Kanangra Walls

This morning we got in a quick walk in Kanangra Boyd National Park. Shook the dust off Vaughan's Land Rover Defender and dislodged any hiding in crevices due to the potholes and corrugations along the road there. 

We had a lunch date to keep so condensed our visit to the look out and the first part of the Plataeu walk. We'll save the Dance Floor cave for next time. 

Remnants of snow 

On the plateau walk

How to connect with nature feat. metho stove

Recently I've been feeling a bit flat. Feeling that I only connect with people when I'm the one to initiate the contact, make the time and place. I've never been a huge people person and I thought 'Why this sudden focus on what you don't have? What are you missing from your life that's always been there?' And I thought about my connection with the bush.

Over the weekend I made dad promise me to invite me on any walks he was going to be doing. It poured on Monday and I was, thankfully I remember thinking that day, on afternoon shift. He walked up and back down a hill sitting on the side of one of the town's I grew up in. Yesterday I finished work at 1, raced home to saw some leaders out of our apple tree with help then made it to our friend's house in the other town by 2.45. Dad had forgotten to tell me his shifts had changed to a 4pm finish, hence a 2 hour wait ensued.

He and this mate (+1 more) are going on a hike this weekend. It's going to take about 4 or 5 days, hard going. This mate, Jason, was all prepped with the things he needed. Ultra-light sleeping bag, mat, tent, food, camelbaks, clothes, etc. We spent the 2 hours checking out his little handmade metho stove. I've heard about them, but never seemed to find the use for or even look at them before. After checking his out, I'll be making one before my next backpacking adventure. This is a link he sent me to help me make my own.

We opened up his little netted bag of cooking devices and he gave me a demonstration that sold it. 30ml of metho=6 minutes of burn time. Easiest cup of tea when you're on the go, hands down. No moving pieces, no screwing things this way and that. Now I've just got to make my own...updates to come...

So after a good look through all his gear and some good conversations about the places we've been recently or are going to, dad turned up, we got in the car and made our way. Parking behind the Lithgow sewerage treatment plant (romantic, I know) we proceeded up the hill on foot. When reaching the top we followed the road, kept in reasonable condition by powerline grid workers. It led us to a clearing with an inconspicuous bushwalkers sign hidden in the scrub leading to an overgrown, rock-lined path to a cliff top, giving you this brilliant shot of the Zig Zag viaducts (with me in the foreground-how else to prove I've been there?).

After this we walked another little way down and up another bit of a hill and were witness to an absolutely stunning sunset at another angle. 

I only had my iphone on me, but it gives you a bit of an idea of how treated we were. It wasn't even all that cold as the rain over the last couple of days seems to have acted as insulation. I took a quick snap of the other two trying to capture the sunset but you can't even see dad in his everyday wear khaki in the background, mixed with the failing light. We were on top of the hill at this time, in the gorgeous, heathy scrubland. Just before it turns into 'private property'. As if you would restrict access to people from beautiful country like this! 

So all in all after that short approximately 3km trek, my soul has been somewhat re-energised and I feel more like myself, more grounded now that I've reconnected with my country. Now to make this more of a habit.

Humanity and Education

I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Do you?

Sometimes I envy those who do have it all planned out. You know that you want to be the best nurse you can be and are happy to devote hundreds, nay, thousands of hours to do so. I've struggled over the past few years as I've watched friends graduate, become teachers, nurses, get their trades and keep on achieving. I'm proud of them for doing so and honestly hope it's what makes them happy and I know for most, it is and that's awesome! I'm slowly learning to become content with what I've got, an exhilarating feeling on it's own, but to also be happy that I don't have to follow a specific path. I can finish my Diploma and not go on and go back to uni to become a Registered Nurse, and that's ok.

I love history. I love travelling. I love to learn about the amazing world we live in. We always seem to get caught up on what we're not doing rather than what we are. I had a conversation with my other half's cousin who is currently travelling the world (not doing it by halves either, currently in Tajikistan) and she spoke about how she's looking at all her friends back home who are finishing their degrees, managing businesses, having families while she was working where she could just so she can make it to her next adventure. You're always aware of what others are doing that you may have some pull towards doing but at the present time it may not be your priority so enjoy the moment you're living in.

I decided to drop a subject of my Masters this semester so that I can focus on finishing my Diploma to the best of my ability and also live a little. I now have time to work, so I can save to travel. I have time to finish off my assignments (also time to procrastinate, but we'll work on that later). I have time to put effort into my multiple interests, history, local adventures, 4 wheel driving, getting my 4WD back on the road. Time is something you can never get back so for now I'll go slow on what previous generations may have seen as the 'right' thing to do if you're planning on buying a home to raise a family. We have plans for that down the track but right now I'm young and able, I'm not wasting my time devoting my prime years to work when I can have a work/life balance. Working in Aged Care really solidifies this feeling I have. None of the resident's I care for have lectured me on making sure I build a stable base from which to lead the rest of my life from (to be fair, it wouldn't have been the female in the relationship doing that in the first place). I tell you what though, I have had a few tell me about how they always found a way to put enough together to feed, house and clothe their families. It wasn't a luxurious life, and it was sometimes very hard but it's the time you spend with each other, enjoying your life that is what counts, not the hours and hours spent at work every week.

I had a book club with some friends and I had a chat with one of the girls there. She mentioned to me how she's finished her degree and got a good job but it's not for her. She's not enjoying it. It happens. She's decided to start a course next year doing something she loves, working with horses, and seeing where it takes her. Working 9 til 5 in a job you don't like is simply not worth it for your mental health. This awareness seems to be seeping through my life in all different places and I'm thinking it would be daft to ignore it. If we could bring this acceptance I feel I've had lacking in life thus far it would make it so much easier for so many people out there questioning if what they're doing is 'good enough'. It all comes back to education, life education and what we can all share as a community.

(difficult segway into what I intended to blog about...) Recently I've been listening to a few programs on the radio about eugenics in the US in the early 20th century, pre-Nazi Germany, which also occurred in Australia. It's quite a shocking topic to learn about, how rampant it was, and accepted to a stage. It was all based around the premise of those of a lower socio-economic background or presupposed by those in more powerful positions for any reason or number of factors, that these individuals should not 'breed' to avoid further citizens with no use to offer the state. In a nutshell, a very large nutshell. Just today I watched a clip of a person of Oriental background and another of Anglo background chat while both on a jog. The Anglo asks "What kind of Asian are you?". You can find the clip here. It quite overstated but makes a fair point that previous generations have not really had to acknowledge before.

While this seems a little unrelated, it all comes back to the broad education new generations need to grow up with. The Conversation (newspaper) has suggested that genes may have very little to do with the actual academic or social success around a person's intelligence. That a person's intelligence varies greatly with the environment in which a person grows up in. Basically, it's up to us to have conversations about the lives we live, what we're really here for and how we can make humanity a little better. But I dunno, maybe that's just my own values and ethics coming into it. Should we really bother?



EDIT: Here is a link to a site a friend only shared yesterday which is aiming to develop emotional intelligence through the help of culture. They've got an extensive youtube channel that I could easily while away my day on. They describe themselves as addressing issues such as 'how to find fulfilling work, how to master the art of relationships, how to understand one's past, how to achieve calm and how better to understand and, where necessary change, the world.' They make me yearn for more opportunities to have meaningful conversations and deeper relationships.

'The School of Life is a place to step back and think intelligently about central emotional concerns. You will never be cornered by dogma, but we will direct you towards a variety of ideas from the humanities – from philosophy to literature, psychology to the visual arts – ideas that will exercise, stimulate and expand your mind. You will meet other curious, sociable and open-minded people in an atmosphere of exploration and enjoyment.'

Back on track to getting the Hilux back

Getting better at this regularity thing. This time I'm coming to chat about me *trying* to motivate my father to help me get my car back on the road (which was put out of service about 2 years ago due to someone doing a u-ey [translation: u-turn] in front of me).

After fiddling with the diesel pump (which has developed a leak) and getting some pressure into the engine we successfully started it. The battery didn't even fail us. How I have missed the lack of power steering! (Srsly, I feel like xena driving it). So now it sits in mum and dads driveway, right in the way to be used as extra motivation to fix it up enough to drive it to my place where I can do my own panel beating. Dad just needs to replace what he can out of our stable-full of replacement '85 Hilux parts, a bit of welding then it's back for some small aesthetic touches. 

I'm not usually one who attaches themselves to or feels like they are defined by their material possessions but this car I helped build from 3 separate pieces-engine, basic chassis and all other bits, when I was 16 to be my daily drive in the last years of my schooling and then ferried me back and forth to uni on the south coast and the rest of the state. The dear old thing has been through a lot with me and deserves a peaceful retirement spent with me doing the odd firewood haul or picking up bales of hay (does not go well in the back of the forester).

So the above is it so far. This afternoon will hopefully achieve just a little bit more. 

Mum will be happy (the closer it is to being fixed, the closer it is to being out of her driveway).

Update:

Had to pull the bullbar off to get to one little screw that could not be got at by any which way. Here's the little bugger:

Finally managed to get the grill off and gave it a fair wash and degrease. Now it looks naked.

Lots to go but made a good amount of progress this arvo. Now, bask in the beauty of this lovely photo of the last rays of sunset shimmering through the gumtrees to reflect off the clean windscreen.

City daybreak

Quick trip to Sydney for a reunion with old family.

Train trips and a spot of walking.

Classic Sydney Harbour panoramic from the bridge

Took the opportunity to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge

A glimpse of the Bridge in all its glory as we caught a ferry back to the Quay from Luna Park to get another one down the river to Abbotsford to join friends for birthday celebrations. Met a nice man whose back home from 16 years living in Uganda and had a conversation about how he feels like a stranger for being away so long. Also how aloof and cold the strangers in the city are, whereas in his past few years he's grown used to a more open people. I fear I've given him too much of a bad look of the country when we spoke about the undercurrent of racism in some small town people's minds, but overall asserted the open, friendliness regional centres can bring for tourists. Not only regional centres on second thought but also some of the quality little spots you can find in our awesome encompassing land.