Without the "spare keys" that I thought I had lost.

Do I just fess up straight away and say that I lost the spare key?

 Or do I just say nothing?

The overwhelming advice from everyone I spoke with suggested the latter, but it was against my wishes to try and scam them.

However, when I picked the car up in the first place the girl who served me was just so rude and abrupt despite how cheerful I always try to be when being served by someone.

When I walked in this night to return the car I once again put on my "Mr Cheerful" which was welcomed like a worm in a half eaten apple. She was even grumpier than the first time, so I knew my work was going to have to go to the next level.

She just looks at me and says abruptly "What do you want?"

"I'm just returning a car" I say with a rapidly fading smile.

"Keys?" she snaps. Now in my mind I took this to mean singular or plural, as we often refer to a single key as our car keys as we have them on a key ring for the most part.

I placed the one key on the shelf and looked at her, waiting for her to snap "Where's the other one?" But she didn't!! She kind of looked at me in a way as to make me explain where the other one might be, but I said "Anything else?". She just dissed me with a roll of the eyes and nodded towards the door, as if to say "Off you go". 

As I calmly (on the outside, but stressed on the inside) made my way out I got away from there as quickly as I could, always expecting someone to come after me for the extra key, or for Miss Rude to ring me requesting the same thing!!

For the life of me I was convinced I had two keys, but as it turns out I must have only had one all along.

But I still stress a little every now and then thinking they might ring me asking for the spare key!!!

So that was a little experience I had where watching someone intently helped me out of a bad situation, but there are so many other times when people watching can be just a riot.

In previous posts I have described how extensively Jen and I travelled overseas before her passing, and one of our most relaxing and enjoyable things to do was just do 'people watching'.

Of course we visited the main attractions wherever we went, but there were times where we just needed to slow down and just experience the real essence of where we were at the time.

I remember one time in Milan where we just sat at the edge of a large square at the front of the huge cathedral, just watching the world go by, and reflecting on how fortunate we were to be doing what we were doing, and to be having this time together.

Soon we started to hear this beautiful music being played by a nearby busker. We became captivated by him, eventually buying his CD. Then we started watching the people feeding the pigeons, and they were having a ball. "Locals" helped them by offering them seeds and crumbs to give to the pigeons, only to then be accosted aggressively for payment for the seeds, of for the "locals" to take a photo for them.

We were well aware of this behaviour and always ignored these people when they approached us to have our photo taken with the pigeons.

And for the most part it was just great to just watch people, many just like us go about things in their own touristy sort of way.

Milan

Watching others do selfies often looks humorous, or worse. I can only dare to think what people must have been thinking as Jen and I always took a selfie of everywhere we went.

The busker in Milan

Just a man having a coffee in Casablanca, but it captured the essence of the time and place. This photo alone brings back so many memories of our time there.

But Readers, it wasn't always milk and cookies when we were people watching, and one experience taught me that even Jen had a breaking point!

It was always a running gag in our house with the 3 boys that "Jen can go from zero to bitch in 10 seconds", meaning that she was never hesitant to stand up for herself if she felt she had been wronged. The people at Foxtel could attest to this when she rang to cancel our subscription one day and they kept trying to make her sign on for even longer. Although she remained calm and polite, her bluntness even surprised me!

Anyway, we were sitting in a square in Casablanca this time 8 years ago just watching the world go by when this stranger kept coming up asking me if I'd like to buy a wallet. I dismissed him politely, but a few minutes later he was back, this time he wanted me to buy a belt. "No thanks mate, we don't need anything", and off he goes, eventually. 

A few minutes later he was back again, this time it was a watch that he thought I needed.

Not being one who likes confrontation, I just ignored him and stared wistfully into the distance. He stepped back a few metres and kept watching us. I was feeling good as I thought that I had finally got rid of him and had protected my wife so bravely.

However, he then started coming towards us again, and just as I was about to try another diversionary comment, Jen stepped straight up to the plate and in a very stern and no-nonsense tone, stared him down and says "F%#K OFF!!"

Even I was taken aback, but it worked. This bloke just turned on his heels and never returned.

But the look she then gave me was "That's how you do it!!"

The guy on the bench in front of us learnt the hard way not to annoy Jen!!

So these are just a few things that have happened to us when we just take the time to pay attention to the little things around us that can sometimes mean so much, or at other times, so little.

But what about those trivial things that we sometimes see down the street, or waiting in a queue somewhere?

Here are some that I have noticed when out and about that sometimes just amuse me, or really bug me. Some are things that I realise I do a lot!

Other 'people watchers' probably see me doing most of them, so I'm not being perfect here!

• An exaggerated "Man I'm busy" activity that people put on when someone superior walks nearby, but then stops as soon as they are gone.
• To swap your socks around so that the holes are not aligned with your big toe (I do this all the time!!
  
  
  
• To have that sneaky look at someone's name tag at a function to hide the fact that you have forgotten their name...GUILTY!!
  
  
  
• Getting trapped in a queue the moment you switch sides to join it
• 
  
  
  
• Someone who just keeps hitting the button at the pedestrian crossing, when once is clearly enough
  
  
  
• The constant changes in the angles adopted by a pie eater so that the meat doesn't spill out everywhere.
  
  
  
• Watching someone speak to someone else, but constantly glancing around for someone more interesting to speak with
• People who wipe their hands all over their pants immediately after using a hand dryer
• 
  
  
  
• People who make 'cute' faces at babies, that only make them cry
• Having to walk through lanes of rope at the airport or a bank, when you might be the only person there
  
  
  
• When you pass someone in a corridor for the fourth time in 15 minutes and you've already used up all your usual greetings and just do an awkward nod, or look down or sideways. 

So Readers, another ramble about nothing of consequence, so it seems. But what it does bring home is that just as much as I might be having a sneaky look at those around me, the same applies that others may be looking at me and having a little giggle at my expense!!

Try a bit of people watching yourself, or it it could be something as simple as just sitting on a bench watching the lake, your garden, the sky. Anything!!

Whatever floats your goat!!!

When I say 'people watching', please don't think that it always applies to people. It can be anything at all, just taking time to appreciate the little things.

The coming days mean some more riding, kayaking and caravanning, so more things to look at and write about.

Until my next post,

Cheers 😁

7 hours later

p.s. After thinking about this post it dawned upon me that I had neglected to include my two experiences of people watching that have by far had the most profound impact on me. how on earth could I not include them as they are as plain as the very nose on my face!!

Firstly, a few years ago I became quite ill with chronic fatigue like symptoms. It turned out to be a liver infection, but before I found that out I was sent to Peter Mac in Melbourne for tests. For my overseas readers, Peter Mac is a world rated cancer hospital in Melbourne.

Anyway, what struck me as I waited in the large waiting room for my appointment  was that each of the people around me was today going to receive either really good news or really bad news. This could be the best or worst day of their lives. I found it hard to look around me, seeing those who looked calm, and those who could not sit still to save themselves. As for me, I was fine because I just didn't even stop to think that I might have cancer, it had never dawned on me until this day when I was observing so many others who were suffering with it. Just by watching what so many others were enduring was enough to make me appreciate my own health a lot more.

Just by watching those around me taught just how lucky I really was at that time of my life, even though I was a bit sick, but nothing like any of these other people were enduring.

Fast forward a few years and it is mid 2021/2022 and Peter Mac has become a home away from home for Jen. By the end of 2021 I had moved to Melbourne and was living in a flat a few hundred metres from Peter Mac. Jen needed daily treatment there so I was able to drive her to the door then wheel her up to the ward for her daily treatment. For a short period she was able to live with me, but this soon became too hard for her so she was moved into Royal Melbourne Hospital, just across the road from Peter Mac.

Sitting in the waiting rooms for her ward was not a pleasant experience at all, and I now found myself trying so hard to not look at other patients, or meet their stare, as everyone there knew what the others were most likely going through. If anything though, the respect, care and understanding shared between these patients and their families was overwhelming, such was the empathy. As for the staff, in my eyes they all walk on water♥️

In a nutshell readers, just taking time to observe the little things in life that we so often dismiss can be the very things that make us who we are. Try it! Let me know how you go in the comments tab below - You can be anonymous!!!!

 Two Weeks Down

Well Readers,

Here I am two weeks into retirement. I was thinking a fortnight ago that I'd have posted quite a few posts by now, but as usual I promise a lot but deliver little!

So what have I been up to for the first two weeks in what is the start of the rest of my life?

I did get the caravan back from Nagambie, and will definitely be going back there again for sure. After a day and a bit at home I was off again, this time to Torquay to spend Christmas with one of our sons, his wife and the two grandsons.

Setting up in the caravan park was made easy due to the fact that not many people were checking in the day before Christmas Eve. A fellow camper kindly offered to spot for me if needed which was so kind, but as I was able to drive straight through into my site I saved myself a lot of stress and embarrassment, as my backing skills are still about 1/10!

I did say to him though, that if I was in trouble I'd be asking him to back it in for me. I'm not too proud to do that.

In no time at all I was set up, but didn't put too much out as it was blowing a gale.

The next two days were filled with lots of fun with the grandsons, but on Christmas morning I discovered one small critical error....

I was using the campground facilities so that I wouldn't have to worry about cleaning my own toilet and shower, but on the last night I woke up needing to relieve myself somewhat quickly. Rather than walk to the toilet block, I decided to use my toilet for the first time, knowing full well that I had prepared it fully just in case I needed to use it.

Or so I thought!!

When I was packing up later that morning I opened the trapdoor to the toilet capsule only to be greeted by a big puddle of Number #1 atop the capsule rather than in it 😖

Apparently, what I had forgotten to do was remove the cover plate that covers the hole into the capsule when the toilet is flushed !!!!! Luckily I didn't do Number#2's as well!!!!

A quick wash down and a valuable lesson learnt.

              

I presume this will be just the first of many mistakes I'll make as I learn this caravanning thing!

A few more days at home and back in the car again for a trip to Qld.

A lot of bike riding around the roads of the old Coast was something I'd been looking forward to, but all I discovered was how risky it is up there due the amount of roadworks and the aggressiveness of so many drivers towards cyclists.. The roads were fine, it was just how unsafe I felt once I was on them, with a number of close calls.

Perhaps the greatest joy was the time spent playing with the grandsons (and also discovering that it is getting harder to get up from the floor!!)

Our youngest grandson turns one soon, so it was great to be able to really start bonding with him.

Angus, soon having his 1st birthday just loves watching his Uncle Will's dog through the glass doors.

And Henry just knows how to murder frozen yogurt in a cone with his dad and one of his great friends who we spent the day with.

After 5 days up north it was back into the car for the long drive home.

On the way up there were many places that grabbed my attention to go and visit, or to stay the night in, but as I'm now on a permanent holiday I can go back and stay there whenever I like.

I decided to bunk down for a night in Goulburn in southern NSW.

The motel I booked looked great online, but my expectations sunk the moment I pulled in.

Picture yourself in one of those low budget movies where all the bad guys lay siege to a lonely traveller who is staying in one of the lower budget motels. 

The fridge managed to keep everything warm despite being turned to the coldest setting. This bugged me the most as I was hot and thirsty after a big walk around the town in the heat and was looking forward to a couple of cans of cider that I had put in the fridge earlier.

The volume on the small tv wasn't great, and at full level was still drowned out by the old air conditioner hanging off the wall, that only pushed the warm air around. At least the ceiling fan worked, but what good it did was debatable!

Still, I wasn't complaining as I was looking forward to a good sleep after 11 hours on the road. Until the banging on the wall from next door that persisted for most of the night.

One can only guess what might have been happening in there, as I saw 4 big blokes rock up in an old van late at night and pile into their tiny room!!

There was no way I was going to knock on their door to ask them to keep it down.

Well this post is beginning to resemble a slide night at Grandpa's house where I just regale about my wild adventures that have no relevance to anyone but me- sorry about that!

But there is a reason behind that, a sort of context.

Before I retired (it seems so strange saying that!) I was constantly being asked "What are you going to do first?", "What things are you going to do?" etc

To be honest, the first thing I wanted to do was just enjoy my holidays like every other person who was taking their holidays. In a way I was thinking that people were expecting me to be doing something amazing straight away, when all I wanted to do was just enjoy not being at work.

Last week when I was online doing some bookings on my laptop, it dawned on me for the first time that I didn't think of doing something work related. In the past, at this stage of the holidays, if I got on the laptop there would be this nagging thought "Perhaps you could just do a little bit of preparation for school?"

It was so liberating, but I also felt that I was being lazy in a way that I wasn't using my time productively. Even as I write this I still have this feeling that I should be doing something else. Breaking the habits of 38 years as a teacher might take some time!!!

Another change I have noticed has been when I've been walking through a shopping centre and I see some clothes that I like, but then have to check myself. The clothes would be nice to wear to school as a teacher, but when would I actually wear them now that I'm no longer teaching? I'll still buy new clothes, but I have to be realistic as to when and where I'll actually use them.

Another thing that surprised me the other day was when I bought a new diary and a calendar for home. One of the first things I did was mark in the school terms and holidays, something that I automatically do at this time of year, but doubt whether it is as important now. Maybe I'll use it as a guide for planning my trips away so that I avoid school holidays, something I've never been able to do in the past.

And one other thing that is dawning upon me. I've always planned my/our time around roughly ten week blocks followed by two weeks of holidays, but now I have the absolute freedom to plan what I like when I like. Although I do have some major plans coming up in the coming weeks, I've no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow, or the next day, and I'm really enjoying that.

I did buy two new bikes last year, so it's a fair bet I'll be out on the road each day. I also bought a kayak, so this morning I went out inspecting various waterways for prospective sites to go floating in the coming days.

If this wind dies down I might even hit the water later today, which is why I'm now rushing to the end of this post.

In previous posts you may be aware that I have had some body parts falling apart in recent years that have resulted in too many surgeries. My 'good' ankle is next in line for some major work and I've been hoping to put this off for quite a few months. Alas, in the past few weeks it has deteriorated somewhat, so it looks like I may need to bring things forward somewhat. But before that I'll be squeezing in as many trips in the caravan, flights to Qld to see the grandsons, getting the garden spicked and spanned, maybe writing more posts ( yeah, right!!), brewing some more beer and having a big clean out of everything in the house and shed. Sounds ambitious, but I might get there....to a point.

Then I have some big plans to attend to, something that I'm so looking forward to but will take a bit of organising if I'm to do it well. 

Stay tuned.

Another post of dribble and waffle, but it has satisfied my desire to write again.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year and that this year brings you everything that you hope for.

Until my next (and sooner) post,

Cheers 😁

 That's It !!

Hi Readers,

Well believe it or not I have actually got off my lazy backside and commenced a new post! My last one was back in July I think, and I was silently disgusted with myself when I saw that.

I never like to try and make excuses, so I wont. In the meantime I have seen that the hits on this blog have continued to increase in that time, so I feel I owe it to those readers to contribute some meaningless fluff and dribble!!

A few months ago I made the decision that this year was going to be my last, and once I made that decision I just couldn't bear for others to think that I was checking out early, so any spare time was devoted to school work. Hence the lack of posts, and in some way a desperately feeble excuse!!!

So, retirement!! 

It has actually been quite a stressful decision to make, something that many find hard to understand when I tell them. Consider this Readers, what are the biggest decisions you make in your lives?

New jobs?

Buying a house?

Having kids?

Moving to a new town?

Losing family members?

I've done them all, and am not looking for any sympathy, but this is probably the last BIG decision that I will need to make in my life, so I have to get it right. And before too long our three sons will be making decisions for me as my brain starts to deteriorate beyond repair. ( I know some of you are thinking, "Hmmm, hasn't that happened already??")

Yesterday was my last day with the kids, and I have been spoilt with the absolute BEST bunch of kids to finish my career with. I will admit I busted my boiler to get them where they were at the end of the year, but gee I had a blast with them. It was so good that at times recently I was questioning my decision to retire. 

Could I go around one more time?

But then I realised that I wouldn't be with such a great crew ( or maybe I could have done the same with the next group?) and that I was looking at the next year through rose coloured glasses.

People have often asked me, "How did you know it was time?"

For a great part of this year, I'd get half way through Sunday and then a feeling of woe would descend upon me. I started to feel really bad about the weekend ending, as it meant that I had to work the next day. And then while driving to school on the Monday I'd be thinking "Please just get me to Friday!!"

And this went on every week. I'd love my Saturdays, but Sunday meant that Monday was the next day. 

Groundhog Day !!!

And this was how I was feeling!

Readers, can I be very clear here, there was nothing wrong with where I worked or who I worked with as they were the godsend to my worries!!!

It was just the whole idea of the work, I'd just reached a stage where I felt I wasn't giving my best, and that wasn't fair to my kids.

Further to this, in recent years I'd lost a sister, a brother and my wife who all had retirement plans that were cut short by their untimely passing.

I just didn't want to retire sick, even though my body is falling apart faster than the Victorian economy!!

There are so many things that Jen and I were planning to do at the end of this year, as that was when we were both planning to retire. I've been so lucky that we travelled as much as we did before she got sick, because we created so many lasting memories that I will forever cherish.

As I said to my colleagues today, rather than feeling excited about retiring, I'm somewhat flat as I keep thinking about what was planned together, but now I have to adjust that to just myself.

So what is on the cards for me?

Firstly, many have been asking me what I'll do first? Well, firstly I want my Sundays back!!

And then in late January when for 38 years I've been thinking "H'mmm, time to get ready for school again" I'll be a free agent!!!

I bought the caravan that Jen and I had planned to do, so now I'll go and do the trips that we were looking forward to, but there will be an empty seat beside me. Someone said I should name the caravan after Jen, I like that idea.

So, after finishing at school today, I hooked up the van and have finally taken it on it's first trip. It has taken this long as soon after I bought it someone ran up the arse of my new Pajero, meaning I couldn't tow it. Then I crashed my bike at the cemetery and busted my shoulder, meaning I wasn't physically able to go camping. I got the Pajero back two weeks ago, and tonight I am camping by the banks of the Goulburn River at Nagambie, testing everything out before a bigger trip in the coming week.

Retirement Day 1

My first trip with the van

Have to keep busy if I'm travelling, so the new kayak got a workout this afternoon on the Goulburn River

A stinking hot afternoon on the river, so a few cold beers was just the remedy!

 Well Readers, that's it for today, hopefully I can now devote more time to doing something I love so much, this blog.

As I'm finishing this post I am smelling glorious cooking from the sites around me, and am embarrassed with the rubbish that I'm planning to cook for myself

Time to lift my game!!

I've got no excuses to not write posts now, so who knows what they might be about?

Please feel free to add comments, there's a link at the bottom of each post.

Until my next post ( and it won't take 5 months!!)

Cheers 😁