A Poem from Leonard Cohen

A LIFE OF ERRANDS

If You Are Lucky
You Will Grow Old
And Live
A Life Of Errands.
You Will Discern
What People Need
And Provide It
Before They Ask.
You Will Drive Your Car
Here And There
Delivering And Fetching
And Neither The Traffic
Nor The Weather
Will Bother You
In The Least.
You Will Whip Down The 405
To San Diego
To Pick Up An Acorn
For Someone's Proverb
And So On And So Forth.
In Spite Of The Ache
In Your Heart
About The Girl You
Never Found
And The Fact That
After Years Of
Spiritual Rigor You Did Not Manage
To Enlighten Yourself
A Certain Cheerfulness
Will Begin To
Arise Out Of Your Crushed
Hopes And Intentions.
How Thirstily
You Embrace Your Next Commission:
To Sift Through The Sunglasses
At A Lost And Found
In Las Vegas
Just A Few Hours
Across The Desert.
Your Hair Is White
You Have Breasts
And A Gut
Over Your Belt
You Are No Longer A Boy,
Or Even A Man
But A Sense Of Gratitude
Enlivens Every Move You Make.
Yes, Sir, These Are The
Very Gold-Rimmed Pair
She Left In The Plastic Tray
Beside The Dollar Slot Machines.
No, Sir, I Am Not Lying.

Leonard Cohen
December 31, 1999

2006 a retrospective

Greetings for 2006,
It has been another busy year, so I thought I might write a Christmas letter to those of you that I have not had a chance to catch up with recently.

I ventured to Western Australia in early 2006 with a cycle tour from Albany to Perth over two weeks. My first trip to WA and cycling was certainly a great way to see the countryside – pristine beaches and fabulous wineries. A small accident saw me fall into a ditch and break a rib, but I managed to continue riding – sleeping hurt though!

Less than a week after I got back from WA, I participated in the Oxfam Trailwalker – a 100km walk done over 48 hours raising funds for Oxfam. The weather was terrible, it rained heavily all night, and the last section of the walk up Mount Donna Buang was shut down due to snow dumping down. Injuries meant that I had to pull out 10kms from the finish, and although I was disappointed, it was still a great accomplishment.

April was a sad time with Miss Tigger finally running out of puff and having to be put down. I still miss her company, as does Harvey who relied on her.

With such a busy start to the year, I decided to have a couple of quiet months, and put my head down and worked. I have been contracting as a Project Manager at the Mothership since July 2005. I was fortunate enough to have the mothership sponsored me for Project Manager training, and so May and June saw me successfully completing my Prince2 Foundation and Practitioner qualifications.

September saw me thinking towards the future, and I purchased a new unit in Kensington. The long term view is to move there in three years time. Meanwhile, I will let it out, and stay in Ascot Vale Road for the time being.

November I was off on my next big adventure – New Zealand. At first, I hired a campervan and went to Kaikoura which is a great little town north of Christchurch. Swimming with the dolphins was a fantastic experience. I toured down to Hanmer Springs and then headed south for Queenstown to meet up with half the Vic state government economists (well 6 of them) to walk the Milford Track. What an experience – we had the best weather, including snow the night before we went over the McKinnon Pass – so it was blue skies and a winter wonderland on our walk over the pass.

Back to work just in time to be offered and accept a full time position with Medibank Private as a project manager, and get one of my major projects signed off. December saw settlement on the new property, and a flurry of activity – settlement was on the 5th December, and by the 15th the apartment (which was somewhat cosmetically challenged in shades of pink) had been repainted, new blinds and scrubbed from top to bottom. Now I get to stop (briefly) for Christmas and spend a week down at Port Fairy with the family.

So what is ahead in 2007 for Linda? Well, may be some more study, deepening my meditation practise and a few projects around the house for starters.

I hope 2007 is happy and productive for you all, and I hope to see you in the new year.
Love Linda
XXX OOO

Vale Miss Tigger

Little Cat

[Vail Miss Tigger, 1989 – April 19th 2006]

I said goodbye to you today, little cat.
Fingers caught on bones when I stroked your fur.
You could scarcely raise your head to drink,
yet still you calmed me with your purr.

Were you comfortable curled on the rug?
And did you know your time drew near?
Your wide brown eyes held gentle love,
and quiet pain, but showed no fear.

You slipped away so quietly
that we weren't sure that you were gone.
Our bouncy little cat is stilled
but your spirit lingers on.

Little ghostcat, where are you?
Are you happy, are you strong?
I feel your warmth, your life, your love
and still can hear your purring song.

(MJ Falango)

I first saw Tigger on the front lawn of Barkly st Brunswick where I was living. She came up to me and had a pat. I saw her a number of times in the empty lot a few doors down. When the dog at our place went to the kennel in the sky, Tigger moved into the back yard the next day. The neighbours called her stupid because she used to sit in their chicken coup and commune with the chickens. Tigger used to wait outside for me to come home from work, and so she really just adopted me.

the big walk - the lowdown

write more here

The big walk - 100km or die in the attempt

Well, the big day is nearly here.

Tomorrow is the 100km walk for Oxfam and it looks like cool weather. For those of you following this blog, now is the time to sponsor me! Go to http://www.oxfam.org.au/trailwalker/donate/
and fill in the details as follows:

1. Event: Melbourne 2006
2. Team: No.403 Team Nurofen
3. Walker: Linda Williams

I know I can make it the first 50kms, its the second 50kms that I might have trouble with!

Here goes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Final Day - Pinjarra to Perth 95kms

The last day - and it started raining about 1.00am. At 5.30am - time to rise and shine - it was still raining. Everyone was up early this morning it would seem, packing up in the rain. On the bike about 7.20am this morning and off through town and then country roads. The roads today were great - very smooth with few exceptions and the absence of a headwind meant that we could move along at a steady clip. I made it to the lunch spot by 9.00am - by the serpentine river. Lots of farmets in the 60 kms outside Perth and lots of horse studs and adjistment facilities. The terrain is very flat and sandy, and the ubitiqus grass trees everywhere beside the road. We travelled today for around 40km on cycle paths beside the freeway. I am very impressed by the cycle pathways around Perth - I have to say I think they are better than Melbourne. All are well sign posted and it seems you can get most places by bike. The last kms of the trip were cycling beside the swan river - a magnificent backdrop to the city. Finally at Langley Park and the final fairwells. Anne and I headed for a coffee shop - "only five minutes walk" from out friend Cathy - twenty minutes later with heavy packs we made it - but the coffee was worth it. Anne's friend came to pick her up and I was left to my own devices. I did not have the address of the YHA, but I was told it was near the Wellington St Bus Station. Some irish people saw me looking at the map and said that it was not far and I could easily walk. I set off with 20kgs of luggage up the hill and left down Wellington St. Looking for the new YHA which no one knows of - I walked all the way to the freeway before I decided that this was not looking good. I finally realised that the YHA was at the other end of the street, and so I made the trek back - probably a 5km round trip with the pack after a 95km cycle - needless to say, I was a little tired. Did not stop me sightseeing once I had showered and changed. Tomorrow - Freo on the train, and then home on Monday....

Bunbury to Pinjarra - 109km

An early start today - I was on the road by 7.00am and already headed into a headwind. With a 100km plus day, this was not auspicious. We had some scenic views initally riding along the lagoon which stretched for miles. A lot of new estates out this way north of Bunbury. Finally we turned onto the freeway for a stretch, and then a side trip to Yarloop for lunch. Back into the headwind and down one of the few hills of the day - coasted for at least 500metres before resuming pedling. The push to camp was completed by tacking onto a few bike trains and drafting. I reached camp by 1.00pm - bit of a record day for me. Poor Anne still had 24kms to go once I had put up my tent, and then found her bag. She arrived two hours later a little worse for wear.
I caught the bus into Pinjarra, but there was not a lot to see - a nice park with a bridge over the river murray, and a historic tea room, but the rest was pretty standard. I was feeling fine after a nanna nap, but I still retired at 10.00pm - another almost 100kms tomorrow for the last day.

Bussleton to Bunbury - 62 kms

Another great days cycling through quiet roads and farmland - also forrest of some special tree I can't remember, but is was a little grey and boring - but special. We arrived at Bunburry at 10.30am before the luggage trucks, so stretched out on the grass and ate lunch at 11.00am. Bunbury is a nice little town with a dolpin display centre where the dolphins come into shore - not sure what else is there. Lots of time to read and relax before the big 108kms tomorrow - only 2 days to go!

Margaret River to Bussleton - 69kms

Back on the bike today - and a fantastic introduction back to the bike. We rode through wineries and farmland on quiet backroads with dappled shade. Anne and I took it easy today, as we had obviously eaten too much on our rest days and cycling at pace did not come naturally. We stopped at the chocolate factory and had a coffee, but Anne gave the chocolate she purchased the thumbs down. I stuck to the free samples which were ok.
Arrived at Bussleton with its famous pier - nearly 2kms long. Following a quick dip in the ocean with the stingers we walked into town to find a great gelati shop along with many of my fellow riders - yum. They made good coffee too! Early night - fell asleep around 9.00pm.

Rest Days a Margaret River

The rest days were spent - cycling- and eating and drinking. Monday - I toured the shops and then decided to head out to Prevelly Beach to watch the surfing competion. The waves were huge - 2.5-3 metres by my calc's looking at the surfers. Headed back home and picked up a bottle of Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc Semillon and a few nuts and some gorgeous vine cherry tomatoes and ripe kiwi fruit. Only 25kms travelled today.
Up early on the Tuesday, and off to Lake Cave with my friend Anne - caught the 9.30 tour, although we had to run down lots of stairs to catch up with the rest of the tour. Lake Cave is small but beatiful. This formation is called the hanging table. Peddled on to Voyager Winerey - as Anne had not been there and then on to the Eagles Heritige which rehabilitates lots of birds of prey. Saw a great flying demo with five black kites (which are brown). On to Cape Mentelle winery for a taste, then back into town for a spot of browsing. We did not get dinner from the campsite tonight, instead we picked up a great green curry with rice and cheesecake desert swept down with a Cape Mentelle Georgiana. Someone has to do it.
Back on the bike tomorrow.

Augusta to Margaret River via Hamelin Bay

Yet another rain shower overnight so everything was wet as usual when it was time to pack up. A long breakfast line meant I skipped breaks and headed for the bakery in Augusta - unfortunately 100 or so others had the same idea. A leisurely ride with a detour to Hamelin Bay - a great beach, but just a tad too cool at 8.30 am for a swim for me, but other cyclists took the plunge. Watched a school of 20 or more dolphins cruise up and down the shoreline searching for food. Stopped off at various points on the road - galleries, caves, etc, there seemed to be a stop every 5kms or so. Finally made it to lunch at the magnificent Voyager Estate Winery - I think they have about 10 acres of bowling green lawn, so even 2500 cyclists had plenty of room to stretch out! Did some wine tasting then back on the bike. Settled into my cottage shared with my friend Anne for three nights under a roof in the Margaret River Tourist Park - functional and clean. Off to the Alex Lloyd concert which was great - and the venue is magnificent at the Leeuwin Estate Winery, but I must confess I just had one beer!

Monday - Managed to get my washing done, and head into town for lunch. I'm thinking of cycling out to the surfing completion this afternoon to check it out. Will require some pedal power however!

More on Augusta

After setting up camp, I went for a walk along the Blackwood River and down to the beach - where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean - I could not quite tell where the join line was, but it was scenic and windswept anyway. Met a local man walking his friendly labrador who showed me a poor seabird barely alive in the sand dunes - some sort of skewer we though, on its last legs. He promised to call the local ranger when he got back home to see if she knew someone who could rescue it - otherwise the foxes would dispatch it by dark. He told me that the labrador had run up to a beached leapard seal one day, and just missed being slice in half. I stood on the sand dunes accompanied by some small cheery green parrots fossiking about and watched the waves crashing in from Africa.

I walked along the river on the way home and saw a pod of dolphins - with at least one baby which stuck close to its mother. The river is delightful, with all types of birdlife and a great walking track right along the river and up to town.

Nannup to Augusta - 79kms

A cool start to the day after overnight showers. As I headed out of Nannup, there were low clouds sitting over the campsite and surrounding trees, and the sun shining through the clouds was very pretty. We headed off into the cold all rugged up for the ride today - the first significant distance. Lunch stop was in a small hall, and the local lions club were out in force with mixed plates of cakes and giant cups of tea which went down well as it was cool when you stopped pedalling. Yesterday at Donnelly Mill I purchased a small wombat toy to put on the back of the bike. He has become a bit of a celebrity today, so I have named him Winston. People ride past and talk to Winston, however, one of the police pulled up beside me on his motorbike and said that I had a small furry thing growing out of my bag and it might need cleaning out.

I did some formation riding today - got into a few road trains and pumped out the kilometres. I am starting to feel very fit now, and my stamina is increasing, which is just as well, because there are a few big rides next week. I will have to do some side trips to keep up my cycling kms! Tomorrow to Margaret River and two rest days - also a roof over my head for a few nights.

Manjimup to Nannup 62 kms

After a restful restday yesterday ( walked around town three or four times, ended up settling in the pub to watch the commonwealth games to escape the foul weather) I set off bright and early this morning. Today has been the nicest days riding yet. Very scenic and quiet roads, cool weather with the occasional shower. A great stop off at Donnelly Mill - the locals had a bbq cooking at 9.00am and there were lots of friendly kangaroos and even an emu. Needless to say, they were all very well fed. On to Nannup which has a little touch of Nimbin about it from the outside, lots of cafes and tea houses. I even saw one person with dreadlocks - but I think he was the only dreadlocked person in the town. Time to explore the rest of the town.. Tomorrow off to Augusta where the indian and southern ocean meet.

Wed - Shannon River to Manjimup - 63kms

A great day - slightly overcast and the temp not expected to get higher than 22 degrees. Set off through forests over rolling hill - my favourite cycling countryside. Travelled through national forest for a number of hours and finally hit the wine country. You cant turn around here without tripping over a winery, and I guess that will continue for several days. I was chatting at a rest stop to some Tasmanians who were on the ride last year, and we got onto the subject of falling off. I made the stupid statement - 'Oh, I have not fallen off for years'. Two hours later, I moved over for a car onto what I thought was bitumen, but it was six inches of black gravel and I got turfed off into a ditch. Luckily I was moving slowly, so grazed knee and elbow and bruised ribs were the extent of my injuries. It only hurts when I bend over or lift my bag up.

Just after my accident, it started to rain at about 1.00pm and continued off and on until the next day at around 8.00am. I had a leak in my tent which I will need to remedy today - someone who makes horse blankets told me to rub a candle on the seam, so I have procured my 20 cent candle for the job. Rest day Thursday - today, and time to blob around town and update the blog. Tomorrow off to Nannup - hopefully not in the driving rain. As I always say - there are only two certainties on a ride - hills and rain.

Walpole to Shannon River 70kms

Finally some hills! Western Australia threw its worst hills at us today, and many of the riders were complaining. The more experience rider from hillier parts of the country felt right at home. There are many novice riders and lots of people from WA on the ride, and they are just not used to hills.

A nicer day today, a little overcast and a few showers overnight. Arrived at Shannon River and partook of the Quinninup (every town is a nup) Progress Association bbq and real tea - I had two cups, my friend Anne had three cups. As you may have noticed, the life of the cyclist revolves around food.

A big night in the cafe de canvas - our bar under canvas - and a bottle of wine saw Anne and I off to bed before 10.00 - a late night for us!. Unfortunately I was then wide awake at 1.00am from the effects of the wine and then at 5.00am from my neighbour an 18 month old boy who was not happy about his camping arrangements.

Denmark to Walpole - 73kms

A bit of a slow start as I get into the swing of the ride. Did not leave until 8.00am and was going to be another hot day. A nice ride through forest to start with, and then through varied terrain. I stopped off at a great little shady spot with a chicken wandering amongst the cyclist. The chicken ate half my of my peanut butter and jam sandwich before taking off for tastier pickings. It is such a hot day. Lunch was in a welcome shady spot at Tingledale (how cute) and the locals has a fantastic spread. I had an ice cold strawberry milkshake. Unfortunately, my cycle shoes have turned ferral, and everytime I walk in them, they rub my achillies. So I am now sporting two giant red raw spots. Luckily the shoes are fine when cycling, except my feet are losing circululation and feel like they are on fire - a common problem.

The after lunch ride was really not fun. The temp was up to low 30's and lots of open terrain to cycle through. I could feel myself getting mild heat stroke which shivering and nausea, so I stopped in the shade every 5 kms and rested for a few minutes. One woman was badly affected so we hailed the police and the medic to attend to her. Finally at camp - set up the tent in the baking sun and retired to an ice cold shower - I feel human again.

Tonight I am off on an evening tree top walk in the tingle trees - should be fun. Tomorrow, Walpole to Shannon River (a ghost town) 65km so I won't be posting from there!

The big ride -Day One Albany to Denmark

Finally on the ride! First day of the ride did not start until 9.00am, so I decided to go for an early morning pre ride to Middleton Beach and back - an 18km warm up. Great ride in the cool of the day, but even at 7.00am you could feel the heat in the sun.

A nice ride, with the last hour being very hot. Most of the ride was in open scrubby country with lots of cows including dairy and beef. Arrived at the campsite at Denmark, which was on the cricket ground and settled in. My friend Anne and I were going to go into town, but we chanced accross a bus going to Green's Pool - which I had heard was fantastic. We jumped aboard and headed off down the beach, only to find an icecream van in the carpark - heaven! One icecream later and down the steps to the beach - this place is magic.
A welcome swim in this great place. Anne had her bathers on inside out, and was compelled to change them by hiding behind one of the big rocks. A nice walk along the beach and then back up to the car park - the bus driver had told us the last bus went at 5.00, so we got up there at 4.50, only to be told by the icecream man that the bus had just taken off. The were about nine of us awaiting the bus. Time passed, an more time passed. We were getting worried that we might have to walk the 16kms back to town. We got picked up finally and transported back to town. We were going to hijack the icecream van, but the owner caught on to our ploy and said he would make sure the bus came back for us instead - would have made a good story though.

A few teething problems with queues, etc so getting dinner was quite a long process. Caught up with Cathy and Mandy who are some new friends and laughed and laughed an hour away. I was in bed by 10.00pm - tomorrow Walpole.

The big walk - a visit to the house of pain

Saturday 4th March - day of the big walk. John, Linda, Justine, Shona, Kate, Brian assembled dutifully at Olinda at 8.00am. We were lucky to have the fabulous Julie -the support team person to the stars was our lifeline for the day. One concern - it was going to be very very warm for a 47km walk - 31 degrees down on the flats where we would be toiling in the heat of the day.

We started off slowly - coffee at Jells Park while we waited for the other car to catch up, however the Jells Park Cafe computer crashed and lost everyones order. Twenty minutes later we were still waiting - they were not coping well. Finally the coffee arrived and we hit the trail at 9.22am.

We meandered along a little for the first section, reaching Churchill Park at about 12.00 to find the gate closed! Luckily, it was only pulled closed by someone who obviously wanted to keep the park to themselves. Julie had bought nice pastries that we tucked into for 'morning tea'.

Off on the next leg to Lysterfield lake in the heat of the day. A hot walk, and we were glad to finally get there around 2.30pm. There is a beach at the lake - very nice, but no swimming for us. Poor Julie got a bit lost on the way, so we just lay down under a cool tree and traded mobile phone calls with her until she navigated to the right place with a thousand apologies.

Off again after a longer rest than planned - now we were a little dehydrated. The next section to Upper Ferntree Gully was hell. All muscles cramping due to dehydration. Everyone had some problem on this section. Exhaustion at the rest point, and some welcome refuelling on sandwiches. Thanks to the magic magnesium phosphate tablets and a rest and the cool of the evening, we started up the Kododa trail steps - 30 minutes of stairs after 11 hours walking.

In the cool of the evening, we got our second wind, and with limited light (some misguided souls thought that we would be finished by dark and did not bring torches - I bought two!) we made our way over to Olinda by 11.15 pm finish. Nearly 14 hours walking. Most of us thought we could push on to Mt Evelyn before our planned overnight stop. Back home to Melbourne - a long drive after a long day.

Night Walk

Friday 24th saw Geoff, Brian, Shona, John, Kate and Linda setting off from Upper Ferntree Gully at about 8.30pm to test our night walking skills. Up the Kokoda Trail steps (trip number 3 up these stairs for Brian and Linda) and into the wilds of the Dandenong Ranges National Park. Some of our team had never walked at night - and so this was a challange.

As usual, it took me 31 minutes to get up the hill - does not seem to change. We had some great views of the lights over Melbourne (probably Mooroolbark or somewhere equally as exciting) from the top of the hill. Met some other crazy trailwalkers running up and down the stairs. Something about those Kokoda steps that is slightly unsettling - there are always people running up and down.

We made good time on the trip - although the night was very warm - probably about 27-28 degrees. On some of the flatter stretches, the air felt like a silk cloth surrounding us. The night lights caused a phenomonen Shona called the mask effect - the night light shining out from our head torches made the dark on the periphery of our eyes seem like a diving mask.

No photos tonight - carried the camera but forgot to take it out! The trip took around 2 hours 55 minutes. Not bad going for the night run. Next - the really big training walk - 47km in the heat next saturday 4th March.

Mt Donna Buang conquered on 27.5km training walk

Sunday 12th Feb was the day of the hill. We met on top of Mt Donna Buang at 8.00am ish. I finally saw not one but three lyre birds beside the road on the way up the mountain. I have never seen one before in the flesh. Half an hour transport back down the hill to check point 6 Woori Yallock Primary School to meet up with our two support crew walking with us today - Bett and Kerry. This was the first time the whole two teams - team nurofen and team nurofenjerkin had walked together. The walking participants were: Brian, John, Clayton, Kate, Shona, Justine, Linda, Geoff. After a slight disagreement about the direction we were to start off on - we headed due east when we picked up the warby trail.

The sun had a bit of a bite to it even at 9.12 when we set off. We made very good pace and stopped for lunch at check point 7 at Milawa in record time. Off to Warburton after a nice sit down and some sock adjustments, and we crossed the main road and started up the aptly named Martyrs Road - just a warm up for what was ahead. Peeled off by the golf course and then upwards for two or so hours. Clayton's advice on not lying down when exhausted and keeping a steady pace keep us in good stead. We all emerged at the top into the sun in 6 hours and 5 minutes - some had got up the hill some time before.

I think walking hills like this is like childbirth, luckily humans are designed to forget significant pain and remember the good bits - like the snake Justine stood on.

A little tired on the way home - and such a long way home. I hope I can get someone to pick me up from the end and drive me home from the event!

Next week - hopefully back to cycling - then a night walk just for interest - back over the kokoda trail in the dark.

Training intensifies and another training walk completed 22.5km

After the miserable performance over the dandenongs last week, I decided that I had to increase my level of training and improve my overall fitness. I took on a new personal trainer - Mr Paul Davy who these days only trains elite atheletes, so I was lucky to get a couple of sessions with him and I was able to apply his governing principles to my training regime.

Governing principles include:

• Only exercise as hard as you can breath through your nose;
• Exercise is only a means to an end. It has no intrinsic value and should be abandoned once you acheive your goal.

(I think he may have adapted these from other philosophies such as yoga and buddhism, but as he is currently only paid with bags of cherry tomatoes, what can I expect?).

In the week following I cycled 54kms, ran up 22 flights of stairs per day and did one and a half hours of yoga. Last Sunday, I decided that I would do the walk again. This time with Shona, Geoff and Brian. This time, we only stopped for one coffee, and we managed the walk in 6 hours 25 minutes, including a 45 minute lunch break.

Saw a big echidna. We managed to avoid getting lost this week and ending up in Silvan dam, but discovered that we only walked a few extra hundred metres last week when we got lost. The weather was cool to quite warm by afternoon, but none of the bone sapping humidity of last week. My increased fitness stood me in good stead, I did not have any sore muscles the next day. Next week is the dreaded Mt Donna Buang!

Lessons learned this week: stair walking is good. Wear 'wicking' clothes and not cotton t-shirts on training walks. Drink lots of water on the hill sections. Put kitchen sponges in toes of walking shoes to stop bruised toenails.

Eventful training walk,birth at collingwood childrens' farm and yabbie attack

Today we did a training walk from Ferntree Gully to Mt Evelyn. The start is the 1000 steps memorial kokoda trail. Took all of us 31 minutes to get up, and with the humid weather-we were all dripping. Poor Justine was not well thanks to some roadhouse food, but made it to the top of the steps. She decided to walk back down and catch the train home - just as well that she did as the day turned out to be a challenging one. The trail beyond the steps is undulating. You are either walking up hill or down. LLyods track may seem harmless enough - but beware of the attack yabbie.

A rather small yabbie decided to take on Team Nurofen on the trail. Brave Brian fended it off into the undergrowth with a large leaf, but not before it snapped its nippers so vigourously at us as to topple over backwards. We dropped in on Poets Lane Motel - which will be base camp for the walk- to check it out. I think we scared the staff as we were rather red faced and sweaty, but they remained polietly composed. Comments from the team - we thought you booked us into a dump but this is very nice - thanks team for your vote of confidence.

Reaching Sassafras, we decided it was time for lunch - or should I correct myself, coffee - the first of two coffee stops. Off again after 25 minutes or so, and heading for Olinda. The trail was very undulating - either steeply up or steeply down, but we were still in good form. Found our way to yet another coffee shop in Olinda for a well earned break - the sun was beating down by now and it was quite hot. We set off for the final leg of the trip, boyed by the gentle downhill profile in the Oxfam trailmap - be warned - there are some steep and long uphill sections which do not actually appear on the map, as well as some significant downhill sections. Just before we got to the Hamer Forest Arboretum - Kate gets a phone call from her sister in law who just gave birth to a baby girl - at Collingwood Childrens' Farm. It all just happened a bit too quickly on the way back to the carpark, so there was nothing to it but to have the baby beside the path to the car park. They did not even make it to the stables! Luckily everyone was fine, if not a bit shaken. Apparently the goat feeding went on undisturbed some 50 or so feet away. We spent some time thinking of appropriate names for the new girl - collingwood? Yarra? Maybe not.

We underestimated our water consumption - we should have filled up at Olinda - and so ran out about half way through the next leg about the time we became geographically embarrished. We must have walked blissfully past track 10 gate and kept going to Silvan Reservoir. A zepher seduced us from the still and muggy atmosphere and we missed the turnoff.

I managed to strain a knee through a misstep on the path, and had to take it slowly - lucky I had the walking poles to help. Finally we made it down the steep hill to the Mt Evelyn Reserve. Brian's new socks passed the test - I think he may save up for another pair - he said this one cost him $112 but I think that was a slight exaggeration. Everyone else - John Kate and Brian seemed to be fine save a few sore muscles - but I was a bit wrecked - two badly bruised toe nails and a sore knee. The next day I am not so bad - just a bit sore.

Lessons learned: check your water, pay attention to the map/trailnotes, beware of attack yabbies.

A new personality continuum - The Persicle (personality circle)

A slight departure from the training blogg.

Today my work colleagues (aka Paul Davy) and I came up with a new personality continuum in a discussion on the differences between geeks and nerds. We decided to try and describe the entire human spectrum of personalities as they related to these two nouns. It only took us 10 or so minutes, and we did get plenty of other work done as well!

We started with a linear model, but I decided that it should be circular. This was based on the long standing advice of Huey Lewis that it is hip to be square - hence there could not be a purely linear relationship between these traits. I believe I sit around the squerd sector of the model, Paul has claimed the Neek niche of the model - how about you? Paul believes that you can only appear on the outside of the circle, as all of these traits are distinctly different. I am less convinced based on the Huey Lewis statement. Thank you to David Lucy, Ray Beveridge and Germain Liew for your input improvement and critique of the model.

We may need to adapt the persicle - trailwalkers and anarchists find it hard to place them selves in the model - whatdoesthattellya?

Second Training Walk - 15 kms

Today we undertook our second official training walk. Geoff, Justine, Kate, Linda and Julie set off from Lysterfield Lake at 9.00am heading for the Ferntree Gully picnic area. It was Justine and Kate's first walk with the team. Some 5 kms in, Julie turned back as she had to be back nin Melbourne in early afternoon, so she left us at the Monbulk retarding basin. We witnesses an exciting pole fishing competition at Monbulk Lake, with competitiors dotted around the lake sporting very long poles and catching carp. We made good time through a scenic landscape, getting to the 10 km mark within 2 hours. A couple of challenging hills towards the end kept us on our toes. The last 3 kms or so was walking alongside the railway line and through suburbia.
We made the 15kms in 3 hours and 15 minutes, against an anticipated time of 4 hours 30 mins. An enjoyable walk and a chance to get to know our newest team member Justine who will be a great asset to the team.

This week I tried liberal coatings of petroleum jelly under the two pairs of socks, as well as a gel toe seperator - both worked very well with no additional blisters. Some ankle and toe pain in the right foot, but I will keep working on this with my stretching exercises - my toes hit the ground on my right foot before the heel because of my tight calf muscles.

Cricket Challenge 2006

Cricket Challenge Sunday 8th Jan 2006

This was the first year I have been involved in Paul Davy's new year Cricket Challenge. It was a great day, although I only made one run and bowled a very expensive over (10 runs) for out team. All I can say is that I was very challenged indeed. Still, I'll be back again next year - but may have to practice a little bit more over christmas with my nephew down a Port Fairy. The match report, scores and stats can be found at Paul's website.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/paul.davy/cc6.htm

Cricket Academy

Cricket Academy

At lunch time today(Thurs 5th Jan), Paul Davy and I had cricket practice under the Collins St overpass in preparation for the big annual Davy cricket match which will be held this Sunday in Carnegie. We had an audience - one friendly homeless person who was keen to give me tips on my batting. I hope I do not make too mcuh of an idiot of myself, having never played cricket except on the beach with a tennis ball twenty years ago or so.