Carry that weight

Was so good to get out there last night and really test out my pack. I loaded it up with sleeping bags and some weight rings from my set of dumbbells and set off into the night. At first my initial reaction was "what the hell have I got myself into?! &@#*!" but within about half an hour I hit a groove and coasted along, up hill, down dale, through the neighbourhood. It was exhilarating!

Today I have an initial impression as to where the sore spots are going to be. Mid-back, butt cheeks and thighs seem to be the hotspots. Keeping the straps tight on my pack once I'd worked out the weight was important, and I even sussed out some venting on my jacket when things got steamy when I was huffing up a hill. Feel like I'm test driving my body.

Tickets are all booked now, for planes and trains. My camino starts on 5th September when we head out from St Jean Pied de Port.

Fired up baby! Being a World War 2 enthusiast, I have the distinct feeling that it is almost D-Day as I make my drop into Europe...

It's actually happening...

Beyond excited, kind of stunned, I prepare the final stages before heading off to France in 2½ weeks ready for the transit leg to get down to the start of the Camino Frances, the beginning of the route I've chosen to take along the Camino de Santiago.

April and I are trying to overcome last minute colds, become comfortable with the weight of our packs and organise all the last minute details. My passport is still winging its way in from somewhere as I had to have a new one done, my last one trashed from a stamp on the face c/o a Kunming immigration officer in China, mistakenly(?) putting the big red chop on my face instead of the passport page. My old passport photo was a shocker anyway, with my first big beard, shoulder length hair and a tan coloured corduroy jacket. I looked like a coke dealer from somewhere deep in the Americas. Lol.

It's been an interesting ride up til now. This year has been huge. I look forward with anticipation and a twinge of sadness as it all becomes reality.

What does remind who of?

I've been talking with April and she'll often show me something or do something and say "what does this remind you of?". I've realised what it reminds me of is always very different to what it might remind her of but the trick is to just guess what she's thinking. So it should be "what does this remind me of?".

Dream of Camino

Had my first Camino dream. April and I were at the first place to stay for the night, in St Jean before we had actually done a single bit of walking. It was all cot type beds out in a trodden field, open canvas tents flapped in the breeze and an angry host tried to pick up my sister. I told him in few words that if he tried anything there would be hell to pay. Then I realised I had forgotten my sleeping bag and had to go out to try and buy one.

Easy boy, it'll work out ok. :)

Walking resumes

Back in the saddle! Today was an early morning and drive to Brownhill Creek where, with a good friend Ynys joining me, the walking season/training kicked off again in full force. How exciting!

Today was Yurrebilla revisited, a 17km round trip from Brownhill Creek to the edge of Cleland and back. The weather was perfect, a slight drizzle in the morning and then relatively overcast for the morning, as lunch saw the sun come out and warm things up a bit. A fantastic day to start getting into it all again.

Should be the beginning of an enjoyable walking season as I gear up ready to go later in the year. Will start a few weights and more fast paced cardio exercises. Looking forward to the pain. Bring it!

Leave APPROVED!

All steam ahead. Leave has been approved. Now to check out prices of tickets and get a few more concrete details sorted. Today I bought a guide to the Camino Frances, the section of the walk I'll be doing. It gives details of distances, terrain and even space for notes to add your thoughts and impressions.

Beyond excited. I feel like I've just been told Father Christmas is real. lol

Leave semi-approved

Man oh man! I finally just went for it and asked about getting some time off work to do the Camino de Santiago. I feel as though I'm really answering a call in life, taking a step out into something exciting and wonderful. I feel anxious, overjoyed, and overwhelmed with almost every emotion. How fantastic!

So now with that in motion I look forward to pricing tickets. April is going with me and it's already feeling like we're on our way, solving problems together, looking at options. It's set for September so I can be walking on my 31st birthday and avoid some of the summer rush.

Looks like a flight to Paris/Frankfurt, then either plane or train down to St Jean Pied de Port, then on to the walking...


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I'm following the dream baby!

New shoe

Or 2 even. These new shoes are awesome. Can walk/hike without socks and let the babies breathe. Have been giving them a trial and they're making a good impression on me. I love them! Wanted to get some shoes which didn't overdo the socks and sandals look, wanted something I could feel comfortable in and still have the support to go for it.

These came out as the winners.

Happy New Year

No way. Simon blogs again!

Another year full of promise and change. So easily I slip back into the same ruts and not even realising until I have to do another complete flip around. Hopefully 2008 holds as many surprises.

I have written 65 out of 101 things to do in my life. (Is not finishing a list straight away a metaphor for my life?! lol) Some of these I'll do in the coming months. Others will take time and me psyching up to do them. Skydiving is on the list. I'm quaking in my boots.

I will see the Yurrebilla Trail nailed and other milestones too. Here's to a good year. :)

A Mary Poppins clean

Well almost.. Mid-year I booked in a week's annual leave at this time to do whatever, and the general consensus was cleaning. This came in the form of one of those mega spring cleans, where I was moving furniture, desks, rearranging, sorting and yes, chucking out heaps of stuff. So much crap accumulates over time and it's been awesome beating the place back into shape.

And also had my first IKEA experience, cruising through the different sections, utterly convinced that every little knicknack was just the thing I was looking for. Was totally impressed by it all and loved some of the minimalist type furniture. Nothing better than clean lines, straight edges and good old plain common sense.

Dishes

I'm on strike with the dishes. Ugh. Gonna put a lot of them out in the shed so I can't use/dirty them. 2 of everything in the house, like Noah's Ark, and I'll be fine. I even have paper plates on the go. Today reached a funny crossroads where I caught myself going to make a coffee with some tongs. I said to myself "don't be crazy man, use a knife".

Perhaps a dishwasher is in order?

The Bluff

Had another good introduction to walking/exercise over the weekend. My grandparents rented a house down at Victor Harbour for 2½ weeks and my extended relatives came down in dribs and drabs. My visit coincided with some other of my cousins and it was fun catching up. We played chess, board games, ate food and went for a few walks.

I wasn't able to get anyone else to come with me, but shortly after breakfast on Saturday I jumped in the car and drove to the Bluff (Rosetta Head) where I went for a solitary walk and sit. I love being in the wind up there and it was fantastic sitting on a rocky outcrop looking out east over Encounter Bay and the glorious day. The wind was whipping around and was so nice to enjoy being outside in the wind in only shorts and t-shirt.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera after racing down to Victor straight after work (and packing a few things as I passed by my house) I also missed out on taking a jumper, pillow and any food to contribute. Oops.

Was nice to take a night walk out to Granite Island too and see some fairy penguins. No whales though.

Mass marketing dream

Oh my goodness. Perhaps I shouldn't be wearing socks to bed! The new season must be slowly kicking in. I had another vivid dream although this time it involved a conversation and someone asked me what my favourite drinks were. I answered Coke, Coke and Coke.

Argh! I've drawn the line again and there is to be no more Coke in this body. I've had my fun with them (including those pissy little money orders/cheques I received from their drink machines being crap) and it's time to put my money towards a better cause. Lol!

Auntie Y, redemption is near!

Naked dream

Man, I haven't had a stuck outside being naked dream in ages. At least in this one I was wearing a shirt, which I remember I was trying to sort of pull down the corners of. I wonder if I was wearing shoes! lol

What made it a funny dream, and I was laughing at myself in the dream (from a 3rd person perspective), was that I was cruising through a souvenir store, casually trying to choose out some undies to wear on the way home in the train.

I'm laughing at myself right now! What a classic...

Guitar Hero - Mario Bros theme

For anyone who has played Guitar Hero and totally blown their mind. This one would be the ultimate, for nostalgia and RSI.

Death mask

I did have a thought when the National Treasures Exhibition was on tour and passed by here in Adelaide last year. I remarked at how queer it was to have a 'death mask', how utterly rock n roll it was, how macabre. Perhaps it was from the lack of picture evidence, to capture the cold killers face after it had been embraced by death, as if proving "this is the last you'll ever see of this man".... Check out the death mask of serial murderer Frederick Deeming, yet another killer who's fetish it was to bury bodies under the floor. Could have been from South Australia!

I also starting thinking how as a lasting tribute one might make a death mask with puckered lips, to be attached to a limber pose made of plaster, as a lasting water feature in the front garden of the family home. Awesome.

Check out the National Treasures of Australia.

'The Hobbit' graphic novel

The Hobbit

graphic novel (revised edition)

2006

This new edition of The Hobbit graphic novels includes more drawings and expanded text. I've been reading it in bed before going to sleep and finding that it's the best thing for me. If you're too tired to read, you can always just look at a picture for a few minutes and imagine...

The Hobbit is such a fantastic little tale and the perfect intro to Tolkien's larger body of works. I remember reading it for the first time (the novel) and noting how he wrote almost flippantly about fantastical events/people, whether they were small or epic. It is less bulky than Lord of the Rings, written for a much younger target audience (namely, his children), yet somehow captures a simplicity without being moralistic or much like a fable. I appreciate children's stories written 'just because', not to get across some underlying message.

I'm really looking forward to The Hobbit movie, whenever it comes out. There has been rumour of it being produced in the near future and fans/actors are starting to wonder whether Peter Jackson will direct or not. To tell you the truth, I don't even care. I loved Star Wars and Empire/Jedi weren't directed by Lucas and the hold my attention even more than the first. Here's hoping though it still captures that essence of Middle-Earth that Jackson and WETA were able to give us a glimpse of.

'Who Killed the Electric Car?'

Who Killed the Electric Car?

dvd

2006

An interesting documentary. Didn't get me too fired up which was strange because usually after a 'change the world' documentary I come out of it feeling like I should do something. This left me with a sick sort of feeling, the kind when it's completely out of your control.

It was a well developed and thought through piece of film-making. I enjoyed the rise and then demise of the EV1 car and concluded that I don't see quite to eye to eye on the whole electric car thing any more. There seemed to be a strange sort of logic behind it all, loosening our (Western countries) grip on petrol/oil reliant personal transportation in the hope that it will bring peace to the Middle East, and stop pollution and global warming. Well, burning coal like a total maniac to create electricity is harming the planet just as much as war so I don't see the solution there. It featured a tiny segment on the alternatives for producing electricity (solar/wind) although I would have been sold on the whole idea if this was more developed as part of their argument.

Overall, it was a good look at another fuel alternative for private inner-suburban automobile use although I wanted it to go further and really tackle the bigger issues. How can we source better/cleaner electricity? If (as the doco reports) Americans travel only 29 miles in the day, is there an actual need for a personal car or should resources be put into better public transport? Or even, would the US even give a rats about the environment if they didn't have to pay and bleed for their oil? Ouch.

'Invincible'

'Invincible'

dvd

2006

This was a perfect, feel-good weekend movie. A Walt Disney pictures recount of an NFL football player who rose from the streets of Philadelphia to play as a professional after the team's coach puts out a general invitation to new players in the hope of breaking their losing streak. Mark Wahlberg is not the best actor by far but I think it's all good fun. Worth a look if you want a punch in the air, feel-good emotional rollercoaster with a linear plot.

All Pottered Out

Well I gave it my best shot. Trying to knock off the 6 Harry Potter books before the new one came out. I only made it up to Order of the Phoenix (halfway through) and things sort of ground to a halt. It's a very interesting series and I'd imagine it'd be a breathtaking series for anyone from 10-15. I just can't take another unedited chapter from JK Rowling or another temper tantrum from Harry.

So it's books down for a little bit and onto something different for a while. Will get back into them once I give myself a chance to see what else is on offer.

Looking forward to Scarlet by Stephen R. Lawhead.